Joystiq hands-on: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
Hello, I'm Zack, and I had never played Smash Bros. until today. I don't know if that should be a confession or proclamation. Let it be both. Let the flaming begin.Super Smash Bros. Brawl felt frenetic. To me, it seemed like too much was happening on-screen to play with precision. But apparently people wring ever moment of control out of this fast-paced game. Just not the first time they play.
In my games, Brawl always had a lot going on. A power-up poured out 2D sprites lifted directly from Advance Wars. Another caused a Nintendog to briefly paw playfully at the screen, for no reason other than to annoy us. I just laughed at the puppy as I was knocked off the platform to my loss.
I like my fighting games with more of an immediate sense of cause-and-effect and without this power-up focus. But I could see the appeal of Brawl. It had so much happening that I was always entertained. And the sense of humor and strangeness -- Mario versus Sonic in a fighting game -- also hooked me.
Gallery: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
At Nintendo's press event, my fellow journalists were most excited about trying the controls. We were able to play with the Wii Remote by itself (encased in its silicon shell), or with the Classic Controller. The Wii Remote, held like an NES pad, felt simpler initially. But executing all of the moves required more complicated button combinations, like B with an attack button to grab.
Even I wanted more options, quickly opting for the Classic Controller and its additional dedicated buttons. With that pad, Brawl plays almost the same as on Smash Bros. the GameCube. (Note that GameCube controllers will also work with Brawl natively.) I tried the right analog-stick for smash attacks and began to appreciate the chaotic pace.
Nintendo stressed that Brawl will have fully customizable controls that will be saved to user profiles. Even such annoying Brawl conventions as pushing up to jump will be able to be remapped however a player wants. This feature wasn't demonstrated, but Nintendo imagines that expert players will craft crazy schemes that may give a small advantage.
I thought the actual gameplay held a light tone, which was good with its constant chaos. Power-ups were comical and damaging. And the deep Nintendo references, like a perfectly pastel Yoshi's Island level, kept me amused.
I'm looking forward to playing more Brawl to see what the Smash Bros. fuss is about. Our one-system, four-player matches were fun, and gamers will be able to connect four-player games online, too. (Some sort of online, user-generated content sharing was also mentioned, although Nintendo gave no specific details.)
Maybe I'll find depth within the Smash Bros. pace after the February 10, 2008 release. But even if I never get full control over the fighting, I'm sure the surreal design will keep me engaged.
Even I wanted more options, quickly opting for the Classic Controller and its additional dedicated buttons. With that pad, Brawl plays almost the same as on Smash Bros. the GameCube. (Note that GameCube controllers will also work with Brawl natively.) I tried the right analog-stick for smash attacks and began to appreciate the chaotic pace.
Nintendo stressed that Brawl will have fully customizable controls that will be saved to user profiles. Even such annoying Brawl conventions as pushing up to jump will be able to be remapped however a player wants. This feature wasn't demonstrated, but Nintendo imagines that expert players will craft crazy schemes that may give a small advantage.
I thought the actual gameplay held a light tone, which was good with its constant chaos. Power-ups were comical and damaging. And the deep Nintendo references, like a perfectly pastel Yoshi's Island level, kept me amused.
I'm looking forward to playing more Brawl to see what the Smash Bros. fuss is about. Our one-system, four-player matches were fun, and gamers will be able to connect four-player games online, too. (Some sort of online, user-generated content sharing was also mentioned, although Nintendo gave no specific details.)
Maybe I'll find depth within the Smash Bros. pace after the February 10, 2008 release. But even if I never get full control over the fighting, I'm sure the surreal design will keep me engaged.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
ruibing @ Oct 12th 2007 4:21AM
Looks cool, would have been even better if I could have seen Snake fighting. I wish it was coming out this Christmas.
Inveigle @ Oct 12th 2007 4:25AM
Who knew Sonic was Saiyan?
Pom @ Oct 12th 2007 4:38AM
Anyone who went back and played the early games post-DBZ, for sure. Now all we need is an initially evil 'hedgehog' who eventually teams up with the current one and can also go Super-oh. Right.
Or another one from the future who comes back to prevent a worldwide disaster and can also go Super-ah. Yes.
Looks like Sega's got it covered.
Savok @ Oct 12th 2007 5:46AM
Super Sonic was the dev team's homage to DBZ. Remember the whole Dragon Ball thing in Japan happened in the 80s and early 90s.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 9:06AM
No, sonic goes super sonic because Akira Toryama is responsible for sonic and DBZ.
