"If you're brawlin', it's ballin'."

I said that a game couldn't get much better than Super Smash Brothers Melee. At the time, I was right (in my opinion). But that was then, and this is now, and now we have Super Smash Brothers Brawl. It blows Melee out of the water, to say the least. It will take everyone by surprise, because for everything it's kept similar, there are many differences as well. Nevertheless, it's pretty much a necessity for any fan of the last two Smash games, and probably a necessity for any Wii owners.

PRESENTATION:
Oy, where to begin? That's how I will commence my review, and that's what you'll say when you first start playing Brawl. It presents so many things to you from the get-go, you won't know what to do with yourself. From the intro movie onto the first time you complete the Subspace Emissary, you'll be in awe of everything offered to you in Brawl. New characters, new modes, new stages, new-anything-I-haven't-mentioned-from-Melee. This game has it all.
PRESENTATION: 10/10

GRAPHICS:
I guess we were all a little bit surprised by how teensy the update in graphics were from the Gamecube to the Wii--in all its games, that is. For Brawl, there's no exception. While the graphics are definitely a big improvement over Melee, they simply don't match up to the power of anything on the 360 or the PS3. But let's remember, Melee's graphics were pretty beautiful, and even if Brawl's weren't better, we'd still have some pretty sights. The animation is absolutely stunning for every character's movements. The returning characters also have many more details added into their appearances, along with more costume options (Jigglypuff's costumes are the best). The locations look great too, with so much going on in some of the backgrounds that you might even get distracted. And there's absolutely no slowdown, at least offline, which is quite an accomplishment considering all the chaos we see onscreen.
GRAPHICS: 9/10

SOUNDS:
Like its predecessors, Brawl takes classic Nintendo tunes and revamps them for the Wii. The only difference? There's a ****load more than both of the last two combined. Honestly, I cannot believe how many songs you can unlock in this game. Some of them are original to Brawl, but most of them will bring back good memories. Who cares if we've heard them before? They sound fantastic! And the best part is that you get to choose what songs play in the stages. Okay, that's not the best part, but it's still pretty sweet.

The sound effects and voices are also back in full swing. The characters each have many samples that you'll hear for every one of their moves. Sure some of them get mildly annoying (Pikachu...), but there's no denying that they sound great.
SOUNDS: 10/10

GAMEPLAY:
Oy, where to begin? Oh, I already said that. Well let's just get down to it. I'll get the single player modes out of the way first.

You've got Classic, All-Star, and Adventure Mode, all of which we remember from Melee. They're all similar to before, but honestly I didn't like them as much as I did in Melee. And I'll tell you why: Classic has a couple of problems that really bug me. The first is that the order you go in is similar every time you play through. You fight a character or two from Zelda in your first battle. You fight a couple giants, a team or two, some other stuff, and then Master Hand. I love Master Hand, so no problem with that. But it's otherwise always the same chore, no matter what difficulty. How about some variety in the Classic, Nintendo? My other problem was with the Target Smash levels. There are only five, shared among all of the characters. That's right, no one gets his/her/its own special target level, but they all share the same five. It just isn't the same as before.

All-Star is even worse, because you play against all the characters in the same order every time. Mario characters are always first, Olimar is always last. There's no option to change the order, you just have to deal. Pretty lame, eh?

Adventure Mode in Brawl, however, is perhaps the worst. It's called the "Subspace Emissary," and there's actually a story involved. I don't care to go into details about it, and you shouldn't care either, because it's nothing special. But your adventure is similar to a side-scroller game where you fight off baddies and stuff with the different Brawl characters (who you recruit as you go along). Now, I would absolutely love this... if it didn't last so long. It's very fun at first, but after the first two hours you're gonna want to call it quits. But you can't, because you need to beat it! It's the most tedious thing in the world, I tell you. Thankfully you can have two players do this, which makes it a lot more fun.

Luckily there's incentive in completing all these modes--trophies, new characters, new stages, etc. You know, it really isn't all that bad, especially if you've got a friend to play SSE with. The best thing you can get out of those three modes is a nice introduction to all the characters, learning whether or not they fit your style of playing.

Other single player modes are much better, anyway. Event modes are back and better than ever. You've also got Multi-Man Melee and Boss Battles, both of which range from easy to EXTREMELY hard, depending on the difficulty level. No matter what, though, they're quite fun, and provide you with some great rewards.

But let's be honest, we all play Smash Brothers for the multiplayer. Let me tell you, it's fantastic. Although some may argue otherwise, it's still very competitive and fun--it IS a fighting game after all. Lots of crazy new items are here too, along with the classic old ones. Wavedashing? Goodbye. Thank God. Recovery is also a little more lenient than before--it's a lot easier to grab those ledges. Additionally, the mid-air dodges do NOT complete your jump, which definitely changes up everyone's strategies from before. But if there's one thing I can't STAND, it's the falling. Characters randomly fall. On the ground. Randomly! Now THAT was a dumb idea, Nintendo.

I'd also like to talk about the computer characters. I have a bone to pick with them. I think I'm good enough to play against level 9's. But they dodge more than they attack! They're better than Melee, but they are the most annoying SOB's I've ever encountered in a fighting game. They're like psychic or something, because they seem to always know when I'm about to attack them. Dodge. That's all they do. Dodge every ****ing move I pull. Damn you computer players!

