Super Smash Bros. Brawl

"Best Wii game to date, but has its fair share of flaws which prevent it from really soaring"

My anticipation for Super Smash Bros. Brawl was not as high as many Nintendo fans, but I still wanted the game. It's likely that if you are reading this review and you haven't already purchased the game, then you're the same type of gamer as me. Occasional Wii player who enjoys a good game. First thing I'll tell you is that if you consider yourself a “casual gamer,” this game probably won't be your favorite, but you might still be able to get some enjoyment out of it. It doesn't use any of the friendly Wii controls that you are accustomed to having, and you won't stand much of a chance in the online modes without some serious practicing. Also, there is no tutorial to tell you how to play (although the instruction booklet does a good job of this). This review is written for the “casual gamer,” since I assume most hardcore Nintendo fans have already purchased, and are enjoying the game. Finally, before I get into the review I'll give a quick description of the game for those that are new to the series… basically it's a “side-scrolling” fighting game, where you play as various Nintendo characters from both yesteryear and the present. Each character has his or her own set of special moves that can be used against the other players with a few button pushes. There are lots of modes, but in general the person that does the most killing and the least dying wins.

Now onto the review… I've broken the review down into separate sections to make it more easy for you to follow, or to just get information about a particular topic.

Graphics: 7/10

Well, if you mention graphics, the first thing hardcore Nintendo fan will tell you is “GRAPHICS DON'T MATTER.” My opinion of this is slightly different, while graphics don't make a game, they sure can help improve the experience. Now onto the graphics in this game…. most game companies have realized this by now, but apparently Nintendo didn't get the memo: cutscenes are better if they have similar graphical style to the game.

In Super Smash Bros. the majority of the game looks exactly the same as its predecessor Super Smash Bros. Mele. Some will tell you this is fine, but I just don't understand how 7 years later they best they can pull off is “slightly better” than the previous game, even if the Wii isn't much more powerful. My second complaint here is the cutscene thing. Cutscenes were all pre-rendered and stored as movies. Sure they look amazing, but it sure takes away from the experience when you are playing a crappy game, you go through a door, wait for a load, watch a movie that looks nothing like what you can play, sit through another load, and then continue playing. It took me about 4 hours of play to realize that what was happening in the game was actually a continuation of what's showed in the cutscenes, that's how different things look between the two. Now for a casual gamer these details probably won't matter because you just want to play. And if you are the casual gamer, you will probably enjoy the graphics and cutscenes. But for me, and most people who are used to an immersive experience in the game, the graphics here just don't cut it.

Sound: 10/10

Chances are that everybody has played a previous Nintendo game. And chances are that the music from that game will have worked its way into this game somehow. The sound in this game is really amazing. There are hundreds of tracks from which to choose, and you can customize which tracks are played on which stages at which ratios. Also, there are many new recorded sounds for each character, and the new music that was made for the game is also amazing. All in all, the sound in the game won't disappoint anybody, casual or hardcore you will want to play this game on the loudest volume setting you can.

Gameplay/Controls: 9/10
If you've played a Smash Bros. game before, you probably don't need to read this section because nothing has changed too much gameplay-wise. It's the same “button-smashing” (or not button smashing if you know what you are doing) play as before, but everything is more balanced, and each character, despite their strengths or weaknesses has a fairly equal chance of winning. With 35 characters, I really gotta praise Nintendo for getting this balanced so fairly (although you will learn that there are still a few characters that realllly suck!!). They've also added more items (which you can pick up to add a crazy effect to the game, such as throwing a Pokeball at an enemy, and having it attack them). The gameplay is fair enough that a person who has never played before stands a fairly equal chance of winning a match as those who've played hundreds of games. Another amazing thing Nintendo did was giving you 4 ways to play. You can play with the Wii Remote turned sideways, with the Wii Remote “right side up” and the nunchuck, with the Wii Classic Controller, and with the Nintendo Gamecube controller. The system is brilliant, and allows you to change what every single button does for your particular setup. My only complaint in this section is that there are no motion controls whatsoever through the entire game, and it makes navigating menu's more of a pain than what you are used to on your Wii.

Offline Multiplayer: 11/10
I'll start with the positive here. Offline multiplayer is AMAZING. They've got “tournament” support for up to 32 players, with each player being able to VERY easily pick which controller they use, and play against a randomly selected group of people from the tournament, moving up the bracket to the championship. They've also got a simple rotation mode where up to 32 people rotate through playing random maps where the loser(s) or winner(s) swap out with people who are waiting (Don't worry, if you've only got 30 friends you can have 2 AI players fill the extra spots for you). It eliminates the “hey it's my turn you have played more” aspect of your party because it keeps track of everybody's playing time and keeps things fair.

Of course you can play just yourself against computer players if you don't have any friends over. They have varying levels of skill, and once again, the players have excellent AI, and they “know” how to play to the strengths of their character without ever feeling unfair. Playing you vs. three computer players is almost as exciting as playing vs three real friends because the computer AI is so smart, and the game is so balanced. All in all, this is by far the most solid Smash Bros. yet in terms of offline multiplayer.

