Snowed in and Smashed

No, we aren't resorting to the past-time of heavy drinking during the winter months. I finally recieved my copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl -- thanks to Greg! -- and it's everything it's cracked up to be, and more.

First of all, the gameplay has changed only slightly, and for the better I believe. Aerial combat seems smother. Character movement seems a little bit more precise, although I think it's still tough to get the minute distances down. But in Brawl it's easier to get just close enough to smash without wasting effort. I've been using the Wii Classic Controller, while Alex and Greg have used the Gamecube controller. Alex even tried the Wii Remote only and seemed to do okay. I think it just has too few buttons to be used alone. I'll have to try the Wii Remote + Nunchuck and see how that works.

Level design seems less punishing, as there are fewer ways to fall to your death accidentially. The levels themselves are incredibly dynamic, many with destructable elements or buildable objects. The WarioWare and Pictochat levels prove incredibly fun, adding a great wacky feel to an already unserious game.

I've had a lot of fun with the solo -- or 2-player co-op -- story mode, the Subspace Emmisary Adventure. I've played about four hours and am still only about a quarter of the way through it. Many past friends and foes appear as part of this story, although unfortunately crowd favorite Sonic has yet to appear in any game mode.

The Events are also great, different sets for solo and two-player mode. Several Pokemon battles and nemesis tag-teams -- Mario and Kirby vs. Bowser and King Dedede is a good one -- along with specific goals, such as attempting to catch two very quick characters in eggs simultaneously, make for great one-off challenges.

And the collectables. Wow, it seems you can't walk a couple steps without picking up a sticker or trophy. I haven't even tried the coin launcher yet for additional trophies.

One unfortunately thing is that it seems to me that Brawl stores photos and replays in proprietary formats. Unless there's another way to get them off the game, I don't know transferring from the SD card will work. No graphics editor recognizes the plain .bin format.

So, we'll see if I can find another way to post screens.

But all in all, Brawl is everything I hoped for, and more!