Smash Bros Brawl
Much of my Spring Break's evenings so far have been consumed by hanging out with friends and playing the most anticipated game release of the month... or perhaps the year.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen... I have finally had the pleasure to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I think I enjoyed it a great deal. I think.
I should be gushing with sentiment over this game. I have so many memories of the original for N64, purchasing Melee for Gamecube (my first Gamecube game, and my only one for about 5 months... so you know I played it to death). But coming away from it, the word "innovation" does not really jump out at me in describing it in any way.
The game experience of Brawl is not much different from Melee. The Wii is not leaps and bounds better than the Cube under the hood, so the graphics are improved over the last gen but just a bit. The music is great. The ability to use a Gamecube controller to play Brawl will automatically become the preference for most veteran players, because the Wii-mote control schemes are a little rough. So, in a sense, you sensory (auditory, visual, and touch for that matter) experience could roughly resemble playing Melee on the Cube.
The game interface isn't much different, but it has a pastel schtick to it that fits in with the whole Wii-white motif. The tone that the Easter-inspired interface sets is one that seems to permeate through the whole game: spectacle (whereas the black motifs of Melee seemed to evoke an emphasis on actual combat). It is quite easy to navigate and find all the options and modes, and after designing a level or two in the custom area, I give that a thumbs up as well. So overall, the game is constructed well.
The roster deserves some commentary too. Overall, it's a great roster. Pretty much every character worth keeping from Melee has made a return (Roy and Young Link have close analogues with Ike and Toon Link, and Lucario is a distant echo of the much more "eh" Mewtwo), and the new additions are all fairly unique and well thought out. Many old characters' movesets have been slightly altered and rebalanced, though I think some have been quite unfairly depowered (for instance, Link and Samus have lost a bit of the speed they did have and now it's much harder to get off an attack with them when in the thick of it with quick characters like Sheik, Metaknight or Pikachu). After playing for a while, I found myself using Ganondorf, Metaknight, Lucas and R.O.B. quite a bit, but I did spend a fair amount of time with Sheik/Zelda, Link, and Ike. I also enjoyed the few short encounters I had with Dedede and Wolf too.
Concerning the Nintendo characters in the game, I think the additions of Dedede, Diddy Kong, Pit, Olimar and Metaknight all nicely expand the roster. But, seeing a second Ness (Lucas), three Foxes (Falco's a quicker Fox, while Wolf is a slower one... absolutely no variation in movesets though, even the Final Smashes!), and the lack of a distinct moveset for Ganondorf (who is the slow Captain Falcon), it looks as if the complaint about clone characters that Melee suffered from is still part of the game here. At least the three-Fox formula mixes it up a bit with that third leg, and Ganondorf now moves so slowly he can't be confused for Falcon. Still, distinct movesets would have been nice. But, no complaints on the new, unique characters... I am really stumped to find another in-house character that I'm dying to add to Smash Bros 4 as of now.
Much talk was given to the addition of Sonic and Snake to the game, being from companies that aren't Nintendo first or second party... I honestly didn't play as them very much but my initial impressions weren't too favorable. I guess you can't make other companies' characters TOO good, lest they go buy PS3 to play Metal Gear Solid 4. But, they're solid (except for Sonic having one of the most cheap final smashes in the game) and will find an audience of players who feel comfortable with them. What concerns me is this... if you brought in Sonic, why not bring in another character or two from the Sonic brand? Knuckles would be an interesting one, being half-speed, half close combat. Or, Robotnik as a heavy (or even just a boss for Subspace Emissary!).
Or, why not let some other third parties join in? Hudson and Capcom have good relationships with Nintendo, so why not have Bomberman or Megaman join the fight? Or, get Konami to donate a Belmont to represent the castlevania franchise?
Oh, and for Nintendo fans who are unaccustomed to long load times (something Gamecube thrived on not having), you'll have that awkward moment where a load time goes on for 5-8 seconds frequently. Not a dealbreaker, but it's noticeable. Sony and Microsoft people will not have a problem with it.
What it comes down to is this: an extended roster, new levels, a fleshed out single player, and some other fun add-ons (like new collectibles, challenges and online play)
I think the final verdict on Brawl is that it should be considered an update... or maybe a stopgap-type game, which is really unfortunate because six and a half years passed since Melee hit stores... that's due time for a full new game to hit stores. Even the delay-plagued Zelda franchise saw Twilight Princess hit only four years after the previous console release in the series.
Now, is it worthwhile? Despite my criticisms, it is a worthwhile game to play and purchase. It may even make me finally get a Wii! It's imperfect, but not in a way that really makes it undesirable. It's a whole lot of fun, and it will keep you busy for WAY too long (just co-op break the targets mode kept my friends and I occupied last night for hours). There's way too many modes to get bored with, because by the time you exhaust one, another looks really appealing.
I think history will look back on the franchise as being built in the late N64 days, it came to full realization with Melee, and Brawl updated it with new ideas, even if it didn't push it forward by leaps and bounds.
Let's hope that Smash Bros 4 comes out before 2014, and that it has that X factor to make it feel as perfect as Melee did.
