The 'Shroom:Issue XXII/Brawl Tactics

Brawl Tactics by

Brawl Tactics – Issue 2

Welcome back to my absolutely wonderfully exciting ‘Shroom section, for the second issue. Unlike some writers, I have endured the horrific torture dealt out by our boss as he forces us to write faster. SO, now I will discuss strategies for the character Toon Link, while attempting to ignore the excruciating pain in my hand. Ouchie.

Toon Link
Last time I did Zelda… (*sigh* - I mean “last time I discussed Zelda”), a character rarely used, and now I’ll move onto the cartoony version of Link. Despite his size, he packs a fair bit of power, and this goes well with his agility, which is far superior to the non-cartoony Link. And unlike ‘’some’’ characters *cough – Sonic - cough*, he’s not so fast that he’s impossible to control. So, about his moves: Now, his Down Special mover is not very good – Bombs. The maximum damage one can cause is only 8%, and the time it takes to pull one out and throw it, also factoring in the probability of missing against a fast and/or smart foe… makes them pathetic. As for his standard Special – his Bow and arrows – well, they’re not that great either. The most damage they’ll do is 12%, which is… meh, all right I guess. But, this is only when you pull the bow to its maximum charge-up power, which takes too long in a wild, fast-paced game such as Brawl. And any decent player can use a dodge move in time. Now, his Side Special is the Boomerang. (w00t – a reference to Australia!) This is basically a superior option to the bow. You don’t have to charge it up before throwing, and its maximum power is almost the same as a fully-charge arrow. The power of the boomerang is determined by the speed it’s moving at when it hits. If you’re standing right near an enemy, the boomerang will hit them at high speed and therefore cause large damage. The further the boomerang flies, the more it slows down, becoming weaker. So, try and use it close up. As for controlling it, well – if you tilt the control stick horizontally (which you have to as it’s the Side Special), it will go straight left or right. However, you can make it curve diagonally upwards. To do so, tilt the control stick left/right then quickly curve it diagonally up. You should learn it after a bit of practice. The remaining Special move is the Up Special. This is the Spin Attack. Now, I’d say this is the best Special for Toon Link. You can use it instantly if you release the button straight away, but you can also charge it up for a more powerful attack. (you can only charge for a short time before it automatically releases the attack) Just say you’re battling 3 opponents and they’re all over you. Well, a quick spin should knock them away and disrupt their moves swiftly. There are different situations where a charged-up spin is better. For example, if the opponent is falling from above, a powerful spin will send them flying and prevent their attempted landing. Oh wait – I haven’t even mentioned the power of this move! Basically, it’s his most powerful Special, dealing up to 20% per foe when fully charged. Considering how easily you can hit multiple targets, that’s a lot of damage. Oh yeah – and this move is also Toon Link’s main recovery move (you know, for getting back onto the stage after being knocked off). It works pretty well, so make sure you use it when the need arises. You can also use his grappling hook thing (press A and B simultaneously), but this is harder and it doesn’t reach very far. As for his Smash attacks (the A button moves… on the Wii Remote + Nunchuk at least), they’re very potent. To see how good they are, go into Training mode and unleash a Down Smash, Side Smash, etc, and witness their sheer power – both in damage percentages and knockback. They’re awesome. Oh, one last thing: His Final Smash. Much like mature Link, this guy has Triforce Slash – an awesome attack. It’s mostly the same as Link’s, except that the range is slightly shorter (I think…), and – well, it’s still awesome, so who cares. Just make sure the opponent you want to hit is close enough and horizontally aligned before you use it. It’s extremely powerful, so very likely to KO. And that’s that. Sadly, I only got one person giving me a suggestion for next issue’s character(s), which was Ivysaur. I will probably discuss Ivysaur along with one other character. So, ‘’’please’’’ give me feedback on this section!

Until next time, keep drinking juice. Ciao.