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Review - Super Smash Bros Brawl |
Super Smash Bros Brawl is a mega-budget, mega-effort blockbuster of the highest order. It’s huge, it’s inescapable and it’s absolutely gorgeous.
As an evolution of Gamecube’s Super Smash Bros Meleé it’s hardly groundbreaking. The inclusion of online play, which despite Nintendo’s continuing lack of a proper gaming infrastructure has been received well enough, is interesting. New characters and modes are a given, likewise new moves and techniques. The basic tenet of the game remains identical; the more you hit your opponents with throws, attacks and items, the lighter they become. They lighter they are, the easier they are to knock out of bounds. If you’re knocked out of bounds, you’ve lost. Just like the previous games it tests your platforming skills as much as your fighting ones, is fast and frenetic and like all the best fighters deceptively simplistic, hiding a great deal of depth, technique and knowledge.
So it’s no revolution, that much is true. Regardless, Brawl is going to be talked about for years to come. Why? Because it is absolutely chock-full of stuff to do, and so many famous, iconic moments to see.
Let’s talk about characters. The game embraces key Nintendo franchises; Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong and F-Zero, as well as characters from less-known titles. However Brawl’s roster kicks down corporate boundaries with consumate ease. For one, Solid Snake, of Metal Gear fame is selectable, supposedly at behest of series creator Hideo Kojima. In his trademark grey ’sneaking suit’, bandana-clad super soldier Solid Snake fights with his trademark Close-Quarter Combat moves, plus explosives, grenades and missiles. Rounding off the package perfectly, his dialogue is provided by the boulder-voiced David Hayter, with cameos from several other MGS characters.
It’s a great idea, and a real coup. But he’s not the biggest surprise in the character roster, oh no. How about the inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog? Yes THE Sonic the Hedgehog (you were thinking of the Sonic the Hedgehog who works in my local McDonalds.) Finally he gets to punch Mario in his stupid puffy face, run Kirby down like the roadkill blancmange he always was and suggest that perhaps Link’s outfit is more dress than tunic.
With one swift stroke, Brawl has made Sonic cool again, it’s that simple. His Green Hill Zone stage is the most wonderful sight imaginable.
Who else? There’s Wario, farts and all, and Meta-Knight, who appears to be some sort of Mexican, sword-wielding bowling ball. There’s the Pokémon Trainer, who stands in the background and can switch at will between three of the pocket monsters, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. Ludicrous as it may seem it works really well, and before long, joining in the shouts of GO SQUIRTLE becomes too much to resist.
There’s mallet-wielding King Dedede, from the Kirby games, diminutive gangsta monkey Diddy Kong, and Pikmin’s Captain Olimar plus many more.
As expected, returning characters have been tweaked and altered, strengthened and weakened. Some have been given visual overhauls to match the newer games in their respective canon. Link is resplendent in his darker, more realistic Twilight Princess livery, while ‘Young Link’ returns, faux-cel-shaded as Wind Waker’s ‘Toon Link’. Samus is now essentially two characters in one. She can be played either in her traditional orange power armour, or in her skin-tight blue ‘zero suit’ - which is the kind of objectification of the female form for the gratification of teenage males I haven’t seen since my last school play.
Playwise little has changed since Meleé. Movement and attacks are the same as ever. There are now four control methods - Gamecube controller, Wii Classic controller, the Wii remote turned sideways and an unwieldy but fun nunchuk + remote combo. The game is slightly slower and more solid feeling than its predecessor, a distinct plus, as it ever so slightly reins in the uncontrollable chaos that the series is known for descending into. The new stages are generally more straightforward and simple than their Meleé equivalents, though no less amusing, inventive and chaotic in implementation. And if they don’t work, then the player has the option to create their own.
This chaos manifests in newer forms, such as the Final Smash, essentially a super move for each character. No controller motions are required, instead they appear periodically in the form of an etheral floating icon, which when hit twice imbues the player with the ability to perform the move with a press of the B button. These moves, most of which deal huge damage, range from the sublime - Samus’ enormous Proton Cannon beam super, to the practical - Link’s Triforce-powered sword- slash autocombo, to the ridiculous - Luigi’s closet-evacuating green forcefield.
The FS’ add yet another layer of carnage to the already ridiculous onscreen action, which has been bolstered considerably by the addition of several new offensive items, including the crosshair-aiming insta-kill Dragoon, which, like every other item can be turned off or changed in frequency from the comprehensive play menu.