But what about the characters? Well, the returning ones are back in full swing and the new folks are welcome additions as well. All the oldies are changed in one way or another. Mario, for example, now uses his FLUDD (Super Mario Sunshine) as his down-B, for better or worse. I'm pretty sure they only made that one of his moves to remind us that he DID in fact have his own Gamecube game, because so far I haven't found a use for it. Shiek and Marth are no longer cheap little bastards, either, so that's cool--and you can still own with them if you take the time. See, that's the thing about Brawl. If you're anything like me, you ignore those ridiculous tier lists and “nerfed” characters and just play for the fun of it. All characters are created equal--sure, some aren't as good as before, but you don't need to be a little crybaby about it. So what if Falco's reflector has gotten a complete makeover since Melee? Deal with it and have fun with learning new ways to play as him!!

The new characters are just as great as the old ones. Despite the fact that Ike is a cheap little punk (and annoying as all hell), everyone else is great. Lucario has replaced Mewtwo, and plays both similarly and differently. Toon Link replaces Young Link, and is just as good. But there aren't just replacement characters--Lucas is another Mother character, and while he may seem like a Ness clone, don't bet on it. Olimar is also here, and is one of the most unique characters in the game. Then of course we have Snake and Sonic, both of whom are two of the most interesting characters to have in Brawl. I haven't mentioned all the newbies, but it's an absolute joy to play as them, along with the oldies.

Something completely new, for all characters, are the Final Smashes. If you've got them turned on, occasionally a pretty little orb will float around onscreen. The characters will all rush to it and start attacking the hell out of it. The one who gets the last blow will be able to use his/her/its Final Smash. And let me tell you, they are devastating. Mario's is basically a huge fireball that hits anyone in front of him. Luigi does this trippy dance that ****s up all characters onscreen in one way or another. Diddy Kong goes nuts (oh, I crack myself up). Everyone's is different, and it's the most exciting thing in the world. To land that final blow on the orb and press the B button, watching everyone around you see their demise (if you can hit them, that is) is quite a sight.

And what would Smash be without its crazy stages? While it's got its fair share of off-the-wall locations (Pictochat, Luigi's Mansion), it's also got some great places (Delfino Plaza, Halberd). Of course there are some duds (like the screen-scrolling places), but you don't HAVE to go to them.

Brawl also brings back some stages from Melee. Final Destination and Battlefield are back, fortunately. We also get the old Star Fox stage and Pokemon Stadium, both of which have always been my favorites. But they chose some pretty crappy Melee stages to bring over, as well. Green Greens? Hyrule? Big Blue? Are you for serious? I'm pretty sure no one really liked those stages in Melee, Nintendo. I would've much rather had Poke Floats, Fountain of Dreams, and Princess Peach's castle. Oh well, we'll have to deal.

Oh, and you can also make your own stages if you want. Which is awesome, despite a slight lack of options. You get a few different kinds of floors, some obstacles, some traps, etc. But the possibilities are endless, which is so cool. Making your own stages is very fun.

Another addition is online multiplayer. We've waited for it, and we got it. Unfortunately, every time I've played I got massive slowdown and framerate issues. And we could all do without those annoying Friend Codes. Still, hopefully Wi-Fi Brawl will improve in the future. If not, find some friends who live near you to make the connection better. Or better yet, just invite them over to play with you.

Brawl has changed in so many ways that it may lose some of the more serious fans of Melee. At the same time, it will only make old Smash fans that much more loyal. I fall into the latter category, and I actually think the majority of everyone else will, too. It's better than Melee, no questions asked. There is ALWAYS something to do, whether you're trying to unlock a new character or simply collect all the stickers and trophies. You will have your favorite characters. You will have your own ways of playing as them. You will have your favorite stages. You will even have your favorite items (or a complete hatred for all of them). But one thing everyone will have in common is that they will love playing Brawl. Damn, this is one fun game.
GAMEPLAY: 9.5/10

LASTING APPEAL:
Get the single player stuff out of the way first and you'll be better off, I say. Those alone will last maybe 20 hours. But the multiplayer will take up a bazillion times that. You will never get bored with the multiplayer, trust me on that. Not to mention the challenges, which reward you with all kinds of new goodies. You'll also want to get all the CDs, trophies and stickers to fully conquer the game. Multiplayer is where it will always be at, though. I don't think it's possible to get bored with this game.
LASTING APPEAL: 10/10

OVERALL:
Sure there are some kinks that bring it down. But if you've got people to play with, you're golden. It's not perfect, but what game is? No, you're wrong. No game is perfect. Including whatever game you're thinking about right now. Brawl, however, is as close as it can get (to me, at least). There's nothing more to say. I love Brawl. It's one of my all-time favorite games, and I've only owned it for like two months as of writing this review. If you buy a Wii, you should buy Brawl with it. Hey, this game's the only reason I bought a Wii, so that should say something. I mean, I've played my copy of Wii Sports once. The rest of the time has been with Brawl. Come on. If that doesn't convince you, then move along. I'm done with this review anyway.
OVERALL: 9.6/10

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/05/08

Game Release: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (US, 03/09/08)