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Super Smash Bros. Brawl
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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So it’s probably about time I talked about this game, huh? I’m sure everyone on Earth with a Wii owns it by now (and if you don’t and you’re not 4 years old or Australian what the hell is wrong with you?) but I’m going to reiterate the points everyone else has made about it and plus add my own unique perspective. Hopefully.
First let’s get one thing straight: I am under no delusion that Super Smash Bros. is anything but a fanservice game, and I’m fully aware the games would never in a million years be this popular if they didn’t contain famous Nintendo (and now Sega) characters. Also you tourney brats who never played the original on the N64 and just got ridiculously good at using Marth or Zelda in Melee and never use any other characters and now bitch that things are slightly different in Brawl and it throws off your whole whiny obsessive dynamic can go straight to hell! You nearly suck the fun out of everything.
That being said, the game is pretty slick. If Nintendo (or Sora Ltd. working for Nintendo seeing as they actually made the game) could now just devote this sort of time, effort and precision to something other than total fandom wank that would be just peachy. The most impressive graphical work is naturally in the cutscenes for the Subspace Emissary, a new story-mode cooked up by a scenario writer for such works as Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Which goes a long way to explain why it’s so mind-grindingly bizarre. I mean yeah, Subspace is cute and funny at first, with gorgeous cinematic scenes (with almost laughably dramatic color and music), but then it starts to get a little… I dunno… dark. And then everything goes to Squeenix town. The fact nobody talks (which I actually consider a good thing, honestly) doesn’t help the confusion much.
Not helping matters much either, I’ve heard random people express puzzlement at the fact the characters clearly turn into figurines in the Subspace scenes. Obviously they never played the N64 game (am I hardcore now?), wherein it was easy to figure out from the imagery the story was that the game was really the overactive imagination of a kid playing with figurines. Master Hand, the end boss, was obviously the kid and it was all actually quite charming. Master Hand makes a return in Melee, but the source of this dynamic is obscured. It’s all but forgotten in Brawl, however this imagery is still present.
Which really makes me confused about the Subspace Emissary’s final boss. If Master Hand is the kid playing with the figurines and making up all this crap in his crazy head, what in the name convoluted plotlines is Tabuu supposed to be? The game’s code? That’s all I can figure. This all seemed rather… out of place, to say the least, and I didn’t appreciate having to drag back through all the previous levels set up like a giant maze in order to get to this nonsense. Couldn’t we have just stuck with the crossover funny?
Luckily players can make their own crossover funny, as the ability to capture video and images as well as the ability to send them to friends and save them on SD cards insures your most hilarious moments and accidents will be saved forever. I was a little disappointed that Brawl didn’t have a "developers screwing around with everything" video like Melee did (I’ll be honest, parts of that video had me in stitches), but hell maybe it does and I haven’t unlocked it yet. Lord knows there’s already 50 hogillion things to unlock including trophies, demos of old games, stickers, video game trivia, and music.
But ah yes the music. Even if you hate the games, the soundtrack for Brawl is worth getting for any Nintendo fan. Many of your favorite tracks are remixed, fully orchestrated, and re-imagined in many ways. My personal favorite is the swelling orchestra preforming the Tetris music. Some of it you could listen to in non-video-game-savvy company and they’d never be able to guess it’s origins. You probably won’t like everything on the soundtrack, but considering there’s well over 100 damn tracks there’s something for everyone.
Now for the most shameful part. I have to admit, predictably, I use Pit an awful lot. YES I KNOW SHUT UP EVERYONE EXPECTED ME TO PLAY AS THE SHOTA-BAIT ANGEL, HA HA HA! I can’t help it! I’m actually good with him. Except I hate his down-B move, that’s not even a freakin’ attack you little punk. You already have the Z-block, why do you need ANOTHER block? I only whine because I constantly forget, because I’m not a tourney kid who only uses one character. Even so, so far I’ve only managed to complete the 100 Man Brawl with him and Sonic of all people.