I'm suprised Crono from Chrono Trigger couldn't go Super Sayian. I think it has nothing to do with Homage and everything to do with the guy can't come up with an original idea.
Not that super sonic or DBZ is bad. Its just obvious they're from the same people.
megaStryke @ Oct 12th 2007 9:39AM
Akira Toriyama doesn't have SHIT to do with Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was designed by Naoto Oshima, though Yuji Naka is often given credit as the "father" since it was he who nurtured the franchise.
chris @ Oct 12th 2007 9:41AM
Akira Toriyama had nothing to do with Sonic... Chrono Trigger yes, but never Sonic.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 10:16AM
Ok, so I was misinformed. My B.
Kouse @ Oct 12th 2007 4:26AM
Wait, you've never played a Smash game before but you say playing Brawl with the classic controller feels like playing Smash on Gamecube?
Nick @ Oct 12th 2007 6:39AM
And the funny thing: both IGN and Gamespot said they preferred the Wiimote sideways to the Classic Controller.
Aberu @ Oct 12th 2007 11:08AM
Because IGN and Gamespot are tools.
arrrgh @ Oct 12th 2007 12:58PM
yeah wtf? joystiq next time don't give the high profile hands on to the n00b
ulovemikeroch @ Oct 12th 2007 4:43PM
Probably cause you guys haven't played against guys Like Daigo, Justin Wong, Yipes, John Choi, those guys bring the 2D fighters to whole new level.
NoHitHair @ Oct 12th 2007 4:43AM
First Starcraft II and now this. Joystiq has a knack for handing off preview rights of franchises to people who obviously don't give a rip about the games in question.
BPM (FDF - Hypno-Toad) @ Oct 12th 2007 4:52AM
I think it's good, as to get an unbiased impression.
Face it. If someone liked SSB and SSBM, odds are great that they'll like SSBB, too. And if they hated the previous two games (yes, there are people who hate Smash Bros.), then they'd hate Brawl, too.
But here we have someone who has never played a game in the series before. He has no positive/negative experience. He can rate this game on its own merit alone, instead of incorporating a bias from playing previous entries.
Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 12th 2007 5:30AM
I like that they had a newbie do the hands-on write-up. They did the same thing with teh Haloz kinda, but that was one third of their team of 3. Maybe they could try one fan and one rookie, so one can discuss the changes that he think improved or hurt the franchise, while the other reviewer can talk about whatever they want 'cuz it's all fresh and new to them.
Yourself @ Oct 12th 2007 5:32AM
It's unconventional gaming journalism, that's for sure. This wasn't a bad preview by any means, but sometimes it seems like someone with no experience whatsoever in a series won't be able to get into it as much, and will report on what Smash Bros. itself is, instead of what Brawl does that's new. Kind of like what happened here.
matt @ Oct 12th 2007 6:41AM
This had the same kind of tone as Variety's review of Metroid Prime 3. There was even a little ring of "too complicated". Also, the video told us everything we knew from the Bros. Dojo.
Nessuno @ Oct 12th 2007 7:48AM
I think it's bad form to pass a preview off to a neophyte like this.
Smash Brothers is unlike any other fighting game in existence, and as such has a learning curve that is inappropriate for someone who is picking up the game for the first time at a gaming convention. Someone who is spending their limited time trying to understand the percent system and powerups doesn't offer a lot to readers.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 9:31AM
Better this hand on made by a proffesional, not a noob.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 9:32AM
http://wii.ign.com/articles/826/826602p1.html
phattie @ Oct 12th 2007 9:45AM
You guys are just crying because he didnt end up fawning all over this game, maybe its not that good.. OMG, gonna get whited out for that cause you cant say aything bad about smash on here with all these evangelical smash nerds.
upz @ Oct 12th 2007 10:38AM
'There was even a little ring of "too complicated."'
No there wasn't. If anything, it was "not complicated enough." I like Smash as much as the next guy, but it has nowhere near the depth of a Capcom, Namco or Sega fighter. Nessuno's comment about the learning curve is also absurd. There hasn't been a more pick-up-and-play fighting game since Yie Ar Kung Fu. We can all agree that Smash is entertaining, but arguing that it has technical complexity is like arguing that Itagaki actually cares about the fighting in his "fighting" games.
Noshino @ Oct 12th 2007 10:49AM
Nessuno,
Every fighting game has its learning curve, and there are is no franchise that are equal to each other, and the fact that you say so, shows me that you don't know much about fighting games...
