Developer: Sora
Publisher: Nintendo
Console: Wii (click to purchase)Release Date: 3/9/08Rating: A
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third game in the Super Smash Bros.
series, first developed by HAL Laboratories, and now under the development of
Sora Ltd.
The Super Smash Bros series is known for its inclusion of popular
Nintendo characters from various games and genres that are thrown into one game
to settle the age old question: “Which Nintendo character would win in a fight?”
Well, Nintendo upped the ante with this third installment by adding
characters from other gaming companies, including Nintendo’s old rival Sega.
Now the real question of who is the better character–Sonic or Mario–can
finally be answered.
Does this game truly live up to the hype? On so many levels, it most certainly
does. The graphics on the game are as expected, which means they are great for
a Wii game, and on par for a Nintendo game. Nintendo has been one of the only
real publishers to take the Wii seriously in terms of its graphical
capabilities.
The sound is superb, mixing both orchestrated works as well as synthesized
midi pieces. The opening of the game is orchestrated and features a chorus. Nintendo
did get this much right in the game, although there are other places that
really needed improvements.
There are various control methods to play this game. First, the player can use
the Wiimote turned on its side, much like playing a Virtual Console NES, Genesis,
or TurboGrafx-16 game. He or she can play using the Wiimote and Nunchuck, like
most Wii games. The two better options at the player’s disposal are using the
Classic Controller or the Gamecube Controller.
Veterans of the series, however, will probably feel most comfortable with
using the Gamecube Controller. The other controller schemes pale in comparison
to the Gamecube Controller when it comes to this game. The game makes
absolutely no use of the Wiimote functionality in it, so the player is better
off setting down the Wiimote and grabbing their Gamecube Controller.
The only real drawback of this game is what was hyped the most about the game –
namely its online battle system. Now, the ability to play with friends with
Friend Codes is not as bad of an issue as some players make it out to be. The
real problem with the WiFi Connect is that it is difficult to even get on a
game. If the player gets an error that kicks him or her out of the room, he or
she must often completely return to the main menu and restart the WiFi Connect
in order to play another match.
When playing a game online, whether with anonymous opponents or with
friends, the player will likely face a lag in the game play. The characters
will not always respond to button combinations like they would in the practice
arena or offline. Also, people with slow connections can seriously slow down
the game. Overall, the WiFi Connect of the game was a great idea, but it still
has issues to work out in regards to connectivity. Otherwise, it is a great
addition to the game.
After all is said and done, this is an excellent game and a must-have for any
Nintendo fan. This reviewer found it to be the best of the series, by far,
despite some of its set backs, including slow loading times. Despite its setbacks,
it is still light years beyond its predecessors, which shows that Nintendo and
Sora took their time to make an excellent game.
With the Subspace Emissary being a whole game within the game, it really
shows they put much effort into producing a quality game for their fans. This
game deserves nothing less than an A-rating.
Uriyah can be found around the TheGamerStudio.com
penning reviews. He is also featured at Myspace.com/thegamerstudio and his own
blog at Myspace.com/koshergamer
