Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a fighting game for the Wii. It is the third game in the Super Smash Bros. series, preceded by Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. The game was designed by Masahiro Sakurai, who also created the preceeding Super Smash Bros. games, and developed by a team especially created for it. The game uses a game engine called Havok that mainly focuses on the game physics.

After a planned release date of December 3rd, 2007 in North America, all regions had their release dates pushed back. It was then slated for release on February 10, 2008 in North America, and January 24, 2008 for Japan. However on January 15, 2008 it was then delayed to January 31, 2008 for Japan and March 9, 2008 for North America. It was released in Australia on June 26, 2008 and in Europe on June 27, 2008.

Following the release of the game in Japan, a bug was discovered in the game which displays an error message every time it starts, though players are able to close it and play the game as usual. There has been a replacement program. The game requires 128 blocks of Wii internal memory. Also, the game data can't be copied, so players are not able to transfer the data onto another Wii, but players can still send replays, snapshots, and custom stages onto other Wii systems.

Gameplay
A new battle mechanic is the Final Smash, which can be used only by collecting a Smash Ball. Also, players are able to walk and jump while using projectile-shooting items, like the Super Scope.

As a new feature in the game, certain characters can crawl. These characters are: Bowser, Diddy Kong, Ivysaur, Lucario, Luigi, Pikachu, Sheik, Solid Snake, Squirtle, Wario, Yoshi and Zero Suit Samus.

A new technique called the Footstool Jump is introduced. It allows players to jump on an opposing player's head, and spring up by pressing the jump button at the right time. Players are be able to perform Meteor Smashes by doing this as well. The Tether Recovery is a returning tactic in the game. It allows players to grab onto ledges, using chain-like items, such as a Plasma Whip or a Hookshot. Gliding is also a technique in this game, available only to characters with wings. When used, players are able to glide across the stage, and be able to control the way they fly. They can direct themselves upwards, or downwards, depending on the direction the "movement" button is pointed in.

Another feature not present in the past two games is Slipping. Any character can slip. The feature has no upside for the player that slips, only creating their opponents a chance to batter them. Players can slip when trying to run suddenly, going down slopes, or even slipping on a Banana Peel.

The game also features three different Taunts for each character, while the past games only featured one taunt. Snake is the only character that has all identical taunts.

The game can be controlled with one of the four controlling methods:

There are a few differences between the controller methods. The Wii Remote + Nunchuk Attachment has a special feature, the Shake Smash, allowing the player to execute Smash Attacks into the direction they shake the controller to. The Classic Controller, Wii Remote + Nunchuk Attachment and the GameCube controller also have a function which disables the jump by tapping the control stick upwards. This makes it easier to execute attack moves upwards, but forces the player to use different buttons for jumping (C or D-Pad Up on the Nunchuk, or X/Y on the Classic and GameCube controller).

The execution of standard combos has been made easier; For many characters, the A button does no longer have to be hit repeatedly, but it is enough to hold it down for the character to start a combo attack. The effects, however, usually differ.

Players are able to set their own button configuration rather than have to play with the default configuration. The configuration can be saved on the Wii Remote's internal memory, allowing to take them to a friend's and play with one's own button configuration there. The Player is able to insert names, up to five letters, as in Super Smash Bros. Melee. While previously names were only a gimmick, they now also save the player's controlling options to avoid having to select the control method again each time.

Playable Characters
With 35 playable characters, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has ten more characters than the previous installment. 21 characters are available from the start, while the other fourteen need to be unlocked to become playable. Only five of the characters from the previous game didn't make it back. Their Special Moves and Final Smash are listed on the right-side column.

Unlockable Characters
In addition to the characters listed above, the following characters can be unlocked when certain requirements are met.

Additionally, as new characters are unlocked, they are added to the group of fighters at the beginning intro of the game.

Stages
There are 41 total stages in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Some stages are returning stages from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Unlockable Stages
In addition to the above stages, there are several stages that must be unlocked to play on.

