Wii

Reviewed - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

By Tom Freeman ⋅ August 24, 2008 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Combining themes from all of Nintendo’s headlining titles; ‘The Subspace Emissary’ will pit you against bosses, hordes of weird enemies and the odd environmental hazard. It gives a warm nod to the old side scrolling games of yore, but this nod soon becomes an annoying spasm as the quest hits the nine hour mark. The reward? The easy way to unlocking all the characters which should be regarded as cheating.

Don’t let that put you off though. In combat of this quite frankly boring trek through stage after stage of the same old enemies, you’re treated to some real eye candy as you witness the Ninty characters meet and unite in glorious CGI cut scenes that string all the separate stories together. As the animations draws to a close, you (and a friend) must pick the fighters for the next zone, which is especially handy in getting to grips with all the characters, old and new.

As the single player fleshes out, so does the returning trophy collection. This now features characters and items from games that have spanned the Gamecube’s 6 or 7 year lifecycle. With more games to cover comes an even bigger trophy cabinet. How many trophies are there to collect? 300? 350? Try over 500 and you’re getting there. If you have the willpower and undying love for Ninty games, this game will last you months.

If the thought of collecting those trophies exhausted you, you’ll be pleased to know that there are now stickers to collect, featuring artwork from down the years. There are roughly 700 stickers to collect, but they appear very frequently in all modes.

We’re not done yet. Don’t forget to also pick up CDs which fall and begin to disappear very quickly. These, as you may have guessed, unlocks tracks related to stages they’re assignable to. Okay now you can breathe.

Like it’s predecessor, Brawl is an Encyclopaedia of Nintendo’s success. It’s also a marketing tool to an extent. Cleverly, Nintendo’s inclusion of Fire Emblem’s Marth and Roy in Melee led to the series being formally introduced to the UK market.  This time round, they treat you (or is that tease you) by allowing you to play demos of old games, labelled as ‘heritage’.

The gaming giant isn’t missing a thing on this game by simply applying the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ philosophy. Thankfully, the multiplayer engine remains the same as ever, eye meltingly smooth and satisfying. There’s nothing like connecting Luigi’s fist to the jaw of an opponent and hearing the scorching roar as they’re sent into orbit. It never gets old and it’s never been changed.

Classic modes return, including all star, multi man melee and the infamous home run contest which are all as good as ever. But one crushing thing about this game absolutely destroys what would have been a fantastically high scoring multiplayer game.

Online Smash Bros. It was going to be the crowning element of this game and instead it drags it into a messy quagmire of glitches, horrendous loading times and an unforgivably laggy, fragmented and simply unplayable online mode. What could have been great overshadows the new angles of the game which promised to do everything.

Nintendo, while acing the multiplayer mode and having a fairly good stab at a real single player, has royally screwed up what would have been a real focus point for years of exciting online brawling.

Not to worry though, invite your friends round for an old school multiplayer match, shoulder to shoulder, where the gloaters are in punching distance and the losers are within ear shot of insults. Super Smash Bros. Brawl remains the Nintendo multiplayer game it’s known for the world over: the unlikely cast in a simple concept and an incredible hit of eye candy.

Related Wuup Stuff:

• 22 September, 2008 -- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Tags: nintendo, wii