Smash Reflections: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

(Part 1 can be found here.)

(Part 2 can be found here.)

At E3 2005, Nintendo announced their latest console. Dubbed “The Nintendo Revolution”, the console featured wireless controllers and an interface that focused on interactive gameplay. Several titles were announced as possibilities, but key amongst them was a Smash Bros. game. This news surprised Masahiro Sakurai, who wasn’t kept in-the-loop about this, but he went to work on the game shortly afterward. The one condition Sakurai had was that this next entry would be his baby, with him having complete control over the finished project. Nintendo granted him that request, but due to Sakurai’s ambitions, the game, later dubbed Super Smash Bros. Brawl, kept getting delayed, until it released in early-2008 for the Wii.

Despite this, the game received immense hype. This was further compounded by The Smash Bros. Dojo, a site that frequently provided updates on the game’s progress. I remember sitting at my computer every day after school, clicking on the site and checking to see the latest development. Whether it was a character introduction, a stage announcement, or even a sound clip, Super Smash Bros. Brawl would be the biggest and most-epic Smash Bros. game in history! There was no way it’d disappoint, right?

Confession time: my thoughts on Super Smash Bros. Brawl have come full-circle in the years since its release. Initially, I was pumped, thinking it’d be the best game ever. As the hype faded, however, disappointment kicked in, and I started to notice, or over-notice, its flaws. It was only once I realized how toxic the gaming community’s reactions were toward it that I started appreciating it more, and it became a favourite again. Even now, 10 years later, I still have immense respect for the game.

The most-obvious upgrade was the visuals. Super Smash Bros. Melee was a clear improvement over the original game’s low-polygon count, but this game really upped the ante. Everything looked crisp and detailed, with an attention to detail normally found in modern-Final Fantasy. Additionally, the game also had a gritty, lived-in feel, with many of the characters looking somewhat edgy. It was unique to the franchise at the time, and it still is now.

Perhaps the best showcase of the visual enhancement was its opening cinematic. If Super Smash Bros. felt like a stage play and Super Smash Bros. Melee a short film, then Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the equivalent of going to the opera. Not only was the opening cinematic, but it had full-on orchestrations and a choir singing in Latin. Some might even call it excessive, given how this was a fighting game and not a grand epic. Then again, when you have Nobuo Uematsu composing, you have to let him do what he does best:

The intro feels like a Final Fantasy game, no? (Courtesy of Alfonso’s ALT.)

The story-heavy feel of this opening linked to the game’s newest feature, a fleshed-out, single-player campaign dubbed “The Subspace Emissary”. This was quite unique to the franchise at the time, feeling like the Adventure Mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee that Sakurai had wanted for years. Here, however, he had full reign to do as he wished, and The Subspace Emissary was its own beast. I know fans are divided on it, especially since it unlocks all of the characters without having to earn them, but I liked it.

On the subject of divisive, Super Smash Bros. Brawl slowed down the fighting mechanics quite a bit. Whereas Super Smash Bros. Melee played fast and slippery, Super Smash Bros. Brawl played slow and floaty. The game was clearly designed with casual gamers in mind, and-between that and “tripping”-that polarized competitive gamers. It polarized them to the point where a modified version of the game, dubbed Project M, was created to “fix” everything.

This is where I started drifting away from hardcore gamers. I’d grown up on the Smash Bros. games, having played the original when I was 9, but I was never a “pro”. I was decent with Kirby, but Kirby’s not exactly the best fighter. The fact that I stood a chance against a pro in Super Smash Bros. Brawl made me feel a lot better, but it also got me into many pointless fights whenever I opened my mouth. 6 years before GamerGate took off, I was experiencing doses of gaming toxicity in the numerous debates I was having over the quality of Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s game mechanics.

It wasn’t all bad, though! For one, online functionality was finally an option. Sure, it was laggy, slow and had a tendency to disconnect without warning, but it allowed for me to test out my endurance with strangers. Or friends, as I became “Brawl buddies” with someone in my Grade 12 English class. The online was flawed, and future games would only improve on it, but it was a step in the right direction.

Speaking of “steps in the right direction”, Super Smash Bros. Brawl also introduced a custom stage maker. This allowed me, within reason, to create new stages to fight in, and I took full advantage. Unfortunately, my ability to build stages was embarrassing, and the end-results were archaic and lacklustre. But at least my best creation, a level consisting entirely of springs, was fun in an annoying kind of way!

As a final kudos, Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduced two staples that’d become mainstays in future entries. The first was the option of using Gamecube controllers instead of Wiimotes. This was great because the latter didn’t feel as natural as the former for a game like this. It also extended the half-life of my Gamecube controllers long after the Gamecube was discontinued, a plus considering how expensive they are online these days. And it helped to remind me of the franchise’s humbler origins.

The second was the game’s introduction of specialty items. These included the Final Smash, the Dragoon (which came in 3 pieces) and the Assist Trophy. The items allowed for varied gameplay, as they were all about racing to get to them first. Were they sometimes cheap? Maybe, but they were also lots of fun.

It’s tough figuring out if Super Smash Bros. Brawl is overrated, or really that good. People have been arguing this for 10 years, with passionate fans on both sides. Personally, though, I happen to love it. It’s not perfect, but neither was Super Smash Bros. Melee. And if people really love that entry, then why can’t I love this one?

Of course, there’s also the sequel, but, as always, that’s for next time…