Its still the best 4 player game on the market...
Best Feature: Same character smashing gameplay with new additions, that all work! Fantastic multiplayer as usual. Snake! Sonic! Pit! And a Charizard!
Worst Feature: Wow...gotta think hard about this one...This is my fanboyish nitpicking but there are characters I'd still like to see. Let's see, Peach is here but no Daisy...Sonic is here finally! But no Tails or Dr. Robotnik (Or Eggman if you prefer, Death Egg Zone would be a baddass stage) and why is Little Mac just an item and not playable?!
I know this review is fast, but I've spent a stupid crazy amount of time with this game since I got it midnight on Saturday, (roughly 4 hours a day or more) so I think I can review it. And it is fantastic! Like you expected anything less.
The game is upon first glance, exactly like Melee for the Gamecube, only with a few new faces. This is great, it allows you to dive right in if you want to use the Gamecube controller. There are a few new control options. The Classic controller, The Wiimote alone and the Wiimote-Nunchuck combination. The Wiimote alone mashes the buttons together, I'm not a fan. While I initially went for the Gamecube Wavebird, I tried the combination of the Wiimote and the Nunchuck...and after some customization (Turn the tap up to jump off on the nunchuck, set it to Z, trust me) I actually prefer my pink skinned Wiimote to my GC pad.
10 minutes later and I was right at home, the world would once again come to know Peach and her mighty ass-bash! I played the single player affairs for awhile, Classic mode (The normal arcade mode from Melee), The Challenges (Special Objective Missions) and the new Space Emissary Mode. (Lotsa neat sidescrolling stages, and the best way to unlock stuff!) Those are all awesome, but that's not where this games best parts lie.
They lie of course, in the multiplayer brawls, which are completely as awesome as you remember. But while these seem pretty much the same, the gameplay itself has been tightened up. I don't find myself losing myself off the side of the stage as much, I don't feel almost helpless being Peach in a battle full of Bowsers and Donkey Kongs. Play smart with her and shes unstoppable and quite annoying to the opposition. Items are one of her biggest allies.
Speaking of which, there are so many new items to be seen. Huge bombs, time slowing balls, a spaceship and new baddass assist trophies that took me by so much by surprise the first time I saw them, I stopped moving to watch the action, which was a bad idea when a polygonal Andross from the SNES Star Fox started spitting tiles at me. And the best one I've seen so far was when Mr. Wright from the SNES version of Sim City appeared and proceeded to land a skyscraper on top of me. (Not a very good city planner are we?!)
But most importantly is the addition of the Final Smash item. The moment one appears in a multiplayer game, all hell breaks loose as a mad scramble to break it occurs. Everyone is kicking everyone's ass in an effort to get it, for the rewards are great. The right to do your ultimate attack. This adds a more hectic pace to fights immediately.
This game is worth the $50 purchase price for the multiplayer element alone, especially since its online now. The multiplayer is so irresistible, that during my first multiplayer session, which only had 3 players to start, my older brother who never plays any games except for Madden (and Melee) rarely immediately wanted to jump in to smash as his favorite two Ice Climbers. That's the beauty of a fighting game like Brawl, hardcore players and the casual can play together, everyone finding something they love. Well worth the line I had to stand in to get it.
Worst Feature: Wow...gotta think hard about this one...This is my fanboyish nitpicking but there are characters I'd still like to see. Let's see, Peach is here but no Daisy...Sonic is here finally! But no Tails or Dr. Robotnik (Or Eggman if you prefer, Death Egg Zone would be a baddass stage) and why is Little Mac just an item and not playable?!
I know this review is fast, but I've spent a stupid crazy amount of time with this game since I got it midnight on Saturday, (roughly 4 hours a day or more) so I think I can review it. And it is fantastic! Like you expected anything less.
The game is upon first glance, exactly like Melee for the Gamecube, only with a few new faces. This is great, it allows you to dive right in if you want to use the Gamecube controller. There are a few new control options. The Classic controller, The Wiimote alone and the Wiimote-Nunchuck combination. The Wiimote alone mashes the buttons together, I'm not a fan. While I initially went for the Gamecube Wavebird, I tried the combination of the Wiimote and the Nunchuck...and after some customization (Turn the tap up to jump off on the nunchuck, set it to Z, trust me) I actually prefer my pink skinned Wiimote to my GC pad.
10 minutes later and I was right at home, the world would once again come to know Peach and her mighty ass-bash! I played the single player affairs for awhile, Classic mode (The normal arcade mode from Melee), The Challenges (Special Objective Missions) and the new Space Emissary Mode. (Lotsa neat sidescrolling stages, and the best way to unlock stuff!) Those are all awesome, but that's not where this games best parts lie.
They lie of course, in the multiplayer brawls, which are completely as awesome as you remember. But while these seem pretty much the same, the gameplay itself has been tightened up. I don't find myself losing myself off the side of the stage as much, I don't feel almost helpless being Peach in a battle full of Bowsers and Donkey Kongs. Play smart with her and shes unstoppable and quite annoying to the opposition. Items are one of her biggest allies.
Speaking of which, there are so many new items to be seen. Huge bombs, time slowing balls, a spaceship and new baddass assist trophies that took me by so much by surprise the first time I saw them, I stopped moving to watch the action, which was a bad idea when a polygonal Andross from the SNES Star Fox started spitting tiles at me. And the best one I've seen so far was when Mr. Wright from the SNES version of Sim City appeared and proceeded to land a skyscraper on top of me. (Not a very good city planner are we?!)
But most importantly is the addition of the Final Smash item. The moment one appears in a multiplayer game, all hell breaks loose as a mad scramble to break it occurs. Everyone is kicking everyone's ass in an effort to get it, for the rewards are great. The right to do your ultimate attack. This adds a more hectic pace to fights immediately.
This game is worth the $50 purchase price for the multiplayer element alone, especially since its online now. The multiplayer is so irresistible, that during my first multiplayer session, which only had 3 players to start, my older brother who never plays any games except for Madden (and Melee) rarely immediately wanted to jump in to smash as his favorite two Ice Climbers. That's the beauty of a fighting game like Brawl, hardcore players and the casual can play together, everyone finding something they love. Well worth the line I had to stand in to get it.