With multiplayer VS mode the real meat of the game, it’s no surprise to see a massive wealth of options and ways to play and things to do. However Brawl also acknowledges the single player with customary zeal. As well as the traditional 1P mode and a whole host of training, endurance and survival matches, the big news is “Subspace Emissary”; a ten hour plot-driven adventure platform game, along the lines of Meleé’s Adventure Mode. Players edging towards the exit at this comparison, however, should take note, Subspace Emissary is light-years ahead of Meleé’s tedious, repetitive effort in every way.
It’s full of original content and specially-created assets; models, textures and music. The design and implementation are likewise far superior - the inclusion of clever puzzles, genuine platform challenge and traditional Smash battles make for a winning formula. The way the game unfolds means every character has to be used, revealing the mode’s true form - as a cunningly disguised interactive training mode. Players who failed over and over to make the simplest of platform jumps in Meleé’s adventure mode will be thrilled to see the slightly slower, smoother engine makes this mode infinitely more controllable and thus infinitely more fun.
The fights and jumping are interspersed with CG cutscenes that range from thrilling, to amusing, to … as bizarre as it may sound - almost moving. Seeing Nintendo’s finest fighting and uniting against a common foe as the story slowly unfolds - it’s great. What’s more, every single character gets their moment. Obscure characters, seemingly useless characters - all have their time in the limelight and their chance to shine. A surprising amount of thought, and behind-the-scenes knowledge has been put into the story, and the results are thoroughly entertaining.
It’s almost unnecessary at this point to say that the entire game is absolutely rammed full of content, fit to stagger, stumble and burst. There are trophies, stickers and CDs to pore over. There is hidden music to unlock, hidden characters, hidden options, modes and stages and items. It even has demos of other games - the ‘Masterpiece’ collection option unlocks truncated playable versions of some of the Wii’s Virtual Console retro releases, such as Super Metroid, F-Zero, Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong - the idea being that players new and old will get a chance to see where some of these characters first appeared.
The soundtrack, which if released would span some thirty CDs is unbelievable. You’ve got grand old 8-bit tracks, ripped straight from primordial z80 processors. You’ve got contemporary originals by the truckload, original pieces - full of epic grandeur and flourish and on top of that, countless wonderful remixes from more than twenty years of Nintendo gaming. These tracks are evocative, emotive and are a perfect example of the exemplary production values, hard work, effort, intelligence and good humour that has gone into putting it all together.
Take Snake’s special taunt. Lightly tapping the ‘down taunt’ button on his own stage sees the super-soldier crouch down and enter into a codec conversation with his back-up; discussing his opponent in typically throwaway MGS style. In total there’s about an hour of dialogue recorded, for absolutely no purpose whatsoever. Most people won’t even ever see them. It’s this sort of thing that typifies the attitude towards the game - a labour of love of the highest order.
The game is incredibly well-presented. Everything is bright and clear, straightforward and user-friendly. It has a simplistic user interface with the player’s convenience prior concern at all times. Everything feels immediate, responsive, even the minor load times between matches are scarcely noticeable.
There is so much to see and do, and content is paced deftly. Characters can be unlocked the old-fashioned way - by putting in a set number of plays or hours or by playing through the entire SSE; a smart move, especially considering how daunting some of the more extreme unlock requirements were in the previous game. Did anyone actually do the 700 hours playtime and sacrificing a blood relative needed to unlock Mewtwo?
Brawl is a wonderland where silly corporate grudges and rivalries and rights issues all melt away under its intense glare. It’s a piece of software that goes way beyond budgets and time constraints and into the realm of passion and obsession. It’s funny (as fans of producer Masahiro Sakurai’s charmingly enthusiastic blog will attest) it’s beautiful and it’s entertaining as hell. A multiplayer game par excellencé; it’s an absolute love letter from Nintendo to Nintendo fans; immaculately designed and presented throughout, and even non-Nintendo fans (for there are such beasts roaming the plains) will be floored by the incredible longevity, brilliant fun to be had and eye-popping variety on display.
Such is Brawl’s overwhelming completeness it’s hard to imagine exactly what a hypothetical next game in the series would be like. Would it be in 4D? Or feature a live orchestra in your living room? Perhaps Shigeru Miyamoto will dress up like a schoolgirl and do a little dance for you. Easily one of the best Wii games, best Nintendo games and let’s be honest best fighting games ever made. Own this. Please.