Items
Items randomly appear on any stage in the game, but in standard Brawl mode, the player can choose to ban certain items from appearing, or increase/decrease the frequency of items appearing. In Classic and All Star mode, these options cannot be modified. Certain items from particular game series appear more frequently than they would on other stages, such as Banana Peels on Donkey Kong stages, Poké Balls on Pokémon stages, etc.

Assist Trophy characters

 * Andross - ''Star Fox series
 * Barbara Bat - ''Daigasso! Band Brothers
 * Devil - ''Devil World
 * Dr. Wright - ''Sim City for SNES
 * Excitebike - ''Excitebike series
 * Gray Fox - ''Metal Gear Solid series
 * Hammer Bro. - ''Mario series
 * Helirin - ''Kururin series
 * Infantry and Tanks - ''Nintendo Wars series
 * Isaac - ''Golden Sun series
 * Jeff - ''Mother series
 * Drill Dozer and Jill - ''Drill Dozer
 * Kat and Ana - ''WarioWare series
 * Knuckle Joe - ''Kirby series
 * Lakitu and Spinies - ''Mario series
 * Little Mac - ''Punch Out series
 * Lyn - ''Fire Emblem series
 * Metroid - ''Metroid series
 * Mr. Resetti - ''Animal Crossing series
 * Nintendog - ''Nintendogs series
 * Ray Mk. II - ''Custom Robo series
 * Saki Amamiya - ''Sin and Punishment
 * Samurai Goroh - ''F-Zero series
 * Shadow the Hedgehog - ''Sonic the Hedgehog series
 * Stafy - ''Densetsu no Stafy series
 * Tingle - ''Legend of Zelda series
 * Waluigi - ''Mario series
 * Luma - '' mario series

Poké Ball Pokémon

 * Bellossom
 * Bonsly
 * Celebi
 * Chikorita
 * Deoxys
 * Electrode
 * Gardevoir
 * Goldeen
 * Groudon
 * Gulpin
 * Ho-Oh
 * Kyogre
 * Lugia
 * Manaphy
 * Meowth
 * Metagross
 * Mew
 * Moltres
 * Munchlax
 * Piplup
 * Snorlax
 * Staryu
 * Suicune
 * Togepi
 * Torchic
 * Wobbuffet
 * Latios and Latias
 * Weavile
 * Jirachi

Subspace Emissary


The Subspace Emissary is the game's adventure mode. Unlike Melee's Adventure Mode, it has a story and co-op multiplayer is an option. Players can use stickers to increase their attacks and items.

Classic Mode
Classic Mode returns from Super Smash Bros. Melee, acting the exact same way. Players pick a character, and then go through a barrage of fights. Each stage appears in a certain order, with a Legend of Zelda stage appearing first, and a Pokémon stage appearing third. Like the last game, certain conditions are set in a few matches. A few examples are the player and two teammates fighting a giant version of an opponent, or the player having to fight a metal version of another player. A small heart will appear next to a teammate's logo in the matches with allies. When a level is finished, the score will be added up, and coins will be earned. These can be used in the Coin Launcher. Clearing this Mode will give the player a trophy of the character used to complete it.

All-Star Mode
All-Star mode returns from Melee, while basically the same it has had some slight modifications. It can now be played with two players and opponents are now sorted by Series rather than in a random order. No more than two foes will appear at the time. The Pokémon Level has the most enemies as Pokémon Trainer will use each Pokémon separately. It is unlocked by unlocking all the characters. Beating rewards the player with a a trophy of the current charcter preforming their Final Smash. Also, if All-Star is beaten with Co-op mode, Final Smash Trophies of both characters will be rewarded. The order of the fights are also the order the games came out. Also, in Co-Op mode, the players must fight two Olimars in the last level.

