Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Due for Release: March 9th 2008 (North America)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is an upcoming crossover fighting game to be published by Nintendo for the Wii. As the third installment of the Super Smash Bros. series, this title once again features a diverse roster of characters from Nintendo and its second parties to fight in various kinds of matches. However, Brawl is the first Super Smash Bros. game to feature third-party characters. Most of the game's music is made up of arranged versions of pieces that originated in previously released Nintendo video games; though some play exactly as they did in their original games, others are arranged by one of 36 renowned video game composers.

As with its predecessors, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a departure from traditional fighting games, notably in its simplified move commands and its emphasis on ring outs over knockouts. Super Smash Bros. Brawl will include a deeper single player mode than its predecessors. Known as The Subspace Emissary, this mode is a side-scrolling video game featuring Brawl 's playable characters. The storyline of this mode involves characters persevering under the weight of their own personal histories. Super Smash Bros. Brawl supports multiplayer battles with up to four combatants, and will be the first game of its franchise to support online battles through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Grand Entrance

Like the first Smash bros Brawl will be featuring on-screen apperances like Mario jumping out of his pipe and Pit gliding down from the heavens and there is a 3 second countdown before the match begins ==Gameplay== Following the style of its predecessors, the game uses a battle system different from that of typical fighting games. Choosing from a variety of characters, one to four players fight on various stages, trying to knock their opponents off the screen. Instead of using health bars like standard fighting games, percentage displays are employed. These start at zero percent, and increase as the characters take damage up to 999%. As a character's percentage goes up, the character flies farther back when hit. When a character is knocked beyond a stage's boundary and disappears from the screen, the character loses either a life or a point depending on the mode of play. The game can be played using the Wii Remote on its side, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk together, the Classic controller, or the GameCube controller, for a total of four possible control styles. Players will also be able to create profiles with personalised button configurations for each control method along with their chosen username.

The characters can fight each other with a variety of attacks. Each move is prompted with the press of a button in conjunction with a tilt of the control stick or a press of the D-pad, depending on the mode of control. In addition to basic attacks, such as punches and kicks, characters have access to more powerful smash attacks. Each character also has four character-specific special moves, which often have unique effects beyond damaging an opponent. The game introduces the ability to perform character-specific super attacks, referred to as "Final Smash" moves. Final Smashes are significantly more powerful than regular attacks, having a wide variety of effects that range from nearly unavoidable blasts to temporary transformations. These abilities may be performed once upon destroying a Smash Ball (an item bearing the Smash Bros. symbol), though multiple Smash Balls may appear in one battle. When the Smash Ball has been successfully broken by a character, he produces a Final Smash. However, should the player wait too long to use it and sustain too much damage, the ability will be lost and a Smash Ball will be knocked out of the character to resume flying about the stage.

The stages are arenas that are mostly based on levels from the various represented series of Super Smash Bros. Although they are three-dimensional, characters cannot move freely along the z-axis. Stages range from floating platforms to moving areas where the characters have to keep up. Each stage has a boundary that cannot be passed, or the character will be " KO'd ", thus losing a life. As in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the game introduces new stages. Many stages will undergo elaborate changes while battles take place, such as a cycling day-to-night system in the Battlefield stage, a season system in the Yoshi's Island stage, and destructible platforms in the Skyworld stage.

Brawl also allows players to create their own stages using a variety of options in a mode called Stage Builder. The editors can save their stages onto an SD card to overcome the limitations of the internal memory. Players can also send their stages to friends they have registered on their friends list. Through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, players will be able to submit their creations daily to Nintendo, and receive a daily stage from the service.

The characters can make use of a variety of items, ranging from projectiles to melee weapons. Each item has a different effect on the characters around it. While many items return from previous Super Smash Bros. games, some are making their debut in Brawl . Two varieties of items, Assist Trophies and Poké Balls, summon guest characters and Pokémon, respectively, that generally assist the summoner. They cannot be controlled by players and are usually invincible.

Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary

Super Smash Bros. Brawl will feature a new Adventure Mode titled Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary . This mode will feature unique character storylines along with numerous side scrolling levels and multiple bosses to fight, as well as CG cut scenes explaining the storyline. The Subspace Emissary features a new group of antagonists called the Subspace Army, who are lead by the Ancient Minister. Some of these enemy characters appeared in previous Nintendo video games, such as Petey Piranha from the Mario series and a squadron of R.O.B.s based on classic Nintendo hardware. The Subspace Emissary also boasts a number of original enemies, such as the Roader, a robotic unicycle; the Bytan, a one-eyed ball-like creature which can replicate itself if left alone; and the Primid, enemies that come in many variations. The Adventure mode emphasizes character development, with individual characters persevering under the weight of their personal histories. Though primarily a single-player mode, The Subspace Emissary will allow for cooperative multiplayer. There are five difficulty levels for each stage, and there will be a method of increasing your characters' power during the game, which is claimed to be "a method that has not been seen before".

Unlike other game modes, The Subspace Emissary has a team system for the characters. The player begins with a limited choice of characters. Others join the team as the game progresses, while some characters may leave the team. Once one character loses a life, another character on the team can take his or her place until the stock count, of which each stage has a set number, runs out. The character order can be changed to the player's liking.

Masahiro Sakurai claims that this mode will be more "fleshed out" than the single-player modes in previous Smash Bros. titles. Shigeru Miyamoto has explained that Sakurai always wanted to have a very deep single-player game, but that he wanted Sakurai to focus more on the multiplayer aspects in the previous titles since there were already many single-player games of this kind. With the development time allotted for Brawl , both were possible.

Classic

Keeping consistent with its predecessors, Brawl will include a Classic mode. This mode is semi-randomly generated and consists of numerous stages. Each stage features an arena from a particular series, such as The Legend of Zelda or Pokémon. Several stages also have a unique battle condition (such as a metal opponent or a two-on-two team battle.)

Stadium

As in Melee , Brawl features objective-oriented minigames in Stadium Mode. The Home-Run Contest mode is one of these features. In Home-Run Contest, the player must beat the Sandbag to deal as much damage as possible in ten seconds, then strike it with a Home-Run Bat to send it as far as possible. Updated from Melee , some Stadium Mode minigames feature cooperative or even competitive multiplayer. Returning from the two previous games is the Target Smash! minigame, in which the player must break 10 targets as quickly as possible. Departing from previous incarnations of this mode, players can access five different maps with any character, whereas the previous Super Smash Bros. games featured one unique map per character. In addition, items will also now be available.

Vs. Mode

Special Melee from the previous game returns as Special Brawl. In this mode, players will be able to battle in matches using special rules for a greater level of customization. Whereas previously standard options such as "Giant Melee" or "Invisible Melee" were available, players will now select as many options as they like for a single match.

Another returning game type, Tourney mode, formerly Tournament mode, enables players to create an elimination-based tournament with a large number of CPU or human opponents. Masahiro Sakurai has stated that the development team is still working on this mode to make it "fun for everyone".

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Super Smash Bros. Brawl allows players to play against distant opponents through the use of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection . Online multiplayer games can be played either with registered friends or with other random participants. The players' nicknames will be displayed during multiplayer matches. Additionally, the players can converse with up to four phrases that are set by the player beforehand. The four phrases will appear in speech bubbles above the characters when the corresponding direction of the directional pad is pressed. They will be coupled with the characters' taunts. It has been emphasized that these names and phrases will not be displayed in random-player matches. While waiting for a match to start online, players may practice fighting against the Sandbag. Players may also send snapshots or video replays of battles and other aspects of the game to their registered Wii Friends. Other Wi-Fi services are set to be available, but these functions are currently unknown. Some other gameplay modes, such as the Home-Run Contest, can be also played using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection . In addition, snapshots may be taken at any point during the battles while the game is paused and can be sent to friends through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection . Video replay footage can also be captured in certain game modes, including Brawl and Target Smash! modes, and sent to friends in the same manner.

Playable characters

The cast of characters includes various returning characters from Super Smash Bros. Melee and a variety of newcomers. Some returning characters have been updated or refined since their last appearance, either in terms of appearance, fighting capabilities, or both. For example, Link and Fox McCloud, have taken on new designs from more recent titles, while Samus has gained the ability to change into a new form, " Zero Suit Samus", by using her Final Smash.

