Super Smash Bros. Brawl Review, Continued
Unfortunately, SSBB doesn't come without a few minor flaws. The first on the list is within the control scheme itself. While it's certainly possible to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, it's not advisable (other reviews and FAQs disagree, so it's virtually a coin toss). Unless the Wii controls are your default preferences, using a Gamecube controller will probably work better. After all, SSBB doesn't utilize the unique Wii control setup whatsoever, leaving every move and dash basically unchanged. Throwing in the jump button really didn't make any sense, as pressing up on the thumbstick makes the character jump anyway. The automatic dash is annoying as well, especially in modes like Home-Run when all you're trying to do is pick up the bat but end up running right off the platform. The special moves were easily enough to figure out and execute, however; the only problem was memorizing them for every character.
The second major problem plaguing SSBB lies within the single-player campaign itself: the Subspace Emissary. There's nothing more annoying than repetition. Why does this issue arise in so many games? For Brawl, it comes in the form of a horribly long "maze." After completing 30 stages, gamers must venture through every stage again, each connected by portals to another stage. What makes this a maze is that your path is not linear, and that multiple doors in one area will lead to multiple areas. With that said, expect to do quite a bit of backtracking and face the same platform nightmares you (barely) overcame the first time around. You can't ignore this maze; the final door at its center leads straight to the final boss. And if you're sitting there thinking "I'll just skip the single-player game" then you're going to miss out on unlocking a plethora of playable characters such as Sonic, Solid Snake and Luigi.
Of course, we know that the heart of the game is about unlocking your favorite characters and whooping your friend's butt. We know all about that, and SSBB has plenty to offer in that department. The game initially comes packed full of characters including Mario, Pikachu, Kirby, Link and Diddy Kong. By the time you've played through a bit of the classic sessions and conquered the single-player campaign, everyone should be available save for the last three unlockables: Jigglypuff, Toon Link and Wolf. These final three require a bit of extra work.
Unlocking key characters will take some time, especially with a lengthy single-player campaign, but the prizes are worth the effort.
There's no beating SSBB and unlocking everything in under 10 hours. The single-player campaign is a good 12 hours at the most to complete, then you have to finish the various Event Stages, complete the Classic modes for each character (standard or unlocked) and so on. The amount of content SSBB features is simply staggering, but it's not apparent at the main menu screen. If one were to divide the game into sections, it would be as follows: Group, Solo, Wi-Fi and the Vault (we're not going to count the Options and Data area).
The Group area is for local multiplayer games and includes modes such as Brawl, Special Brawl (tinker around with various rules), Rotation (for more than four players), Tourney (for up to 32 players) and the Names management area. The Solo area features the Classic brawl, the single-player Subspace Emissary campaign and Events area (stages with specific tasks), Training and the Stadium Area (Target Smash, Home-Run Contest, Multi-Man Brawl and Boss Battles... self-explanatory stuff). The Wi-Fi section features regular brawl, team multi-man Brawl and the home-run contest for online play with friends while the Anonymous section features basic Brawl and team battle.
Lastly, the Vault area features all the trophies collected throughout the game. There's also an area for sticker management, which involves a method of upgrading your character by applying stickers. The album sports all the pretty pictures you've taken during your battles (press the + sign on the Wii remote and follow the directions), but just don't get your hopes up in exporting them outside the game (so far we haven't figured out how to get them off the memory card). Challenges offer scenarios to accomplish in order to complete the stage. For instance, in Stage 3, don't let Kirby board the Halbred. In Stage 8, Pikachu must be the last Pokemon standing in an all-out Pokemon brawl. Lastly, in Stage 11, the player must beat six Yoshis in a specific order: red, pink, yellow, green, pale blue and blue. The Masterpieces section offers unlocked demos of classic titles. The Chronicle section lists the releases of titles in chronological order. And finally, to round out this huge section, Nintendo threw in a custom stage builder.
The Stage Builder is probably the best gimmick found in the Vault. As the name states, you can create a custom arena to play locally. Unfortunately, these maps aren't accessible on the Wi-Fi network, so don't count on uploading or downloading custom stages. We guessed that Nintendo assumed their customers never bothered to buy memory cards. Who knows. Still, it's a cool toy feature to experiment with locally, with small, medium and large maps to create, and sets of items to throw in such as platforms, spikes, elevators, stairwells and whatnot. The tool list was difficult to read even using the S-Video input, thus inserting objects could be a guessing game in itself.
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