Rating: 5 Pulses

ESRB Rating: T

Nine years after the original Super Smash Bros. and seven years after Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is finally here and is by far the most anticipated game to come out on the Wii. Brawl has improved on everything from the previous games with all-new characters and stages, an Adventure mode, a stage builder and online play! Players will be busy for months, even years, with Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

For those not familiar with the Smash Bros. series, the game is different from traditional fighting games because of its simplified controls and its emphasis on knocking your opponent out of the ring. The combat system is practically the same as the previous games, but this time you can choose what kind of controller you want to use. Brawl allows players to choose from four different control schemes: the Wii-remote and Nunchuk combo, the Wii-remote alone, a Classic controller or GameCube controller. The Wii-remote and Nunchuk combo is used as the default control scheme and takes a little getting used to but is a much better option than just the Wii-remote alone, which is a huge disadvantage for any player. The Classic Controller and the GameCube controller seem to be the best options if available and for those who mastered the controls of Melee will be happy to hear that the GameCube controller button layout has not changed.

Outside of alternate control schemes, the biggest change to the combat is the Final Smash. These floating icons will randomly appear during a match and will get players to stop what they’re doing and hurry after it like fiends. The Final Smash will give whichever player that breaks it the ability to unleash a powerful, screen-filling attack. The Final Smash doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory, but does greatly affect the outcome of a match.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduces a dozen-plus new characters to the fight including Pit from Kid Icarus, Meta Knight from the Kirby games and Wario. And for the first time in the series, Nintendo has added two third-party characters, Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. With 35 total characters, including 14 that have to be unlocked, I can see why they named this game “Brawl.”

When you’re done experimenting with all of the many clever stages available, begin building a stage from scratch with the Stage Builder.

The new addition this time around is the 10-hour plus Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. Essentially a side-scrolling Classic mode, the Subspace Emissary joins together the entire cast of Brawlers for one giant war against an unknown enemy. Impressive pre-rendered cutscenes tie everything together and kept me wanting to play just to see the ending. The Subspace Emissary is the best way to unlock most of the hidden characters, after awhile though, the adventure gets repetitive with the same enemies and back tracking. Luckily, there is a co-op option that helps keep things fresh.

My favorite addition to Super Smash Bros. Brawl is online play. Although you have to go through the hassle of getting friend codes, once you get online it’s pretty easy to get a match started. Friend battles include basically all the options of the offline mode, though voice chat is disappointingly replaced by customizable phrases mapped to the d-pad. But playing with random players is totally different. You can’t see anyone’s name or communicate with them in any way. You really can’t even tell you’re not fighting against bots.

Besides the need for online improvements and a more engaging adventure mode, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is still the game I was hoping for. The fighting mechanics are nearly perfect. I don’t see how this game could ever get old. But in the end, the best part of this game is getting a few friends together and brawling late into the night.