Unless you've been living under a rock for the past, oh, nine or ten years, you've probably heard of Super Smash Bros, the amazingly popular fighting game from Nintendo. Now, I'm not sure how Nintendo got the idea to make Smash Bros (and I'm far too lazy to look it up), but I imagine it went something like this. One of the employees was working too many late nights and while he was slacking off he came across a site called fanfiction.net, and thought it was just the best damn thing he'd ever seen, so he took a random piece from the site and made it into a video game.
And that's pretty much what Smash Bros is. It's a fan service game. That's the only explanation I can think of for being able to match up a twenty year old Nintendo accessory against Samus in a skin-tight body suit on top of hover cars going approximately over nine thousand miles per hour. But just because it's got a concept like something out of a bad fan fiction doesn't mean it's terrible, quite the contrary, it's totally awesome!
Nintendo has latched onto the idea that if it ain't broke, don't fix it (something Sega needs to understand), which as one Mr. Yahtzee has stated more eloquently than I ever could, causes them to constantly remake the same game over and over again only bigger, better, and shinier. In this case, however, it works perfectly. The core gameplay has been polished to a shine with the addition of Final Smashes (giant super attacks that kill everything dead) and the balancing out of many characters. With the core gameplay taken care of, Nintendo basically spent their time adding a bunch of new stages, characters, and items, and the formula works very well.
Speaking of new characters, they all fit surprisingly well into the Smash Bros cast. I was a bit skeptical when I heard that Solid Snake, of all people, was going to be included, but he works very well, even if he is a little stupid for firing off rocket propelled grenades at his feet. Sonic the Hedgehog is a welcome addition to the cast, and it's good for him as well, because this is probably his best game in years. He also controls incredibly well, and it almost feels like a Sonic game. Well, one that didn't suck. I'm starting to ramble a bit, so let me just say that yes, the new characters feel right at home in Smash alongside the veterans. Oh, and Lucas totally sucks.
While the last game was a favorite of serious players (because we all know that video games are serious business), this game feels a lot more...shall we say, fun. The serious players, what with their wave dashing and Final Destination and tournaments, may balk at the addition of what one might argue are ridiculously unbalanced super attacks, the removal of wavedashing, and the nerfing of Fox, but I'm all for it. Maybe it'll get them to stop whining about how stage X is broken and should be banned and get them to actually enjoy the game, then maybe Hell will freeze over and I'll be named King of England.
This game also feels a lot more personal, like the game just met you through a personal advertisement and wants to get to know you better. Don't like the music on one stage? Good, change it. Don't want Final Smashes? Turn them off too. Don't feel like playing through Subspace Emissary to get all the characters? Spam versus matches. Want to play with every character as fire breathing metal giants wearing bunny hoods? The game will do that and more. It's like getting into the VIP Suite at a nice hotel, casually mentioning how you've always thought about getting a swimming pool full of Jello, and the staff kicks everyone out to start pouring in the mix.
However, the game is not perfect. The much-lauded Subspace Emissary adventure mode is rather bland and monotonous, which is weird because I rather enjoyed the adventure mode in Melee. I hate to say I don't like it because the cutscenes are really good, but it's all just running through random corridors fighting wimpy enemies and trying to find key X to open door Y to unlock random character Z.
The online as well is rather irritating. In order to play with anyone you know you have to exchange 12 digit codes, which doesn't sound that bad at first, but rapidly becomes annoying. The lack of voice chat is rather stupid. How much would it really hurt Nintendo to put out headsets for the Wii? Even Advance Wars on the DS has voice chat now, but in Brawl, even after consenting that yes, this person is my friend, and yes, we've both mutually exchanged these codes so we can play with each other, you're limited to four pre-made text messages linked to your taunts. While the lack of voice chat is frustrating in-game, it's infuriating in the lobby. I spent a good 10 or 20 minutes trying to get me and two friends in the same game, and I had to call both of them several times. Even when you finally get a game together, the actual online play has some serious lag issues. The two friends I was mentioning earlier both live within a few miles of me, and it felt like we were playing from opposite sides of the Earth on dial-up circa 1990 (don't try to blame it on the connection, we all have very fast wi-fi).
