Super Smash Bros Brawl - Wii
Super Smash Bros Brawl is the sequel to the Gamecube’s smash hit Super Smash Bros Melee, which in turn is the sequel of the Nintendo 64’s game Super Smash Bros. Having played all the games in the series I couldn’t wait for Brawl to be released but once it was out, I found myself missing Melee. I awaited Brawl patiently, like a Japanese schoolgirl waiting for the latest teen pop sensation to announce their world tour. Then Brawl came and I nipped into town during my frees and bought possibly one of the best games that would ever be released on the Wii. After completing the Subspace Emissary (the games story mode) and unlocking all the characters, I quickly set about finding my favourite character with which I could attempt to grind all my friends into the dust. I found that a lot of players suited my playing style and eventually decided Diddy Kong and Luigi were best for me. It wasn’t until I Brawled my friends that I realised I didn’t like the game.
Now don’t get me wrong, it is a very good game in it’s own right but I just can’t compare it to its predecessors and think it’s better, because it’s not. The Super Smash Bros games are all about fast paced fighting action where you and ideally your friends can fight against each other using characters from Nintendo’s rather large back catalogue.
Brawl seems to have replaced the fast paced action with a barrage of slow moving annoyances. Every character's speed has been reduced in an effort to make the useless Sonic the Hedgehog appear to be moving at his supersonic speeds. The fighting has also been replaced by a mad grab and dash for the overpowered items and the infamous smash ball.
My friends and I thought that the items were what was making the game annoying, so after we switched them off we found the characters irritated even more. If Diddy Kong’s not face hugging his opponents then Pit will be edge hogging and arrow spamming and Mario is useless in whatever situation may occur. The characters are just annoying no matter who uses them or what tactics they use. Now I know most of you are thinking that I’m thinking this because I got my behind handed too me several times over and over again, and however true this may be, it’s not the reason I find this game irritating, even my friends who used to enjoy crushing my spirit now felt they were just being irritating instead of owning me.
It just seems to lack the fun aspect that the previous Smash Bros titles had, I feel this has happened due to Nintendo’s family friendly act and thus making every game last 6 hours tops.
However, the game does host a range of features that would make any melee fan salivate at the prospect of it. Such as the co-op story modes and boss battles, not to mention the co-op target smash and more or less anything else. Almost all of Brawl can be done in a co-op mode with a friend, not too mention the stage design (as basic as it may be) it still allows users to create those dream stages that they always thought to themselves ”Wouldn’t that be awesome”. The fact it has an online mode where you can Brawl up to 4 people at once is something quite impressive for the Wii’s usual standards.
I thus conclude if you have never played a Smash Bros game before then this is a really good game, it gives you everything you would expect from the game, and a little more. All the characters are balanced and it would seem even someone with very little practice could beat a skilled player if they managed to get a hold of the right items.
