Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Publisher: Nintendo

Genre: Fighting

Players: 1-32 (1-4 online)

Rated: T

Platform: Nintendo Wii

        Alex:                 Anthony:                Collin:

    

Collin:

Oh my gosh!  I have the first word!

I have been waiting for this game since 2005 when they first unveiled it at E3.  Scratch that.  I have waited for Brawl since Melee came out in 2001.  I circled my calendar (several times I might add since they kept pushing the release date back) and counted down the days like a kid waiting for his Christmas pony.  Unfortunately it’s a Christmas that only comes once every eight years.  Now, there’s nothing to wait for except Kingdom Hearts 3 and the 24 Movie, but who really cares?  I have Brawl!

In case you were wondering, yes, it’s the best fighting game ever.

Anthony:

While I agree that it’s the best fighting game ever, I’m not quite as ecstatic about Brawl as Collin is.  It is certainly an improvement over Melee, but it doesn’t quite live up to its hype.  I, for one, expected the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii remote to take a larger role in the control scheme, but as it is, you only shake it to do a smash attack.  I would have liked to see moves based on sweeping arm motions or maybe punches that matched your hand movements, but unfortuantely, Brawl is more of a button-masher than anything.

Alex:

Anthony is completely wrong when it comes to the control scheme.  The GameCube controller is the best match when it comes to completely utilizing the characters’ abilities.  It is a button-masher, but it requires serious skill to master it.

Collin:

Well put, Alex.  Now let’s talk about our favorite aspects of the game.  Several elements have been added to Brawl that are both awesome and cheap at the same time.  First, you have assist trophies, which appear in battle to help you kill the other characters.  They work a lot like the Poke Balls of the previous two games, but are often far more devastating.  Unfortunately, you have to unlock them to use them, but it’s totally worth it. 

However, assist trophies are just mice compared to the colossal-raptor that is the Final Smash.  These multi-colored balls appear in battle more often than they should and grant the user unspeakable power (if they use it right).  Each character has its own unique Final Smash move that unleashes this power on the other characters, resulting in a one-hit KO in some cases.  But as I mentioned before, they are extremely cheap moves (unless I use them of course).

Anthony:

I happen to like the Final Smashes.  They give me an advantage even when the other players are far more skilled than me.

Alex:

Yes, Final Smashes are good.  Let’s talk about the characters now.  Collin?

 

Collin:

Alright, Alex.  Brawl includes many characters from the old skool games, but introduces just as many new faces.  My favorite combatants in this new arsenal include Metaknight (an awesome, sword-wielding, armored Kirby), Captain Olimar (the strange alien with an army of Pikmin) and Toon Link (the cel-shaded Link from The Wind Waker.)

Anthony:

Many of the recurring characters have also been improved.  Link and Ganondorf for instance, are far more powerful (if slower) than they were in Melee and…

Collin:

I wasn’t finished!  Anyway, the old characters are indeed way cooler this time around.  I like Kirby and Pikachu and Captain Falcon and Ganondorf and Link and…

Alex:

Collin, just choose three and let the rest of us talk.

Collin:

And Sonic and Samus and Mario and Luigi.

Alex:

I like Lucas, Ike, Lucario…

Collin:

And Wolf.

Anthony:

Collin!

Collin:

And did I mention that I like Toon Link?  He’s so much better than regular Link.

Anthony:

Alright, this is going nowhere.  Let’s just wrap this up.

Anyway, my second concern with Brawl is the new single player Adventure Mode, titled “The Subspace Emissary.”  While it is probably one of the best side-scrolling action games on the market, it is impossibly long and desparately craves voice acting.

Other than those minute concerns, Brawl is leaps and bounds above the prequels, offering what made the originals classics and throwing in many new features to keep gamers satisfied.

Alex:

One cool addition to the game is the Stage Creator which, as it suggests, allows you to create your own stage.  The possibilities for stages designs are nearly endless because you gain more materials for building them as you progress through other parts of the game.  Some stages can be really cool, but others can be frustrating and annoying.

Collin:

I, for instance, created a stage that I called “The Box.” The top side consists of collapsible blocks which imprison you once you fall through.  Then the fun starts.  Because the blocks only collapse when new items appear, you can max out the damage on someone before killing them (up to 999%).  Then there’s the one I call the “Uber Forest…”

Anthony:

But let’s not talk about that right now.  The point we’re trying make is that Brawl is one of the best Nintendo games ever made and (averaged out) gets a score of 4.6666666…

Collin:

66666666.

 - Alex Hernandez, Anthony Kozlowski

and Collin Sicard

Tags: box, brawl, bros., captain falcon, fighting, final smash, Link, mario, meta knight, Nintendo, pikachu, review, smash, super, super smash bros., video game