photo credit: Chris Makarsky
Overall for me, Super Smash Bros Brawl is by far, and always will be, the best Wii game I have ever played. It was the only game that sold me for buying a Wii in the first place. It’s a game that will last you HOURS, has so much potential repeating playability, is a fun way to get the family or friends together, or just a great game to play by yourself.
The fights are breathtakingly amazing and fast, the graphics are sufficiently realistic for the Wii (and that’s saying a lot since Wii graphics…well let’s not go there), and the controls and game mechanisms work perfectly. The only thing I wish for is that you could play 4-Player Co-Op in Subspace Emissary and that you could play your custom made levels online. But in conclusion, I believe Super Smash Bros. Brawl has lived up to its name and exceeded all expectations and the legacy of Super Smash Bros will live on for years to come…as long as Nintendo’s still around that is.
There are a total of about 41 stages that can be Brawled on, initially starting off with 21. A new feature of SSBB was the “Stage Editor” which allowed players to create and customise their own levels, add a name and a BGM, and use them in Multiplayer.
For the gameplay, basically you have a stock of lives, and a damage meter. Every hit you take increases your damage by a certain percent, and furthers how far you fly when you are hit. If you fall off or go off the screen, you lose a life, and the game is over when all other players/teams have lost all their lives, announcing the victor/last team standing with an enthusiastic but repetitive “GAME!” screen.
There are several actions that are used to fight: Normal Attack, Smash Attack, Aerial Attacks, Special Attack, Jump/Double Jump, Grab, Use/Throw Items, Shield, Dodge and Taunt. The controls vary since SSBB has the compatibility to play the game with a Wiimote, Wiimote/Nunchuck, a Classic Controller or a Gamecube Controller, but nonetheless are easy to figure out. There is even a tutorial video available in the “Vault” video.
Taunting is one of the trademark actions of SSBB and personally my favourite. Basically you have 3 kinds of taunts accessible by the D-Pad or 3 different buttons, and while having no effect whatsoever in the game, allow you to add “style and pizzazz” to your game, mock your opponent, provoke them into attacking you or just finish a game like a badass.
The newest addition (and probably one of the best features I’ve seen in a fighting game) is the Smash Ball, a colourful rainbow-ball with the Super Smash Bros logo on it randomly appearing and floating around. Once it takes a certain amount of damage, whoever destroys it will have their body and eyes light up with a golden rainbow glow, and if the B button is pressed, will execute a devastating Final Smash; for example, Sonic transforming into Super Sonic, Link slashing opponents with the “Triforce Slash”, Ike’s “Flame Ether”, etc. Some Final Smashes however, require that you make contact with your opponent, otherwise they will not activate, which I find adds a bit of a challenge, but can be really frustrating such as with Link and Ike.
The modes of gameplay go into the categories “Solo” and “Group”.
Solo includes “Classic” mode (of course), Training, Survival, Event Mode, Adventure Mode and new additions called “All Stars Mode” and “Wi-Fi”.
“Classic” mode is the play all SSB titles are played in: a ladder going upwards as you defeat character by character, with the occasional mini-game “Break The Targets”, in which you break targets within a time-limit for extra points. Once you get to the final level, you either face Master Hand, Crazy Hand (if the difficulty is set to the hardest), who is basically Master Hand on crack, or both at the same time (this can happen randomly on any difficulty I’m assuming). After they are defeated, your character transforms into a trophy, which you can access via the “Vault” to see their character profile and games they star in. If available after the credits/character ending, a “New Challenger” screen will appear and you will fight a character you haven’t unlocked yet.
The bulk of SSBB (for Single Player/Co-Op) is the re-engineered, modified and extremely long (but worth every minute) Adventure Mode called “The Subspace Emissary.” The plot revolves around mysterious black holes opening in the middle of nowhere, sucking all into “Subspace”, a void of black emptiness. 95% of all the SSBB characters play a role somewhere between the story, including the main antongist, Tabuu. He is a blue “god” with rainbow butterfly wings who controls Master Hand, Ganondorf, Bowser and Wario (before those three join the SSBB army). The gameplay all depends on the difficulty level you set when you start the game, and can conveniently be changed during gameplay if your frustrated or unsatisfied. If you want easy and fun gameplay or your new to SSBB, then “Very Easy” or “Easy” would be for you. However, if you want a real challenge and the fights of your life, “Intense” would give you an emotional rollercoaster ride. Playing on Intense, it took me 30 hours to complete the whole of Subspace Emissary. Once the game is completed, a secret “Boss Battle” mode is unlocked, where you can fight all the bosses encountered in a survival-mode kind of way.
Group Mode is basically SSBB’s way of saying “Multiplayer Mode”. You can play with up to four players in basic Brawls, or play by yourself against CPUS with adjustable difficulties. You can either play with stock or time and free-for-all or teams. Stock is where you fight until the last man/team standing and time is where there is a certain time limit and whoever has the most knockouts wins. Items are adjustable, as well as damage and speed, but the new features of Multiplayer are that you can add certain “perks” similar to Call of Duty, like big characters, metal sheens, gravity shifters, etc. You can also use your custom levels designed in the Level Editor.
Finally, we have the Wi-Fi mode, which brings out the Wii’s capability to play online. If you have a friend you want to Brawl with (yes another pun, I know right?) or just looking for a good fight, hop online, select your mode and wait to be connected to a match. The gameplay is pretty good most of the time, but depending on where you are, where you’re connecting to and your Internet speed, there can be a brutal, frustrating and excruciating online lag, which will make you want to pick your Wii up and throw it at your TV (trust me, I almost did that). So before you go and decide to play online, I’ll just say you have been warned.
Aside from all the modes, you also have the “Vault.” The Vault is a storage area for all your trophies, stickers, levels and coins and allows you to review the history of characters and their video games, take photos of your trophies, and view the “Trophy Challenge” system. There are over 100 trophies you can earn by completing certain challenges, such as unlocking characters or playing a level a certain number of items, and I believe Nintendo added this feature for all the collecting maniacs out there.
In summary, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a must have for all gaming fans out there, and in my opinion, is the only Wii game that makes the Wii worth playing.
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