Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) Review

Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 03.18.2008

It's been over six years since Super Smash Bros Melee was released. Has the series really improved with Brawl?

Ever since the Wii/Revolution was first shown, the one game that everyone knew was going to be a must-have was the next incarnation of Super Smash Bros. What was once a budget title on the N64 turned into, well, a Smash hit, and received a sequel on the GameCube with remarkable improvement. The N64 Smash Bros is still fun to play, but it just couldn't compare to Melee. Ever since E3 2006, we were introduced to Brawl, and once Solid Snake, a third-party character, was revealed to be in the game, right away we could tell it was going to be huge. Then Masahiro Sakurai started the Smash Bros. Dojo site, and every weekday we'd get some kind of update on the game, and it made us yearn for the game even more.

First planned for a December 3rd release (the 6th Anniversary of Melee), it was pushed back to February 10th, but at least they gave us Sonic the Hedgehog, the most requested character to appear (or to some, to not appear) in the game. But then it was pushed back again to March 9th , and once again we were forced to wait, but at least this would be the last delay the game would see.

It's now been a week since I got my hands on the game, and now it's time for my official review. Is this the Smash Bros game we've been waiting for? Or have all those features we've been dieing to check out turn out to be worthless?



Graphics

The Graphics are great, but sometimes when I play on the Melee stages, I can't help but feel that I'm almost playing the old game rather then the new one. But hey, as any true Nintendo fanboy would tell you, graphics don't matter.

Sound

There is really nothing bad I can say about the Sound in this game. Okay, maybe some of the songs are annoying and don't really feel right being in a fighting game, but guess what? You can decide to not listen to it at all by adjusting the options in the My Music section. The songs you start off with are good, and you can unlock even more by collecting the CDs that randomly appear in brawls (be quick, because they disappear FAST). There are nearly 300 different songs to collect, and some of the older songs have been kept the way they were without any reworking. There's definitely a charm to it when you're playing Green Hill Zone and you hear the good old Green Hill and Emerald Hill zone music rather than some orchestrated remix.


In My Music you can adjust which songs are played more often than others

Controls

The controls are basically the same from Melee, only now you can use four different kinds of controllers, and on top of that you can register your name and customize them for yourself. But are any of them besides the GameCube one worth it? I can't say for the classic controller because I don't have it. The Remote-Nunchuk combo feels too awkward. The Remote alone is surprisingly good, though I had to make a couple changes to it. You'd think the B button would be bothersome, but with the way I hold the remote I can actually press it easily by sliding my left middle finger. If you're running low on GameCube controllers or just want to have an alternative, go with the Remote. You can also hear some taunts when selecting a character before fighting.

The game also introduces some new tricks that certain characters can pull off. Characters with wings (Pit, Meta Knight, and Charizard) can glide across the stage by holding the jump button, which makes for some good air recovery. A few characters can wall jump, some can wall cling, and some can crawl. However, from what I've seen, aside from gliding, there's been no major advantage in using these techniques in multiplayer brawls, so you'll likely not even notice or use them.

The Characters

In Melee we had a nice rounded roster of 26 characters, though some were outright clones. Brawl ups that number to 39 (counting Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, and each of PT's Pokémon as separate), but there are still some issues of cloning. Falco is basically the same as before except with a change on his Reflector special, Wolf is basically the “power over speed” version of Fox, Ganondorf once again copies Capt. Falcon's moves only he's even slower then his Melee counterpart, Lucas is basically an alternate Ness, and Toon Link is an alternate Link. Though thankfully none of them are actually outright clones like Dr.Mario was. Another issues that's somewhat bothersome is how Fox, Falco, and Wolf all have the same Final Smash. Even though they have their differences (Fox is balanced, Falco can fly up faster, Wolf is more powerful but shorter time), it still gives that feeling that they're just outright clones rather then separate characters. Ness and Lucas' Final Smashes are slightly different due to their direction, but Link and Toon Link also have the same Final Smash with no difference at all. You'd think by now we wouldn't have anymore clones.

As for how the characters play, there's definitely been a difference for some returning characters since Melee. Unfortunately, not all of it is good. Some characters like Kirby have seen improvement, while others feel like they got nerfed. Jigglypuff's Down-Special is no longer outright devastating as it does moderate damage and leaves a flower on top of their head. As a Jigglypuff user, that kind of pisses me off. Mario's Down-Special of shooting water doesn't seem to work as well as it should. Had it lasted a few more seconds when fully charged, it would've been great. Then again, it could be just me, so take it with a grain of salt. As for new characters, some feel like they've been made to become a “top-tier” from the start (Ike), while others almost feel useless from the start (Olimar) unless you really get to know them.


