Super Smash Bros Brawl

Rating: T

Score: 9.5/10

With online play, custom stage making, and a new story mode, Super Smash Bros Brawl is the brawl to end them all! This game is only available for the Nintendo Wii.

The concept of Super Smash Bros is very simple - to have Nintendo characters knock each other around, trying to propel their opponents off screen to win each round. The controls are simple as well; two buttons for attacks, tilting the control stick, and tapping the control stick will all produce different attacks. The original Super Smash Bros games were so popular because of their controls, and it’s no different for Brawl. Playing normal Brawl Mode is a blast. New characters like Sonic and Snake make the gameplay even more chaotic! Sonic is a tricky character, since he’s so fast. Snake, well, Snake is just being Snake; sneaking around and blowing up stuff. The new stages are cool, with great new music on each stage. Even stages from Melee, its prequel, appear! Custom stages can be made as well, which makes it possible to brawl for hours and never get bored with the stage selections.

Music was limited to a series’ main theme, or favorite theme, per each stage in past Super Smash Bros games, but not anymore! Players can choose from a handful of original, or re-done music. You have the ability to preset a song’s chances of appearing on a stage.

Online play is an awesome feature, four players around the world, lag-free! If players choose to play against friends, they can send small messages mid-battle and keep all of your friends in a menu. In the menu, you and your friends can post a small bulletin, play in a home-run contest, and other cool stuff. The new epic story mode in this game is called the Subspace Emissary. I’m not going to reveal too much about it, but I will say this: even though nobody talks in any cut-scene, you can tell exactly what they’re thinking by they’re body language and facial expressions. Also, even though Subspace Emissary is long, it gets really repetitive, enemies and obstacles continuously repeat. Other than the modes fans will expect, like classic mode, home-run contest, and tournaments, there’s a lot more packed in this game. For instance Masterpiece Mode, where you can play a trial of an old Nintendo game like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, Kirby Adventures, and Star Fox 64. A Sticker Album can be made too, and sent to your friends. Photos and movies can be taken mid-battle by simply pausing. Such photos and movies can be viewed later and also sent to friends. A lot of modes can now be played co-op, like Home-run Contest, Event matches, Multi-man Melee, and even the Subspace Emissary!

Needless to say, shortly after you think you’re done playing this game, you’ll want to play it again. Such an incredible game will continuously be played with friends and foes, now even across the entire world! This really is the brawl to end them all!