I also use Sheik alot. And I don’t say Sheik/Zelda because like most people I just turn her into Sheik before the fight even starts. Brawl has given me a new grand video game lament, however, in the developers announcing that Sheik’s design was based off an unused concept for Twilight Princess. That has subsequently just made me go back and think of all the ways Sheik would have fit perfectly into TP, nevermind Zelda was missing most of the game, but what about those three useless people in Hyrule Castle Town who tell you how to get to certain places yet don’t do any work themselves? SHEIK COULD DO THAT! That’s his whole shtick! And yes I’m aware Sheik is not a "he" because he’s Zelda in drag but I maintain the persona of Sheik is male and- whatever, it doesn’t matter. He could have made Twilight Princess alot better, if only to distract everyone from how bad parts of the story were with his awesome. Her awesome. Zelda just has a psychological issue where she can’t use her ninja skills while wearing a dress.
Anyhoo, I’ve gotten completely off topic now. The game seemed to get very stale for me very quickly in single player, it’s always more fun to play with friends. It’s also hard to get adults together on a regular basis to play video games, and it’s even harder to play online without organizing a time or at least talking to people on an instant messenger while you’re playing because there is absolutely no way to get anyone’s attention in the online play, and you can’t even go mess around in the rest of the game while waiting for other people to come on. You can either stare at the online options or just idle in the waiting room hoping someone comes online. It sucks. And then even when you do get on instant messenger and your friend agrees to play, his connection craps out in the middle of every single brawl. YOU know who you are!
However I soon found other single player ways to amuse myself in Brawl. I did do level building for a while, but with the limited options it gets really boring, and I’m only motivated to do it now if I acquire catchy new music to put in it. I’ve been trying to best the 100 man Brawl as various characters, which is fun to go back to once in a while, but what completely spiced up the game for me was SPECIAL Brawls. There’s nothing quite like facing off against the computer for 5 minutes where everyone’s 200% faster, gravity is 200% lighter, you’re all wearing bunny hoods and everyone starts out with 300% damage so every hit is an insta-kill. It’s completely insane and for a while I didn’t even want to play on normal speed. When even that got a little tiresome, I put on some special Brawl rules, put Pit, Zelda, Link and Ganondorf in their gothiest attire and battled in Luigi’s Mansion. So I guess what I’m saying is if you’re creative, the game won’t get old on you, and of course multiplayer will never, ever get old.
Word of advice though, never do a Special Brawl where everyone is invisible.
I love the game! I haven’t really been able to play multiplayer all that much because I haven’t had some ind of big Brawl bash or anything but I, too, entertain myself making stages and trying to beat the challenges.
My biggest pet peeve was probably one of the strangest ones I’ve had in a game, and that was the character trophies. I was disappointed that all the classic mode trophies were just the full figure look of a charcter’s “pick me!” thumb nail. It was a step down for me considering that Melee had 3 different kinds of trophies per character, each one different. I was very happy in the pants, though, to find out that there is an allstar mode with special trophies in Brawl, so that made up for that.
Aaaand that’s really my only main issue.
Oh, and if you want to know more about the Subspace and figure out wtf was going on, you should check out the official website. It really is just an overly complex story line.
Sai, first I must argue that Sheik -IS- male, not just a cross dressing Zelda. I maintain the belief that she used magic to change into a male, and while technically female in mind her body is male, which makes her a man in my book. So Sheik=Boy
And I totally rape Pit. Yes yes, I only play as one character in each game, its my weakness. In melee I would always play Sheik, but in Brawl he just feels more awkward. Maybe it’s just the transition from GCN controller to Wiimote (yes i prefer the Wiimote, it’s much easier for me), but it’s just not as comfortable to play him. (oh, and in the n64? Ness and Pikachu ftw)
The moment I saw Tabuu I just gave up on making sense of the Subspace plot. I had it til then but then I just went “…Wait, is the kid from n64 being abused and controlled??” I’m sure if I thought harder about it I’d get it, but oh well. Right now I’m working on unlocking everything, I’ll worry about the plot another time
I don’t like the “Sheik is a male” idea, not just because its perpetuated by fangirls who thought Sheik was hot… and not just because I figured out Sheik’s true identity upon first seeing him >_> … but I think it negates the idea that a girl can be strong (also with that can’t-fight-in-a-dress-syndrome there.)
