#510: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii)

Let's begin with what works really well here. Smash Bros. itself is pretty much unchanged - this is for the better - with the improvements coming from expanding on what was already working so well before - more characters, more levels, more modes, final smashes (which are somewhat hilariously unbalanced from character to character, but whatever). The level of polish on display here is also really pretty incredible, especially the rather dazzling soundtrack, which displays both an astounding quantity and superb quality (at least a good chunk of the time) - rivaling some of the best stuff Overclocked Remix has done. This is in contrast to the soundtrack in Super Smash Bros. Melee, which I always felt, while having some good arrangements, sounded overall too samey and also often too busy. The graphics have been criticized for being too similar to Melee, though I feel people are maybe misremembering what Melee looked like - things are both far more detailed here and also display a hell of a lot more flourishes and effects. The customization features available are also pretty staggering, even if the stage builder is pretty limited. The new stages, though appearing to be a bit too static and similar as they were being introduced actually turned out nearly uniformly excellent.

Perhaps most compelling here is the volume of Nintendo on display - there are Nintendo characters and references coming out of pretty much every possible orifice here. Some like to note that, would Smash Bros. be as well received if this wasn't the case - my reply is that 1) of course it wouldn't and 2) that's a dumb thing to say in the first place - Madden wouldn't be as appealing without the NFL License, but to say that how a license is used (or if it is used effectively) is irrelevant to the discussion of the merits of a title is asinine. The presence of characters that players are attached to (or to teams and players a sports fan is attached to) brings value to the package - plain and simple.

Not everything is wonderful with the new additions here, however. The masterpieces mode, where demos of the classic titles whose characters are featured in Brawl can be played, is hampered by the onerousness of trying to play them - the player is removed from the game, loading is slow, and the demos prove so ludicrously short as to make the entire exercise a farce. Combine this with the NOA's galling decision to remove EarthBound from the US release - as part of their 14-year strategy of kicking EarthBound fans square in the balls at every possible opportunity.

That's a fairly minor feature and complaint - I'd say the music alone more than atones for it. Less minor is the fact that SubSpace Emissary, Brawl's big new single-player mode pretty much sucks balls. The problem with it is really very simple - Smash Bros. controls were never ever intended for use in some robust platformer. Expanding on that, the problem isn't actually the platforming - which they were smart enough to design with character mobility in mind - but with the sorts of tasks they present to the player as part of this platform game. Because actual platforming needed to be scaled back, we instead get to just fight a shitload of enemies, ignoring the fact that the enemies one encounters come in two varieties - so easy as to just be annoyances, or so frustrating as to drive the player to quit. Really, what part of what people liked about Smash Bros. indicated that what people wanted was to fight a parade of mooks who all rely exclusively on pattern attacks? Whose idea was it to present boss enemies that the player cannot even smash off the screen? That SSE isn't fun is a shame since it, on paper, would seem an ideal way to make unlocking everyone interesting, as it stands it is mostly a chore (although the crazy-excellent cut-scenes nearly save it).

Special note must be paid to the community built around Smash Bros. They certainly helped illustrate some nifty phenomenon, namely how insatiable fans can be, best evidenced by the palatable disappointment throughout the community when launch came and it turned out there weren't any new out-of-left field characters. This, after the newcomers list already included Solid Snake, Sonic, Captain Olimar, Meta-Knight, Dedede, Pit, Wario, Pokémon Trainer, Diddy Kong, R.O.B. - all without analogues to previous combatants. We're gonna discount these additions because there are three Fox McCloud's? The reason people were disappointed is simple - all these awesome additions were announced too soon (some would say it's because the late unlocks in Brawl are lame - I'd point out that Melee's final unlock was Game & Watch).



In the world of ludicrous expectations, Brawl could be considered to fall somewhat short - online, I hear, doesn't work particularly well - and I suppose they could of added another 20-30 characters (all from 3rd-party series), but I have a hard time bringing myself to be that upset. Even the legitimately disappointing SubSpace Emissary can't get me that down on the whole package here.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Sora Ltd.
Released: 3/9/2008
Obtained: Launch Day (at midnight!)

9.0/10