Super Smash Bros. Brawl (spoilers inside!)

[Roy Karrde]

George Harrison has confirmed that the game will be getting a delay in the US as well, hitting stores on Sunday, February 10 of 2008.

This came from Nintendo's Media Conference.

[Blademaster]

And Blade, Sonic Battle=Sonic fighting game=Sonic being my Ace in that=Gonna be my ace for Brawl=PWNS DA BLADEZZ :O!!

1. I've never heard of Sonic Battle. Is the blue blur's legacy so shitty that even his good games go unnoticed anymore? Or did Sonic Battle suck as well and you're one of the chosen few who liked it?

2. If you think I'm scared of Sonic, I have a certain orange-armored bounty huntress for him that I bet he'd just love to meet.

...So... Brawl's been pushed back another two months. ...Why? That's what I wanna know. Haven't they crammed enough into this game already? Or are they trying to build suspense (I call it irritation by this point...) by sneaking in one final surprise that nobody's expecting?

[PNT510]

1. I've never heard of Sonic Battle. Is the blue blur's legacy so shitty that even his good games go unnoticed anymore? Or did Sonic Battle suck as well and you're one of the chosen few who liked it?

2. If you think I'm scared of Sonic, I have a certain orange-armored bounty huntress for him that I bet he'd just love to meet.

...So... Brawl's been pushed back another two months. ...Why? That's what I wanna know. Haven't they crammed enough into this game already? Or are they trying to build suspense (I call it irritation by this point...) by sneaking in one final surprise that nobody's expecting?

Maybe it's not so much cramming stuff in there as optimizing the game. The public hasn't been aloud to play the game once yet and online was just recently 100% confirmed so they might need the extra time for frame rate or lag issues or any other number of bugs.

[Heald]

Sonic is an awesome inclusion, whether you love him or hate him, since if you hate him, you can kick his ass! Personally, I love Sonic and thus am literally salivating at the prospect of spin-dashing the hell out of Mario.

Hopefully, the delay means they're only sticking in lots more cool stuff for us to play with. A confirmed character list would be nice - since clearly they already know who they're going to include, but I am already predicting who is going to make a comeback...

Out of the original 12, I reckon the only character who might get the chop is Ness, considering that Lucas will probably be a clone of him, but I reckon Ness will be put in the final product. As for Luigi...I really do hope he is more than a Mario clone this time. Possibly something based off Luigi's Mansion.

Out of the expanded 25, I reckon that Young Link, Dr Mario, Mr Game & Watch, Pichu, Marth and Roy all face the chop.

I'd also like to know whether Falco and Ganondorf will make a reappearance, and if they have unique movesets this time, instead of just being clones of other characters. Ganondorf transforming into Ganon as a final smash would be pretty sweet.

There were rumours that cel-shaded Link were going to make an appearance. I hope that this is definitely not the case. Speaking of Link, I wonder if he can transform into a wolf, since they're using the Twilight Princess model of Link. Also, if Zelda is based on the Twilight Princess model, chances could be that she has lost the power to transform in Sheik...of course, only time can tell.

Possible new characters are Zant and Midna, although probably very unlikely. Midna with the fused shadow transformation as a final smash though - very appealing.

Now Bowser Jr. has had more appearances in the recent Mario games, it could be the case that the son of King Koopa himself could possibly make an appearance. While I am not the little git's biggest fan, a smaller, faster Bowser could be an interesting addition.

Of course, I think everyone knows I'm waiting for Waluigi to be included, although this is incredibly unlikely. Sakurai, if you're reading this...PLEASE PUT WALUIGI IN.

Otherwise, I have no other real speculations. I doubt they'll include any more new playable Pokemon. I'd like to see Banjo-Kazooie, but since they're owned by Microsoft now, that'll be very unlikely. Plus, they seem to have dropped off the radar for the meantime anyway...sniff.

That's all the speculation I have. I eagerly await new challengers on the website, although after Sonic, I reckon there will be a news-drought of sorts.

[AdventureSerum]

*cough* *cough* Ahem...

SONIC IS IN BRAWL! SONIC! IS IN! BRAWL! SONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNIC!!!

[Blademaster]

Personally, I love Sonic and thus am literally salivating at the prospect of spin-dashing the hell out of Mario.

Oh, it's on now.

[Drago]

Dude, I hate Sonic, don't cry about it, everyone their own opinion mkay?

Not crying homey, just disagreeing. Not allowed to do that? A catalyst for conversation, you see.

Random thoughts now...
Not quite as thrilled with Sonic's specials; the across and down one both seem kinda samey, though I'm still interested to see how much the lack of a jump in the Spin Charge differentiates them.

