By Chandler Claxton

“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” is easily one of the most diverse games on the Nintendo Wii, or any system. The game presents an interesting combination of styles and play types that allows for a person to easily jump right into the game. It is the third game in the series spanning the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube consoles, but it also seems to be simultaneously the most accessible game in the series and the deepest. The game offers four different controller configurations: wiimote, nunchuck, classic and Gamecube, which gives enough customization for any player. There are enough play types beyond the obvious fighting game mold to extend the game’s life for days, and Brawl offers a seemingly unlimited amount of secrets and surprises on top of the normal game. At the same time, new players can find solace in the fact that it is fairly easy to jump right in a begin playing. The game allows for someone new to the series to understand immediately what is going on and be competitive, but still makes sure the veterans of the game will triumph with enough skill.

The game is a fantastic experience, but at the same time tries to do more than it should, which ends up making it seem as if it falls short of being the game it should be. For example, the online portion of the fighting is still deeply flawed, with most games played against random opponents destroyed by unbearable amounts of lag. Online matches against friends fare a bit better, but still periodically suffer some lapses. This would not be a problem if Nintendo were not forcing each player to exchange twelve digit numeric codes with one another proving Nintendo is still far behind its competitors with the Internet gaming trend that’s dominating modern video games.

Along with the online modes, the main single player campaign is deeply flawed and mediocre as a stand alone title. It is called “The Subspace Emissary”, and these words are the only descriptions that present themselves throughout what can be called a loose storyline. The game is mixture of platforming and fighting, the former feels unbearably awkward at times and the latter is better against less inane and repetitive characters that appear here. The levels are middle of the road the first time through and annoying once the player is forced to run back through those same stages. The story consists of a generic great evil trying to destroy some sort of generic world, with tons of characters hand gesturing to deliver their completely generic emotions. The campaign ends of reeking of fan fiction more than anything else. But then again it’s not the focus of the game.

The true game is related to what has and has not changed in the now almost decade old series. The best parts are still the classic mode and actual fighting of four players on one system. It may feel slower to those moving from Melee to Brawl, but the cast of characters, music and levels should make up for that. The game now includes thirty-five playable fighters, with Sonic the hedgehog and Snake of Metal Gear Solid joining the series from outside Nintendo’s long list of characters. All the characters have fairly distinct play styles with many similar characters eliminated from previous and some completely original characters added. The levels have always been a strength of the series, with even more variability existing in this iteration of the series. Each level is easily differentiable from the next, and the destructibility apparent on some of the levels, namely those of Luigi and Pit, is amazing. The music is simultaneously nostalgic and brand new, with some tracks bringing back more recent memories, like Wii Sports, and others reaching much farther back and across party lines, for example songs from Sonic the Hedgehog.

It’s hard to say that Super Smash Bros. Brawl is not a great game, but it attempts to do far too much and while it does not fail, the online and single player modes are entirely too weak. These weaknesses do not hurt it too much, because the main game is still so satisfying. The graphics look good and the cut scenes in the campaign look fantastic, but the strength is more in the high frame rate rather than the actual graphic power. The important part of the game is the core fighting game that has existed for a long time, combined with the updates the series needs for the next generation of games, making it one of the best purchases on the Wii. It is easily the game with the most playability since Wii Sports and leads the way as one of the most important games on the Wii.

‘Super Smash Bros. Brawl’ has every video game character imaginable, appealing to gamers young and old. (nintendolife.com)