So I am Enjoying Smash Brothers...
So I am sitting here in my unemployment pants (which are, in fact, no pants at all) playing Smash Brothers Brawl and realizing that I am having a ton of fun. While having fun playing video games isn't rare for me, having a lot of fun playing a Wii game is quite rare. I am usually sitting here fuming about how I am being forced to waggle my arm, as if someone deemed that the pinnacle of all the great things you can do in life and said YOU GONNA LIKE IT. Well I don't. At all. I think it's pretty insipid in fact, so why am I having fun with Brawl? You don't have to waggle!
The addition of the choose-your-own-control-scheme feature is remarkable. HAL Laboratories have really outdone themselves with Brawl, creating one of the most detailed and intricate fighters I have ever seen. There is always the danger of over complicating things with a fighter that has so many characters to represent, like the many Dragon Ball Z fighters before it. Those games are a mess of rules, button combinations, customization and ridiculousness. I hate them. Brawl on the other hand marries all these complicated elements perfectly. It's got that Nintendo-brand glossy shine.
You know what I could do without, though? Why is it that whenever Nintendo wants to celebrate their vast library of excellent compositions, they have to make horrible cheap-feeling jazz renditions? Each and every song in this game sounds like a bad cover version, with horribly cheesy guitar solos and swelling grand finishes. I hate them like I hate fire. Just skip the Donkey Konga-esque cheese (I still shudder at the idea of playing Bingo on the drums) and give us the original tracks. We don't want to hear some band named Top 40 doing their samba version of the Legend of Zelda theme. It's awful.
Another gripe is the added single player mode "The Subspace Emissary". The story sucks. The story sucks hard. It feels like it was written by a 12 year old fanfic writer. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that they held a contest to see who could write a storyline for Smash Brothers, and then some 12 year old creamed all over a computer screen typing about how rad it would be to see Sonic and Mario fight and then BECOME FRIENDS AND FIGHT TOGETHER AGAINST A COMMON EVIL. It's generic and horrible and don't give me that "well they are writing a script for freaking Smash Brothers how good could it be" garbage. It could be much better in the hands of a competent writer. Character designs are cool though, having been designed by the guy who did Kingdom Hearts. It certainly has a Kingdom Hearts feel to it, which is welcome.
I haven't yet checked out the online mode, I am still currently going through and playing the classic mode with all the characters, unlocking things and getting coins like a junkie. If you haven't played it yet, or were dubious you might not enjoy it, check it out. For anyone who has ever played a video game in their life it's going to be at least amusing to see all these awesome characters fight it out. And the frenetic pace of the game play will make for some pretty raucous and exciting parties in your future. Having Brawl and Rock Band on your shelf will basically make your house the party house and no one will ever want to leave that magical place. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is up to you.
