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November 27th, 2007 by Dynamo
Bringing Back Favorites
There are few companies in the industry that are blessed with as many franchises as Nintendo. With these franchises come memorable characters and Nintendo has an army of them. Which brings up the question: what does one do with so many characters? Sticking them behind the wheel of a kart racer has already been done in Mario Kart. So why not ask them to put up their dukes and see who comes out the victor? Super Smash Bros. Brawl is just what the doctor ordered and after an exciting debut on the 64 and an immensely successful experience on the ‘Cube, the game is back for its third rendition, gracing the Wii.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is bringing back favorites such as Mario, Link and Samus as well as introducing new combatants such as Pit and Meta Knight. For the first time the characters aren’t only those from Nintendo-owned universes. Two immensely popular gaming icons are set to join the fray in Brawl. They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. Mario and Sonic have long been adversaries and while the rivalry has certainly slackened over the last few years, the blue-haired hedgehog from Sega, is ready to pick things up where they left off. Another industry icon, Solid Snake, from Konami’s hugely successful ‘Metal Gear’ series, is also ready to show the other fighters who is boss, cardboard box and all.
Differs From the Traditional
While a fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl differs from the traditional fighting formula. Limited to a 2D plane (in a 3D world), 2 to 4 characters must fight it out in a hectic, lightning-paced battle where victory is attained by knocking other characters of the stage. Rather than utilizing tried-and-true health bars, Smash Bros. uses percentages, starting at 0 and increasing to 999%. As characters are attacked their ‘damage percentage’ increases, and while they do not become physically impaired in their actions, enemy attacks will cause them to fly further away. This makes it simpler for a character to knock an opponent of the stage.
Each character comes chock-full with special moves to help them gain the upper hand in battle. Normal, speedy attacks give way to powerful smash attacks, executed by pressing a button and tilting the control-stick in one of four directions. These smash attacks, effective at sending opponents flying, are helpful in knocking a weakened opponent of the stage. These smash moves can also be charged to give an attack that extra oomph, although it does leave the fighter in a vulnerable position. It’s important to note that Brawl allows players to choose which control styles they want to use. So the execution of attacks can vary, depending on what style you play with. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, despite the fact that this is a Wii game, none of the controller’s unique abilities are utilized.
Skills and Items
While much of the gameplay formula has been preserved from prior installments in the series, Brawl introduces a new skill known as the Final Smash. Each character has a unique Final Smash which is a powerful attack that can only be used once in battle by each combatant. To use their Final Smash, the combatants must wait until a Smash Ball, an item represented by the Smash Bros. logo, appears. The characters must then ‘attack’ the Smash Ball; the fighter who successfully breaks the item is able to use their Final Smash.
In addition to the Smash Ball, Brawl has a huge list of items which appear on screen. These items can be used to heal, deal out damage or cause conditions such as invincibility or super-speed. Some items are projectiles that can be thrown at characters or placed on the stage floor while others can be equipped such as the baseball bat and devastating hammer. While adding an extra element to the gameplay, many purists and tournament players see them as adding too much of a luck element to the game. Serious players looking to put their skills to the test are probably best off playing with weapons disabled.
Assist Trophies are another feature making their debut in Brawl. These are similar to the Poké Ball item which calls forth Pokémon to aid the combatant. In the case of Assist Trophies, characters not featured in the game, such as Mr Resetti from ‘Animal Crossing’ and Saki from ‘Sin and Punishment’ come to help the fighter who picked up the Assist Trophy.
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Developer:
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Nintendo |
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Publisher:
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Nintendo |
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Release:
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February 10th, 2008 |
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Genre:
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Fighting |
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More collectibles, characters and stages coupled with more gameplay elements, a deeper Adventure Mode and online play makes Brawl likely to be the best installment in the series to date. |
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