Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Manufacturer: Nintendo Part number: 90039

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CNET Editor rating:
4.5 stars Spectacular
Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 18 reviews

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CNET editors' review

Reviewed by Lark Anderson
Review date: 03/07/08
Release date: 03/09/08

It's hard to believe, but it's been nine years since the original Super Smash Bros. brought some of the most iconic Nintendo characters together for frantic battles, and roughly seven years since its sequel Super Smash Bros. Melee was released. Perhaps even harder still to believe--and a testament to the series' popularity and longevity--is that these games are still being played religiously to this day. But no matter whether you're a diehard Smash Bros. fanatic or a neophyte brawler, you'll be pleased to know that Super Smash Bros. Brawl includes a plethora of impressive characters, features, and game modes, and is more accessible and fun than ever before.

For the uninitiated, Smash Bros. is a multiplayer-centric series of fast-paced 2D fighting games that features a cast of characters from all over the Nintendo universe. If you've ever found yourself arguing with a friend about whether or not Mario could beat Link in a one-on-one match, Brawl is the game that will let you settle the issue once and for all (the answer of course is that Kirby would eat them both). Characters such as Ike from Fire Emblem, Meta Knight from Kirby, Fox McCloud from Star Fox, Lucas from the unreleased-in-the-US Mother 3 (Earthbound 2), Pikachu from Pokémon, and many more are all on the roster in Brawl, boosting its size up to an impressive 35 total characters--14 of which are hidden and must be unlocked. For the first time, the list of guests includes third-party, non-Nintendo characters such as Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog, and all of them bring their own signature fighting styles and moves to the game.

The roster is bigger than ever before and includes some surprising new additions.

Smash Bros. has always been one of the most accessible fighting games on the market because of the simplicity of its controls, and Brawl is no different. There are essentially only two attack buttons (one for normal attacks and one for special moves), and depending on which way you tilt your control stick when you hit them, they can produce a variety of effects that include the titular "smash" attacks. In the interests of user friendliness, Brawl offers four possible control schemes, which ensures that everyone can play whichever way they like; Wii Remote and Nunchuck, Wii Remote alone, Classic Controller, and GameCube Controller are all equally represented. Each of these methods are equally viable, and fans of Brawl's predecessor will be happy to know that the GameCube controls remain unchanged.

Combat includes up to four players brawling on video game-themed stages. The goal is to knock your enemies out of the arena with one of the aforementioned smash attacks. The amount of damage each character has sustained is measured in a percentage, and the higher this percentage is, the farther he or she flies when hit. Battles are fast-paced, frenetic, fun, and often outrageous orgies of chaos, which makes Brawl a perfect party game. But just because the game's mechanics are so simplified compared to traditional fighters doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of depth to be found for those willing to invest the time.

All of the characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to protect yourself while taking advantage of your opponents' flaws goes a long way toward securing a victory. There can be a surprising amount of strategy involved, from knowing when and how to attack to ensuring that the terrain of the sometimes over-the-top levels works for you rather than against you. But all that said, Brawl is an incredibly well-balanced game in which even a brand-new player can come away the victor against a hardened veteran.

Throughout combat, various types of items will spawn on the battlefield for use by the first player to reach them. Some, such as the beam sword, are offensive in nature and augment your attack capabilities, whereas others are restorative and will lower your damage meter. Many of these items are from the various games the characters originate from, such as the fire flower and the super mushroom from Super Mario Bros. Although a lot of them have been featured in the previous Smash Bros. games, many new ones appear in Brawl, including the superspicy curry, which makes your character breathe fire for a time. Also worthy of a mention are the various assist trophies, which summon non-playable characters such as Tingle from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or the 8-bit racers from Excitebike to help or hinder you. Some things--especially the hammer, bob-omb, and warp star--could be considered game-breaking due to their abilities to inflict fatal wounds nearly all of the time, but these items and any others can be toggled off in the options menu before a match begins.

Metal Gear?! It can't be!

In fact, customizable is the name of the game, given that a wide variety of parameters can be adjusted when participating in the special brawl mode. Gravity, fighter size, and game speed are just a few of the options, with some of the more outlandish possibilities being whether or not your characters are made of metal (which makes them much heavier and thus harder to KO) or are virtually invisible. Both special brawl matches and regular battles let you customize which items are allowed and how often items will spawn, what kinds of handicaps--if any--are in place, how stages are selected, and more.

Teams can be created if you so desire, and the types of brawls that can be started include timed matches in which the one who scores the most kills and the least deaths wins, stock matches in which the last player standing wins, and coin-collecting matches in which the number of coins everyone has when time is up determines the winner. Tournaments are a snap to set up due to a built-in mode that facilitates up to 32 players on a single Wii, and there's even a rotation mode to help up to 16 players figure out how to take turns. In short, there are literally dozens of ways that you can battle in your living room.

