What could have been (critism on SSBB)

[Wildcat]

A lot of my little nitpicks have been mentioned already. I'll list out things and plop in bits of my Opinion piece from my site:

- Stages being less balanced per franchise than before
- A few stages that could've needed a bit more...something:

I think that the Bridge of Eldin and Mario Circuit could have been a bit more satisfying with a few more variations than what we have here...crazy Zant warps or Blue Shell explosions, anyone?

- Some odd choices for final smashes:

Some feel half-baked, like something else was planned and had to be trimmed off (examples including Diddy Kong's Peanut Popgun/Rocketbarrel combo, or Zero Suit Samus's simple Power Suit Samus transformation...c'mon, give us a [Edit - proper] Crystal Flash from Super Metroid!), while others just feel off or lazy (Bowser's Giga Bowser is spiffy, sure, but Bowser has so many other good potentials...and don't get me started on the Landmaster trifecta where an Arwing and Wolfen would have made more sense for Falco and Wolf.

- SSE Mode needed some extra Nintendo push:

But why the lack of other classic Nintendo enemies outside of Mario? Where's the Like Likes, Metroids, Reapers, Sir Kibbles, Ekans, Topos and Kremlings? Why give us three bosses that had nothing to do with Nintendo before, when these classic Nintendo games you've taken these fighters from offer up tons upon tons of better ideas? Was Gohma not as cool as Duon? What about K.Rool? Medusa? Andross's Star Fox 64 form (or Pigma, for that matter)? Dyna-Blade? Ashnard? Deathborn? Mewtwo? Even Dr. Eggman or Liquid Snake could have made the leap. It's a missed opportunity to really turn this into something that would have made this a game mode to really treasure. For example, the clip where the combined forces of good guys battle that Subspace Freighter was jaw-dropping. Seeing Samus's Starship, Arwings, the Halberd, the Dragoon and the Dolphin tearing that ship apart was just pure bliss. Now imagine that scene happening all the time, with more great homages to so much more of Nintendo's history, than what we actually got. That's what is kind of sad.

- Seeing the result of your random select on the character screen is removed from Brawl.
- Classic/All-Star Mode is not random any more, making it a bit duller.
- I agree with Flip on the Masterpieces:

Speaking of Masterpieces, they were a good idea, but are lacking in their execution - I don't see what made F-Zero so special in 30 seconds. I don't see what made Kirby's Adventure, a game sitting on my Top 30, so special in the minute I was given to try it, to offer contrast. The lengthiest demo, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, offers you 6 minutes to play, which should have been a standard for most of the other titles. It's probably too little to get a proper taste of Z:OoT's rich quality, but it would have made my test runs of the various NES and SNES masterpieces a better experience. I just think that 30 seconds to try a demo is insulting. What are you going to gleam from a game in 30 seconds? Not very much.

I think more time or a checkpoint feature would have been better, myself, but I'm glad 8bit is trying Metroid thanks to the demo of Super Metroid in Brawl.

That's about it, really. And really, compared to the overall goodness, my complaints are rather small and petty. From my conclusion:

While it does have a few quirky design flubs and some missed chances to really send this crossover over the top, Brawl is indeed exceptional. It is a game that caters to the Nintendo fan base, and does it quite well. It's rich in unlockable content, moreso than any other game. It has a phenomenal soundtrack, a huge stage count, lots of fun characters to play as, and controls better than the series ever has. It is a game that has made me very glad that I own it. It's one that left me feeling fuzzy when I finish playing it for the day. And it's one that is just...well, good, good fun. For those who happen to be into Nintendo's characters and history, there's not much that can top the chaotic joy that is Smash Bros. Brawl.

[Boo Destroyer]

One gripe I've had with SSE was:

Little to no NPCs. In fact, the only one in there was Palutena, who didn't do so much to begin with anyway.

I would have loved to save a Nintendog or something from enemies or what-not, and so on.

[Flip]

To be honest, despite all these years of hype, I have not touched Brawl in about a week. Once I got all the characters and beat all the modes it just kinda.. stopped being played. Maybe because we're all seniors in college, life is busy, blah blah blah... But I'm not finding the lasting appeal in it like I thought I would. Maybe I just need to spend my free time playing that rather than doing more varied things?