Events
Events are an updated version of Super Smash Bros. Melee ' s Event Matches. They are pre-defined missions to be completed by the player; most of them have the objective of defeating certain opponents. Each event is represented by a small preview screenshot on the event list, and a difficulty (Easy – Normal – Hard) can be selected. Several events are also available in the co-op mode, which allows two players at a time to play. In this mode, they cooperate, thus cannot fight each other. The events are:

Co-Op Mode
This mode requires two human players, and has (mostly) different events from the single-player mode.

Stadium
The Stadium offers several mini-games, as previously in Super Smash Bros. Melee and one new mode.

Home-Run Contest
The Home-Run Contest returns with quite a few differences. A shield surrounds the platform, preventing players from accidentally pushing Sandbag off the platform. However, the shield will shatter if it is attacked too much. Two players can work together in cooperative play, with the two having to work together in order to set a good record. Two players can also challenge each other in two player alternating play, which features two characters taking turns to see who can knock Sandbag the farthest. Both of these modes can be played in Wi-Fi Connection mode, under the With Friends mode.

Target Smash!!
Also available in the Stadium mode is Target Smash!!, a slightly altered mode of the Target Test from the previous games. There are five different levels that all characters can play on, and the replays can be sent to other players via the Wi-Fi Connection. It is also possible to play Target Smash!! with two players simultaneously.

Multi-Man Brawl
Another returning feature is the Multi-Man Brawl, known as Multi-Man Melee in the previous game. In this mode, players fight the enormous Fighting Alloy Team. Objectives include defeating a certain number of Alloys, fighting them off for a set period of time, or fighting endlessly for a high score. 10 Man, 100 Man, 3 Minute, 15 minute, Endless and Cruel Settings all return. Various rewards from the challenges section are obtained in this mode.

New additions to the mode include its inclusion in two-player mode, whereas in Melee the mode was strictly single player. The Fighting Wire Frames have been replaced by the Alloys. While there were only two types of Wire Frames, there are four types of Alloys. They each have their own unique fighting styles.

Boss Battle Mode
This mode is similar to All-star mode, except the player must fight all of the bosses that appear in the game. The player is provided only with three Heart Containers that heal all damage, and they only have one life. Unlike All-star, however, enemies are in random order(except for the final boss, Tabuu), and there is no option to continue after being defeated; players are instead taken directly back to the Character Select Screen. If the mode is cleared, the time taken is recorded for the high score. If not, the number of bosses defeated will be. Players can set the difficultly level to the same ones as other modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, or Intense. The difficulty levels will affect how fast the bosses will move, along with how much damage their attacks will inflict.

It is unlocked by clearing Subspace Emissary for the first time, and by defeating Classic Mode at least once. Also, like All-Star mode, Boss Battle Mode can be played with two players simultaneously. If done so, there will be five Heart Containers total at the healing area.

Training
The Training mode returns from Super Smash Bros. Melee. It allows the player to learn to play the game properly, or to experiment with certain functions and items. The player fights one to three characters, which can be controlled by the CPU, the player, or not move at all. The player can create any item to test it, as well as the Smash Ball to practice Final Smashes. The hit damage of the CPU can be predefined, and the game can be put in slow or quick motion.

Brawl
Very similar to previous games, in which 2-4 players or computers may battle. The players can select their characters, who also have alternate costumes, and choose the stage to play on. As the battle begins, each character appears with their specific entrance. For example, Samus comes out of a teleporter and Mario out of a Warp Pipe. These entrances were present in the original Super Smash Bros., but not in Super Smash Bros. Melee., for unknown reasons.

As in the last two games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl also has Handicaps to help beginners in battles. However, this time, handicaps do not make a player weaker the more times he/she is knocked out, but instead, change a players starting damage percentage. For example, one player can start at 0% of damage, but the other starts at 50%, even after he/she has been knocked out. This allows players to test their skills, or just to give them a challenge, as well as helping beginners learn the basics.

For characters with distinct forms, the character selection screen allows the player to choose with which to start, by clicking the name. This means characters like Zelda can be used to select Sheik. Depending on the choice, that will be the character the player starts as in the beginning of the match.