(Originally posted on CNET Reviews)

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 18 reviews

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10 stars

this game ranks 1st in my top ten of best games ever!

by JoshimitsuJ20 on July 6, 2008

Pros: it is acssessable to all ages and is very user-friendly, it allows you to make stages unlike previous 'smash bros' games, you can also pick your favourite characters from most games,

Cons: it looks good, but doesnt compare to some games on the XBOX and PS3, up the ante next time Nintendo!

Summary: This is literally the best game i have ever played, the graphics are the best on the Wii i, have fun whenever i play it, and the host of unlockables ...

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Summary: This is literally the best game i have ever played, the graphics are the best on the Wii i, have fun whenever i play it, and the host of unlockables is unparalled, whether you bought the game just because its a immense ninty love-in, or a smorgasbord of unlockables makes no difference, this is a great game and deserves game of the year, this is the one game that truly deserves your attention

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

The Best Fighting Game Deserves a Better Score than an 8.9?

by Cyborganizer on April 19, 2008

Pros: The Game Play is the best.

Cons: Online gaming is sub par.

Summary: This is the best fighting game ever made. It is a huge improvement over any other fighting game. Unlike most fighting games in which the purpose is only to reduce ...

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Summary: This is the best fighting game ever made. It is a huge improvement over any other fighting game. Unlike most fighting games in which the purpose is only to reduce health to 0, Smash Brothers is a little more complex. The purpose to knock your opponent off of the stage. In all other fighting games I can just press a few buttons to defeat anybody. However, the Smash Brothers series requires different techniques. Just adding percent damage does nothing for you, you have to knock your opponent off of the cliff and keep him/her off. I have seen opponents eliminated with only slight damage because his/her opponent was able to keep him/her from recovering. I also like the different items in the game. I often play with all items on and on medium settings, but all settings are adjustable. You can turn any item on or off and change the settings between low-high. The gameplay is near perfect.

My only complaint is with the online gaming.
1. Why am I only allowed to enter 64 friend codes???!!!
2. Why am I not allowed to change settings in an Anyone match?
3. Why am I not allowed to talk or see the names of my opponents in anyone matches?
4. Why no voice chat? (This is my personal opinion. Some gamers like not having voice chat, but I want it.)
5. Why do Anyone matches have so much lag, but friend matches are almost lag free?
6. I HATE FRIEND CODES!
Finally, the EA game Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 has a great online gaming feature. It allows players to see the names of their opponents, nearly lag free, and no friend codes. I can see a huge list of every game available, see who is in that game and decide if I want to enter it. Why does Brawl not let me do that?

Overall I think this game deserves about a 9.3-9.5. I will give it a 10 to balance out the 8.9 average.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

Absolutely Fantastic Game! Worth the wait!

by juniormoua on March 10, 2008

Pros: Game is built solid, gameplay is fun, and everything is just "Wow!"

Cons: Story Mode 2 Player could have used split screen :o)

Summary: Okay, first off, I really don't know why Xombie11 rated this a 6/10, when he hasn't tried everything out. The characters were built very well overall. You ...

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Summary: Okay, first off, I really don't know why Xombie11 rated this a 6/10, when he hasn't tried everything out. The characters were built very well overall. You can't just jump into Brawl mode, which I believe is what Xombie11 did. There's 35 characters to unlock!

I'm a BIG and HUGE fan of games, especially when it comes to Smash Bros. The other Smash Bros. hit was pretty good, but NOT the best. I've rated the old ones like SBM (Smash Bros Melee) 8/10. This version I have to admit I rate it a 10/10.

Story Mode is where you can unlock most of these characters, but that's really not the benefit of Story/Adventure Mode... the story mode generally helps you go through EACH AND EVERYONE of the characters, giving you the necessary guidance you need to learn how to play each character's roles. They are not just "meh" like Xombie11 states it. The Story mode made me felt like I was playing ALL of the games from Mario to Metal Gear, ALL combined into one game!

The Brawl part is great! There's NEW things brought into the game itself such as special moves and powers... the new power up items are totally rocking down the house! Each character's moves also make this game INTENSE and full of entertainment!

Aside from the whole thing, the great Plus to this game is the wifi with others. It's amazing how some people pull off such moves I can't even do yet! I've spent 8 hours playing it in one day, and my gawd, I hardly EVER do that!

This is a plus and a keeper!
Updated
Okay, first off, I really don't know why Xombie11 rated this a 6/10, when he hasn't tried everything out. It does NOT deserve a 6/10. That's borderline of not worth it. The characters were built very well overall. You can't just jump into Brawl mode, which I believe is what Xombie11 did. There's 35 characters to unlock!