Midna's chances aren't that great, seeing how there's a very, very loose implication that she's already present at the Bridge of Elden, bringing the pieces back as they're destroyed.

Anyone fancy guessing the final character count? I had originally assumed in the ballpark of 40, and still don't feel too inclined to stray from that number.

I'm excited to see how they'll improve Mewtwo, if he does indeed return. I was really pleased with his inclusion in Melee when I first heard about it, though the fact that he flounders about the bottom tiers of professional play doesn't really suit him.

Falco should be easy to de-clone, thanks to Assault. Now he's got a whole slew of weapons at his disposal, and with Fox's Final Smash as the Landmaster, an Arwing for Falco seems pretty logical. If Falco gets the chop in favour of Krystal, I will NOT be a happy camper.

The Japanese site has music from DS Cooking during Kirby's Final Smash. I really like it, and hope that it'll be included in the English version as well.

[Phoenixsong]

40 is around what I was thinking, yeah. We're at 22 or so now, I think, and there are still several very likely returns that we haven't heard about yet: Captain Falcon *sob*, for example, or Sheik... yeah. Then there's still plenty of opportunities for the fanservice characters new characters: Lucario and Felix are both highly requested, and if memory serves King Dedede and Krystal are both very popular choices (too bad NSider went down, can't go check any more), although Meta Knight probably hurts Dedede's chances somewhat. Then there are the hotly debated clones; I'm still guesstimating here, but I think we might be able to count on at least half of them coming back, if not more, depending on moveset changes and stuff. Let's see, there were about six or so clones (not counting Luigi because there's no WAY he isn't coming back)... and lastly we have the possibility of more third-party inclusions. Obviously they're not going to dominate the roster, but I get the impression that they won't just stop at Snake and Sonic. I personally think it's pretty likely that another Sonic character and at least one other character from a third-party franchise like Kratos I'm not kidding ARGH will be included. So, using those approximations, we have

The 22 confirmed characters + about 7 returning non-clones (including Luigi) + about 3 returning clones, minimum + at least another 4 new characters + at least 2 more third-parties

That's 22+7+3+4+2=38.

Still all guesswork, and it doesn't factor in things like whether Ness will return, but oh, well. As close to an educated guess as I can get right now.

All I can say is that I hope they balance out the characters. That's one of the things I hate about games like this (and one of the things I hate about Pokémon, frankly): imbalanced characters. The game simply isn't fun when everyone uses the same five characters because "the others suck". Dammit, if I like Mewtwo in SSB, why can't I use him in competitive play as well as casual?

EDIT: Official announcement about the new (bad) release date is up, as well as yet another reason that I'm upset about never having left the East Coast in my life. Los Angelans, I hate you all. Moving on.

Much love for the new Snapshot mode, I have to say. You can now take screenies at any time, not just a silly camera mode, and since they're on the SD card you can move them around and stuff. I'm *hoping* that it saves them using a normal image extension like jpg or png so that we can move them to our computers and stuff.

[Chris 2.1]

I guess Pichu, Dr Mario and maybe even Young Link will be omitted from Brawl. I think we will get two more Pokemon in the fray; we had 4 in Melee (Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff and Mewtwo) and in Brawl thus far we have Pikachu and Pokemon Trainer. I expect one more for definite, with the possibility of a fourth.

I think there may be one or two more 'third-party' characters. Snake and Sonic don't really excite me that much tbh.

[Heald]

Not sure if anyone posted this yet but...

Click here for Sonic vs. Link

Video of game dev playing as Link versus a comp-controlled Sonic.

I know he was talking at the same time and trying to demonstrate the game rather than try and play properly but the action seems kind of sloppy. Also, the AI controlling Sonic didn't seem too great until the end, but hopefully it was a low-level comp, and with any luck the AI in the final build will be fantastic.

It also looks confirmed that Sonic's Final Smash is Super Sonic, in which he becomes invincible and is able to fly around the screen at will dishing out the hurt. All the more reason to eagerly anticipate this game's release.

[Starry Might]

I'm baaaaaaack!

And now, my comments on this week's updates...

Zero Suit Samus: Special Moves - Not bad...man, I hope she'll be playable outside of her Final Smash in the way I proposed earlier (i.e. hold down a button as the match loads, a la Zelda/Shiek in "Melee") - if she is, she's DEFINITELY joining my "Brawl" posse!

WarioWare: Ashley’s Theme - I haven't listened to any of the music on the site (I want it to be a surprise), and this is no exception.

Kirby: Final Smash - Well, it is indeed the cooking thing he was doing in the original trailer!

Nintendo Conference Fall 2007 Movie - Flippin' sweet (as Napoleon Dynamite would say)!

