"All the greatness of Nintendo and its glory packed in one little disc"

On January 21, 1999 (or April 26 for the Americans and November 19 for the Europeans) Nintendo released a game that changed the face of fighting games. It consisted not only of everyone's favorite Nintendo characters like Mario and Link, but it was all in all a tribute to Nintendo's great success over the years. I doubt I need to say this, but that game was Super Smash Brothers. Skip ahead 2 years- Super Smash Brothers Melee is released and changes video gaming once again. A fun little experiment on Nintendo's part was immediately changed into a global phenomenon. As a GameCube launch title, nearly no GameCube's were sold without SSBM tacked onto the receipt. I could say the game was the same, but that would be undermining it greatly. Collectible trophies were introduced, new battle modes, the all new Adventure mode, around 1.5 more additional characters, almost twice as many stages and the list keeps going. Now the year is 2008. It's been 7 years since Melee came out. Let us see how it competes with its former glory

Graphics - 10/10

Brawl's graphics push the Wii hardware to the limit. Sure we don't have HD graphics, but that's a Wii problem, not a game problem. Sora. Ltd. did a wonderful job on every character's graphics. Sure they made exceptions in some places, such as keeping the same pokeball Pokemon from Melee but its easily overlooked compared to everything else. They went through the trouble of turning many pre-Wii characters into vibrant 3D characters. Pit Icarus was a goofy looking angel-boy. Now he looks like he belongs in a Final Fantasy game. Lucario was a cartoon sprite. Now he looks like he could be a fifth member of Starfox. Everything was changed, right down to the stitches on Mario's trousers.

Controls - 10/10

I'm going to keep this section short. There was nothing wrong with Melee's controls. Everything was fluid and easily connected. Now imagine that, except now you can edit the controls as you see fit. I personally have only used the GameCube controllers. I'm not a big fan of using the Wiimote. All I can say is be sure to buy a GameCube controller before buying this game. You're going to need it.

Storyline - 10/10

It's pretty much a fact of life that fighting games can't have storylines. It's always either "this many fighters are battling each other to obtain The Fighter's Cup/Soul Calibur/Cake/Honor/blah blah blah. Now, I present to you... a fighting game... THAT DOESN'T FEATURE THAT STORYLINE!
Without spoiling too much, I'll just say what we know from trailers. Adventure mode starts with Mario and Kirby "brawling" with each other. Suddenly a mysterious dark force called the Subspace Emissary (or SSE for short) invades and kidnaps Peach and Zelda from the stands. A creature named Petey blasts Mario far away, forcing Kirby to fight Petey. In the meantime, other Nintendo characters are experiencing similar events. Lucas and Ness are in a struggle against Wario. Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong are trying to stop Goombas from stealing Bananas. Lucario is busy trying to be more epic. The list goes on to incorporate more than 20 characters, all of which play an important role in stopping the evil force that threatens their world. All in all the SSE is great. Though it's short, you can always change the difficulty. But again, as I said before, fighting games tend to fail at making storylines. It's short and sweet, lasting no more than 8 hours really. However, that's not the real objective of Brawl. In fact, the addition of SSE is only one small aspect of the game.

Gameplay - 10/10

Super Smash Brothers was never meant to be a fighting game. If you think this game can be related to Tekken and King of Fighters, just leave. Now. The Wii was made to be a party console where everyone could play. This is indeed a party game. The point of the game is to not beat you opponent into a bloody pulp, but to raise their stamina percentage high enough so you can lay a powerful hit on them that can send them flying out of the stage. You do this by using basic attacks and special attacks. The gameplay isn't very different from Melee, but it has some additions. Mostly the Final Smashes. When a character breaks open a "Smash Ball", they gain an instant-use move that usually KOs everyone on screen. The moves tend to be character specific, such as Cook Kirby (which anyone who played Super Star or later would remember) and Zelda's Light Arrow. However, new moves were introduced such as Link's Triforce Attack (He apparently learned it by killing Necrid from Soul Calibur) and Lucario's Aura Blast (That move doesn't exist in Pokemon D/P). This game puts you on the edge of your seat with its fast-paced yet smooth-framed fighting style gameplay. You will literally be unable to move away from your seat, especially when you're online :P

Music and Sound - 10/10

38 composers worked on this game. Wow. Final Fantasy 12 only had... one. This means that there is enormous diversity in the game, all the way from smooth jazz songs to contemporary classical to electronic. For a list of just the BEGINNING songs, go to the Smash Bros' main site. Most songs are taken from older games and remixed into newer, crisper themes. Some are completely unique. I can't even come up with any words that can describe their beauty. All I can say is they better release a soundtrack of the game quickly. Everyone talks and has great voice actors. It's the usual sounds like UGH and GAH and whatnot, but most characters talk during their taunts. Even those that don't have voice actors (I'm looking at you Samus!) talk. The sounds are great too. Real sounds, yet cartoony at the same time. Almost something out of a comic book.

Replay Value - 10/10

This is a fighting and party game. Party games are meant to be short, but are meant to be repeated over 9000 times. No versus match is the same and now since we have online play (Including RANDOM play!) The brawling will have no end. If you get sick of Versus mode, you can go do the stage editor, play the arcade coin shooter, test some Masterpieces, play Multi-man or just chill to the full soundtrack. This game isn't going to leave your Wii for a while. You might as well put your PS3 and Xbox in the cabinet for now too. When your mom yells at you to stop playing, at least you can say you cleaned the floor.

Conclusion

This game is a tribute to the greatness that is Nintendo. Anyone can learn to master and love this game, much like how we veterans did back in 1999. This game will never lose its appeal, and will never become boring. The fun never stops when you're brawling with your friends, online or even alone. If there is one game that can compete with the top selling Wii game "Wii Play", it is this. Buy this game when it comes out in America. You won't regret it.

P.S - I had to include something about all the negative reviews we've been seeing on Gamefaqs. Though there are many types of Smash players, they tend to fall under two categories- Elitists and Casuals. Elitists are the ones who love tourneys and use stuff like wavedashing to their fullest capabilities. Casualists, like myself, are more laidback and play the game for fun, and maybe attend a tournament or two. The Elitists may be a little disappointed at this game, since every character seems balanced and how Fox and Falco are now nerfed. This game is the real deal, and will stand up to the test of time. Keep in mind that Famitsu, the harshest video game reviewers ever, gave this game a 40/40. An honor only 6 other games have received. I assure you, this game will go up as one of the greatest games in the history of gaming.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/08, Updated 02/11/08

Game Release: Dairantou Smash Brothers X (JP, 01/31/08)