The 'Shroom:Issue XXXVI/Brawl Tactics

Brawl Tactics Written by 

What's up, Brawlers? As you all should know, March is Pokemon month on Brawl Tactics, so I will be doing the Spear Pillar stage!

Okay, all of you have seen this stage, but have you really looked at the details they put into it? For example, the two floating panels each have pictures of Dialga and Palkia on them, and you can tell which legendary you will get by the hue the stage is when you're brawling; Pink is for Palkia and Blue is for Dialga. Of course, Cresselia will sometimes appear, but that's another story. One thing that's good is that Dialga and Palkia's Pokemon cries sound exactly like they do in the Pokemon Anime. Even though they don't acknowledge the fact that there are TV shows made out of the games, they got the Pokemon cries right.

On to my analysis of the Pokemon themselves. Dialga first. Being the Temporal Pokemon, it can slow down time on the stage much more than can any item, such as the stopwatch or even Shadow the Hedgehog when he is used as an Assist Trophy. I can't tell you how hard it is to move your characters around when time slows down that much- A fast character like Sonic slows down to about Bowser's speed, and it's kind of annoying. Dialga can also use Hyper Beam on the stage and it can blast out parts of the stage like Palkia can. Those Hyper Beams are very powerful- They don't last as long as the Combo-Cannon on the Halberd, but they do as much damage and they have a very high launching power, so be careful. Dialga will also jump out onto the stage and use its moves, so when it roars and nothing seems to happen, it WILL jump out at you and it will hurt if you're not careful.

Palkia has a few of the same powers as Dialga when it comes to messing wit the stage levels, like taking out big chunks of the stage or shooting Hyper Beams, but Palkia has its own move set that is drastically different from Dialga. Palkia, being the Spatial Pokemon, can flip the stage a number of different directions, including completely upside-down. If you're really unlucky, it will reverse the stage controls, which lasts for only a few seconds, but, if you're like me, that's just enough time for you to send your character flying off the stage the wrong way to a KO. My advice is to stay on the ground, away from the edges, and hope for the best. Another thing about Palkia is that it can reduce gravity on the stage. I often find myself already in the air, and it catches me after my fifth jump, when I am completely defenseless. If you can get your character back to the ground, they will be fine unless you jump again.

Finally, Cresselia. There's a reason why I like Darkrai so much better than Cresselia, and that is this: I HATE it in Brawl. Cresselia attacks with Psychic attacks that move around the stage and have high launching power. They're fairly easy to avoid, but if you get hit with them, it hurts and it's annoying. Cresselia also has a high pitched, repeated cry. Unlike Dialga and Palkia, Cresselia's cry remains almost the same with each attack she flings out. But, she can't flip the stage, destroy parts of it, or shoot Hyper Beams like the others, so that's good for us!

That's it for me this month, folks! Next month, I think you'll all like what I'm doing next month, being April Fools and all.