Super Smash Bros. Brawl impressions

Well, Brawl's finally here. Smash fans have been anticipating this game for almost seven years now. Before it was even announced, fans dreamed of a sequel to their beloved Melee. Was the wait worth it? You bet! The newest family member of the Smash Bros. franchise has 35 characters compared to the 24 that Melee has, 41 stages while Melee only has 29, and not to mention Brawl has over 350 unique songs. Brawl seriously has content out the wazoo. So much that the developers needed to make the game use a dual-layered disc to fit all the stuff. Unlockable songs, characters, stages, modes, you name it. It's not hard to imagine that players will still not have unlocked everything several years from now.


Gameplay wise, Brawl is still all about hitting your opponents off the screen until you're the last one standing. I'm going to assume you know how to play a Smash Bros. game for the duration of this article. If you don't, the official Brawl website has some tutorials. While the basics are still there, Brawl has completely different physics than its predecessors. The most noticeable difference is the overall slower speed. It's still incredibly fast-paced and just as hectic, but if you play Brawl, then play Melee right afterwards, the difference is clear. Characters also fall slower than they did in Melee which leads to much more mid-air combat. It's not a huge change as characters don't fall that much slower, but the physics differences will require some getting used to for veterans.

The stages in Brawl are a step up from Melee. Not only are there much more, but they're all excellent stages that show off a lot of creativity. Your favorite areas of classic games are all represented here. Shadow Moses Island, Fire Emblem castle, the Animal Crossing village, and even faithful remakes of both the first and second level of Super Mario Bros. are just a few of the varied and great stages in Brawl.

Another thing Brawl has in abundance is playable characters. They're all varied and have their own unique playstyles and each franchise is represented by at least two playable characters. There were some concerns before release that the characters would be unbalanced much like in Melee, but those worries can be forgotten about. Characters that were weak before have been buffed and vice-versa. You won't need to worry about who's the best character--just pick your favorite and you'll be fine (unless your favorite happens to be Yoshi).

For the first time in Smash Bros. history, Brawl introduces online play. That's right, you can finally play against your fellow Smashers all over the world. You can battle against your friends or you can seek out random people for a timed match. Unfortunately, your options are limited when you're not playing against friends. With random people, you're forced to fight with timed matches, whereas you have a plethora of options when facing off against your friends. On the technical side, the online works well. There's usually not very much lag (save for the half-second delay between pressing a button and the game responding), and it's almost like playing against people in the same room as you. I'm very impressed with the online and I'm sure you will be too. Plus, it's online Smash Bros.! That alone is awesome.

From the thirteen hours I've spent with Brawl, I'd say it's the best Wii game even beating out Mario Galaxy. It's crammed with content, the gameplay is just as addicting as before, there's a wealth of new characters and stages, and it has online play. Brawl should be at the top of every Wii owner's "to buy" list.