Super Smash Bros. Brawl

[THE DERP MASTER]

Have you heard the news? Meta Knight's been banned!

SUPA... SMMAAAAAAAAASSH BROTHEEEEEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Masahiro Sakurai and Satoru Iwata were, in 1999, bored, so they started making a fighting game that was nothing like anyone had ever seen at the time known as Dragon King: The Fighting Game, for the SNES. It was made in their downtime, so it was pretty low budget, and it looked terrible. Sakurai, finally showing a glimmer of sanity, thought the game would suck, so they moved it to the N64, dropped the name for Super Smash Bros, and got rid of the entire character roster and replaced them all with Nintendo characters. Sakurai however, still thought it sucked, and only released it in Japan because he thought it wouldn't sell very well. But he forgot one thing; that fact that these are Nintendo characters, in a fighting game, and seeing them beating the hell out of each other was enough for Japan, as it sold insanely higher then Sakurai's expectations. After selling 1,000,000 copies, Nintendo released the game internationally too, just to get even richer. Then, Melee followed suit on the Gamecube, becoming the best selling game on the system. 7 years and 7 million copies of Melee later, Brawl was finally released on the Wii, selling over 7 million in a matter of months. But it's been 4 years. Has Brawl aged well? Is it still fun to this day? Let's find out...

"Bugger."

According to the story mode, the characters are all trophies and turned back into them upon being killed, but can also be revived, thankfully. All the characters are just minding their own business, (Link finds the Master Sword, Yoshi is sleeping, Snake is sneaking, and Mario and Kirby are beating the $#@! out of each other) when the Subspace Army invades their universe. Since that means they can't beat the $#@! out of each other, (Which they apparently love to do) they all team up to take the fight to the Subspace menace. The Army, however, has a secret weapon; Subspace bombs. These deadly tools of mass destruction can coat massive amounts of an area in Subspace, a nightmarish realm where the Army thrives. Also, they have a timer which can't seem to make up it's mind. None of the characters speak for some reason, as if they'd rather let their fists do the talking. (Or, more likely, Nintendo didn't have the budget)

Link just might have a shot at this...

To say this game is pretty would be an understatement. This is one of the best looking games on the console. Characters are all well modelled and textures are smooth and crisp, rivalling some games on superior hardware. Backgrounds, something Smash Bros. is known for slacking on, have remarkably improved, with scrolling stages getting the VIP treatment. One stage in particular has Delfino Plaza from Super Mario Sunshine recreated in almost perfect detail and you're taken throughout the place via a floating platform. The Bridge of Eldin from Twilight Princess has a beautiful sunset that shines immensely, and a river is visible in the gorge that wasn't even there in the original game. Cutscenes for The Subspace Emissary are all prerended, so they look very nice indeed. The menu is also very well designed, and seems to bear resemblance to Kirby's Air Ride.

"Why am I not playable?!"

With over 30 composers performing for the game's soundtrack, there's a lot of variety. And why wouldn't there be? If you count every single piece of music, not just the ones played in battle, there's over 250 songs in the entire game. Of course, some songs are ripped straight from the source material. Not that that's bad. After all, Hyrule Field's theme from Twilight Princess probably wouldn't sound very good in dubstep. The arrangements of the songs are incredible, they're some of the best versions of the songs I've ever heard. The punching, sword slashing and explosions are all very crisp and clear, and the voice acting, limited as it may be, sounds excellent. The announcer sounds pretty epic, but nowhere near as awesome as Melee's announcer, who had a kick ass echo effect, which this one sadly lacks. Like many Wii games, it's incredibly loud, so remember to turn down the TV before you play!

"'Ey! Get outs of-a-my screenshot!"

If you're a noob and don't know how Smash Bros. works, let me give ya a quick run down. In other fighting games, you have a health bar that when depleted means you die, and they're usually one on one. Smash Bros, on the other hand, has up to four people in one fight and each character has a percentage that goes up as they take damage. The higher this percentage, the further those characters go when they're hit. It's a very interesting change from the norm, and it's probably the reason Smash Bros. was such a success. (Well, that and the fact that Nintendo characters are beating the hell out of each other) Story mode, aka The Subspace Emissary plays a lot like those old school arcade beat 'em ups, and Classic mode and All Star mode return from Melee, the latter of which can now be played via co-op. Not only can All Star be played in co-op, but The Subspace Emissary, Multi Man, Home Run, Target Smash, Event matches and the new feature called Boss Battles (Which lets you take on the bosses from TSE) can as well. Online multiplayer, a first for the series, is a little hit and miss. Granted, it's very fun to be able to play with others around the world, but the game lags considerably, and it only gets worse the further away you get from your opponents. My advice? Only play with people in the country you live in. Lag, at that point, will only result in a few frame rate drops. Not only can you battle online, but you can also play Multi Man and Home Run Contest. You can also make your very own battlegrounds in Brawl, although the level editor isn't very good... Still, at least there IS a level editor.

Yeah... ignore that last sentence I typed.

Overall, Brawl has aged well. In fact, it only seems to get better the older it becomes. With a stage editor, online modes, massive story mode, the vast amount of trophies and stickers to collect and roster of over 30 characters, Brawl never gets old. This is a must have title for any Wii owner's collection, although the game has sold over 9.48 million copies worldwide, so I bet that anyone who has a Wii also has this.

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Lasting Appeal: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

[THE DERP MASTER]

poop