I'm a BIG and HUGE fan of games, especially when it comes to Smash Bros. The other Smash Bros. hit was pretty good, but NOT the best. I've rated the old ones like SBM (Smash Bros Melee) 8/10. This version I have to admit I rate it a 10/10 for what it's worth.

Story Mode is where you can unlock most of these characters, but that's really not the benefit of Story/Adventure Mode... the story mode generally helps you go through EACH AND EVERYONE of the characters, giving you the necessary guidance you need to learn how to play each character's roles. They are not just "meh" like Xombie11 states it. The Story mode made me felt like I was playing ALL of the games from Mario to Metal Gear, ALL combined into one game!

The Brawl part is great! There's NEW things brought into the game itself such as special moves and powers... the new power up items are totally rocking down the house! Each character's moves also make this game INTENSE and full of entertainment!

Aside from the whole thing, the great Plus to this game is the wifi with others. It's amazing how some people pull off such moves I can't even do yet! I've spent 8 hours playing it in one day, and my gawd, I hardly EVER do that!

This is a plus and a keeper!
Updated
PS- Another addition to this Wii version is the ability to create your own stages! It's a great tool and very fun to battle it out on friends who create their own unique stages!

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

BRAWL PWNS HALO!!!!

by M_cKade on March 16, 2008

Pros: Best game ever created!!!!

Cons: Perfect game!

Summary: O.K. this game cannot be described in words. GO OUT AND BUY IT!!!!! 10 years later you will still be salivating all over your LCD tv when you play ...

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Summary: O.K. this game cannot be described in words. GO OUT AND BUY IT!!!!! 10 years later you will still be salivating all over your LCD tv when you play Brawl with your children.

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1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

Greatest Game for the Wii

by jchoopz on September 1, 2008

Pros: It's Super Smash Bros. Everything that you love about the past games with even more features.

Cons: Online play is very lackluster. There are lots of things you can do to make online play much better, but its still a disappointing effort by Nintendo.

Summary: Wow, so much to say about the game in such little space. First off, it is your classic Super Smash Bros. It plays a little different that its predecessors, but ...

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Summary: Wow, so much to say about the game in such little space. First off, it is your classic Super Smash Bros. It plays a little different that its predecessors, but the core gameplay is still about the same and still extremely fun. They have added an adventure mode which I found extremely enjoyable. It isn't the deepest, and takes only about 10 hours to complete, but as a side feature it is pretty nice.

Online play is the new feature that makes Brawl much better that Melee, but at the same time isn't near what it should be. Online play in useless without friend codes, as playing with random people is pretty much a crapshoot. So basically what you need to do is get online and find some friends to play with. There are several Brawl communities you can join, such as http://supersmashbc.com, which make the online experience much more fun. Once you get involved in a clan or online competitions, or just even get into some social Brawls with people from a community it makes SSBB much more fun.

So, if you can manage to work around the online play there really aren't any flaws to this game. The graphics aren't next gen caliber really, but they are very solid and for a game like this there is never really a time when you find yourself wishing the graphics were better. If you are still reading this and haven't gotten Super Smash Bros. Brawl, then you are just wasting your time. You don't need to read anymore about anything. This is the best game on the Wii. Trust the millions who love this game and go out and get it for yourself.

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9 stars

Get ready to shave Mario's mustache

by Gamegirl15 on June 24, 2008

Pros: Lots of replayability,gorgeous graphics and the amount of unlockable content is incredible

Cons: Nothing to say here

Summary: FINALLY!!!After a delay that broke fans heart,the Wii's most waited title is here.Super Smash Bros.Brawl is an incredible game with addictive gameplay and suprising visuals....

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Summary: FINALLY!!!After a delay that broke fans heart,the Wii's most waited title is here.Super Smash Bros.Brawl is an incredible game with addictive gameplay and suprising visuals.The controls are good,specially if you use a Gamecube controller.Attacks are easy to learn,but some characters can take some time to master,like Sonic for example.The game's visuals are one of the best looking on the Wii.Although that some collision problems appear,the game still impressive.Enviorements are creative and character models look smooth.As I say first,the fighting is addictive,and with the lots of unlockables,I'm sure that this game will keep you busy for months and years.In short words,Super Smash Bros.Brawl is an incredible game that Wii owners and figthing fans must check out.

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10 stars

perfect game

by Silverhell on May 3, 2008

Pros: everything

Cons: nothing, but slow loading time

Summary: greatest game ever made.

Summary: greatest game ever made.
9 stars

Awesome addition to the series

by mpic92 on March 22, 2008

Pros: New characters, stages, fantastic soundtrack, same basic feel as Melee

Cons: Online could be a lot better...

