Here are my top ten reasons why you should buy Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
1. Addictive gameplay. Whether you're a casual gamer or in it for the online street-cred, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has something for everyone. The gameplay is addictive. It's easy to pick up and start wailing on the computer or a friend. Players will soon discover their favorite characters, master their moves and combos, and really dish out the pain in the most satisfying way I can think of. Because that's the premise of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. You control a classic character just about every gamer knows and loves, such as Mario or Link, and fight it out on a stage. The goal? Smash your opponent off the stage. Players will spend hours honing their skills with their respective favorite characters to utilize their strengths while compensating for their weaknesses. For example, Like is a fair fighter up close and personal, but where he really shines is all his mid to long range attacks using his boomerang, bombs, hookshot, and bow. To mix things up a bit, there are scores of fun items thrown into the mix ranging from laser swords, to pokemon, to home run bats, to proximity mines, and, probably, most players favorite, the dreaded hammer. Everything just works together so well, there is a certain elegance and elan to all the exploding chaos as four players battle for supremacy and bragging rights.
2. Game roster. There are 35 characters to choose from in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each player has his or her own distinct abilities and fighting style. One of the best things about the game is playing with all the characters to find which works best with your own style. My personal favorite are Link, Yoshi, Marth, and Kirby. But that's just me. My brother can rock Mario against anyone. I've never seen him lose whether fighting against the computer or a friend. Some of the other characters include, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Peach, Zelda, NES, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Fox, Samus, Luigi, and much, much more.3. New characters: The first Super Smash Bros had 12 characters. Melee boasted 26 and Brawl has, as I said, 35 characters to choose from. Some of the new characters added to the came were asked for by thousands of fans, and the developers listened and delivered. New to test their skills in the ring are Snake, Sonic, Lucario, Ike, Dedede, Meta Knight, Diddy Kong, and a few more. You'll just have to play to find out. I personally think Megaman, Bomberman, and Pacman would have been cool. Heck, I'm sure any one of us could sit down for a few hours and write out a list of characters that would have been perfect for this hit smasher.
4. Game controllers. When playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the player has 4, count em, 4 options in what kind of controller they use. The player can sport the Wii remote plus the nunchuk, or just the wii remote on its side, a classic controller reminiscent of oldschool nintendo and super nintendo, or a gamecube controller. And why? Because all the controls needed are RIGHT THERE. The only real difference is appearance. Just ask yourself: What kind of controller am I more comfortable with. I personally like the Gamecube and Wii remote + Nunchuk.5. Sub-Space Emissary. Now, most reviewers didn't care for the Sub-Space Emissary. But I for one enjoyed it and found it to be an entertaining add-on to an otherwise amazing button masher of a game. People, the Sub-Space Emissary isn't meant to be the the highlight of the game. It's just a little something extra. I think reviewers are being way to hard on it. Yes, it can be a bit tedious. But the story is actually somewhat interesting, the fighting is fun, especially co op, and the cgi cutscenes are beautiful. Not many fighter games out there even bother with a story mode. And those that do usually drop the ball. They have a boring, hour long story that's just not interesting and is downright lazy in its execution. I won't name any names, but I'm sure many of you have at least one game in mind that fits that description. Just give Sub-Space Emissary a shot, better yet, with a friend as it's much more fun that way, and just take it for what it is, padding. But good padding, a fun, entertaining distraction from hour after hour after hour of multiplayer.
6. Stage editor. The stage editor is..... kind of shallow when you get down to it. But check out what some people have done on youtube. If you have the patience and imagination, you can create some bizarre and really fun stages to mess around in as you and your friends smack each other around. I made a level that nearly encloses the whole stage, with just a small opening to knock a player out. What happens is, as you deal more damage, you get knocked back further and further from attacks. After a few minutes, you and your friends will be smacking each other around Dragon Ball Z style, smacking a guy and watching him blast through the air and crashing into the opposite wall and ricochet back so you can nail em again.7. Multiplayer. The number one reason people play this game. Up to four players can either team up or fight free for all with their favorite characters on their favorite stages. Let the chaos consume you. It's fast-paced, twitch-reflexies, and a surprising amount of strategy involved, will have you and your friends playing for hours and hours. It can get really competitive. There's almost nothing as fun as beating your friend to a pulp while trash and smack-talking him the whole time.
8. Stages. The stages are new and exciting. Besides a visual overhaul, my personal favorite being the stage that takes you through a Star Fox space battle, are dynamic. In some ways, the stage almost acts as a fifth player as the players are forced to move as the stage moves or risk falling off the edge and losing a life. Many stages throw twists and turns your way, such as a Captain Falcon stage in which the players must avoid racers while fighting. Good players will avoid the racers and knock their friends onto the track where they will get thrown around by all the impacts and possible even hurled off the stage. WIN. The Wario stage has been voted the best stage in the series by my friends and I. Just play it and you'll see what I mean, it's too good to spoil. Other stages switch it up, but purely in an aesthetic way, such as Luigi's haunted mansion. As the players duke it out, the Mansion crumbles and falls apart, only to rebuild itself.
9. Online mode. Online mode can lag a bit at time. And unfortunately, players can get kicked off and have to find a new match all over again. But when it works it's just as fun as playing with your friends at home. Maybe the person you're playing is your friend in New York while you're in California. All the more power to you. A cool thing is you and another player can fight it out and leave the third and fourth spots open so anyone can jump in on the fly and get in on the action.10. Final Smash. The cherry on top of a brutal and satisfying game. Whoever came up with the Final Smash game mechanic is a genius. Basically, a Final Smash ball is randomly thrown into the mix. The players will compete to break the ball first, and the one who succeeds, oh man. Duck and Cover has taken on a whole new meaning. The ball grants each player a super power pertaining to their fighting style and the theme of their game. For example, Link ensnares another player in a Triforce and then hacks and slashes away in rapid succession, causing enormous damage, and ending with a "smash", get it Final Smash? Make sense? That usually is an instant kill as the player is thrown out of the stage. Now, my only beef with Final Smash is that some character's FS is much better than others. Put simply, some characters FS only hits one player, while other character's FS can potentially hit anyone on stage and knock them off. Some are a bit harder to control than others. To this day I just can't seem to take advantage of Yoshi's or Sonic's FS.... GAH, and Yoshi is otherwise one of my best characters!
For its fun, addictive, and solid gameplay, and the hours you'll spend playing with your friends or online, not to mention the character roster and wacky stages, Super Smash Bros. Brawl earns a very well deserved 9 out of 10. Do you own a Nintendo Wii? Yes? Do you own Super Smash Bros. Brawl? NO???? Then go buy it!!!
