I know it took long enough, but here it is.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the most anticipated Nintendo games coming out ever and it delivers 100%. Just like its predecessors on the Game Cube and Nintendo 64, it takes many of the Nintendo favorites and pits them against each other to see who comes out on top, with each character having his/her/its own special moves. This time, the roster features 35 characters total with 21 starting and 14 unlockable. The basic idea hasn’t changed from Melee, beat up your opponents until they have a high damage percentage and then knock them off the stage (simple right). However, what has changed is the different ways that you could achieve that goal. Out of the 35 character roster, almost everyone is unique. None of the characters feel like an exact copy with different running/jumping stats like they did in Melee (Falco/Fox, Marth/Roy). All in all, all the fighters in Brawl are unique and you will sure find a character that suits your style. Each fighter is deadly if they are used correctly and none of them is overpowered (Meta Knight and Marth are the closest to being overpowered.)

Let’s try to tackle the endless features in the game, let’s start with the single player. The single player adventure, dubbed Subspace Emissary, is a much larger version of the adventure mode in Melee and it should take about 6-10 hours to finish, depending on the difficulty and what you consider done. The adventure…don’t rely on the story for much enjoyment, but the cut scenes are beautifully rendered! Don’t try too hard to understand them and just sit back and enjoy its complete and under randomness. Although it could sometimes be tedious, the Subspace Emissary gives the player the ability to unlock all the characters, with Toon Link, Jiggly and Wolf requiring some extra hunting, without playing through hundreds of versus matches (not that it’s an hard thing to do) Although not the best single player game ever made, the Subspace Emissary will keep the player occupied for a few hours, even just to see the next cut scene or take down the next boss. In addition, the game also features co-op play to alleviate the sometimes boring parts of the game.

All the goodness of even matches also makes their return. In addition, most of the events are now co-op, the last one being a co-op All-Star match with no recovery items. The event matches now also have their own difficulties settings, further increasing the replay value. Other stadium options include the return of the homerun contest and multi-man brawl, which can also be played co-op.

The part that is going to keep the player coming back for more is no doubt the multiplayer aspect of the game. This was the reason why 64 and melee were so popular. Many reviews complain about how Brawl is the “more of the same,” and it dare come to the table “without any innovation.” (Have they heard the term don’t fix what an’t broke). It is true that everything that made Melee great has returned, such as special attacks and chargeable smash attacks, but with the new characters and modifications to returning fighters, any old strategy must be at least modified to keep them effective. New features such as the footstool jump , gliding (for characters like Pit amd MetaKnight), and wall clinging adds subtle new strategies and furthers the playing of mind games for the pros (like me, of course lol). Perhaps the most innovative and fun addition is the Smash Ball, which breaks after repeated attack and gives the player the ability to unleash a Final Smash, a devastating attack that usually result’s in a KO to your opponent. Once the Smash Ball appears, all actions halts and the focus shifts to getting that little orb.

The stages are awesome very unique and offer their own style of play. Unlike other fighting games where the stage plays no part in the fighting, almost all of the Brawl stages fight back with many different hazards. Just like Melee, the players need to keep track of the stages and try to avoid their various hazards. In addition, some classic Melee stages make a triumphant return, such as the Temple. There are a total of 41 stages, 31 new and 10 Melee stages. Plus the option to build your own stages, the option’s for that, almost limitless.

Now let’s talk about Nintendo WiFi connection. It has its days sometime it will work great other days it’s un utter mess. Has Nintendo played online on the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3? There is still no universal friends list, voice chat, text chat, or any online features you are accustomed to from your other consoles. Let’s go ahead and talk about your online options, there’s the “play with anybody option.” If you choose this, you should get matched with 3 other people, and play brawl with them until everybody quits. The other option is “with friends.” With this feature, you can call friends, ask for their 12 digit friend code, enter it, have them to the same, and then play with them.

The graphics of Brawl is one of the best on the Wii and it runs at a nice 60 fps. Given the capabilities of the Wii, the Brawl graphics is much better than that of Melee with more explosions, more action and more chaos in general. So look at it and all its beauty!

The sound track of Brawl is probably one of the best in the history of video game. It includes original sound track as well as remakes of many (many,many) of the classics. With 313 different songs, all beautifully orchestrated. The songs alone might be able justify for the cost of the game.

One minor complaint is the loading time, but considering the large amount of content crammed into the game, it’s a very small criticism.

Some people are experiencing a disc reading error due to dirty Wii lens and Nintendo is offering to repair the systems for free regardless of the warranty. One more way Nintendo is so Awesome!

With new co-op play, new characters, new adventure, new items, assist trophies, new pokemons, new stages, Final Smash and all the extra contents, Brawl is everything that Melee was and much, much, much more. For the friendless, the game might not be that much fun, but with an almost perfect 4 player fighting game and solid online play, it can keep you and 3 of your best friends occupied for years to come.

My hats off to you Masahiro Sakurai!

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Visuals = 320
The game certainly is eye candy it has some of the Best Visuals on the Wii to date!
Sound =400
The sound track of Brawl is probably one of the best in the history of video game.
Fun Factor = 400
With friends setting next to you and it’s online capability’s it’s an Awesome and always a good time. When your alone you will have fun from just from trying to make sense out of the insane battles to trying to enjoy the Visuals it will be time well spent.
Mechanics = 360
Play anyway you want the controls are amazing no matter how you play and you can customize them conpletely to your liking.
Replay Value = 400
It is Smash Bros what else needs to be said!

Total = 1880

Grade = A+

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