Similar to Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros Brawl (SSBB) was made nearly five years later after its previous title Super Smash Bros Melee (SSBM) (because it was a launch title for the Cube). While there was a Game Boy Advance version of this game, I am looking at the console system in general, not the hand held. I was really hyped up about this new title because Melee was such a fun and competitive game.  Brawl is basically a +1 version of Melee.  Bigger, better, badder.
Unlike Mario Kart Wii, the next in the series isn’t broken.  If you’ve never played a Smash Bros game before, think of it as this:  Put the world of Nintendo & Street Fighter together.  Mix those two together and you got SSBB! 

If you liked Melee or the original Smash Bros for the N64 you’ll enjoy Brawl.  Just like in Melee you have a HUGE roster to choose from although most have to be unlocked when you first play the game which isn’t difficult.  In Brawl you have over 35 characters to pick from.  That’s a huge list, you’ll have plenty of time playing the characters and finding out who want to stick with.  It’s interesting to point out that Brawl brings two exclusive new characters: Solid Snake from Metal Gear, and Sega’s very own Sonic the Hedgehog.  Both characters play very well (although Sonic is a tad bit weak and it’s difficult to KO someone I think Nintendo did that on purpose as a silly joke to Sega) and interact within the game great.  Most of your favorites such as Zelda, to Kirby, to Mario are also in Brawl.

Just like in the previous Smash Bros, there are many stages to choose from.  Some are remakes while others are brand new and present new obstacles.  One stage in particular is the Wario’s Ware stage where you have to interact with the stage at the right moments or your opponent will get bonuses.  One newer addition to stages is that you can create your very own stages.  This is a great add-on, although it is somewhat limited.  It would have been nice to be able to make scrolling stages and maybe have a few more objects.  Nevertheless, it’s a great add on to have and you can make some challenging stages (maybe a stage to give you up the upper edge against your friends)!

While playing the game, one of the main things I noticed about the game is the music, and there is a LOT of it and a LOT to unlock.  There are so many soundtracks it’s insane.  All in all there is about over 200 soundtracks in Brawl.  You can also apply whatever background music you want in stages too.  Brawl has a very impressive soundtrack.

As in the previous Smash Bros titles, all your various modes are here.  Vs, team play, multi man brawl, & homerun contest.  There are also brand new modes such as the Subspace Emissary, which is the adventure mode of Brawl.  Subspace Emissary is challenging and fun.  For once, Brawl has a story mode.  It’s not a detailed storyline but this is a Smash Bros game, it’s not expected.  You can play alone or team up with a fellow friend.  The interesting aspect of the adventure mode, is that most of the time you don’t pick your characters.  They are assigned to you.  This makes sense for the storyline as you play it.  This mode is also a good way to practice with most of the characters and get a feel for them.  Perhaps the only bad side about the adventure mode is when playing with two players.  If you are on your last life (you share lives) if player one gets KO’d the game ends even if player two can still continue.  Take caution though, adventure mode is no joke.  It’ll take you about 7-12 hours to finish it, it’s not short.  Another mode they added (which has to be unlocked first) is a boss rush mode.  And of course, when all said and done, there is also All Star Mode which pits you against all the characters in the game (once you’ve unlocked them of course :P)

Finally there is an event mode which was in Melee as well.  There are a few more events in event mode and you can pick your own difficulty.  Most the events are pretty challenging but even on hard mode they’re not that hard.  Compared to Melee they’re pretty easy to get through.  (Ugh damn Pikachu & the two Pichus event!).  There is also a co-op event mode were you and a friend try to finish events together.

 
Finally you do have the ‘infamous’ Nintendo’s WFC network in which you can connect online against other players or your friends.  Sadly, this is the only feature of the game that really hurts it.  First off, you can play against anonymous players but its very limited and it can take up to 10 minutes to get a game going.  What’s worse about this, is that matches only last for 2 minutes.  You can’t change this or join specific matches.  Personally, I like to play stock matches.  When playing against your friends, it isn’t that bad but it could have been done better.  Similar to local playing, you can setup up the rules (timed or stock), set what items to be used and so forth but that’s it.  You can’t make special custom matches (such as super sudden death which is one of my personal favorites).  It’s also important to note that whoever comes in last place can change the rules of the next match.  So whoever is the host of the room isn’t exactly the host all the time.  What makes WiFi limited is that while waiting for your friends to connect a timer is ticking down.  When this timer expires, the match will start.  Unlike Mario Kart Wii, you don’t have the luxury to start the game at your leisure.  As I stated in my Kart Wii review, Nintendo has a long road ahead of them when it comes to online gaming.  Lag can still be very bad at times and sometimes it can be great.  If you want true good matches, I suggest local game play if you can but it’s still pretty fun playing online against one of your fellow friends.  The only aspect that’s a negative for Wifi is that you can’t play your custom stages against your friends.  You can send stages to your friends so they can check out but that’s about it.  You would think just like in popular games like Quake or Doom if you both have the map of the stage you could play it.  Wifi however DOES offer you to play any of the regular stages it has to offer.  Since there are over 20 stages, that’s not a bad can of salsa.

Brawl has about the same amount of items as in the previous Smash Bros.  There are a few new items one to note is that of the Smash Ball.  When a player smashes this item, they can use a devastating attack to take out their enemy.  Some of the characters special smash attack is somewhat cheap and lame (meh Princess Peach *cough*) while others require actual skill to use like Link or Samus.  I’ve played with items sometimes but I have had a lot of players that state that items are ‘boring’ or for ‘noobs’.  I say if you’re a “pro” you can adapt to either situation easily.  There’s also a few new Pokémon that are in the poke balls in this game as well.

Overall if you really loved the previous two Smash Bros titles, you’ll most certainly enjoy Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii.  Anyone up for a match against my Toon Link? :) JUST BRING IT!

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Graphics: 1.000/1.000 (It’s Melee +1.  Great graphics!  No clipping of any sort or nastiness.)

Sound: 1.000/1.000 (Wonderful composed music.  It’s great to hear some old school tunes and remixed versions of them.  All I got to say about the number of songs is…WOW.  Collect those CD’s you see on the battlefield!)

Control: 1.000/1.000 (Nintendo did one right thing about this game and it was the control. You can have various control themes (Wii remote + numchuck, Wii remote only, Classic Controller, or even a Gamecube controller!) Most of us remember the Gamecube controller and most players pick that.  The control is exactly the same.  The sheer differences are that Z button is used to throw items not just the C stick.  The controls work great for all the control themes.)

Storyline: 1.000/1.000 Smash Bros never really did have a storyline but its good they try to add one in this version.  The storyline is simple and not confusing.)

Gameplay: 0.800/1.000 (Events aren’t as challenging [or cheap] in event mode The Wifi could have been also better.  Despite those factors Brawl is an excellent game.  It was well worth the wait for this game to come out.  Going to a game party?  This is the game to take!)

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