Brawlin’

As many of you know, this past Sunday was the release date for the latest iteration of Nintendo’s unique fighter franchise, Super Smash Brothers.  Brawl lives up to much of the hype of the past year.  The game itself is gorgeous.  The new Final Smash moves are dazzling.  And, of course, it is always fun to try out new characters.

First off, the character set has been expanded.  Every fighter does this when a new game comes out, but Nintendo has an advantage in this area.  Since these characters all appeared in past games, they have a built-in fan base.  Many people are as excited to play Pit or Solid Snake as are excited just to play the new version of the game.  I highly enjoy the concept of the Pokemon Trainer as a way to bring in many different characters without cluttering up the selection screen.  Unfortunately, some of these new characters seem poorly balanced.  When compared to the returning characters, Pit, for example, is extremely strong and quick.  Furthermore, he has the ability to fly for short times.  These characters may, however, only seem overpowered due to their novelty.  Hopefully, once players grow used to them, they will be as easy to overcome as any of the more familiar opponents.

Final Smashes were added to this game.  These super special moves are attainable at random points throughout battles.  While these are visually spectacular, I personally feel that they don’t balance well in this game.  Some characters, such as Lucas or Zelda/Shiek have wide-area and long-range attacks, while others have closer, melee based moves.  The longer-range moves have a much better chance of hitting multiple opponents, with the added bonus of keeping the player well away from danger.  Also, any single move that can KO an opponent who has yet to be touched does not strike me as fair.

My last complaint relates to the mechanics of the game.   The control scheme feels a little sluggish, especially after the last game.  Every player I have asked has said the same thing: response time is just a little too slow.  My only thought is that perhaps this has something to do with the choice of controller.  We all used our Game Cube controllers.  I’m hoping that the slow controller response has something to do with balancing the Wiimote control scheme.  That will be one of the next things I test, whilst unlocking the rest of the cast.

Despite all this whining, the game is still a masterpiece.   This game is exciting, and I can’t wait for the return of the days when up to 7 young men gather in a basement just to watch Nintendo characters beat the snot out of each other.