Oh, and the graphics are basically just Melee's with a tad more detail, but now I'm just nit-picking. The point is that Brawl is a really fun game, which you should pick up if you enjoy any Nintendo series, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic the Hedgehog, or video games in general. If you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to buy it. If not, go out and get one already.
Final Verdict: Buy it.
Now.
((Also, this is my first review, and I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks
))
And that's pretty much what Smash Bros is. It's a fan service game. That's the only explanation I can think of for being able to match up a twenty year old Nintendo accessory against Samus in a skin-tight body suit on top of hover cars going approximately over nine thousand miles per hour. But just because it's got a concept like something out of a bad fan fiction doesn't mean it's terrible, quite the contrary, it's totally awesome!
Nintendo has latched onto the idea that if it ain't broke, don't fix it (something Sega needs to understand), which as one Mr. Yahtzee has stated more eloquently than I ever could, causes them to constantly remake the same game over and over again only bigger, better, and shinier. In this case, however, it works perfectly. The core gameplay has been polished to a shine with the addition of Final Smashes (giant super attacks that kill everything dead) and the balancing out of many characters. With the core gameplay taken care of, Nintendo basically spent their time adding a bunch of new stages, characters, and items, and the formula works very well.
Speaking of new characters, they all fit surprisingly well into the Smash Bros cast. I was a bit skeptical when I heard that Solid Snake, of all people, was going to be included, but he works very well, even if he is a little stupid for firing off rocket propelled grenades at his feet. Sonic the Hedgehog is a welcome addition to the cast, and it's good for him as well, because this is probably his best game in years. He also controls incredibly well, and it almost feels like a Sonic game. Well, one that didn't suck. I'm starting to ramble a bit, so let me just say that yes, the new characters feel right at home in Smash alongside the veterans. Oh, and Lucas totally sucks.
While the last game was a favorite of serious players (because we all know that video games are serious business), this game feels a lot more...shall we say, fun. The serious players, what with their wave dashing and Final Destination and tournaments, may balk at the addition of what one might argue are ridiculously unbalanced super attacks, the removal of wavedashing, and the nerfing of Fox, but I'm all for it. Maybe it'll get them to stop whining about how stage X is broken and should be banned and get them to actually enjoy the game, then maybe Hell will freeze over and I'll be named King of England.
This game also feels a lot more personal, like the game just met you through a personal advertisement and wants to get to know you better. Don't like the music on one stage? Good, change it. Don't want Final Smashes? Turn them off too. Don't feel like playing through Subspace Emissary to get all the characters? Spam versus matches. Want to play with every character as fire breathing metal giants wearing bunny hoods? The game will do that and more. It's like getting into the VIP Suite at a nice hotel, casually mentioning how you've always thought about getting a swimming pool full of Jello, and the staff kicks everyone out to start pouring in the mix.
However, the game is not perfect. The much-lauded Subspace Emissary adventure mode is rather bland and monotonous, which is weird because I rather enjoyed the adventure mode in Melee. I hate to say I don't like it because the cutscenes are really good, but it's all just running through random corridors fighting wimpy enemies and trying to find key X to open door Y to unlock random character Z.
The online as well is rather irritating. In order to play with anyone you know you have to exchange 12 digit codes, which doesn't sound that bad at first, but rapidly becomes annoying. The lack of voice chat is rather stupid. How much would it really hurt Nintendo to put out headsets for the Wii? Even Advance Wars on the DS has voice chat now, but in Brawl, even after consenting that yes, this person is my friend, and yes, we've both mutually exchanged these codes so we can play with each other, you're limited to four pre-made text messages linked to your taunts. While the lack of voice chat is frustrating in-game, it's infuriating in the lobby. I spent a good 10 or 20 minutes trying to get me and two friends in the same game, and I had to call both of them several times. Even when you finally get a game together, the actual online play has some serious lag issues. The two friends I was mentioning earlier both live within a few miles of me, and it felt like we were playing from opposite sides of the Earth on dial-up circa 1990 (don't try to blame it on the connection, we all have very fast wi-fi).
Oh, and the graphics are basically just Melee's with a tad more detail, but now I'm just nit-picking. The point is that Brawl is a really fun game, which you should pick up if you enjoy any Nintendo series, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic the Hedgehog, or video games in general. If you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to buy it. If not, go out and get one already.
Final Verdict: Buy it.
Now.
((Also, this is my first review, and I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks
))