Also if you look at alot of the original art for OoT too you can tell Sheik is a girl in the hip area. I mean srsly: http://www.ganonstower.com/wallpapers/sheik_800×600.jpg I’d use the artwork to try and convince my brother of my kuuuhh-raay-zaay “Sheik is Zelda!” theory when we first played the game as kids. XD
Also I always play with the Wiimote, I don’t know why people complain about it D:
Okay, I’ll give you that he’s got some un-masculine hips on him (and a girly ass. Seriously, pause Brawl while he’s flipping in the air - it is ridiculously hilarious ). BUT you cannot deny that his chest is way too manly to JUST be wrapping, some sort of magic must be going on there, or way too much free time on Zelda’s part. But that wouldn’t make sense considering the change in a flash.
And of course there must BE magic on some level, obviously that accounts for the change in skin, eye, and (in the “TP”/brawl version) Hair color in the short flash of a Deku nut (or using Brawl-logic it is a very obvious magical change, but lets not take that for canon). So why wouldn’t she take it one step farther and just poof her whole body male? Maybe my explanation is a bit too simplistic..
And as for the wiimote playing - i know a few people who’ve never even tried it (namely my brother) and jumped right on to the GCN controller. It’s not so difficult people D:
Not just the hips, I did say hip area, also for the feminine tummy and the noticeable lack of junk XD
Magic? Why can’t it be armor or padding? I mean it’s all conveniently under the cloth areas, the bandages are holding it together, and she may even have some things on under the spandex on the arms seeing as it looks a bit unnatural. That’s the way it’s always looked like it was drawn to me.
I mean if you’re going to disguise yourself as a man, you might as well do it right. The head wrapping too, all serves to make her face look bigger and muffle her voice. Even so Sheik even sounds feminine in OoT in the few voice clips you hear.
Well the hair color change in Brawl seems entirely due to Zelda’s hair being darker in TP but Sheik being more familiar with the bright blond hair Zelda had in OoT. Sides, it’s a video game, you don’t have to get too literal about it. I’d think she could change her eye color with magic.
Anyway, who says she has enough magic power to physically transform her body/gender, and secondly why would she, and thirdly why the need to hide so much of her face if she can just poof gender change, and fourthly I still say Sheik is obviously drawn as a female in disguise. :p
Now Sai, let’s not go calling his package into question here, let us remember the game was made in Japan after all ;D *brick*
My question to you would be this - Why disguise herself as a man at all then? She could easily have disguised herself as a woman without drawing too much “omg that’s Zelda” attention. So I figure if she went for it perhaps she had some sort of realization that the Triforce of Wisdom or some other magical means (though i would say the triforce is most likely) could completely change her. Really, as a princess on the run, how much time do you think she could devote to perfecting her padding and wrapping in such a way to be convincing as a man?
And I think Sheik would have been just as recognizable with brown hair in brawl, so perhaps they wanted to show off just how far her magic could take it (considering the magical aura around her as she changes, they’re pretty much putting a sign on that says “hey lookit my magic powers BD” ).
And why hide her face? well, perhaps she felt she still looked too much like herself and wanted some extra security to ensure she would not be recognized. Or maybe she wanted to finish off the ninja look she kinda had going. Or maybe she just really sucks with making clothes. Who knows =P And if she was indeed using the triforce I imagine the magical power she could use on this would be quite a bit so yes, I think she’d have enough.
Why disguise herself as a man? Well to trick the audience for one thing.
And it more easily insures Ganon wasn’t able to find her, you’d think if another pretty blonde woman was going around helping the Hero of Time by teaching him magic songs even Link would be able to figure out who she is.
“And I think Sheik would have been just as recognizable with brown hair in brawl, so perhaps they wanted to show off just how far her magic could take it (considering the magical aura around her as she changes, they’re pretty much putting a sign on that says “hey lookit my magic powers BD” ).”
See now you’re really over-thinking things. Sora Ltd. doesn’t have anything to do with the story writing of any Nintendo properties, they just put characters in their fighting game. How about it’s just character design?
“And why hide her face? well, perhaps she felt she still looked too much like herself and wanted some extra security to ensure she would not be recognized.”