[Smashchu]

fliptroopa said:

To be honest, despite all these years of hype, I have not touched Brawl in about a week. Once I got all the characters and beat all the modes it just kinda.. stopped being played. Maybe because we're all seniors in college, life is busy, blah blah blah... But I'm not finding the lasting appeal in it like I thought I would. Maybe I just need to spend my free time playing that rather than doing more varied things?

Doesn't surprise me.
I think that you'll come back to it. It's not necessarily a game you play non stop. You'll play it over the years.

[Flint]

If you dont have people to play it with Flip (online doesn´t count because it sucks) that migth be the reason, I have been playing it for nearly a mount because I have two brothers to play it with (Also I love making stages)
Also College and or Work DOES kill gaming.

[Fryguy64]

Work more than anything. During university I kept my gaming up easily, but now I'm working full time, I have to choose between games, working on NinDB, working on my art, television and a social life. There's just no time in the day.

I tend to set a weekend aside for big game releases. Brawl's gonna eat my free time for a couple weeks, I can see it now

[rukifellth]

Hmm, I was thinking about what TEi Falcon said about Duon, and I agree that he's a bit boring, I thought you where to fight the twin-Cannon like in Kirby Superstar!

Oh, and TV Eye, if you don't like a certain character, just shut-up, it's just immature to go talking stuff like "This character sucks" or "suck my ****" and stuff. I like Demille, and that's it...

And yeah, they could have had some N64 levels return, and less clone characters.

[kirbychu]

rukifellth said:

Oh, and TV Eye, if you don't like a certain character, just shut-up, it's just immature to go talking stuff like "This character sucks" or "suck my ****" and stuff. I like Demille, and that's it...

But... you did exactly the same thing with Ike. TV Eye was just making a point.

[Arcadenik]

I'd rather the Star Fox roster get Fox, Wolf, AND Krystal. At least these two would be the fresh faces even though Wolf is a semi-clone. Wolf plays so differently from Fox and Falco when it comes to the non-special moves and that's why I rather Falco be replaced with Wolf and then Krystal joins Brawl. That way, there would be two clones and one original instead of three clones.

I'd rather that the Random slot be replaced with a playable newcomer like the original Mega Man. Its kinda funny that the poor guy was just sitting around waiting for a phone call from Sakurai to ask him to add Mega Man when he could have just called Sakurai to ask him to add Mega Man like Snake's creator did.

[Flip]

arcadenik said:

I'd rather the Star Fox roster get Fox, Wolf, AND Krystal. At least these two would be the fresh faces even though Wolf is a semi-clone. Wolf plays so differently from Fox and Falco when it comes to the non-special moves and that's why I rather Falco be replaced with Wolf and then Krystal joins Brawl. That way, there would be two clones and one original instead of three clones.

I'd rather that the Random slot be replaced with a playable newcomer like the original Mega Man. Its kinda funny that the poor guy was just sitting around waiting for a phone call from Sakurai to ask him to add Mega Man when he could have just called Sakurai to ask him to add Mega Man like Snake's creator did.

First, Falco is actually crazy popular so he has to stay. I kind of like him, I imagine my friends like him, and I hope most people like him. That's why he was in Melee in the first place.

Secondly, Inafune (Mega's creator) did have a pitiful story. I felt really bad for him, because it sounded like he really wanted Mega Man to appear in Smash. Oh well, next time, right? If there IS a next time *sobs*

[Arcadenik]

Anyone here notice that some characters feel more like plot points than actual characters in the SSE storyline?

Take the Ice Climbers, what's their purpose in the story? All they did was scale a mountain and then decided to join Meta Knight for apparently no reason... and then once they got on top, they cheered and watched Meta Knight fight Lucario, only to get blasted off the summit. Meta Knight could have just climbed the mountain by himself without the Ice Climbers. It feels more like it's convenient to have the Ice Climbers part of the SSE just because there's an icy mountain level. And I'm not even touching Sonic the Deus Ex Machina at the end.

