Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Oct 11, 2007

Nintendo held a press event today where many of the upcoming Wii and Nintendo DS titles were available for hands-on demos. While you'll have to wait until next week to read about everything else that was on display, we're pleased to tell you that we finally got our hands on Super Smash Bros. Brawl and it was a blast to play.

For those of you who haven't been glued to the Smash Bros. Dojo website, Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii is shaking things up. You'll have all new characters to pummel your enemies with, and plenty of new strategies and locales to explore since you last picked up those Wave Bird controllers for fast and furious four-player fisticuffs.

The most notable additions to the roster thus far have come from third parties which have contributed their greatest icons to Nintendo's pantheon of pugilists. Konami has thrown the reigning king of tactical espionage action into the fray, and Snake comes complete with cardboard box and badder-than-thou attitude. Not to be outdone, Sega has done the unthinkable and made available its beloved mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. Mario and Sonic will be together in more than one game it seems, so hell must have frozen twice over.

We were really looking forward to playing with Snake, but the demo version didn't allow this. The returning characters include Mario, Peach, Yoshi and Bowser from the Mushroom Kingdom, Samus, Donkey Kong, Link (the Twilight Princess model, including a Dark Link alternate costume), Star Fox's Fox McCloud, and that zap-happy electric rat, Pikachu. The new playable characters include Diddy Kong, Pit from Kid Icarus, Meta Knight, Ike from Fire Emblem, and the speedster himself, Sonic.

We were concerned about how Super Smash Bros. Brawl would end up playing with the Wii remote, but our fears were more than just assuaged, they were completely obliterated by all of the options available. We were able to check out the game with both the Wii remote and the classic controller. The classic controller felt very much like the GameCube's control layout, which is good. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

While the classic controller will be a popular choice for Smash Bros. purists, we were especially pleased by how well the game handled with the Wii remote. You shift the controller onto its side, holding it like an old-school NES gamepad. Since the control is now digital instead of analog, you lose a little something on the precision control, but you gain in accessibility. You simply tap up to jump, the 1 button to make basic attacks, and the 2 button for special attacks. The minus button drops any items you picked up, while the B trigger erects your shield. This last control function felt a little clunkier than the rest, especially if you have larger hands, but it'll just take some getting used to.

We didn't have any problems at all translating our Smash Bros. skills to the demo, immediately hopping in and smacking characters around like it was nobody's business. We explored quite a few of the new stages, including Meta Knight's flying battleship the Halberd, Delfino Plaza from Super Mario Sunshine, Sky World from Kid Icarus, the Bridge of Eldin from Twilight Princess, Norfair from Metroid, Castle Ramparts from Fire Emblem, Yoshi's Island, the Smash Battlefield from Animal Crossing, and the visually spectacular Lylat Cruise from Star Fox. This last stage had the characters fighting it out on a space ship as it traversed multiple worm holes as an epic space battle was fought in the background, easily rivaling the epic hand-to-hand combat taking place in the foreground.

Each of the returning characters has had some subtle changes made to balance them out and spice them up a bit, ranging from slight variations in the character model, like in Link's case, to Mario's use of the water hose from Sunshine. Link's changes are quite profound, actually, as his boomerang is actually a Gale Boomerang, which drops a twister as it flies, and will actually draw enemies in towards him.

The new characters were each quite fun to get a hold of, although we'll really need to spend more time with each of them to get a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses. We were especially impressed by Meta Knight, from a pick up and play standpoint. His attacks weren't overly powerful, but he has insane priority, so we were constantly laying into enemies with our sword strikes and the punishing multi-hit screw attack. His ability to sprout wings and float back onto a platform after getting launched off also seemed to work a whole lot better than most of the other recovery options available.

Sonic's move set was pretty much what we expected, with plenty of moves that sent him spinning headlong into the fray. His attacks seemed quite accurate, and had considerable range, but he was a bit difficult to handle because his movements are all very quick. His rolling strikes almost always hit a nearby enemy, although we found that we could be hit mid-attack by some characters, much like the risk you run with Blanka's rolling maneuver in Street Fighter II.

Pit's attacks were fairly cut and dry, including a spinning sword strike special that can charge an enemy off a nearby platform and a giant blue arrow that you can fire at considerable range. Pit's recovery is perhaps the best we've seen thus far, as he sprouts a pair of blue wings and can fly for a lengthy amount of time. It's so long, in fact, that it won't just be used for recovery purposes, but also for staying out of melee range, and instead picking off enemies from distances. He should be a strong character for those who prefer hit and run tactics.

The biggest and flashiest aspect of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that we got to check out was all the new Final Smash moves. Samus has perhaps the most impressive of these maneuvers, which you unlock by whacking on the floating Smash Ball once it appears on screen. Once she's activated it, you have to line up with enemies horizontally, and then simply press the 2 button on the Wii remote to fire a massive beam of energy from her cannon arm, rivaling those awe-inspiring screen-filling attacks from Capcom's Versus series of fighting games. Firing off this attack is also how you get Samus to appear in her blue Zero Suit, which isn't selectable from the character menu.

Other Final Smash moves included Diddy Kong, who straps on a barrel jetpack, taking off into the sky and firing a pair of guns at the hapless victims below. Link summons the power of the Triforce and executes a nasty sword combo on one unlucky enemy. Sonic turns into Super Sonic, going all glowy and Super Saiyan of course, and dashes around the screen, knocking out anyone in his path. These Final Smash moves are the best way of getting that KO to defeat ratio back in your favor.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl definitely looks like its predecessor, but there are profound improvements in nearly every possible category. For one thing, the impressive visuals never miss a beat, staying smooth and steady throughout the game, even when multiple special attacks and assists are going off at once. The character models have all been refined, and the animation is just as fluid. The environments are as interactive as ever, and they all seem to evolve as you play, changing from a single flat platform one second to quickly moving ledges the next, shifting you from one place to the next in an exhilarating ride that challenges you to keep your eyes on the action instead of the eye-candy being thrown around in the background.

The homage to Nintendo's past and present repertoire has been played up even more so this time around, with a smile-inducing Excitebike attack, a stream of 2D unit sprites from Advance Wars, as well as old-school favorites like the flamethrower-like fire flower. Fans of the projectile weapons from the previous game will be pleased to learn that you can move and shoot at the same time now, too.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is going to once again capture the essence of these beloved videogame characters and throw them into an environment that represents the epitome of head-to-head competitive fun. We're itching to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl again as soon as we can, and luckily enough, we'll have our opportunity to do so in the near future. Come back soon for more on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, currently set for release early next year.