She had to hide her face so no one would know who she was, she was, you know, in hiding. Just hiding in plain sight. Again why the need to hide her face at all if she can like magically change gender like some kind of frog?
Agreed. Shiek is a guy. Anatomy, yo. O:
The way it was always drawn in the official art it looks like padding to make her look bigger and guyish, yo. And I tells you look at the hips! (I fixed my pic link too)
Ahaha. I PLAYED THE GAME FOR FIFTEEN HOURS STRAIGHT ONCE I GOT IT D: I didn’t SLEEP.
It’s like, mindless fandom self indulgence.
That said, of course the single player is going to get old - I’m working on getting every unlockable at the moment, and finishing Subspace on something that isn’t easy (also, 100%-ing it) I’ve barely touched the stadium, stage builder, or anything like that, and it’s actually about 300 songs in all - I’ve got the entire soundtrack *lame*
I played as Kirby on the n64 and the gamecube, and nothing has cnaged except that KIRBY IS ACTUALLY GOOD AGAIN HUZZAH! Also the Subspace Emissary plays EXACTLY like Kirby’s FunPak (Superstar to you dudes), which makes me laugh at Sakurai - the game REEKS of his design quirks.
The main thing I had a problem with is that all the characters were so EASY to unlock - I mean, seriously! Three ways to unlock every character? (3 very EASY ways). It’s a bit dissappointing that the rewards for the more hardcore stuff are music, trophies, and stickers where most of the stages and characters (y’know, the big stuff) is easily done.
Hurray for Brawl! If you wanna learn about Tabuu a bit, some one over on the Smash Wiki wrote some story analysis thing. I can’t find it now. (it might have gotten deleted)
It said that Master Hand was still the child from the first game, but he was getting older. Society had discouraged his playing with toys, labeling it childlike, and thus creating a “taboo”. So, basically, it was about growing up.
That sounds a little too… eh. I dunno. So Master Hand is now a creepy otaku who still plays with toys? XD
Maybe since a Squeenix guy wrote it even he doesn’t know what the hell it is.
lol invisible melee was never a good thing. invisible brawl’s the same
The Smash Bros. Dojo talks a little more in-depth about the storyline, especially about Dedede and the badges. 8D
Bah. Kirby forever! I like the new power-up things they have. And the Pikmin dude? That’s kinda stretching it, but even more so is goddam ROB! What, a robot that only rolls around is now a combat robot? THey must really be running out of ideas. If they just made some SS specific characters that you could play as, that would be wonderful. End of ramble.
“If Nintendo (or Sora Ltd. working for Nintendo seeing as they actually made the game) could now just devote this sort of time, effort and precision to something other than total fandom wank that would be just peachy.”
That made me LOL. Its true though, Super Smash Brothers is over hyped and would never have been good if not for all the famous characters in it. Still I find it pretty fun to play. Its the first one I have ever owned. (I played the others but never owned them.) Its a lot of fun online, IF you can make the damn thing work.
Me: YES! The Brawl is finally going to start. Oh great. Who is the guy that picked the pico-chat area? This thing lags like crazy! Yup…lag….I will be kicked off in 3…2…1…*poof* :/
I would say more but I don’t want to bore you. However I will say this, I like to use Zelda over Sheik. I don’t know why but I just do….
I back the Sheik-is-Male argument. I’m sorry, but the original designs are too femine, and I don’t care if it is Japan. That is just a horrible stereotype about Japanese illustrators, really.
So wait, you think Sheik is male but you think the original designs were too feminine? >_>; can’t that possibly mean the character in question was drawn as a female? The illustrator for OoT didn’t seem to have trouble differentiating between males and females in any other drawings..
*SP01LERS?*
I miss Roy. A lot. (kinda like having your hand swapped out for a new hand)
Can’t get Ike to work as well, yet…
I like beating people as ROB, it’s nice.
Why did you leave me Roy. Why!?
Lucas is fun and Toon Link is a monstrosity.
Roy… Roy.
I like using Toon Link in his “dark Link” coloring, he looks like such a horrible little hobgoblin XD
Haha, yeah. He’s still too cute to be evil though…
Maybe, if he had horns and a forked tongue.