My Thoughts: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Alright, let it be known that I still play Super Smash Bros. Melee every day with my friends. I play the “tournament-style” of play when it comes to SSBM. I like 1v1 with no items on stages like Pokemon Stadium, Dreamland 64, Final Destination, etc. I got bored playing the party style with items in four player free-for-alls years ago, so it was this type of play that got me back into the game. I was afraid that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would not allow me to play the way I liked.

Since the announcement at E3 2005, I have been listening to every bit of news I could on the development of this game. Since E3 2005, I have been afraid that they’d use Super Smash Bros. Brawl to showcase the controller. Today, my fears were put to rest.

Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that he wants to keep the game familiar to long-time fans. He is thinking of the good of the game above pushing innovation. Don’t get me wrong, I love the WiiMote, but I feel it’s better suited for a game like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. This man seems like he’s really listening to fans. It’s almost as if he frequents forums for ideas; I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. With what I’ve heard from him, he sounds like the type that would.

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Alright, let it be known that I still play Super Smash Bros. Melee every day with my friends. I play the “tournament-style” of play when it comes to SSBM. I like 1v1 with no items on stages like Pokemon Stadium, Dreamland 64, Final Destination, etc. I got bored playing the party style with items in four player free-for-alls years ago, so it was this type of play that got me back into the game. I was afraid that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would not allow me to play the way I liked.

Since the announcement at E3 2005, I have been listening to every bit of news I could on the development of this game. Since E3 2005, I have been afraid that they’d use Super Smash Bros. Brawl to showcase the controller. Today, my fears were put to rest.

Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that he wants to keep the game familiar to long-time fans. He is thinking of the good of the game above pushing innovation. Don’t get me wrong, I love the WiiMote, but I feel it’s better suited for a game like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. This man seems like he’s really listening to fans. It’s almost as if he frequents forums for ideas; I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. With what I’ve heard from him, he sounds like the type that would.

Not only that, but three of the most asked-for characters were all confirmed today. Pit, Wario, and my personal favourite – and the one I’ve pretty much decided I’ll use in the new game – Meta Knight, are here. The only thing Nintendo might influence him on is the functionality when it comes to the Nintendo WiFi Connection, and I hope that they won’t too much. I’d love to see an elaborate system akin to GunBound rather than the type used for Mario Kart DS.

What am I hoping for? I’m sincerely hoping that the game features all the advanced techniques from the last game. I’d like them to retain mostly the same gameplay, but add more of everything. Also, I would love a great online mode and elaborate single-player campaign. Now, let’s get to analyzing the trailer.

For those who haven’t seen the trailer, it’s on the official website here. Hopefully, Nintendo will have a high-resolution downloadable version tomorrow. We will get it to you as soon as we can.

Firstly, the trailer proves that the Wii can make some very, very, pretty games. The graphics in this game are gorgeous. The backgrounds are much more detailed than in the last game and the characters themselves have far more detail than ever before. The new stages look like huge 3D environments. Of course, we won’t be able to fight in 3D (thankfully), but the visual experience is awesome. Even though much of the trailer is obviously not gameplay, it looks like it’s all in-game graphics. Everything flows seamlessly into each other.

A bit through the trailer, you see Mario and Link doing huge special attacks. Some people became worried after that, but there is no reason. Right before the two scenes where Mario does his crazy hadouken-style attack and Link does his nutso triforce-themed massacre, you see Mario picking up something that looks like the Super Smash Bros. logo. That looks like the catalyst. This is a very interesting addition.

People talked about it a lot on different forums, but most didn’t like the idea of the game turning into a “memorize a 20 button combo for a 20 second cutscene” spamfest. Most of the depth in Super Smash Bros. comes from making your own real-time combos. This keeps it simple. You won’t have it breaking gameplay in competitive SSBB where there are no items, but you’ll have the craziness increase when playing with items. Also, the Nintendog there is likely an item, not a character!

Also, if you notice them fighting, you’ll see a lot of the same attacks as before. Kirby uses his spinning hammer attack and Link uses his sword plant. However, you’ll also notice some new moves with Kirby and his Chef thing. That might have been a combo using the SSBM logo item, or it might have been a new move. What’s interesting is that Mario was in the chef pot and it didn’t look like he was getting hurt. Could it be some type of co-op special in 2v2 play? Or am I just reading too into this? However, the inclusion of old moves means that the leap from SSB to SSBM would be a good way to gauge the leap from SSBM to SSBB.

The new characters are very intriguing. It looks like both Meta Knight and Pit will be able to fly. How this will work in a game where you have to be thrown off the stage to die remains to be seen. Samus is also back without her suit. I don’t see too much of a reason for this considering Samus without her suit is pretty horrible. In Metriod: Zero Mission, the stages you played with Samus out of her suit had you as a very weak person who could only stun enemies with a handgun. It was basically a stealth level. In SSBB however, it looks like she has something new in her hands…

Speaking of stealth, Solid Snake? Wow. Great way to introduce him, but he seems very out of place in Super Smash Bros. But the inclusion of third party characters in the game will increase the sales of the third party games they star in. Seriously. Super Smash Bros. is a marketing goldmine. I can assure you that much of Fire Emblem‘s sales came from Marth and Roy fans. Much of Mother‘s overseas fanbase came from Ness being in SSB. Maybe we’ll see some Metal Gear stuff on Wii?

In ending, I am very, very excited about this game. Knowing the development staff spent over ten thousand hours playing SSBM is a very reassuring fact. I can’t wait to see how it turns out next year and I hope to see many of you on the Nintendo WiFi Connection! For the past few hours, I’ve been on cloud nine. Now I need to get down a few clouds and remember I have more games to cover!