Also the world of trophies make no sense. Are they trophies or actual characters? It felt like the storyline kinda lost its focus. The premise sounded promising.... trophies coming to life just to fight... losing the match is just like death because they get turned into trophies.... then the taboo of Kirby and Mario deciding to be friends instead of fighting caused the Ancient Minister to show up and blow up the stadium.... then we cut to Pit who happens to be not a trophy who is watching the Mario vs. Kirby match and then is ordered by Palutena, the only NPC in this storyline, to go and help Mario. And then its like "what? Angel Land is part of the world of trophies?" Again, the world of trophies doesn't make sense.... so Palutena is the goddess of this world of trophies where Yoshis apparently live in the Lost Woods with the Master Sword and where wild Pokemon can be found near that castle from Fire Emblem?

It would have made sense if these areas were blown away from their respective Nintendo worlds into the Subspace with the bombs... and that's why Kongo Jungle is just north of the Lost Woods and why that zoo from Mother is west from the castle from Fire Emblem. Anyway, this is still an improvement over Melee, though.

[Spud]

arcadenik said:

Anyone here notice that some characters feel more like plot points than actual characters in the SSE storyline?

Take the Ice Climbers, what's their purpose in the story? All they did was scale a mountain and then decided to join Meta Knight for apparently no reason... and then once they got on top, they cheered and watched Meta Knight fight Lucario, only to get blasted off the summit. Meta Knight could have just climbed the mountain by himself without the Ice Climbers. It feels more like it's convenient to have the Ice Climbers part of the SSE just because there's an icy mountain level. And I'm not even touching Sonic the Deus Ex Machina at the end.

Also the world of trophies make no sense. Are they trophies or actual characters? It felt like the storyline kinda lost its focus. The premise sounded promising.... trophies coming to life just to fight... losing the match is just like death because they get turned into trophies.... then the taboo of Kirby and Mario deciding to be friends instead of fighting caused the Ancient Minister to show up and blow up the stadium.... then we cut to Pit who happens to be not a trophy who is watching the Mario vs. Kirby match and then is ordered by Palutena, the only NPC in this storyline, to go and help Mario. And then its like "what? Angel Land is part of the world of trophies?" Again, the world of trophies doesn't make sense.... so Palutena is the goddess of this world of trophies where Yoshis apparently live in the Lost Woods with the Master Sword and where wild Pokemon can be found near that castle from Fire Emblem?

It would have made sense if these areas were blown away from their respective Nintendo worlds into the Subspace with the bombs... and that's why Kongo Jungle is just north of the Lost Woods and why that zoo from Mother is west from the castle from Fire Emblem. Anyway, this is still an improvement over Melee, though.

Welcome to the most Nonsensical crossover game ever. It has no point; it needs no point. It's an arcade game at heart.

[Arcadenik]

Nonsensical would only apply to multiplayer modes since that is an arcade game at heart. With multiplayer modes, it can be as nonsensical as you want it to be... but with the story mode, of course, it has to make sense. It seems as if most characters are just for plot points... the story seems shallow and it doesn't even have dialogues at all. That's what I am saying.

[TV Eye]

I agree with Arcadenik. What's the point in finally having a storyline in the Smash games, but not explaining the origins of everything? And what the fuck is with Sonic? He was in for like, two seconds. Seriously, WTF?!

[Arcadenik]

Wow... I am surprised. TV Eye actually agrees with me!? LOL

But yeah, this is what I am talking about. What was Red doing at the ruined zoo in the first place before he got attacked by the Primids? Was Snake ordered to go around spying the Subspace Army inside the Halberd? Did Link lose Epona and that's why he is with Yoshi?

It would have been cooler if there was a scene showing Red with Prof. Oak getting Squirtle... and then the Subspace Army blasted Pallet Town and separated Red from Prof. Oak. Later, Red travels around the World of Trophies and meets up with Prof. Oak who tells Red to follow Charizard (the Charmander he didn't choose) and help Charizard save Ivysaur (the Bulbasaur he didn't choose) from the Primids... and Lucas could even be accompanying Red in their quest after Nowhere Islands was blasted away to the World of Trophies. Something like that, you know? I'd like some backstories for all the characters. The only one who seems to have a backstory is Pit, even though it doesn't make sense for Palutena to be the goddess of the World of Trophies.