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XGD > Wii > Super Smash Bros. Brawl
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 Information
Videos | Title | Views | Length | Date Added | | 27 | 5:30 | 9/18/2008 | | 27 | 1:22 | 9/18/2008 | | 27 | 2:02 | 9/18/2008 |
| 26 | 2:32 | 9/18/2008 | | 43 | 0 | 9/18/2008 | | 25 | 1:19 | 9/18/2008 | | 21 | 0:55 | 9/18/2008 | | 24 | 1:08 | 9/18/2008 | | 25 | 0:56 | 9/18/2008 | | 25 | | 9/18/2008 |
Reviews Them's fightin' words..., August 14, 2008 Rating: 9.2/10 By thor.angelus Have you ever wondered if Mario could beat Link in a fist-fight? Bowser or Donkey Kong in a grudge match? Pikachu or Jiggilypuff in a stupid character contest? Super Smash Bros Brawl is the newest entry into the Smash Bros series, this time for the Wii console. It plays much like it's older incarnations, but with a few newcomers and some gameplay tweaks. If you're new to the series, it might seem like a strange idea. All of Nintendo's most (and in some cases, least) well-known stars battling it out.
The gameplay is fast-paced compared to most other fighting games, but then again it doesn't play like your average fighter. You are fighting up to three other people in arenas of varying size, instead of just a two-dimensional street. Instead of having to beat your opponent senseless and drain all their life, you have to beat your opponent senseless and throw them off-screen. The typical life bar is replaced by a percentile damage meter, and having higher damage makes you fly further after being hit. Once the meter hits the 100% range, gravity lessens and you’re at higher risk of being knocked away. It’s still possible to stay in the game with a high damage count against you, and you’ll have to get used to it if you’re going to survive.
The character roster is pretty vast. It spans all of Nintendo's main series, such as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Kirby. It's also got some figures from old-school 'cult' hits, like the Ice Climbers, Kid Icarus, and Earthbound. Nintendo also throws in R.O.B, an arbitrary peripheral for the NES that would play games with you if you didn’t have anyone else around; only he was compatible with a mere two games and was a financial bomb due to it. R.O.B. is far from the only icon of Nintendo’s nostalgic history to be displayed in SSMB, and the cast is also joined by third-party characters for the first time, Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake of the Metal Gear Solid series.
All the regular gameplay modes from its predecessors are here. Classic Mode pits you in a traditional twelve-battle tournament against random and selectable characters, one after the other until a final confrontation with the last boss. Target Test is back, pitting your character of choice in an obstacle course with the task of destroying a number of bullseyes. The Adventure Mode, an adventure-themed mission mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee, has been replaced by the all-new story mode, The Subspace Emissary. It plays like an old beat-em-up, complete with the incredibly polished yet half-hearted plot, reminiscent of bad fanfiction written by someone with a far-too-passionate view of the franchises. The villains of the Nintendo universe are turning the heroes into statues, for some shadowy, untold reason. A strange figure is leading robots around the world and setting off subspace mines. When they explode, the surrounding area is dragged into Subspace. You're supposed to think this is bad, but they never really tell you what is so evil about Subspace, or why these bombs are being planted. You just have to stop them, because that's what Nintendo heroes do - they save the day. Well, except for Mr. Game and Watch. He just throws sausages at people (referring to a character that does, indeed, throw sausages as an attack).
The multiplayer modes are the meat of the game. Grab some friends, or if you don’t have any, call the computer dirty names and prepare for epic battles between legends. When fully unlocked, you've got 35 characters to choose from, all with at least four different colour schemes. Some characters have varying move sets, such as the Pokemon Trainer who uses three distinctly different Pokemon to do the fighting. Other times, you will have 'clone' characters, like Link and Toon Link; these characters will have nearly-identical moves with mere differences in selected attacks, leaving the decision between the characters mainly based on aesthetics. There's a considerable-sized list of items from previous Nintendo games to help you in battle - pick up a Fire Flower and burn your enemies, or shoot them in the face with a Super Scope. New items, such as sticky bombs and team-healing items, are welcome additions and help to make the battles even more chaotic.
Assist Trophies, a new addition to the game, act like items on the battlefield and trigger a secondary Nintendo character to assist you for a brief moment. You can summon a Metroid to temporarily drain your health, Little Mac from the Punch-Out! Series to bust some jaws open, and even obscure characters from obscure games to do obscure things related to them and such.
The Smash Ball, a floating orb in each level, triggers a character’s Final Smash, a devastating attack that can easily defeat an opponent if landed. Final Smashes have different effects depending on the character - some are linear attacks, some are only an area, some are screen-wide, and others an inch in front of you. When one appears, any fighting is typically replaced by a frantic flurry of attacks on the Smash Ball to get it first. While they’re all impressive due to the number of characters and the close relation to their Final Smashes, they tend to direct the focus of the battle towards the Smash Ball and can often distract from the game. Each individual item can be activated or removed from a fight, in case items aren’t part of your playing style.
Brawl has an astounding amount of extras to unlock such as arbitrary trophies which give you a little background info on Nintendo's gaming history, stickers to attach to you characters in
the single-player mode for bonuses, an array of songs, stages, and of course the some of the characters themselves. With literally thousands of collectables, you'll be spending as much time unlocking things as you do breathing. Luckily, it also has multiple methods for unlocking the same things. You can either play multiplayer brawls, the story mode, or use the Coin Launcher, a mini-game that requires you to shoot trophies and stickers. Sometimes, you'll unlock things without even knowing how or why. Some requirements are even time-based, so you could unlock things in your sleep if you really wanted to. The amount of secrets is staggering, sometimes a little too staggering, and it can become a pain to find every nook and cranny; don’t expect to unlock a hefty amount of characters and bonuses without playing for quite some time. The alternative methods, however, definitely help you avoid grinding towards a reward in a specific way, and allow options that can accommodate any kind of player.
Overall, Brawl is an excellent game. You can spend a lot of time with it, between custom match options, items, and the large amount of stages and characters. The level of variety and detail delivered is truly a testament to Nintendo’s legacy but if you could care less about the company, you’ll still be hard-pressed to find a better four-player fighting game.
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