How in hell is SC, Tekken, DoA (ugh), MK, SF, and/or KoF the same? hell, they all have different stuff, combos, some have weapons, hell, you have to even time the knockbacks, delays, etc....so saying that SSBB is like "Fighting game but above them all" is crap, the ONLY difference is the fact that there are 4 players, that's all
Oh, and the fact that the reviewer is new to the franchise is really good, like someone mentioned, he is neutral, and apparently he has some sort of expertise in fighting games...
"I like my fighting games with more of an immediate sense of cause-and-effect and without this power-up focus"
A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Oct 12th 2007 11:38AM
Smash Brothers is extremely different to the average 3d fighter these days. To say it's just as different to other fihters as they are to eachother is wrong, as there are so few games out there like Smash brothers. And I, for one, think that there is a hell of a lot more depth than in Tekken and Soul Calibur, both of which i've played gratuitously. Tekken did have a lot of strategy going for it, but let's face it, it's just a traditional fighter with a lower jump and slower pace. Soul Calibur didn't have the sheer amount of moves as Tekken, but it had depth in its balance between vertical, horizontal, ducking, jumping and 8-way run. This made for a lot of strategic gameplay. But in Smash brothers, you could go anywhere on the screen to accomplish your ends, with characters who didn't just have different moves but get hit the same. They were all extremely different in the way they moved, the way they attacked and the strategems that came with these differences.
What really separates Smash Brothers from other games is the freedom to move where you want and fight how you want. In a normal fighter, if you're by the ledge or a wall and your opponent is coming at you, there are a quite few options at your disposal. In Smash Brothers there are thousands.
Jeff @ Oct 12th 2007 1:37PM
Seriously. Joystiq needs to stop doing this crap; it's making certain hands-on useless.
Vince @ Oct 12th 2007 1:57PM
Upz, if you think SSBM doesn't have depth, you haven't played it enough. Take it from me, someone who's played other fighting games competitively (Soul Calibur 2 and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in particular), SSBM is way more deep than SC2, and just as deep, if not more, than 3rd strike.
zkey14 @ Oct 12th 2007 2:39PM
What Vince said.
I spent some time around the 3d Strike and GGXX tournament scene back in the day, and I gotta say it's way harder to get into SSBM's metagame than people tend to believe.
Questworld @ Oct 13th 2007 1:55AM
As BPM said, "we have someone who has never played a game in the series before. He has no positive/negative experience. He can rate this game on its own merit alone, instead of incorporating a bias from playing previous entries." But on the other hand he's also only familiar with the usual fighting games like the 2D Street Fighter like games or the Virtua Fighter/Tekken type of games. Like he said, he's more familiar with the technical "fighting games with more of an immediate sense of cause-and-effect and without this power-up focus." Let's not even forget he's console preferences either. So I guess, like for any reviewer, it'll depend on how objective he is.
ThornedVenom @ Oct 12th 2007 5:02AM
Must.. get.. wii.. next.. year..
BPM (FDF - Hypno-Toad) @ Oct 12th 2007 5:02AM
Smash Bros. is a great series, in my opinion. While it may be a fighting game, it is far from being a traditional one.
It is chaos. The game is big on speed. Which is why it's tough to play as the slow bruisers (Bowser and Donkey Kong). While they hit very hard, it's tough for them to catch up with the faster characters in the game (Sheik and Fox, in Melee).
It is very customizable, too. From rules to available stages to available items and beyond, Melee had a lot of options to customize how you play. And Brawl adds even more customization (what music plays, what special effects are permanent, etc.).
Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 12th 2007 5:34AM
I love playing as Donkey Kong and Bowser! I've been that way ever since they were all top speed and no acceleration in the first Super Mario Kart in 1992. I got pretty good with DK in Melee, but I still suck with Bowser. I'm all Game & Watch, but my understudies are DK, Dr. Mario, and Captain Falcon.
My older sister stopped playing video games when they went 3-D, so I showed her the first Brawl and said "Look it's 2-D!" and so much stuff was moving around on the screen at once that her head almost exploded and she immediately left. Such beautiful chaos though!