Final Verdict: Definitely play it. 4 out of 5 stars.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen... I have finally had the pleasure to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I think I enjoyed it a great deal. I think.
I should be gushing with sentiment over this game. I have so many memories of the original for N64, purchasing Melee for Gamecube (my first Gamecube game, and my only one for about 5 months... so you know I played it to death). But coming away from it, the word "innovation" does not really jump out at me in describing it in any way.
The game experience of Brawl is not much different from Melee. The Wii is not leaps and bounds better than the Cube under the hood, so the graphics are improved over the last gen but just a bit. The music is great. The ability to use a Gamecube controller to play Brawl will automatically become the preference for most veteran players, because the Wii-mote control schemes are a little rough. So, in a sense, you sensory (auditory, visual, and touch for that matter) experience could roughly resemble playing Melee on the Cube.
The game interface isn't much different, but it has a pastel schtick to it that fits in with the whole Wii-white motif. The tone that the Easter-inspired interface sets is one that seems to permeate through the whole game: spectacle (whereas the black motifs of Melee seemed to evoke an emphasis on actual combat). It is quite easy to navigate and find all the options and modes, and after designing a level or two in the custom area, I give that a thumbs up as well. So overall, the game is constructed well.
The roster deserves some commentary too. Overall, it's a great roster. Pretty much every character worth keeping from Melee has made a return (Roy and Young Link have close analogues with Ike and Toon Link, and Lucario is a distant echo of the much more "eh" Mewtwo), and the new additions are all fairly unique and well thought out. Many old characters' movesets have been slightly altered and rebalanced, though I think some have been quite unfairly depowered (for instance, Link and Samus have lost a bit of the speed they did have and now it's much harder to get off an attack with them when in the thick of it with quick characters like Sheik, Metaknight or Pikachu). After playing for a while, I found myself using Ganondorf, Metaknight, Lucas and R.O.B. quite a bit, but I did spend a fair amount of time with Sheik/Zelda, Link, and Ike. I also enjoyed the few short encounters I had with Dedede and Wolf too.
Concerning the Nintendo characters in the game, I think the additions of Dedede, Diddy Kong, Pit, Olimar and Metaknight all nicely expand the roster. But, seeing a second Ness (Lucas), three Foxes (Falco's a quicker Fox, while Wolf is a slower one... absolutely no variation in movesets though, even the Final Smashes!), and the lack of a distinct moveset for Ganondorf (who is the slow Captain Falcon), it looks as if the complaint about clone characters that Melee suffered from is still part of the game here. At least the three-Fox formula mixes it up a bit with that third leg, and Ganondorf now moves so slowly he can't be confused for Falcon. Still, distinct movesets would have been nice. But, no complaints on the new, unique characters... I am really stumped to find another in-house character that I'm dying to add to Smash Bros 4 as of now.
Much talk was given to the addition of Sonic and Snake to the game, being from companies that aren't Nintendo first or second party... I honestly didn't play as them very much but my initial impressions weren't too favorable. I guess you can't make other companies' characters TOO good, lest they go buy PS3 to play Metal Gear Solid 4. But, they're solid (except for Sonic having one of the most cheap final smashes in the game) and will find an audience of players who feel comfortable with them. What concerns me is this... if you brought in Sonic, why not bring in another character or two from the Sonic brand? Knuckles would be an interesting one, being half-speed, half close combat. Or, Robotnik as a heavy (or even just a boss for Subspace Emissary!).
Or, why not let some other third parties join in? Hudson and Capcom have good relationships with Nintendo, so why not have Bomberman or Megaman join the fight? Or, get Konami to donate a Belmont to represent the castlevania franchise?
Oh, and for Nintendo fans who are unaccustomed to long load times (something Gamecube thrived on not having), you'll have that awkward moment where a load time goes on for 5-8 seconds frequently. Not a dealbreaker, but it's noticeable. Sony and Microsoft people will not have a problem with it.
What it comes down to is this: an extended roster, new levels, a fleshed out single player, and some other fun add-ons (like new collectibles, challenges and online play)
I think the final verdict on Brawl is that it should be considered an update... or maybe a stopgap-type game, which is really unfortunate because six and a half years passed since Melee hit stores... that's due time for a full new game to hit stores. Even the delay-plagued Zelda franchise saw Twilight Princess hit only four years after the previous console release in the series.
Now, is it worthwhile? Despite my criticisms, it is a worthwhile game to play and purchase. It may even make me finally get a Wii! It's imperfect, but not in a way that really makes it undesirable. It's a whole lot of fun, and it will keep you busy for WAY too long (just co-op break the targets mode kept my friends and I occupied last night for hours). There's way too many modes to get bored with, because by the time you exhaust one, another looks really appealing.
I think history will look back on the franchise as being built in the late N64 days, it came to full realization with Melee, and Brawl updated it with new ideas, even if it didn't push it forward by leaps and bounds.
Let's hope that Smash Bros 4 comes out before 2014, and that it has that X factor to make it feel as perfect as Melee did.
Final Verdict: Definitely play it. 4 out of 5 stars.