You'll most likely wish that Mario's Down-Special was still his tornado

The Final Smashes, which is basically a character's finishing move, are for the most part balanced and unique. Some result in a one-hit kill when used in close range (Meta Knight's, Marth's, and Link's) but can be avoided, some are almost impossible to avoid (Ice Climber's, Peach's, and Olimar's) but aren't so devastatingly powerful, and some feel somewhere in the middle. Overall, the Final Smash adds another strategy to the mix as characters who may seem weak may suddenly be awesome to use because of their Final Smash (unless you decide to have no items at all). Each character has their distinctive strengths and weaknesses, and since you can use 39 of them, you're bound to find one that's good for you.

As for items, I'm only going to talk about the most popular one to make it to this game: The Assist Trophies. Overall, they're pretty much like the Poké Balls. You pick one up, press the A button again to use it, and a Nintendo character (including Gray Fox and Shadow the Hedgehog) shows up. Just like the Poké Balls, they range from the really great (Lyn and Andross seem to be two of the best), to the mostly good (Excitebike can sometimes clear a whole stage), and some are about as useful as Goldeen (Mr.Resetti is funny, but he needs to die a horrible death). Overall, while they're just a copy of the Poké Balls, who really cares? This is designed to be the Nintendo game for Nintendo fans, and they're a very welcoming addition to the item line-up.


Old school Little Mac unfortunately is not a character, but at least he's got an Assist Trophy cameo

The Stages

There are 41 stages in all. 34 new ones for Brawl and 7 returning from Melee. A few brawl stages feel rehashed from their Melee counterparts (Port Town Aero Dive is basically Mute City, Pokemon Stadium 2 is...well, you know), but for the most part you've got a great variety of choice. Stages range from the simple ones used for tournaments, and then you've got ones with weird gimmicks like the PictoChat, Electroplankton, and 75m stages which you'll either love or hate. But if that wasn't big enough, the game now has a stage builder. I was really excited to see just how grand this feature was going to be. After unlocking the parts and trying it out, I have to say...

It's underwhelming. It's not bad, but it just feels so limited of what you can actually do. For one thing, you can't decide where the characters start when the fight begins. The game automatically puts them in the same column if there's a space for them there, and you can only test with one character rather then four. To test with four, you'd have to do an actual brawl on that stage, and it seems like an inconvenience. Also, this isn't really much in the variety of platforms. Some platforms and objects are so big that you wind up losing room because they can't overlap, and the ladders can't be used to climb on a platform, but rather just to jump off at the top (unless I'm missing something here). Objects can't also be rotated either, and this sucks because I wanted to have sideway spikes for a stage idea. Overall, while you can make some nifty custom stages, a lot of ideas you've probably had before getting this game might go down the drain due to limited capabilities.


If only Stage Builder could've let me be this imaginative

The Modes

While it may not look like it at first, single player mode has also seen a drastic change. Classic mode has been reworked so that you fight characters in a certain order based on series. For example, the first person is always a Zelda character, and the second person is always a Kong or Yoshi. How you fight them differs from time to time. You might fight one Zelda character or face two with an ally. You might face Diddy and Donkey Kong with the help of Yoshi, or fight a Giant Yoshi with the Kong's help. It gets slightly repetitive, but works nonetheless. All-Star mode, however, is completely repetitive, as this time the fighters you go against come out in chronological order based on their game debut. Unlike in Classic where they can either be in teams or giant or metal, it's the same pattern all the time. Boss Battle mode (earned after beating Subspace) is basically All-Star but you fight ten bosses in the game with the final always being Tabuu, who suffers from the fatal illness known as “SNK Boss Syndrome.” More on that later.

The Adventure Mode, as well all know by now, is the Subspace Emissary. The mode plays out like a platformer/side-scrolling beat-em-up, and as you go through the mode, eventually you'll have the chance to play nearly all the characters in the game, so it makes for good practice. Most stages just have you reaching the end to complete them, while some will have you fight a tough end-level boss or other Smash characters. The only complaint I have with the bosses is the absence of a couple. Master Hand, the guy who's been the boss since the N64 Smash Bros., is never fought against. Niether is big-time Zelda villain Ganondorf. Kind of a waste. The final boss is Tabuu, who looks like he came from the movie TRON. Tabuu is a very powerful boss, but sometimes he seems just too cheap. For example, he has this one move where he flies into the background, breaks out his wings and unleashes this circular attack that equates to a one-hit kill, and it's nearly unavoidable. I say nearly because there might be a chance, but I haven't figured out how. Now, I can let it slide in the Advenure Mode since you get six characters to fight him, but it's completely stupid he uses that move in the Boss Battle Mode. You don't get any continues in that mode, and it's just aggravating to have to lose because Tabuu decides to go SNK on your ass.


