"From the intro movie on, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a smash success."

Well, back in the summer of 2005, this reviewer caught wind of a game supposedly in development by a small studio in Japan, headed by a man named Masahiro Sakurai. This game was called Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and ever since then, this reviewer has been religiously scouring the internet almost every day, looking for new info on the up and coming game. And now, after heart-breaking delays and years of tireless waiting, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has now hit US shores with a proverbial smash (pun completely intended). But how does this legend of gaming really stack up? Well, here's how I see it.

GAMEPLAY:

For those unfamiliar with the world of Smash Bros., it is very hard to describe this game in terms of genre. At first glance it appears to be a fighter, and yet it's frantic four player free-for-alls would suggest a completely different style of play. As far as I see it, Smash. Bros has created its own exclusive genre. Known for it's ridiculously simple controls (especially compared to most fighters out today), Smash Bros. is a cinch to pick up and play within maybe five to ten minutes. What's more, there are now four, count 'em, FOUR different control schemes available off the bat for players to utilize. Smashers can now use the wiimote alone, the wiimote/nunchuk combo, the classic controller or an actual Gamecube controller to play this game. On top of that, players can customize their controls by mapping them out on their controller of choice and saving it under their name, which can be inputted easily into the game.

For the sake of continuity, I will do this review under the assumption that you are using a Gamecube controller. Movement of your character is done with the control stick, jumping is either up on said control stick or the X/Y button. Basic attacks are performed with A, and tilt and smash attacks are done with A and one direction on the control stick. The difference between tilts and smashes are simply how hard you tap/tilt the control stick in a given direction. Special attacks are performed with B and the control stick, allowing four different special attacks for each character. These attacks are often the most influenced by the character's gaming background, like Mario's fireballs, Link's bow and arrows and boomerang, right down to Samus' super missiles and charge beam. Sheilding can be done with the L or R shoulder buttons, and you can grab an opponent using a shoulder button and left/right on the control stick, or simply by pressing the Z shoulder button next to an opponent. Again, even these controls can be switched and modified to the player's comfort and convenience.

Although easily my favorite new addition to gameplay would be the devastating Final Smash. By breaking the randomly appearing Smash Ball during a match, your character will start to glow with a multicolored flaming aura, and by pressing the special attack button, they will unleash a screen filling attack, transform into some ungodly powerful form, or generally wreak havoc on the arena. Some of these are scarily impressive looking (Giga Bowser, anyone?) and some of them are just plain odd (Peach dances and I fall asleep? How does that work?) But in each case, the attacks are true to the characters and are delightful to watch.

As one would guess, this is the established control scheme that has stayed with the Smash Bros. series for a majority of its life. Nintendo definitely follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" policy that it follows with many of its franchises. And in the case of Brawl, that's just fine. Easy to pick up but difficult to master is the name of the game here in Brawl.

10/10

GRAPHICS/PRESENTATION:

After an epic introduction movie, complete with rendered cut-scenes and gameplay footage (all backed by an impressive full symphony orchestra with concert choir no less), Brawl immediately drops you into the main menu, which is very clean, simple, and doesn't fool around with many unnecessary details. In fact, the menus sometimes look almost stark compared to the detail you will see in actual fights. Each of the menu options are on big, differently colored buttons, making it easy to select the option you want the most. It's not artistic in particular, but it's no-nonsense and simple, and that's perfectly fine by me.

Right from the character select screen you can see the care and effort put into bringing each mascot to glorious virtual life. Each character box contains a piece of beautifully rendered images of the character selected. Their actual models in the game are impressively detailed as well, you can see the texture of the denim on Mario's overalls, the frayed edges of Ike's cape and the gleaming panels of Samus' armor.once you've finished selecting your character and stage, the true battle begins, and you really see how much work and artistic direction was placed in this game.

