| Average User Rating: 80% | |
| 5 / 5 | WARNING! READ THIS BEFORE BUYING
Mr. J. A. Humber (London, England) - 26 June 2008 I bought this game from another website, and it arrived a day before the release date. Unfortunately, the disc for Brawl uses a dual-layer format which means that if the disc reading lens of your Wii is even slightly dusty, the disc is unreadable and the game is unplayable. This was the case for me, and has been the case for many Japanese and American Wii owners, and you need to buy a lens cleaner to clean the lens if you want to play the game. American gamers have been offered a free lens cleaning service by Nintendo, but I am unsure if this will be offered to European players. So, be warned! This game may not work if your Wii has been exposed to small amounts of dust. Sorry that this is not really a review, I just feel that people should know this information.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Thanks Friend
Big Jim "Big Jim" (London, UK) - 26 June 2008 Thanks to a friend at a well known games emporium I have managed to secure an early release of this game for a week now so bear with me on this one. I know that reviews written before official release attract a fair bit of oprobium, but take it from me - as an uncommitted gamer who prefers family style games such as mario kart etc, this is right up there with the best I've played. I haven;t tried online - not sure it will be properly available until after release, but the multi-player is fantastic and the single player is just as good, except I'm rubbish so haven't got very far. But very often a lack of success would make me give up so it is a real triumph for this game that I keep coming back for more. The control system is good, very responsive, and the graphics are fine, but it's a fighting game made for families and is a great laugh so please don't be disappointed if it's not hi-tech and violent enough for you. ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Grab and Smash
Spuddy Spud (The Spuddery) - 11 July 2008 You've got to hand it to Nintendo when it comes to taking an old game format (some would say `tired' while others would say `classic') and turning it into something new and wonderful. They did it with the racing game (Mario Kart), the platform game (Super Mario Galaxy), and now they've done it with the fighting game with SSBB. It seems that Nintendo follow a few simple rules when developing games: simple on paper that is, but not implemented by every game developer by any means. Their rules appear to be (1) keep it simple, (2) keep it varied, (3) keep `em coming back, and (4) make it beautiful. First off, this is a very simple game to describe and to play. A brawl has up to four combatants. The aim is to knock them off the screen, and avoid being knocked off the screen yourself. With every hit, your damage goes up. The higher your damage, the easier it becomes for your opponents to knock you perilously off the screen. If you've been knocked off the screen, you lose a point, and the player who KO'd you gains a point. Repeat until the time is up. Game over. Dead easy, right? Well yes, but this makes for some very subtle strategic play. For example, just because you are the fighter that inflicts the most damage on another doesn't count for anything: only KOing an opponent gains you points. That means that another fighter can wear down an opponent, and you nip in at the last moment to deliver the killer strike and get the points! This makes for very competitive and vigilant play, where you keep your eye on everyone's damage and all end up picking on the same guy, or beating away anyone else who tries to get to your quarry. The controls are also very simple. There are twelve attack types: four basics corresponding to the four compass points of the joystick, four special attacks, and four smash attacks. There are no block manoeuvres to remember, just a single block and dodge function that puts a shield around you or allows you to roll out of the way. This has a limited lifespan and is depleted by damage. All moves are accessed very simply with single button presses or joystick manoeuvres on the Game Cube controller at least: other control methods are less satisfactory. All the moves are modified by your position on the screen, such as moving or standing still, in the air or on the ground, facing towards or away from an opponent. Fortunately the controls are always the same. This is not a game where you have to remember great lists of button combos for different characters. The strategy in using the different attack types is in deciding whether you want a quick attack that causes little damage, or one of the super or smash moves that takes a little longer, and is therefore easier to dodge, but inflicts more damage. Despite the simple gameplay, SSBB is incredibly varied. You already know that there are umpteen characters that you can play as, and almost as many stages that you can play on. The characters have various strengths and weaknesses in terms of their power, manoeuvrability, speed, handling, and their ability to recover from being smashed off-screen. The stages too vary in their size, shape, number of platforms and dynamics. That is, some stages are fairly simple and static, while others morph, move and change as you play, meaning that you have to change your position to avoid being transported off the screen by the stage itself. Additionally, there are dozens of usable items (power-ups and pick-ups) that can change the course of a fight. The most dangerous of these is the glowing `Smash Ball' which, when collected and used correctly, will deliver a fatal blow to every other fighter on the screen. Standard pick-ups range from the usual weapons and health bonuses, to the more unusual `assists' which place additional fighters in the game that defend you and attack your opponents. One of the most hilarious of these is