Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The Good

• Subspace Emissary mode is a great single-player and multiplayer adventure
• Tons of replay value (packed with extras and unlockables)
• Lots of unique characters from all over Nintendo
  
• Very balanced combat system
• Great graphics, both technically and artistically
• Incredible audio and soundtrack
• Online multiplayer
• Stage builder
• The ability to send screenshots, replay data, and custom stages to friends and even to Nintendo
• Great production values
  

The Bad

• Online multiplayer is limited and fairly broken

The Review

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the successor to the hit Gamecube game, Super Smash Bros. Melee. That, in turn, is a successor to the N64 hit original, Super Smash Bros. Over the ages, this chaotic series has evolved a fair amount. The original had a small cast of 12 characters and a handful of stages. Super Smash Bros. Melee expanded on that game with a larger roster of 25 characters, several more stages, tons more unlockables, and an enhanced fighting system. Essentially, it was still that 4 player mayhem that people had grown to like so much. Now, with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the game has improved and evolved further in so many great ways. This review will discuss the game's improvements, faults, and other subjects of the game.

The core fighting mechanic is still the same, but it's rebalanced so that every character and player has a fair chance at winning. The items and stage hazards help in making the game insane and fair for everyone to play. Even so, you still have the choice of turning all items off and having a flat stage where nothing happens so that players are able to show off their skills in a 1 on 1 match. The rebalanced gameplay is a vast improvement over Super Smash Bros. Melee. No longer do a couple of characters reign supreme as the top characters. Every character is given their own unique strengths and weaknesses and it's padded out so that the weaknesses don't have to mean your doom.

The audiovisuals part of the game are a major improvement and it's clear that a lot of work went it them. The graphics are colourful and bright, with lots of detail to characters and environments. Even with a massive load of mayhem happening, the frame rate refuses to budge at it's solid 60 FPS. The game is so successful, graphically, because of its masterful collaboration of so many different art styles. Hundreds of familiar tunes come together from different game universes and many are remixed or all new. You could buy this game simply as a soundtrack CD and you wouldn't be disappointed. This part of the game is so incredibly done, and not surprisingly so because of the several different game composers who have come together to make songs for this game.

The Super Smash Bros. series has always been best known for its incredible multiplayer. Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduces online gameplay, for the first time in the series. Even so, the online is also the weakest part of the game. "Basic Brawl", which randomly pairs you up with three others so that you can have a blast playing, doesn't work as it should. Due to issues of overcrowding with new players, this feature almost becomes non-functional and broken. When it does work, however, it's a blast to play. But the Wi-Fi service is also a step down from other Wi-Fi games. There are no leader boards, you can't add people from basic brawl to your friends list, and accessibility issues plague the online. Despite these flaws, playing with friends is well done. The options are very customizable. Playing with friends who don't live close to you, however, can cause lag problems. There's also no voice chat with friends. Overall, it's still a fun mode that makes the lasting appeal of this game even longer, even with it's problems.

Keeping that in mind, there are loads of unlockables and collectable items in this game that further increase the lasting appeal. Trophies and stickers are the collectable items in this game and they are fun to collect. As well, there is a "Challenges" window which gives you certain objectives to complete. These objectives can range from completing classic mode with all characters to playing 30 hours of Brawl. These challenges keep the game fresh and exciting. The rewards are usually rare trophies or rare stickers. It's also possible to unlock new levels and music from the challenges.

Along with that, you can create your own stages using the all new stage builder tool. You use preset items to make your own stages. You can set the size of your stage, the background, and what music plays there. You can also send these custom stages to friends or even submit them to Nintendo for mass distribution using the "Smash Service", which can be turned on or off when you log into Nintendo Wi-Fi.  Along with sending these stages, you can also send replay data and screenshots you have taken to friends or Nintendo. Replay data can be recorded after every game you play, as long as it's 3 minutes or less.

One of the bigger additions to this game is the "Subspace Emissary" mode. This is an epic and cinematic adventure platforming game which has an original plot. The cut-scenes are very well done and many can be amusing. Others can be very epic and intense. All of this is achieved without any bit of dialogue! The platforming in the game is done quite well. It's reminiscent to "Kirby Super Star" on the SNES. This is probably due to the fact that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was made by the same creator who worked on that game, Masahiro Sakurai. The Subspace Emissary has you traveling to different levels and getting you to reach the end of it, as well as getting any secrets and hidden items. There are some clever puzzles and many difficult battles that await you in this mode. You can set the difficulty as well, so if you're new to the game, you can set it on easy mode. If you want a really difficult challenge, you can set it to intense. This game mode, overall, is well done and a fun and lengthy platforming game on its own right.

The control scheme(s) are all done well. There are four different methods of control. These are: Wii Remote and Nunchuk, Wii Remote sideways, Gamecube controller, and the Classic controller. These methods take little time to get used to and don't have much learning curve to them. It's all fairly simple and well done. In the end, though, most players seem to have a tendency to play using the Gamecube controller as it's the control method that's most familiar to Super Smash Bros. Melee veterans.

Overall, Super Smash Bros. Brawl does not disappoint. It's a fast-paced and hectic game that forces split second decisions on you. The platforming game, "Subspace Emissary", is a great adventure mode and is a lot of fun. Online multiplayer is a blast, but not without flaws. There are also some loading times in this game but they aren't much of an issue. With that all being said, Brawl is a fabulous game with 35 unique characters to play as, 41 stages (including past Melee stages), and well over a thousand unlockables.