Online Multiplayer: 3/10
Now it's time to talk about the Nintendo WiFi connection. To put it simply, it's just a mess. Either Nintendo hasn't played online on the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3, or they simply don't care. There is still no universal friends list, voice chat, text chat, or any online features you are accustomed to from your other consoles. Whats even worse is Nintendo's excuse… they claim people don't want these features, and that they aren't safe. The other two consoles have made it pretty obvious that people DO want these features, and they've also added parental controls to make it completely customizable to parents that their children can and can't do. To me, Nintendo doesn't add these things out of sheer laziness. But let's talk about what is in the game. First of all, there's the “play with anybody option.” If you choose this, you should get matched with 3 other people (whose names you can't see), and play brawl with them until everybody quits, or until the lag becomes so unbearable that you quit. The other option is “with friends.” With this feature, you can call your friends in real life, ask for their 12 digit friend code, enter it, have them to the same, and then play with them online. There is a very basic friends list, but if you've played on another console or PC you will be amazed at how primitive it is.

Additionally, you are more limited with modes and maps than with single player, and the netcode (the portion of the game code that connects you to the internet and other players) is so poorly written that Nintendo had to put this right in the instruction booklet: “It is normal for the game to periodically freeze while playing online.” Brawl is a more basic game than, say, Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4, both of which are consistently lag free, but Brawl is just plagued with lag. So much so that with most of your friends the game will be unplayable online. I wasn't expecting much from this game online, but it delivered even less than I expected. It's probably the worst Nintendo WiFi connection enabled game to date. Also missing is any sort of leaderboard feature, or a way to compare your scores to other gamers across the world (A feature which Microsoft and Sony REQUIRE every game to have on their systems). Now I know many Nintendo fans don't care about online, which is why I broke this section into two subsections, but for me this is really a huge turn off because I had planned to get a decent amount of play-time out of the online play.

Single Player/Campaign: 8/10
In addition to the wealth of multiplayer content we've talked about, the game also has a decent chunk of single player content. My favorite part is the "event matches," where you try to do other things such as race through a level or break all the pieces of a level in the fastest time possible. This really gives a nice break from the standard fighting component of the game. Also, there's an Adventure mode that takes about 8-10 hours to complete. As discussed in the graphics section, I wasn't a huge fan of the adventure mode just because the graphics are so much different between the cinematics and game. That being said, the actually playing of the single player is fairly fun, albeit VERY repetitive. Additionally, the boss battle at the end isn't even fun because the character is overpowered, cheap, and can just teleport away whenever you start hitting him. This doesn't detract from the game in any way, but it sure does make for an annoying way to end an otherwise fun adventure mode. Nintendo does give plenty of reason to play though, as you will unlock lots of characters and stages to play on the more you play single player modes. Also added to the game was an "achievement" system, which allows you to look at things of importance you've done, and more things you need to do to unlock stuff. This is a very cool feature, but would have been cooler with an online component such as is done on Xbox Live, and what is soon to be done with Home on Playstation Network, so that friends can see what you've done and compare it to what they've done, which would have added HUGE amounts of replayability for Nintendo fans as they work their hardest to break those records.

Overall: 8.0 (An average of the above scores)
Although a 8.0 may appear to be a poor score, the GameFAQs ratings scale defines it as “Great- fun to play, some minor but no major flaws.” I think if you go by this rating scale, the other reviewers are being too easy on the game, as I think everybody can agree it is far from “Flawless.” I'm only putting in this “disclaimer” because I know people will immediately be furious with a score of 8, and I want to clear it up. I'll leave you with a quick summary of the pro's and con's of the game:

Pros:
- Amazing offline multiplayer
- Best Smash Bros. game yet in terms of gameplay
- Great new items and characters
- Single player will take some time to beat and is fun for the most part

Cons:
- Possibly the most shallow and buggy online game ever (on ANY system)
- The graphics in single player actually take away the cool experience of the game
- No Wii motion controls (There is one exception, but its buried in the manual and not very fun)
- Terrible ending to an otherwise great Adventure mode.

?'s:
- Why can Nintendo still not figure out online play?
- Nintendo did an excellent job balancing characters, but why still leave a few that are extremely overpowered/underpowered?
- Why did Nintendo think it would be cool to put the best possible cinematics in the game, when games like Halo 3 (360), Call of Duty 4 (PS3/360) and Metal Gear Solid (PS3) have been getting massive praise for doing just the opposite?

If you've played Smash Bros. games before and liked them, I recommend a purchase of this game. If you're more of a casual gamer, and enjoy some of the more basic games the Wii offers, you might want to do a little more research or consider a rent before you throw down $50 on this game, which may not be what you are used to on the Wii, and may not be as welcoming as most other Wii titles.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/08, Updated 03/21/08

Game Release: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (US, 03/09/08)