After years of waiting that were lengthened by numerous delays, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has finally hit the shelves of Japan. While most gamers will have to wait until March (or later, for those outside of North America) to get their hands on this title, an estimated 500,000 copies have fallen into the hands of players in Japan, including myself. After putting quite a bit of time into this game, I would have to say that it was most definitely worth the wait, and that those still waiting have something to get excited about.
From the very beginning, Brawl is indeed quite different from the previous entry in the series on the Gamecube, Melee. “More items, more characters, and more features” could be used to sum everything up. And while many fans of the last entry wanted something along these lines, the results are not what most expected. The game has caused quite a stir among many competitive players, but most will find almost every change welcome, especially making the game more balanced for players who aren’t as serious.
Going into the launch of this game, I decided to re-acclimate myself with the Smash universe, and play through Melee to get ready. Having not played on a truly competitive level, but still being aware of the more advanced tactics that are used in higher level play, I was curious to see whether or not these would be retained in Brawl. And indeed, many will find that these have not been carried over. This is probably due to the fact that most of those things were merely exploits or glitches in the game, and not truly meant to be there. I’m personally glad this was the case, as it makes the game a great deal more accessible to casual players, especially new players that have never experienced the series before.