Super Smash Bros Brawl review

I’ve never really liked the Super Smash Bros. games. Correction – I’ve actually never really given them a chance. Seeing four cutesy Nintendo characters go hell-for-leather at each other just looked plain confusing and I never really grasped what those percentages were for at the bottom of the screen. Then, randomly, someone seems to win when someone goes flying off the screen quicker than a Big Brother housemate’s celebrity profile.

This time I actually read the instruction manual, sat down, gritted my teeth and got stuck in – and you know what? I really like it! This is another Fan Boy’s treasure chest. Not only are all your favourite characters in the game – there’s also a few obscure ones from days of old chucked in there too and Solid Snake and Sonic. You also get to play over tonnes of levels, all with themes and music from the individual games.

The game’s also chock-full of options. You can play on your own, with up to three friends on one console, then with loads more in a round-robin, over Wi-Fi as teams of two or every man, Pokémon or Pikmin for himself, do challenges, design your own levels or play through a single player campaign called the Subspace Emissary. This is the only place the game falls down as it tries to apply the arena combat mechanics to a side-scrolling adventure. It’s quite long and gets a bit dull soon into it. They do, however, piece it together with some of the best-looking cut scenes yet seen on the Wii.

There are also tonnes of collectables in the game. You collect figures as you play through solo mode with each character, trophies, stickers, cards and music as you go along and strangely, it’s quite addictive. You can also play the game with your controller of choice so it’s pretty easy to get stuck in however you like to use your fingers and thumbs.

This game should keep you playing for months to come both online and at home. Finally, I get what it’s all about. If you ever wanted Mario to punch Princess Peach in the face for all the times she’s made him rescue her – now you can. Super Smash Bros. Brawl gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

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