Ready to Brawl?

A giant Mario character stampedes across the arena at two unsuspecting Pokémon characters, busy in their own scuffle.  Just as the ambush reaches the point of immanency, a green tunic-wearing hero with a baseball bat appears to send the Italian plumber into oblivion with a resounding swing.  This isn’t some weird dream you get after watching too many cartoons.  This is Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

The much awaited 3rd installment to the original Super Smash Brothers (SSB) title, first released on the N64, has finally made its way to the Nintendo Wii console.  I recently picked up my copy, and after hours of game play, was thrilled with the performance and content of Brawl.  With this release comes the expected addition of new characters, maps, and challenges, along with a few new surprises to the series.

The most interesting addition to the game is the solo player campaign.  The Sub- Space Emissary, as the campaign was appropriately named, takes the player across vast terrains and into space with a slew of characters, both new and old to those who have played a previous SSB title.  With over thirty-plus hours in game play on only the solo campaign, the individual player will do just fine in the way of entertainment. That is, at least until some buddies show up.  Personally, this was the only SSB title where I preferred playing solo as compared the amazing multiplayer that the SSB name is known for. 

Brawl also brings a trophy and sticker collecting feature to the game.  With the completion of various challenges(time trials, target shooting, winning matches, etc.) in both single and multiplayer challenges, the player can unlock trophies, songs, and new battle maps to enjoy.  During my thirty-four hour period in the single-player campaign, I found the collecting of stickers to be the most enduring source of entertainment, especially after the twenty-plus hour marker when most solo games can become a greater pain than pleasure.  Throughout both single and multiplayer stickers can be picked up in game play and later placed on model trophies of various characters to increase attributes such as defense rating, and attack. This made the progression much more desirable, in that the more stickers I gained to put on characters the more powerful each of the playable characters becomes.

Along with these new features comes the expected addition of characters and maps.  With over thirty overall playable characters in the game, I found multiplayer to be a very entertaining experience.  For a little over two hours, three of my friends and I sat in front of the TV screen trying to figure the ins and outs of every character.  This, coupled with the expected bragging and trash-talking during intense fights, gave us a new source of entertainment that lasted well into the night.  With the addition of new characters like Pit, Solid Snake, and Sonic the Hedgehog, we were amazed by the dynamics of their brand new fighting styles.  During this multiplayer trial, I discovered the Final Smash Ball, a new item added into game play.  When released into the arena, the Final Smash Ball will float daintily around until it is promptly, well, smashed.  Once a character breaks the Smash Ball, they are granted a unique power to unleash upon the rest of the unfortunate players.  This new feature provided us with both a sense of excitement and grief when one appears on the screen.

With top notch game play in each of the multi and single player areas, Super Smash Brothers Brawl is an excellent investment for the Wii owner who is looking for the must have titles of the year.  Its pacing, controls, and interest factors are immaculate.  The only drawback with this game is the investment in Wii remotes and nun chucks for four person multiplayer, which is likely to cost you around $170 including the game. For the entertainment value on its own, I say the price is well worth the investment.