Post by Twi on Jul 4, 2008 18:50:02 GMT -5
Seeing as YCNN seems to be dead to the world I'll write my review here and then copypasta it across for easy reading. After recently unlocking all the characters and most the levels and completing SSE I can pretty much review this. You'll have your own opinions already but I just felt like writing one.
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As you all may be aware, SSB:B is the 3rd in the series of Smash Brothers games. The wacky fighting antics of Nintendo's beloved mascots was bound to be a hit with all Ninty fans from the word go, and that is was. The N64 version, released in 1999, was a hit and 2 (or 3) years later the Gamecube version did exactly the same, but even better.
Seeing as Brawl was just released here, and in the US last year, you're forgiven for saying "about bloody time" on this release. A full 6 years after the GC installment, the Wii version is finally here in all it's pristine glory.
To be brief, if you loved Melee, you have no excuse not to buy this. This game is an improvement in almost all areas. It's not entirely difficult to improve a fighting game other than following the standard checklist of more fighters, more levels, more modes, but Ninty has worked it's magic, as it has done for all it's major franchises, and released a brill game. Some call this a "melee patch/update", and that's what it is. But what's the matter with that? Why do you expect so much different? It's the same formula you've loved since the N64, so changing it now would be stupid, like putting weapons in F Zero (incidentally, if there are weapons in F Zero I'm destroying the makers on it.)
The first thing you probably did when you opened your box and smelling the instruction manual is to play the Subspace Emissary, this games Adventure mode. In Melee, the adventure mode was sending your one character you selected through Nintendoland and having a few fights on the way. This time, there's a full fledged story, and it's pretty much understandable and simple, even if there is no dialogue whatsoever. Not even Sonic the Hedgehog gets a cheesy one-liner. (COME ON STEP IT UP!)
When I say the story is understandable, I think I have it. The evil characters of Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario and King Dedede have be given special lasers to turn people into trophies (i.e kill them). Not sure why, but they're evil, why not. Meanwhile some other bloke in a cloak decides to set you up the bomb by sending key landmarks into Subspace, the dark world, which seems common in the latest Ninty games. You have to fight your way with almost all the characters, teaming up with others as you cross paths, to defeat the final boss, some guy who you've never heard of but is really bloody cheap.
Now, this is fun, don't get me wrong, and it can even be co-op. The cutscenes have an epic feel about them, especially the scene of various starships flying into subspace against a barrage of lasers. The levels are intuitive with a good progression of difficulty and you get a feel for every character. You're compelled to finish it as soon as possible.
But I have a complaint, and it's the enemies. You're against these dark beings called Primids mainly. But you also fight some of Bowser's minions. However there is a plethora of other completely insane enemies that don't seem to fit. It's as if the enemy designers got high and drunk at the same time and drew whatever came into their already disturbed minds and created some of the trippiest enemies ever.
Some of the enemies are actually pretty cool, admittedly, but some of them can just go die in a fire. Mainly the Floow, who are extremely cheap and follow you through walls, and they put them in places where they'll probably get you. The other problem with the enemies is that you can be easily swarmed and get to high % of health very quickly if you aren't careful. A number of times during my play through I would get attacked by a large number of annoying enemies with no apparent end. They also decide they can see you and attack from when they're offscreen, and most have a charge or projectile attack, causing more frustration. Not MKWii frustration but anger none-the-less.
However, all in all it's something you need to do. You unlock a lot from it, especially characters, and it's good enough fun and pretty enough to hold your attention.
Brawl also has a legion of other 1 player options, most taken from the previous games. You have classic mode, which is basically the same as Melee with a bit more variety. All Star mode which IS the same as Melee almost exactly. Event matches, of which there are now on 41, but all have 3 difficulty settings which is a nice touch. Event 41 makes little sense to me though, but that's no bad thing.
Then there's the stadium. Home-run contest is made a lot easier by having a barrier to keep the sand bag in. My current record is 506.something metres with Yoshi. Minor tweeks have been made to the time it takes for the home-run bat to fire, which balances it for multiplayer fights. The target smash was a disappointment to me. In melee each character had it's own unique level, but Brawl only has 5 universal ones, and the 4 I've unlocked are pretty poor. Multi-man brawl has been made easier I feel, but the appearance of random characters is a nice touch. Then the new mode, Boss Fights, which is just All Star with the SSE bosses, is a fun mode, but that bloody final boss can just go away quick frankly.
