Review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Fighting
Number of Players: 1-4
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Winter 2008
Official Website:

Rating : 9.5

Review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Let me begin by getting straight to the point. If you enjoy multiplayer games in any capacity, buy this game. In fact, if you have any friends at all, purchase Super Smash Bros. Brawl (SSBB). Even if your friends don’t like video games, SSBB will still provide them with hours of enjoyment. While many of the multi-player modes (such as Brawl and Handicap) and single-player modes (such Classic, Events, Stadium: Target Smash! and Training) are going to be immediately familiar to old fans of the series, there are also some new modes as well, such as Tourney and the Subspace Emissary. Tourney is for when the gamer has a big group (at least fifteen or so) of friends that want to play against each other in SSBB. The Tourney lets you set up the rules, such as the number of players and CPUS you want to play in each match. Subspace Emissary, on the other hand, is an adventure mode, with a few RPG aspects thrown in for good measure. The gamer starts off with only two characters that they are allowed to control. As the gamer works their way through various stages, they get to use more characters in the Subspace Emissary. They also collect trophies and stickers, the latter of which can be used to increase the character’s stats.

From the Subspace Emissary mode to the multi-player melee battles to the single player campaigns, there is something for just about everyone in SSBB. The game makes reference to almost every genre of game, short of cooking simulation (and frankly, I’m surprised there one). There are hundreds upon hundreds of trophies to get, music and stages to unlock, and stickers to collect. I’ve spent about seventy or so hours on SSBB total, and I still haven’t come even close to unlocking everything. I really appreciate how Nintendo strove to create enough content so that there is always something new to unlock in the game, no matter how many times you play it. The problem with having so much content, though, is that some of it is not as polished.

Though most of the other modes are highly enjoyable, Subspace Emissary does not stay fun for long. There are some cool new enemies to fight and the idea of playing through stages in a side-scrolling manner similar to Mario is a great one. The mode is very long, which is fantastic, but it is also very tedious, which is unfortunate. The enemy models aren’t that creative and the levels (and backtracking through them) eventually become bland. It’s a blast for a few hours, but after that, it just becomes a chore. The cut-scenes are well-done and graphically impressive, but the story-line is well, I’ve gotten more involved in infomercials.

Playing online also has its drawbacks. There is a great deal of lag and the interface for setting up online matches is unclear and confusing. Another mode that was a bit disappointing was Target:Smash! This mode features breakable targets, strewn throughout a perilous stage, that you must hit carefully with your chosen character. Now, in the old Super Smash Bros. games, the placement of the targets used to be different for each character. The targets were specialized so that in order to break them, the gamer had to master the character’s different attacks. As a result, playing Stadium: Target: Smash! helped the gamer to learn how to better utilize the character’s moves. In SSBB, though, the targets are no longer set up differently for each character. Though the mode is still a challenge, now there isn’t as much of a point to it, and consequently, it’s not as entertaining.

The problems with these two modes aren’t too serious, though., as there are still so many other inventive and addictive modes to play. In addition, SSBB offers a wealth of new stages and characters. With its fluid and familiar controls and immensely gratifying game-play, SSMB is non-gamer and new-gamer friendly. Reading this, it might sound like SSMB is easy. This is true, on a certain level. SSBB isn’t hard to pick up and play. Using the Wii remote to play makes things much more difficult, though. The Wii remote controls are frustrating and so awkward. Luckily, SSBB also offers the same control scheme as on previous entries-you use the C stick and various combinations of the A or the B button and the left control stick to pull off attacks. The goal, as in all the series, is to send your opponent flying off the stage before they can do the same to you. Even if you haven’t played a game in the Super Smash Bros. series before, the controls will feel natural in no time.

However, beneath the game-play’s accommodating surface, there is actually quite a good deal of challenging depth. Mastering and actually learning the different character’s moves takes practice, and in the case of some characters, practice, practice, and more practice (some of the new characters-such as Captain Olimar, from Pikmin, are difficult to learn). Also, characters such as Captain Olimar, Snake, and Sonic are welcome innovative creations that give a new edge to combat.

SSBB offers so much to do that a few flaws don’t keep it from being the best multi-player Wii game out yet (and one of the best multi-player games for any system, really). While there were a few stages in the melee version that looked a little rough, overall, the graphics have been refined since the Gamecube version and combat is as gorgeous and fast as ever. The music only gets the adrenaline going further and (as mentioned earlier) there are so many songs to unlock, you are bound to find something you want to listen to while you play! Also, while some of the new aspects of SSBB are a bit stale, there are many other fresh elements that are perfect additions to the series. For instance, SSBB introduces the ability to create your own levels. It also has some very creatively designed levels (the WarioWare level and the PictoChat level are two of my favorites). And perhaps most importantly, SSBB finally-finally!-allows you to play online with anyone you want. SSBB belongs on every gamer’s shelf, period.