Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by Sora and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. Brawl was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference by Nintendo president and Chief Executive Officer Satoru Iwata. Masahiro Sakurai, director of the previous two games in the series, assumed the role of director for the third installment at the request of Iwata. Game development began in October 2005 with a creative team that included collaborations with various second- and third-party Nintendo developers. The game was released on January 31, 2008 in Japan, March 9, 2008 in the United States, June 26, 2008 in Australia, and June 27, 2008 in Europe.

The number of playable characters that players can control in Brawl has grown from that of Super Smash Bros. Melee; Brawl is the first game in the series to expand past Nintendo characters and allow players control of third-party characters. Like its predecessors, the object of Brawl is to knock an opponent off the screen. It is a departure from traditional fighting games, notably in its simplified move commands and emphasis on ring outs over knockouts. It includes a more extensive single-player mode than its predecessors, known as The Subspace Emissary (SSE). This mode is a plot-driven, side-scrolling beat ‘em up featuring computer-generated cut scenes and playable characters from the game. Brawl also supports multiplayer battles with up to four combatants, and is the first game of its franchise to feature online battles via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

The game was met with positive reviews, with critics praising the game’s entertainment value, despite issues relating to Brawl’s loading times. The game’s musical score, which was composed through a collaboration among 38 renowned video game composers, was lauded for its representation of different generations in gaming history. Brawl received an aggregate review score of 94% on Metacritic and 93.3% on Game Rankings. It has sold a total of 7.47 million copies worldwide as of September 30, 2008.

Gameplay

Following its predecessors, Brawl uses a battle system unlike that of typical fighting games. Players can choose from a large selection of characters, each attempting to knock their opponents off the screen as they fight on various stages. Instead of using traditional health bars that start at 100% and lose value, Brawl characters start the game with 0% and the value rises as they take damage. As a character’s percentage increases, the character flies farther back when hit. When a character is knocked beyond a stage’s boundary and disappears from the screen, the character loses either a life or a point depending on the mode of play. Brawl includes a function which allows players to create profiles with personalized button configurations for each control method along with their chosen username.

The characters fight each other using a variety of attacks. Players execute each move by pressing a button in conjunction with a tilt of the control stick or a press of the D-pad, depending on the mode of control. In addition to basic attacks, characters have access to more powerful moves, known as smash attacks. Each character has four unique moves, which often cause effects besides damage to an opponent. Brawl introduces the ability to perform character-specific super attacks, referred to as “Final Smash” moves. Significantly more powerful than regular attacks, these moves have a wide variety of effects that range from nearly unavoidable blasts to temporary transformations. Final Smash moves may be performed upon destroying a Smash Ball, an item bearing the Smash Bros. logo.

Characters can use items ranging from projectiles to melee weapons; each has a different effect on the characters around it. Although many items have returned from previous Super Smash Bros. games, new ones have been introduced as well. Some returning items have changed appearance and function. Two varieties of items, Assist Trophies and Poké Balls, temporarily summon guest characters and Pokémon, respectively, that generally aid the summoner. They cannot be controlled by players and are usually invincible.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Sora
• Publisher(s)  Nintendo
• Designer(s)  Masahiro Sakurai
• Writer(s)  Kazushige Nojima
• Composer(s)  Takahiro Nishi, Shogo Sakai, Masaaki Iwasaki, Yutaka Iraha, Keigo Ozaki, Kentaro Ishizaka
• Series  Super Smash Bros.
• Platform(s)  Wii
• Release date(s)  JP January 31, 2008, NA March 9, 2008, AUS June 26, 2008, EU June 27, 2008,
• Genre(s)  Fighting/Action
• Mode(s)  Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer[6]

Links

• Official Super Smash Bros. website
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl guide at StrategyWiki