There are a lot of new features as well such as Stickers, which I've found relatively useless but cool. Trophies again, sound test with unlockable songs, and stage builder which could have done with more stuff right off the bat. You have to build to get more stuff to build with, and there isn't much stuff or variety in the first place. Nice add, but quite disappointing. Halo 3's forge mode has editing of levels spot on I find.
I've been holding this off, but now it's time to talk about the multi-player mode. It's been Smash Brothers' selling point, and in this game it is to perfection. The wacky item additions, the gimmicky levels, the amount of characters, a random character select which isn't hidden and unlockable, customisable rules up the wazoo, various special modes which are changable, improved tournament mode where you don't have to swap controllers, rotation mode, the ability to TURN OFF IN GAME PAUSING HELL YES and the amount of fun you have when 4 of you come together for some mad action makes this the most fun part of the game. Even on your own, get some comps on and, whilst it's not the same atmosphere, it's still great fun. Frame rate stays constant, beginners have an advantage whilst experts can still stay on top. This game has it spot on when it comes to having an all round fun multi-player experience.
It's a shame the online isn't any good.
If the online worked, it would be glorious, but it's not. It lags badly, frame rate goes to horrific speeds at times. This is quite a big complaint. MKWii gets the online almost spot on, which makes me wonder why this doesn't work so well. It's a shame too, could have been good. It really lets the game down, honestly. For all the additions Brawl gives, the amount of fun multi-player is, having a crappy online isn't the way forward. For some they may not encounter these problems, but it's ruined for me basically.
Some of the characters I have a problem with too. Whilst they took out clones of other characters, making them more unique, they kept Jigglypuff. Why?
Overall Brawl is a must for Wii owners with friends, or anyone who liked Melee. There's enough extra to keep it interesting, whilst keeping it the same formula that has worked for the past 2 installments. If the online didn't lag and SSE didn't have some crazy enemies, it would be amazing, but it's a definite for parties.
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As you all may be aware, SSB:B is the 3rd in the series of Smash Brothers games. The wacky fighting antics of Nintendo's beloved mascots was bound to be a hit with all Ninty fans from the word go, and that is was. The N64 version, released in 1999, was a hit and 2 (or 3) years later the Gamecube version did exactly the same, but even better.
Seeing as Brawl was just released here, and in the US last year, you're forgiven for saying "about bloody time" on this release. A full 6 years after the GC installment, the Wii version is finally here in all it's pristine glory.
To be brief, if you loved Melee, you have no excuse not to buy this. This game is an improvement in almost all areas. It's not entirely difficult to improve a fighting game other than following the standard checklist of more fighters, more levels, more modes, but Ninty has worked it's magic, as it has done for all it's major franchises, and released a brill game. Some call this a "melee patch/update", and that's what it is. But what's the matter with that? Why do you expect so much different? It's the same formula you've loved since the N64, so changing it now would be stupid, like putting weapons in F Zero (incidentally, if there are weapons in F Zero I'm destroying the makers on it.)
The first thing you probably did when you opened your box and smelling the instruction manual is to play the Subspace Emissary, this games Adventure mode. In Melee, the adventure mode was sending your one character you selected through Nintendoland and having a few fights on the way. This time, there's a full fledged story, and it's pretty much understandable and simple, even if there is no dialogue whatsoever. Not even Sonic the Hedgehog gets a cheesy one-liner. (COME ON STEP IT UP!)
When I say the story is understandable, I think I have it. The evil characters of Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario and King Dedede have be given special lasers to turn people into trophies (i.e kill them). Not sure why, but they're evil, why not. Meanwhile some other bloke in a cloak decides to set you up the bomb by sending key landmarks into Subspace, the dark world, which seems common in the latest Ninty games. You have to fight your way with almost all the characters, teaming up with others as you cross paths, to defeat the final boss, some guy who you've never heard of but is really bloody cheap.