the Nintendogs puppy who... no, I won't spoil it for you! There are also loads and loads of game modes. The one I've described here is `Brawl', which can be played alone or in multiplayer. But there is also `classic' mode (defeat fighters in a sequence of battles), event modes (complete a number of specific challenges), boss battles, `stadium' minigames, not to mention the Subspace Emissary adventure mode. The last one is where you unlock most of the additional content, and combines fighting with platforming, boss battles and exploration, and is great fun. If this isn't enough variety, nearly every player-selectable aspect of the game can be tweaked, such as time limits, frequency of assists and other pick-ups, CPU difficulty, etc., etc. Basically, the game is endlessly tweakable. The main things that keep you coming to SSBB are the simple but addictive fun it offers, and the vast variability of the game that stops it becoming predictable. On top of this though, the game is stuffed with unlockable content. The most useful stuff is obviously fighters and stages, but there are also trophies (3D artwork and descriptions of various characters and features of Nintendo's back catalogue), stickers (which can be stuck on Subspace Emissary fighters to improve their stats), music soundtracks, new game modes and difficulty levels, new challenges... Oh, and then there's the replays, photos... Enough! There's loads of stuff in this game, just take my word for it! Finally, Nintendo have not only made SSBB beautiful, they've made it sublime. It may be a 2D fighter at heart, but it's got beautiful 3D graphics, fantastic music and sound effects, perfect gameplay and controls, speed and ease of game selection - all the basics are covered. What it also has that most other games do not, however, is a complete infusion of humour, nostalgia and love. How many games have you got where you enjoy looking at the `extras' like videos, development artwork and the like? Not many I bet. The trophies in SSBB on the other hand are genuinely funny and interesting to look at and read. The soundtracks are a pleasure to listen to as background music when you're just mimbing around (I particularly loved listening to the Sonic music again). The characters HAVE character. Who could fail to smile at seeing Mr Game and Watch, in all his two-frame animated flatness, beeping and buzzing seven shades out of Solid Snake? Faults? Er... hmmm. Really, this is a game with no serious faults, and that can't be said for many games. I know. It'll consume your life, eat up you time and make your hands and eyes ache. They're not really proper faults though, are they? Please buy this: your Wii will love you for it. PS: not played this online, but this might be THE game to get me to take the plunge and take my Wii online. ... Read Full Review » |
| 4 / 5 | Still the best multiplayer out there!
Joshua Hill - 1 July 2008 I'll address this review to people who aren't too familiar with Smash Bros, since those who are, probably already have the game and don't need any convincing from me. Basically this is a very unique fighter since instead of walking around, trying to depleat each other's health bars (yawn), you jump around building up you opponents' damage. The aim is to knock your opponent off the screen using a huge variety of moves and techniques, and the more damage they have, the further they fly. Of course the game is packed with old and new Nintendo characters, plus Solid Snake and Sonic. The game is very wacky and Japanese-y so don't expect it to make a whole lot of sense. SINGLE PLAYER- The thing to remember is that this is a multiplayer game. Single player is really there to brush up on your skills for your next multiplayer match. Of course single player is good fun- but not the key focus of the game. The new Adventure mode (subspace emissary) is so-so. You play through arcade-style levels. Whilst it's cool seeing your favourite characters from different games interact, it's a shame that the levels aren't set in the characters' games (levels and most enemies are just unique "Smash bros" ones). All this is still a great addition for old Nintendo fans, but definitely not the primary reason for buying the game. ONLINE- You can play against friends online, with loads of options, but so far I have only tried random matchmaking. Two problems I found with this was: Long waiting time to connect to other players, and some laggy slowed-down play. As I understand, however , playing friends online is a much better experience. NINTENDO NOSTALGIA- This game is packed with it. All I need to point out in this category is: If you don't know much about Nintendo and it's past games, a lot of the game's elements will be lost on you. But that's not to say you won't enjoy it. So overall I'd highly reccommed this game, just as long as you know what you're getting. People who buy this based on hype alone with no understanding of what the game's about may fail to grasp the nature of it (which is always the case when someone has a negative opinion of it). But if you have a wii, a few mates (if they're Nintendo fans that's even better), and a touch of competitiveness, then chances are that you'll be enjoying this for years to come.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | BEST GAME EVER
Abi Dickenson "juicydee" (London, UK) - 10 June 2008 I WOULD RECCOMEND THAT YOU BUY THIS GAME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE i have imported the US version, and it is possibly the best game ever. forget gta...forget halo....this is the ultimate gaming experience, and i prefer the xbox overall... with other 30 characters, 40 stages, and other 200 trophies to collect AND ONLINE MULTIPLAYER, this is ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER, and is the best game to play with 4 friends BUY IT NOW. YOU WONT REGRET IT... Read Full Review » |
£39.99
27 June 2008
£27.97 - £41.98