Special Brawl
A new feature is the Special Brawl. Using this, players are able to customize the battle themselves. This means they can attach items, set stats, and add appearance differences to all the players, right from the start of the battle, without having to collect the items themselves. The Special Brawl, thus, allows players to try a variety of settings such as Invisible Bunny Brawl, instead of the settings given on a certain type of battle, as seen in previous with the Special Melee modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Rotation
The Rotation mode is an enhanced version of the Winner Out/Loser Out Tournament modes of Super Smash Bros. Melee. It allows more than four players to play at the same system, by passing the controllers on after each battle. Up to sixteen players can be put into the queue, with each given the possibility to use their name and their personal controller configuration. However, this is not required. There is still the option between Winner Out and Loser Out, where the winner or the loser of the match pass the controller on to the next player after the match, respectively. Additionally, players have the option to pause, i. e. moving themselves at the end of the queue. The mode is available when two or more controllers are connected to the Wii. It remains unconfirmed whether players will be able to change their characters while the mode is ongoing, as it was the case in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Tourney
The Tourney Mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee (then "Tournament Mode") is in Brawl, acting the exact same way as it did in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Players are able to brawl in a tourney, that can have up to 32 players, and must fight their way to the championship, eventually earning a cup if they win. It is possible to play with friends, or battle CPU characters. Apart from decreasing the total number of players from 64 to 32, nothing has been changed from the Super Smash Bros. Melee version.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is a new feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, similar to what happened with Mario Strikers Charged Football, the game tends to slow down and fail more often, the further away the players are from each other. So, playing a game from Japan to America will slow the game down, and cause some problems in the battle. Regardless, the game is still capable of connecting overseas. The two modes are With Friends and With Anyone.

When playing with friends, players use friend codes in order to brawl with each other. They choose an emblem to represent themselves. Emblems can be the games' series emblems, the characters' icons, or Miis. In this mode, players are able to send messages to each other in-game, using the Taunt command. Players can send four different kinds of messages, one for each direction: up, down, left, and right. Results are recorded only in this mode. The Home-run Contest and Multi-Man Brawl are also playable in this mode.

When brawling in the With Anyone setting, players are unable to send messages to each other in-game, and neither can they see the name or details of their opponent. Also, the results of the battle are not recorded in the With Anyone mode. There are several modes in the With Anyone setting. In the Basic Brawl, players play against each other without teams. However, the rules are set to 2-Minute Brawl and cannot be changed. However, players can individually change their item settings. The game will randomly use the item setting of one of the combatants. If there are less than 4 players, there will sometimes be CPU enemies present. When a player disconnects from the Wi-Fi connection while battling, a CPU takes over his or her character.

Unlockable characters are also available in this setting for a player who has unlocked them. Because of this, Nintendo recommends players not to use the Basic Brawl setting if one is not wanting to get the unlockable characters spoiled. A different mode in the With Anyone setting is the Team Brawl. While the game is loading, or while the players are waiting for other opponents, they can practice the game by attacking the Sandbag from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Players can choose to be spectators of the battle, and even bet coins on who will win.

Stage Builder
Players create custom stages using this mode. When making the stage, players first pick the size of the stage, and then creating a background pattern, as well as the music from the game that will play on the stage. Once done, the player can start adding pieces to the stage, whether it be simple platforms to ladders to spikes. However, each of the four control types have different ways to move the pieces, however, they are all able to flip, resize, zoom, swap palettes and erase pieces of the stage. After building a fraction of the stage, it can be tested out before being saved. This can be done several times, if it is necessary. After the stage is finished, the name and comment can be chosen, as well as an option to change the music of the stage. It can be sent to other players via Wi-Fi Connection, but can also be sent directly to Nintendo using the "Submit" option on the Stage Builder screen. Every day, Nintendo will send a selected stage to every player with Wi-Fi and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so they can try out the stages that other people have made. The stage gets removed after a day has passed, and a new one is brought in the next day. This allows players to make and try out new stages for themselves every day.