Some previously represented series have had more characters added to Brawl . Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong series and Ike from the Fire Emblem series will make their first appearance in the Smash Bros. series, preceded by Donkey Kong in the case of Diddy Kong and both Marth and Roy in the case of Ike. Other newcomers are the first to represent their series. These include characters such as Pit, representing the Kid Icarus series for the first time since the 1991 Game Boy game Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters ; Wario, from Nintendo's highly successful WarioWare and Wario Land series and an occasional antagonist of Mario's. Solid Snake, the main protagonist of Konami's Metal Gear franchise, and Sonic the Hedgehog from Nintendo's former rival Sega are the first third-party characters to appear in a Super Smash Bros. game.

Stages

Stages are arenas that are generally based on levels from the various represented game series of Super Smash Bros. Stages range from floating platforms to moving areas where the characters must stay within the field of play. Each stage has a boundary that cannot be passed, or the character will be "KO'd", thus losing a life or losing a "point".

Brawl contains forty-one selectable stages, with twenty-nine initially available. Many stages undergo elaborate changes while battles take place, such as a cycling day-to-night system and changing seasons. A stage based on the Animal Crossing series features a live events system in which special events may occur depending on the date and time. Environmental gameplay mechanics are featured in this installment, such as destructible terrain and floating in water. Unlike its predecessors, Brawl also includes stages based on third-party games such as the Metal Gear Solid-inspired Shadow Moses Island. The game also includes some stages originally seen in its predecessor.

Brawl also allows players to create their own stages using a variety of options in a mode called Stage Builder. Players can save their stages to an SD card or the internal memory of the Wii console. Stages can also be sent to registered friends. Through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, players are able to submit their creations daily to Nintendo and receive a daily stage from the service.

Collectibles

Returning from Melee are trophies, statuettes of Nintendo characters and objects that can be collected in the game. These trophies give a brief history of the object it shows. In addition to trophies, players will now be able to collect stickers of Nintendo artwork. Players will be able to place stickers and trophies onto virtual backgrounds and record snapshots, which can be sent to other players via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Another new item appearing in the game will be CDs, which, when obtained, will offer new music choices for playable stages. By completing stages in the Classic mode, coins can be earned. The purpose of these is currently unknown, however.

Development

At the pre-E3 2005 press conference, the president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, announced the next installment of Super Smash Bros. was not only already in development for their next gaming console, but would be a launch title with Wi-Fi compatibility for online play. The announcement was unexpected to the creator of the Super Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai. Back in 2003, he had left HAL Laboratory, the company that was in charge with the franchises' development and was never informed of this announcement despite the fact shortly after resigning from the company, Iwata said if a new game was to be made, he would be in charge. It was not until after the conference Sakurai was called to Satoru Iwata's room on the top floor of a Los Angeles hotel, where he was told by Iwata "We'd like you to be involved in the production of the new Smash Bros. , if possible near the level of director". Although originally announced to be a launch title, Sakurai stated "I decided to become director. And as of May, 2005, I was the only member of the new Smash Bros. development team". Development of the game never actually started until late 2005, and just for its production, Nintendo opened a new office in Tokyo at the beginning of October 2005. Nintendo also enlisted outside help from a company who, at that point in time, just finished development of a major title. Sakurai also stated that these people had spent excessive amounts of time playing Super Smash Bros. Melee . This team will have access to all the original material and tools from the development of Melee , courtesy of HAL Laboratory. Also, several Smash Bros. staff members that reside around the area of the new office have joined up on the project's development.

The game was absent from Nintendo's Wii showing at its 2006 Pre-E3 press conference. The next day, on Wednesday, May 10 , 2006, its first official trailer was unveiled at E3 and at the After-Hours Press Conference, Nintendo officially revealed the game under the name of Super Smash Bros. Brawl . In an interview with IGN, Sakurai said the Wii's motion sensing features might not be included because, "we found that trying to implement too much motion-sensory functionality can get in the way of the game." As far as Wi-Fi play is concerned, Sakurai stated his plan was to include Wi-Fi connection compatibility and online functionality, he goes on to say "one of the primary reasons Super Smash Bros. Brawl was created was that Nintendo, when taking Wii online, wanted to have Smash Bros. to do that". However, as stated in the Toukouken on the Japanese version of the Smash Bros. website, "there would be many hurdles to cross," and an online ranking system is unlikely to be implemented. During a test play between Sakurai and Hideo Kojima , Kojima stated that the game feels complete and that Nintendo "could put it out right now and it would sell millions of copies." Starting May 22 , 2007 , the site has had updates every weekday. Throughout October 18-22, 2007 at the first Entertainment for All Expo show in Los Angeles, California, Nintendo hosted a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament.