I've waited over 12 years to finally kill that fat bastard

Another change in the Adventure Mode is that you can power-up your characters by placing stickers on them. Some stickers are exclusive to characters, and once applied you can't get them back, so unless you really don't care about having them in your collection, you'll probably stick to duplicates. Overall the mode will take you at most 8 hours to go through on the first try, and then you can go back and replay the stages to get more trophies, unlock other movies, or even a few hidden characters.

Online Play

And now, we get to the online play. Unfortunately, because kids need to be protected against online predators, Nintendo's friend code system rears it's ugly head. The bizarre thing is that Smash has it's own friend code separate from the Wii code, and if you were some of the people that deleted your save file because of the whole “No options/Spectator” fiasco, you get a different code every time. ARG! But if you've got no friends to share codes with, you can always have a quick 2-minute game with people you don't know and will never know. However, from what I've seen, there tends to be some kind of lag almost all the time, and sometimes you get disconnected from the service. It might be because of the overwhelming number of people that tried to play this in the first week of release, but if the system doesn't improve, then this is going to be a huge disappointment on Nintendo's part. So when you're not facing anybody, you can watch others in the Spectator Mode and bet coins on who you think is going to win. It's basically a guessing game because you don't know who's controlling those characters, and you won't even know if items are on or not. But hey, that's gambling for ya.

Other Features

Finally, the other big feature for this game is the Challenges. The best to describe them is that they're the Smash Bros version of Achievements from Xbox Live, only completing them unlocks new music, trophies, stickers, and other stuff. They range from simple stuff like completing Classic mode, playing Brawl for a certain amount of time, or making enough custom stages, to really hard stuff like completing the single player modes on the hardest difficulties, or completing the target test within a short time. If you think some of the challenges are going to be outright impossible for you, you can use a Golden Hammer to automatically break it. But be warned: You only get very few hammers and there are about a hundred or so challenges to complete, so choose wisely. This is a nice addition to the game and, unlike Achievements, actually mean something in the end.


[insert Jeopardy joke here]

Now for a quick rundown of all the other features in this game.

Target Test: It's now been changed to consist of five levels ranging in difficulty rather than each character having their own. Some characters have an easier time than others, but you can always use the items laid out to help you.

Home-Run Contest: A barrier is now up you don't fall off accidentally, and you can earn some trophies if the sandbag slides into them. The only big change here is you can do it with two people.

Multi-Man Brawls: Same thing from Melee, only you fight the Alloys and an occasional random character.

Events: They're now split into 41 for single player and 21 for co-op. Just like last time, it starts off with the easiest tasks and gets really challenging later on, though some still become easier than others.

Trophy Gathering: You now play a shoot-em-up of sorts with the coin launcher. When a trophy appears, you shoot coins at it to earn it. Enemies will also appear and shooting them gets you stickers. I kind of preferred Melee's method though because it was easier to get new trophies, but at least it's a decent challenge.

Replays: Fought in a really cool online match or achieved an amazing score in Target Test? You can press the Z button when it's over and save it to either the Wii or an SD card.

Masterpieces: These are short demos of games that the Smash Bros Characters made their debut in. Unfortunately, some character's games don't show up here (no EarthBound?!), and the time limit ranges from 0:40 seconds to 4:00 minutes, and sometimes that is definitely not enough time to enjoy them.


Now you can find out yourself why people make those Ice Climbers jokes

Overall

Some of the features of the game turned out to be underwhelming, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. In 1999, Smash Bros was a budget title that achieved greatness because people got to gather around and play as their favorite Nintendo characters. Melee improved the concept greatly with 2001, and while Brawl isn't as huge of a improvement to Melee as Melee was to the original, it's still bigger and better than ever. Way more characters, way more stages, way more stuff to try out, and now with way more people to play against, Super Smash Bros Brawl is way better than Melee, and will be played the hell out for many years to come.

Graphics	8.5	The graphics are good, but there's not much significant improvement since Melee.
Gameplay	9.5	Aside from somewhat cheap AI and online lag, it's still the great Smash Bros game we've come to love.
Sound	10.0	There are nearly 300 songs in the game and you can pick out favorites to be played over others.
Lasting Appeal	10.0	Melee remained great to play for six years. Brawl looks to either achieve or surpass that time.
Fun Factor	10.0	The only time you'll likely stop playing is when Super Smash Bros Rumble comes out for the Wii 2.
Overall	9.6   [  Amazing ]

Screenshots
All 58 Super Smash Brothers Brawl Screenshots