Super Smash Brothers Brawl: The Brawler's Review

Overall Score: 10/10
Super Smash brothers Brawl has a wide variety of modes as well as a large amount of unlockables, making it the perfect game for any Wii owner.

Storyline: 7/10
Unlike the other Smash games, Super Smash Brothers Brawl has an 8-hour adventure mode called the Subspace Emissary. Although there is no speaking, the cutscenes of the Subspace Emissary tell you what is going on, who is joining your team, and who is an enemy. From time to time, unexpected things happen, which makes the Subspace Emissary story an enjoyable one.

Graphics: 9/10
Of course, you can't expect "super duper" graphics from the Wii, Super Smash Brothers Brawl proves that Nintendo did in fact make at least a small effort to make next-generation graphics on the Wii. The texture of the characters have improved as well as the textures of the environments. In adventure mode, there are beautiful cutscenes. Overall, Super Smash brothers brawl produces nice, smooth graphics.



Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay of Super Smash Brothers Brawl is superior to the gameplay of all the other Super Smash games. All the characters have become slower, but it has become much more easy to perform attacks in the air. Also, final smashes are fun to use and can pump up a game with excitement. Overall, the gameplay hasn't changed much, but it did improve.

Subspace Emissary(Overall Rating): 10/10
The Subspace Emissary is the adventure mode of SSBB, and certainly is fun to play. With one or two players, you can fight the minions of the subspace. The puzzles of the Subspace aren't at all hard, but at times you might get a little stumped and not know what to do or where to go. The story is told through detailed cutscenes, which tell you what is going on. Once in a while you will fight a boss, which give you a whole new experience. Overall, the Subspace Emissary is one of the best modes in the game, and can be easily enjoyed.

Fire Emblem Songs in SSBB

Listed are the Fire Emblem Songs in SSBB.
It's a lot of music, so bear with me here...

Gawd Fire Emblem is epic.


Fire Emblem Theme


Fire Emblem Battle Theme


Against the Dark Knight


Winning Road


Victory is Near


Power Hungry Fool


With Mila's Divine Protection


Ike's Theme


Preparing to Advance


Fire Emblem Series Victory Theme

Online Gameplay: With Anyone

Masahiro Sakurai:

"While it's true you can battle over Wi-Fi, your connection environment and the distance between players can cause great changes in speed. That fact probably makes you a little uneasy.
So, we conducted an online battle between Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto and the development team in Tokyo. The distance between Kyoto and Tokyo...is nearly the same distance between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Here's the video of that match."



It's true that Super Smash Brothers Brawl has been given an online feature. But does this online feature deliver an experience different from a normal Brawl match? The answer is yes, but the experience is only a bit different from a normal Brawl match. When you play with anyone, you choose your character and your stage. It can take seconds to minutes to get players to join your group, but you can eat up the waiting time by practicing your moves on a sandbag. Sometimes the game will get a terrible lag, while other times it'll be lag-free. When the game lags, it's a bit of a hassle. In some conditions, the game will even freeze for a couple seconds. Other times there is no lag or unnoticeable lag. Since there are no names or taunt comments in the Play Anyone function, it doesn't really feel like your playing with another player. However, whenever I win(100% of the time), I'm always proud of myself. Whenever you win, you will feel superior to others.

Pro:
-Lag can be unnoticeable or nonexistent
-Makes you feel superior when you win
-Tells you how good other fellow brawlers are

Cons:
-Sometimes there is bad lag
-Freezes(rarely)
-Having no names or comments makes you feel like you're just playing a normal brawl match with CPUs

Overall, the Play Anyone online function was a good add-on for Brawl.

History: of Olimar and Pikmin

The character Olimar and his friendly Pikmin originated from the Gamecube game Pikmin in 2001. Olimar was a space astronaut that was on an outer space vacation when his ship, the S.S. Dolphin, is hit by a asteriod. He lands on a planet inhabited by the plant/animal hybrids known as Pikmin. Each color of Pikmin had their own special strengths and weaknesses. The point was to try to gather all of parts of Olimar's ship in 30 days. To make the game difficult, different creatures on the planet he landed on (which looks like earth) acted as predators of the Pikmin and often attacked. He also appeared in the sequel game, Pikmin 2. This time, he was partnered by his friend, Louie, and discovered two new species of Pikmin, purple and white. Olimar's moves in SSBB is true to the Pikmin game, since he is able to chuck the Pikmin with his b-side move, just like in the originals. Also, His b-down move shows how he called his pikmin in Pikmin, and his Final Smash showed what happened to pikmin if left after nightfall and what his new ship from Pikmin 2 looked like.Pikmin and Pikmin 2 were large successes and were rated very well.

History: of Ike

Ike originated from the game Fire Emblem: Path of Radience. This game was the first Fire Emblem game with 3-D graphics. Ike was originally born into a mercenary group who was lead by Greil, one of the Four Riders of Daien. After Greil died, Ike swore to avenge him. He took the legendary sword Ragnell, left by the Black Knight to even the gap between Greil and himself because it was the only sword that could hurt him. Ragnell had the ability to create shockwaves to attack from afar. Ike's special skill was Aether, where he would get two hits, one dealing double damage, and the other draining health. This is inaccurately portrayed in Super Smash Bros. Brawl but it was the only way they could even the unfairness of draining health. Great Aether, Ike's final smash, was never used in Fire Emblem:Path of Radiance. Also, Ike's speed was extremely high, but that was toned down to add more heavy characters to SSBB. His side+b, Quick Draw, was used by Ike as a critical when he was a ranger in POR. His normal b move, Eruption, however, was never used. Overall, they have changed Ike much from his original games, but it was a fairly smooth transition considering that Fire Emblem usually has only an attack and a critical (and a skill in POR).

History: of Mario

Mario originally came from the game Donkey Kong for the arcade (later for the Game Boy, Game and Watch, and Virtual Console.). He was known as Jumpman and possessed the ability to jump, surpassing Pac-Man, who could only move around, making this a fairly advanced game of its time. Though the game is called Donkey Kong, and the objective is to save a "damsel in distress," neither the modern Donkey Kong or Princess Peach originate from here. Rather, the Donkey Kong in the arcade game is present day Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong's father. Also, the woman that must be saved is named Pauline, and was based on a generic video game on saving a "damsel in distress." This game shows Mario's jumping origins. The fact that barrels roll in SSBB when you throw them originate from here. Actually, hammers and golden hammers in SSBB also come from this game.

Fox's Moveset

Fox is back and ready to brawl! He has not changed much, but there are some things that have been adjusted. His B attack, the blaster, can't shoot as fast as it could in Super Smash Brothers Melee. However, his basic A combo has been quickened. It occurred to me that Fox's A combo has become extremely useful, for you can easily land all the hits. His down B, the reflector, has stayed the same, but cannot create a combo with his down grab anymore. Fox's side B has basically stayed the same, except for maybe an increased distance. As usual, his up B attack, fire fox, has proved itself useful. It is useful for damaging others as well as recovering. Most impressive of all, Fox can create much chaos with his excellent final smash. He goes inside a giant tank, and in that tank, you can shoot others. The shots are pretty powerful and can easily knock an opponent off the stage and to his/her loss of a life. Once you kill someone and they appear above the stage or if someone just jumps on the tank, you can jump and carry them off the stage.

Pros:
A combos have been improved
Great final smash
B attacks are useful
Fast

Cons:
Blaster isn't as fast paced as it was in Super Smash Brothers Melee
Weaker than some other characters