Coin Launcher
The Coin Launcher is a mini-game available in the Vault, replacing the Lottery mode from Super Smash Bros. Melee. In this game, the player uses the coins which they have won in the Classic Mode, the Subspace Emissary, the Group mode or by betting on the winner in the Wi-Fi connection's Spectator Mode, to get trophies and stickers. The player controls the Coin Launcher, a cannon that shoots with the coins the player has collected. Several moving objects appear at regular intervals, of which there are a few different types. Each different type moves in a different formation and direction across the screen. If the player shoots all the enemies in a particular group formation, the player will often gain a sticker as a reward. However, the main aim of this game is to hit the Trophies to win them. These appear quite regularly, and move across the screen in a random path, although these are predetermined. A trophy must be hit with 2 to 4 coins to be collected. There are some hazards in this game; mainly the missiles which appear and aim for the Coin Launcher. Each one takes 2 hits to destroy, but some move much faster than others, and occasionally a large group will appear all at once. If a missile hits the Coin Launcher, the player loses 10 coins, and a special green gauge decreases. This gauge, located on the bottom left corner of the screen, if filled up completely,  allows the player to rapid-fire coins for a short time when it is filled. It is filled slightly whenever a missile is destroyed, or a certain number of moving objects.

My Music
Rather than restricting each stage to one music track, stages have a selection of music tracks usually from the game series the stage is from, and players can choose which music track they want to play on the stage using the My Music mode. For example, on the Delfino Plaza stage, players can choose between the Delfino Plaza theme from Super Mario Sunshine, the Ending/Title Screen of Super Mario World, the main theme to New Super Mario Bros., and many more. Players can set how commonly the track may appear on the stage. To add more music to the collection, the player must collect CDs, which randomly appear across the entire game, in many of the numerous modes of play.

Trophies
Trophies return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. They act the same way, some being collected the same way, but there are now new trophies, and they are more easily stored, as an image of the trophy will be seen when selecting a trophy. They can also be displayed the same way they were in Melee. Another new feature is that many trophies can be placed together on the same spot, making dioramas. There are also more backgrounds that can add to this new feature.

Stickers
Throughout the game, players can find Stickers, which show up at random points during Brawls. Unlike trophies, however, the items will be much easier to find and are simply pieces of 2D game artwork rather than 3D models. Stickers are stored in an album and can be used to decorate a screen in the Sticker Center. They can also be used to power up characters in the Subspace Emissary.

Challenges
All three kinds of collectibles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, trophies, stickers and CDs can be alternately won in the Challenges mode. The Challenge mode has many closed windows which contain the prizes. When the player unlocks an item by winning a challenge, for example playing the Target Smash level 1 with 10 different characters for the Stafy trophy, the collectibles left and right to Stafy's trophy, which are currently not won and invisible, appear in a red silhouette, and their method of unlocking is displayed. The player can also win Golden Hammers, which he can use to automatically get any window of his or her choice open, getting the item inside. However, not all windows can be destroyed with a hammer; objectives related to the Boss Battles mode cannot be opened. There's a total of 128 objectives in the Challenges Mode.

Album
Throughout the game, the player is able to take screenshots while pausing the game. In contrast to Super Smash Bros. Melee, there is thus no special camera mode needed. The screenshots are either saved on the Wii's internal memory or an SD card.

Replays
A new feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is Replays. This can be used on Brawl Mode, Target Smash!!, Home-run Contest, and Multi-man Brawl. They can be recorded by pressing Z after the brawl or the challenge has ended. They can later be accessed from the Vault, and be replayed. Players can also submit Target Smash!! and Home-run Contest records to Nintendo, via WiiConnect24. This service will be discontinued by June 30th, 2009.

