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| Brawl a ball
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| Monday, March 17, 2008 |
Brawl a ball
Nintendo warms heart of this player with new Super Smash Bros. game
Sun, March 16, 2008
By STEVE TILLEY, SUN MEDIA
It may be a game about characters beating the bejabbers out of each other, but Super Smash Bros. Brawl is, at its heart, a love letter from Nintendo to its fans. And Nintendo loves its fans so much it hurts.
The Ninty faithful have been enduring the agonizing wait for this sequel to Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube since the day the white, waggly Wii was announced. And lo, they shall not be disappointed.
Like its predecessors, the Thunderdome-esque formula of Brawl couldn't be simpler: Two, three or four characters jump into a Nintendo game-themed arena and beat on each other until only one (or a team of two, if fighting as a pair) is left standing.
No matter how sweet and pacifistic Nintendo's legion of cutesy-cute characters might appear, all bets are off in the Brawl. Fists, feet and a metric tonne of various Ninty-fresh power-ups fly with insane fury. And man oh man, it's ludicrously fun.
There's no real violence, per se; victory is achieved by walloping foes until they go flying out of the level. But despite its cartoony-bright look, there's a lot of depth to be explored.
The laundry list of features, options, in-game collectibles and unlockable goodies is way too long to delve into, but highlights include the ability to save three-minute replay videos and snapshots of gameplay, and customizing your fighters with ability-enhancing "stickers" found scattered throughout the game's story mode.
That story mode is one of Brawl's notable new additions, taking players through a side-scrolling, cameo-littered romp to defeat a mysterious legion of foes who are turning all the good Nintendo characters into inanimate trophies.
It feels a bit out of place in an otherwise purely fighting-centric game, but it's actually kind of a rewarding way of going through the game (and unlocking new characters) without just playing one standard-issue matchup after another.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl's one glaring flaw isn't a problem with the game itself so much as Nintendo's ongoing refusal to treat online gaming seriously. Once again, gamers must endure a cumbersome "friend codes" system to play each other online, and there's no way to communicate with other players aside from pre-selected messages.
Still, it's a small price to pay for what's otherwise a wildly fun, surprisingly deep and completely worthwhile gaming experience. We love you too, Nintendo. Aww.
BOTTOM LINE
Though it's not a staggering leap over the prequels, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is nearly limitless fun for everyone from casual button-mashers to hardcore fans. If you like Nintendo, you can't help but like this game.
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SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL
Nintendo Wii
HAL Laboratory/ Nintendo
Rating: Teen
Sun Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5
Source: London Free PressLabels: GameCube, Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Wii |
posted by Perimbean @ Monday, March 17, 2008
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