Summary: This is a great follow-up in a great series. No big complaints, except the fact that Nintendo won't develop the online capabilities. Theres no voice chat, and no real ...

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Summary: This is a great follow-up in a great series. No big complaints, except the fact that Nintendo won't develop the online capabilities. Theres no voice chat, and no real form of communication with the people you play with, yet you still need a friend code (which is way to long, and not needed at all)?

Regardless, this is a must-have game for any Wii owners. The multiplayer modes are great as usual and the single player mode has been developed as well. Adventure mode (Subspace Emissary) is pretty good, though not the best part of the game. Co-op abilities with a local parter make it fun too, and it gives you an easier way to unlock the characters.

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9 stars

Awsome addition to an iconic series

by Bervon23 on March 21, 2008

Pros: There are more levels to choose from and a plethora of unlockable items, character, and levels which equate to hours of fun even if you have never played the SSB series before.

Cons: There should be more moves per character because it can get a little boring doing the same 8 moves over and over. There should be some sort of dialog when going through the adventure mode.

Summary: This is a Great multi person fighting game that has surprising depth for the genre that it represents as well as the Nintendo brand. There are many different aspects to ...

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Summary: This is a Great multi person fighting game that has surprising depth for the genre that it represents as well as the Nintendo brand. There are many different aspects to this game from the arena modes, sub space mission, classic battle, and multi person battle to make it an enjoyable experience for everyone and a game that can be played for hours on end. If you have a Wii and you are in the market for a good fighting game that doesn't give you thumb cramps and still keep you entertained I would definitely recommend this one....

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7 stars

Street Fighter on Steroids!

by thkpic on March 19, 2008

Pros: Solid Character Lineup, amazing level designs

Cons: Online play under developed, same formula, nothing new to experience

Summary: Standing outside a crowded gamestop in the middle of winter at 12am is never fun, but I had to get my copy of the most hyped game the wii has ...

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Summary: Standing outside a crowded gamestop in the middle of winter at 12am is never fun, but I had to get my copy of the most hyped game the wii has yet to offer. I've never been a huge fan of fighters but with so many memorable characters to choose from I had to dive in and give it a chance.
Each character has a unique fighting style and displays there own weaknesses and strenghts when engaging in battle. A host of obscure nintendo characters make there way to battle over dozens of mix-matched stages that in themselves pose challenges and threats to each fighters survival.
At first, so much was going on I didn't have a clue what I was doing. But after awhile you get the hang of each characters basic, advanced and smash attacks.The levels are sure to entertain for hours simply because there is so much variety the match ups seem endless. The highlight is playing with a group of people.
Downsides would be music at times and I think the adventure mode's story is hard to follow. If you aren't familiar with the characters you might not understand what's going on. (poke-what?) But for most this won't be an issue. I sometimes feel the controls are to restricted, like executing a move and being forced to remain stationary during it's execution. No real "combo" moves like older games where you could hit sequential buttons to devestate an enemy. The action is so fast paced that strategizing can be a real difficulty, especially when there are four players on board. You sometimes feel like your button mashing more than anything.
It's greatest feature is the extended line-up of characters. But after you unlock them you'll probably get bored and go online. Hears where it really hurts. It doesn't keep track of your wins for others to see, and reward you for progressive improvement in any type of developed online community. There isn't any, instead there just isolated battles with random people...and actually, you might as well be playing the AI, because there's not much here to distinquish it from the computer AI. I like being able to display my wins proudly...even mario kart ds does this for others to see online.
Unique levels demand attention, but in the end the lack of real strategic player depth makes each character feel to similar and the difficulty curve really weak. It's a solid game the shines with a group of players in the same room. It's the list of characters....that's the games appeal-nintendo fans love the idea of all those characters in the same game. Beyond that, as a fighter its a solid experience to add to the mix of what's out there. But if it wheren't for great characters, I might not find it anymore appealing than say a classic old school game like, Street Fighter Turbo.
My biggest complaint is the over emphasis on familiar nintendo branded characters, sounds, levels and gameplay. It plagues nintendo from truely creating new experiences at times that advance the characters and worlds they inhabit. It's great to see link fighting in a spot from Twilight Princess, or Windwaker...but couldn't you create new worlds that could've been in those games and extend the realm of play beyond the titles they represent? It doesn't happen often, and I think it's because it's a cheap way to make a game. You call it nastalgia, they call it plug and play...plug old programs in and call it new play.

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Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 18

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Nintendo
Part number: 90039

Product Basic Spec
Platform Wii
ESRB rating Teen -
Genre Action
Number of players 1-4 Players
Customization Editing Tools
Offline modes Competitive,Team Oriented,Cooperative
Online modes Team Oriented,Competitive

Game
Developer Game Arts
ESRB Teen

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