The greatest game under Nintendo's name, and great with friends!
Let's start with the facts. I am not a fanboy by any measure, but I think this is by far one of the best games ever made. Even with Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake in, there are no disappointments to this game whatsoever.
The developer team has thought of everything.
There are a total of four control types. There's the Gamecube controller, prefered by veterans, the Classic controller, Wii Remote + Nunchuck combination and Wii Remote only, held sideways. Everyone will find their way to play.
Then, there's this simply amazing line of game modes. For example, you can see how many enemies you can KO before you get KO'd, try how fast you can KO a hundred enemies, try hitting a sandbag as far as you can, or hit as many targets as possible on a complex ground. And whenever you feel like it, you can simply take your friends on in a Brawl of all-stars, or venture through the epic and enemy-filled story mode that has tons of hidden unlockables. Of course, all of these modes can also be played co-op, and even online (although the online's a bit laggy depending on the distance between players).
Speaking about unlockables, the amount of stages, characters, and other gameplay-enchancing events is unbelievable. There are a total of 35 characters, which of some can transform, and if those are counteded as separate characters, there are a total of 40. The soundtrack includes a total of almost 260 songs, which most of you have to collect in game modes. There are 40 stages, which of one has an alternative form, giving a total of 41 stages. Did I mention you can build stages yourself too? As many as your Wii can hold. This nice feature makes Brawl even more fun. There are also collectibles you gather just for fun, like almost 600 trophies, and 700 stickers. The stickers are not entirely for fun though; they power up your character in story mode.
Now, let's list the pros and the cons.
The Good:
+ Multiple ways to control; customize to fit your playing style!
+ An unbelievable set of unlockables; stages, songs, characters, etc
+ The soundtrack, of course
+ Great job balancing the characters
+ The long list of fun game modes
+ VERY fun with friends
The Bad:
- Still some overpowered characters and bugs
-Online play can get very laggy
- Fanboys and spammers
Altogether, this game is a must for any Wii owner, as it stars the greatest of Nintendo stars in many different backgrounds and epic battles, and was definitely worth waiting for, even for Europeans. Five stars, definitely.