Now, this is fun, don't get me wrong, and it can even be co-op. The cutscenes have an epic feel about them, especially the scene of various starships flying into subspace against a barrage of lasers. The levels are intuitive with a good progression of difficulty and you get a feel for every character. You're compelled to finish it as soon as possible.
But I have a complaint, and it's the enemies. You're against these dark beings called Primids mainly. But you also fight some of Bowser's minions. However there is a plethora of other completely insane enemies that don't seem to fit. It's as if the enemy designers got high and drunk at the same time and drew whatever came into their already disturbed minds and created some of the trippiest enemies ever.
Some of the enemies are actually pretty cool, admittedly, but some of them can just go die in a fire. Mainly the Floow, who are extremely cheap and follow you through walls, and they put them in places where they'll probably get you. The other problem with the enemies is that you can be easily swarmed and get to high % of health very quickly if you aren't careful. A number of times during my play through I would get attacked by a large number of annoying enemies with no apparent end. They also decide they can see you and attack from when they're offscreen, and most have a charge or projectile attack, causing more frustration. Not MKWii frustration but anger none-the-less.
However, all in all it's something you need to do. You unlock a lot from it, especially characters, and it's good enough fun and pretty enough to hold your attention.
Brawl also has a legion of other 1 player options, most taken from the previous games. You have classic mode, which is basically the same as Melee with a bit more variety. All Star mode which IS the same as Melee almost exactly. Event matches, of which there are now on 41, but all have 3 difficulty settings which is a nice touch. Event 41 makes little sense to me though, but that's no bad thing.
Then there's the stadium. Home-run contest is made a lot easier by having a barrier to keep the sand bag in. My current record is 506.something metres with Yoshi. Minor tweeks have been made to the time it takes for the home-run bat to fire, which balances it for multiplayer fights. The target smash was a disappointment to me. In melee each character had it's own unique level, but Brawl only has 5 universal ones, and the 4 I've unlocked are pretty poor. Multi-man brawl has been made easier I feel, but the appearance of random characters is a nice touch. Then the new mode, Boss Fights, which is just All Star with the SSE bosses, is a fun mode, but that bloody final boss can just go away quick frankly.
There are a lot of new features as well such as Stickers, which I've found relatively useless but cool. Trophies again, sound test with unlockable songs, and stage builder which could have done with more stuff right off the bat. You have to build to get more stuff to build with, and there isn't much stuff or variety in the first place. Nice add, but quite disappointing. Halo 3's forge mode has editing of levels spot on I find.
I've been holding this off, but now it's time to talk about the multi-player mode. It's been Smash Brothers' selling point, and in this game it is to perfection. The wacky item additions, the gimmicky levels, the amount of characters, a random character select which isn't hidden and unlockable, customisable rules up the wazoo, various special modes which are changable, improved tournament mode where you don't have to swap controllers, rotation mode, the ability to TURN OFF IN GAME PAUSING HELL YES and the amount of fun you have when 4 of you come together for some mad action makes this the most fun part of the game. Even on your own, get some comps on and, whilst it's not the same atmosphere, it's still great fun. Frame rate stays constant, beginners have an advantage whilst experts can still stay on top. This game has it spot on when it comes to having an all round fun multi-player experience.
It's a shame the online isn't any good.
If the online worked, it would be glorious, but it's not. It lags badly, frame rate goes to horrific speeds at times. This is quite a big complaint. MKWii gets the online almost spot on, which makes me wonder why this doesn't work so well. It's a shame too, could have been good. It really lets the game down, honestly. For all the additions Brawl gives, the amount of fun multi-player is, having a crappy online isn't the way forward. For some they may not encounter these problems, but it's ruined for me basically.
Some of the characters I have a problem with too. Whilst they took out clones of other characters, making them more unique, they kept Jigglypuff. Why?
Overall Brawl is a must for Wii owners with friends, or anyone who liked Melee. There's enough extra to keep it interesting, whilst keeping it the same formula that has worked for the past 2 installments. If the online didn't lag and SSE didn't have some crazy enemies, it would be amazing, but it's a definite for parties.
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