Masterpieces
In this mode, the player can play restricted demo versions of classical Nintendo games via the Virtual Console. The player does not have to connect to the Wi-Fi connection for that. The available demos are:


 * Super Mario Bros. (1:00)
 * Ice Climber (0:40)
 * The Legend of Zelda (NES) (2:00)
 * Kid Icarus (1:00)
 * Kirby's Adventure (2:00)
 * Fire Emblem (Japanese version only) (3:00)
 * Super Metroid (3:00)
 * EarthBound (Japanese version only) (5:00)
 * Star Fox 64 (3:00)

Some must be unlocked. These games include:


 * Donkey Kong (0:30) (Play for 10 hours or more total.)
 * Super Mario World (2:00) (Play on Yoshi's Island (Melee) three times.)
 * Super Mario Bros. 2 (1:30) (Play as Peach and win five matches in VS Mode.)
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (5:00) (Play as Toon Link ten times in VS Mode.)
 * F-Zero (0:45) (Get Captain Falcon to join the party in The Subspace Emissary.)

All titles have a restricted time they can be played in. However, some, like Super Metroid, come with save data.

Voice Cast

 * Pat Cashman as Announcer, Master Hand
 * Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
 * Makiko Ohmoto as Kirby, Ness
 * Jim Walker as Fox
 * Samantha Kelly as Princess Peach
 * Eric Newsome as Bowser
 * Lani Minella as Lucas, Pit
 * Alesia Glidewell as Zero Suit Samus, Krystal, Knuckle Joe
 * Jason Adkins as Ike
 * Jason Anthony Griffith as Sonic, Shadow
 * Michele Knotz as Pokémon Trainer, Piplup, Torchic, Gardevoir, Jirachi, Manaphy
 * Jun Mizusawa as Princess Zelda, Sheik
 * Shinichirô Miki as Charizard, Staryu
 * David Hayter as Solid Snake
 * Kim Mai Guest as Mei Ling
 * Ryō Harikawa as Captain Falcon
 * Sachi Matsumoto as Toon Link
 * Hikaru Midorikawa as Marth
 * Hironori Miyata as Ganondorf
 * Ikue Ohtani as Pikachu
 * Rob Paulsen as Gray Fox
 * Cristopher Randolph as Otacon
 * Akira Sasanuma as Link
 * Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi
 * Sanae Kobayashi as Ice Climbers
 * Rachael Lillis as Jigglypuff
 * Masahiro Sakurai as King Dedede
 * Takashi Nagasako as Donkey Kong
 * Katsumi Suzuki as Diddy Kong
 * Craig Blair as Ivysaur
 * Dex Manley as Falco
 * Bill Rogers as Squirtle, Bonsly, Weavile
 * Sean Schemmel as Lucario
 * Jay Ward as Meta Knight, Wolf
 * Michael McAuliffe as Slippy Toad
 * Paul Eiding as Roy Campbell
 * Sachiko Hamano as Jill

Music Staff
The following is a sortable chart of the composers, arrangers, lyricists, and vocalists who contributed to the musical score of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

*The company information refers to the company the person was an employee of during the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * The video game titles shown are those which Masahiro Sakurai published on the game's official website or mentioned during interviews.

Critical Reception
The game was already reviewed by the Japanese Famitsu magazine before the actual release. In the review, Super Smash Bros. Brawl received a score of 40/40. The magazine praised the game's lengthy single player mode as well as the "surprising" Final Smash moves. However, the magazine's independent judgement was questioned. Nintendo Power also gave Brawl a perfect score. It noted the unique dynamics of each character, and that the stages were less "gimmicky" than those in Melee. The Official Nintendo Magazine, the UK equivalent of Nintendo Power rated it 95%, their main praise was that there was so much to unlock and the game itself was also enjoyable.

Trivia

 * Originally, Dixie Kong, Toon Zelda, Roy, and Mewtwo were going to appear in the game, but were dropped from the final product for unknown reasons.
 * This is the first Super Smash Bros. game to have playable third party characters, although the creators of Snake wanted him to be in Melee but Nintendo was too far in development.