Mr Khan @ Oct 12th 2007 4:47PM
Yeah, i don't like the really fast characters (Fox especially, i just find that he's too fast to control accurately), and Sheik i just don't like. When i use Zelda, i only use Sheik to spam some smash attacks if i'm trapped in a corner of sorts, Zelda's got better technique
I prefer characters that have good "flow" (like Ganondorf or Marth) good moves (like Game and Watch) or both (Kirby)
Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 12th 2007 5:38AM
Oh, and by the way, how the hell have you never played a Smash Bros.? Even I've played Halo 2, and I hated Halo 1. I'll even try Halo 3 soon. I like to stay on my toes like that. But then again, there are some pretty big games I missed.... but I won't mention them here, nevermind... you'll have to find that post from a million months ago where we all revealed the games we haven't played.
License to ill @ Oct 12th 2007 9:01AM
Not really my type of game but that looked kinda tight...
License to ill @ Oct 12th 2007 9:04AM
Shit I didn't mean that to be a reply...
My bad.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 9:10AM
I've never played Metal Gear Solid.
The only metal gear I've played is Metal Gear for NES. And its impossible.
upz @ Oct 12th 2007 10:46AM
Crono... Seriously, man... You bust on other people for not being "real gamers" because they can't pick more than a couple titles they like in the Wii lineup, yet you haven't played Metal Gear since it's been on Nintendo. Are you're really qualified to call out anyone else's bias or brand loyalty?
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 10:59AM
Its not bias or brand loyalty, I missed the boat is all. And I will revise my statement, As I played metal gear ACiD on my PSP for the short while I owned one.
Its not that I hate the game, I've just never played it. I'd probably really like it, too.
The the GC remake for MGS any good, or would you recommend me digging up the original PSX version.
Noshino @ Oct 12th 2007 11:11AM
Crono,
Go with the original, the NGC one was ported by another team, altho I don't know much about that version, ports don't always feel that great when they are made by another dev team....just like what happened with RE4 when it went from NGC to PS2 =(
upz @ Oct 12th 2007 11:27AM
Given the choice, I'd go for the remake. It's prettier, the cutscenes are better directed and gave an overall greater sense of immersion that only a leap in console generation could. There's such a focus on story in MGS that it makes a world of difference.
That said, Metal Gear seems to get better with each iteration. If you get the chance to pick up one of the later ones first, go for it, though you might need to read a few Wikis to figure out what a guy who looks exactly like Snake is doing in the 60's.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 12th 2007 11:45AM
yeah, I'm not a big fan of picking up stories from the middle. Thats why I was pissed when I was 8 and figured out that "the first starwars" was actually part 4.
Kazi @ Oct 12th 2007 6:52AM
Excellent. Hearing that you can remap the buttons and get rid of the up for jump is good enough for me. Wasn't clear here but hoping you can make a separate button for tilt attacks too.
Seeing items being grabbed during a jump is beautiful as well.
Cyantre @ Oct 12th 2007 6:58AM
I hope the Nintendo World Store in NYC eventually puts up the demo version of this game in their store. If they do I will spend all day there. =P
Mike @ Oct 12th 2007 7:02AM
why did you guys let a non-smash bros fan initially play the game? people are going to say to show the instant appeal of the game, but id disagree.
NvM @ Oct 12th 2007 7:16AM
With Brawl being my most anticipated game, it was a decent review.
The opinion was pretty much neutral,a nd I'm sure if he had some more experience with Smash than he'd enjoy it more.
Psaakyrn @ Oct 12th 2007 7:32AM
And on the website itself, we've a.... pink censored box of something apparently in development.
1) Ok, is this why we're supposed to wait a couple more months?
2) What could it be anyway? It has to be related to photos somehow...
pcguy89 @ Oct 12th 2007 11:56AM
I'm thinking the pink box has something to do with the stickers you collect. Maybe you can paste them into pictures.
32_Footsteps @ Oct 12th 2007 7:46AM
One thing I can say for sure about Smash Bros., the first time you play should be in a relatively sedate, one-on-one fight against an easy computer or someone not too great at the game. It takes time to adjust to how the game controls and the level of chaos that goes on. It's not hard, but it is something you have to ramp up to.
Also, since I see a few people making this mistake, let's try to correct this now: if you are offering an opinion on the game, you are biased. A non-biased look is a recital of features. If you like something, it's biased towards the game. If you don't like something, you're biased against it.
Dave Chandler @ Oct 12th 2007 8:34AM
Here's the problem, I learned nothing from the review. He basically said "I didn't get the pace" which is hectic in all Smash Brothers games. We learned the reviewer isn't comfortable in the Smash style of game just yet.
What we didn't learn is how Brawl plays differently from the other smash games. What additions / subtractions / alterations have been made... which is really what is important in a sequel.