At the Nintendo Media Conference at E3 2007, it was announced by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would be released on December 3 , 2007 in the Americas. However, just 2 months before its anticipated December release, the development team asked for more time to work on the game. During the Nintendo Conference on October 10 , 2007, Nintendo of Japan president Iwata announced the delay,

On October 11, 2007, George Harrison of Nintendo of America announced that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would be released on February 10, 2008 in the U.S.

Music

On May 22, 2007, Sakurai revealed a list of 36 composers providing music for the game. Sakurai stated that he has asked the composers, who come from a variety of companies and have written music for first, second, and third-party games, "to listen to an elite selection of Nintendo music and arrange several of their favorite songs." The game's various stages will have multiple musical tracks which players can listen to using the new "My Music" feature, including some songs that were taken directly from other games without any modification or special arrangement. This feature also allows the player to select the likelihood of how often a song gets played during a stage. It is possible to unlock more songs on this feature by collecting CDs, also mentioned in this update.

Inclusion of characters

Sakurai has stated that he may not want to put much emphasis on Japan-only characters. However, the Fire Emblem series characters were enjoyed internationally thanks to their inclusion in Melee , and additional characters from Japan-only games are confirmed for Brawl . Sakurai also said that third-party characters will amount to one or two at the most, aside from Snake. The inclusion of Konami-created character Solid Snake may seem to conflict with the Super Smash Bros. paradigm — to only include characters from games made by Nintendo and its second parties — but Sakurai said that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima "practically begged" for Snake to be included in Super Smash Bros. Melee , which did not happen since the game was too far in development. This in turn led to his appearance in the following game instead. Similarly, Lucas from Mother 3 was intended to be used in Melee , but was left out because Mother 3 was delayed.

Japanese fans were asked to submit their desired characters and musical themes via a forum on the game's official Japanese site, with some possibly appearing in the game. Likewise, fans from other countries were asked to submit ideas on Nintendo's official forums.

Suggestions were no longer being taken as of June 9 , 2006. In August 2006, Sakurai and Miyamoto stated that Nintendo was negotiating rights to other third-party characters. The most requested third-party character, Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, was announced to be in the game on October 10, 2007.

Reception

Super Smash Bros. Brawl has received much critical acclaim thus far. The editors of Famitsu, who awarded a perfect score, praised the variety and depth of the single-player content, the unpredictability of Final Smashes, and the dynamic fighting styles of the characters. Chris Slate of Nintendo Power also awarded Brawl a perfect score in the March 2008 issue, calling it "one of the very best games that Nintendo has ever produced". GameSpot praised the simplicity of the game, noting that "its simple controls and gameplay make it remarkably accessible to beginners yet still appealing to Smash Bros. veterans",Game Trailers praised the amount of content that gives "it staying power that few other games possess."

IGN critic Matt Casamassina noted that although Brawl is "completely engrossing and wholly entertaining," it suffers from "long loading times" and "uninspired enemies" in the Subspace Emissary adventure mode. The review also gave a mixed response to the quality of the graphics, and described them as "an enhanced version of Melee" with improved character models and backgrounds that "lack detail in areas."GameSpy claimed the graphics look "like the GameCube game." NGamer points to the franchise's lack of innovation with the verdict, "Smash Bros risks growing too familiar. It never breeds contempt, but it doesn't quite muster that Galaxy magic."

In Japan, Brawl sold over 500,000 units on launch day, 820,000 units in its first week, and about 1.4 million units total as of March 9, 2008. In North America, Brawl sold over 874,000 units on launch day and a total of 1.4 million units in its first week.

The Official Super Smash Bros. Website

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