Each stage is brought to life beautifully, and while the Wii doesn't pack the graphical punch of the XBox 360 or Playstation 3, you can see some wonderfully detailed and animated work going on. For example, the Halberd stage places you on a flying platform that soars through the evening sky, crossing paths with Meta-Knights enormous battle ship, and eventually landing on the ships deck where you will fight opponents as well as the infamous combo cannon and claw on the Halberd's deck. Or in Delfino Island, you'll board a series of platforms as they take a leisurely tour of the island where Super Mario Sunshine was played, occasionally landing at different sections to give you a real in depth look at the island. Or in Lylat Cruise, where you will soar through asteroid belts, enter Corneria's atmosphere and even fly through the middle of a HUGE space armada battle. Each stage has its own character and at first you'll spend half the time admiring the sights and/or avoiding the rather whimsical obstacles each stage hides. The artistic direction for this game is more than enough to make up for the Wii's disadvantage in raw graphical power. This IS the prettiest game on the Wii today.

10/10

MUSIC/SOUND:

Audiophiles will die and migrate to heaven in masses when they hear the sounds this game produces. The sheer numbers of musical tracks on this game (over 300!) makes this the largest soundtrack in ANY videogame EVER made. From remixes of classic Nintendo themes to direct rips from retro games, all of which are either beauitfully orchestrated with live musicians or given synthesized remixes that please the ear, there is no doubt you will find music to love in this game.

One of the things that surprised me was the rather significant amount of voice acting in this game, at least compared to previous Smash Bros. games. Many of the characters have a witty one liner when initiating their Final Smash, or several quotes for their victory poses at the end of a match. Some of these voices (like Lucario, Meta-Knight or Sonic) are faithful to the character and are well done. But a couple of them (Pokemon Trainer, Pit, I'm looking at you two) are somewhat bland and do wear a little thin after a while. But overall, it is a nice touch, especially seeing how many Nintendo franchises (Legend of Zelda especially) appear to be afraid of real legitimate voice acting. Swords slash and clang wonderfully and big punches thud painfully, which electric shocks and energy attacks crash just right.

But between the ridiculously huge soundtrack and quality of all voices and sound effects, this facet of Smash is perfect, no argument.

10/10

REPLAY VALUE:

Anybody who gives this game less than a 10/10 in replay value is either lying to you or is just impossible to please. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Of the 35+ characters in the game, more than half are unlockable by various means, giving you plenty of reason off the bat to replay the different modes in single player and multiplayer several times. As an interesting side note. All of the unlockable characters can be obtained through playing the one player adventure mode, known simply as "The Subspace Emissary." It attempts to weave a comprehensible story as to WHY all these characters would be fighting each other (do we really need a reason) and ends up being surprisingly big, around 8 to 10 hours by my count.

There are literally HUNDREDS of unlockable trophies and stickers to collect in the game's different modes, each holding a little tidbit of Nintendo history. Word to the wise... you want to see some awesome trophies? Complete All-Star Mode with different characters, and you'll see some truly impressive work. And the stickers can also be used to power up your characters in the Adventure mode, so get collecting! Random CDs will also appear quickly during matches, pick them up fast to earn new music for stages!

And if you SOMEHOW don't like any of the 41 total stages Sakurai has made for this game, guess what? Stop complaining and go to the stage builder so you can MAKE YOUR OWN. Given, while the stage piece options are slightly limited at first, you can unlock more pieces by making more stages and fighting on them too, so get building! It actually is quite enjoyable and you can even choose the music that plays on your stage from ANY of the available tracks. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

It will take you a long time to unlock every little thing there is to find in this game. But you know something? You're going to have so much fun doing it that you won't even notice. This game is chock full of replay value and I suggest it to anyone looking for a true 100% completion challenge.

10/10

Score Recap:
Gameplay- 10
Graphics/Presentation- 10
Music/Sound- 10
Replay Value- 10 (hell I'd give it 20 if I could)

FINAL SCORE:
10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/08

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