Sonic - WHOA! They did put him in!

I think all those people who were tricked by "EGM's" April Fools 2002 joke will be happy they'll get to play as him in a "Smash" game after all, don't you?

Taking Snapshots - Nice! No need to hook up my Wii (if I had one) to the computer to take screenshots!

New Launch and E for All - FEBRUARY 10TH?!

Hopefully, though, this means they'll have time to cram more goodies and characters into it!

Not sure if anyone posted this yet but...

Click here for Sonic vs. Link

*WATCHES VIDEO*

Cool!

They have a bunch of other "SSBB" demo videos on there, too (under "Related")! I'm gonna watch them now.

[Drago]

I don't think there's too much to worry about from that vid... It seemed more of a case about the game dev kinda dawdling around at his own pace than the gameplay running at a sloppy pace.

Yeah, I know I've constantly been saying good stuff as though I'm a rabid fanboy, but personally, I can't quite get a feel for how the game flows until I play it myself, or see some Smash experts have a play around with it. The basic gyst I've got is that it's somewhere in the middle of the prior two Smashes, a little slower than Melee, and with more of the impact attacks had in the original Smash.
One thing I've seen in the IGN videos that I like is that they've brought back the slowdown a little during Samus' Screw Attack. I loved that in the original, really made the attack feel cooler.

And ooh, confirmation of the return of player entrances!

[Phoenixsong]

Clicking around on YouTube brings up this video about who is and who might be in... I lol'd. He suggested Tingle. Tingle, of all people. WTH. Smash Ball gives him extra Kooloo-Limpah! power!

There was also a conspicuous lack of Felix, so of course he fails

Oh, and some of our favorite items are coming back, nyah. Beam Sword, it looks like, even though it's blue this time... Party Ball... Homerun Bat, whoo! And he said something about special animations for each character using the bat? Hm. And the way to get the Smash Ball looks interesting. You actually have to attack it a few times to get it. I like that; this way if you release one and its trajectory takes it away from you and towards an opponent, they don't necessarily automatically get it just because your luck sucked. The number of times I've missed out on Starmen just because they bounced the wrong way...

[Jeff]

Some pretty cool additions to Homerun Contest announced today. I'm really liking the wall thing. I can't count how many times I knocked Sandbag off prematurely. It does take away the fun of finding the perfect way to rack up damage while keeping it in place, but it also helps any character get a good distance. And there's also a two-player version. I wonder how many other one-player modes will be given the two-player treatment.

[Chris 2.1]

Co-op multi-man-melee would be awesome.

[AdventureSerum]

Do you ever notice how in ALL the 3D games, Meowth is always standing up? He's not supposed to do that!

[The Blue Avenger]

Meowth has been pictured standing in every mainstream Pokemon game except for Red and Blue.

[Dark Scizor]

The only knock against Sonic is that he hasn't had a good game in years, but I say so what? Neither has Fox, Pit or the Ice Climbers.

That's because they haven't had their own game in years.

I'm betting that Super Sonic is Sonic's final smash. I really need a Wii now! I can't stand the fact that I won't be able to play one of the hottest games of the year!

It is, it's in one of the videos on the Smash Bros Dojo. All you see is Supersonic flying about and doing damage. It looks like one of the more boring Final Smashes.

[Jeff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqm5WFgPw34

I think that's the video you mean. Actually, I think you control Sonic during his final smash, makes for a pretty interesting one IMO. The video also shows off some other things that haven't been revealed at the Dojo. Makes me exited to see what we'll find out tomorrow.

[Dark Scizor]

Actually, I think you control Sonic during his final smash, makes for a pretty interesting one IMO.

That's why I think it looks boring, just flying around and KOing characters, really doesn't seem that exciting.

[Starry Might]

The only knock against Sonic is that he hasn't had a good game in years, but I say so what? Neither has Fox, Pit or the Ice Climbers.

That's because they haven't had their own game in years.

Actually, according to "Nintendo Power", there WAS a second "Kid Icarus" game for the Game Boy, and it was good.

Anyways...

New Pork City - Yay, another monster-sized stage! (Hyrule Temple is one of my favorites in "Melee".)

(Incidentally, I wondered if the stage was "Earthbound/Mother"-related before I clicked the link...I wound up being right! )

STADIUM: Home-Run Contest - Nice (even though I still have trouble hitting the Bag far enough to unlock every single thing related to it). Maybe the new shield will make things much easier in "Brawl".

How to use the Wii Remote - I've seen videos of people using it to play "Brawl" and explaining it. Personally, I'll be using a GameCube controller.

Meowth - i'm on yur stage, coinin ur buttz! (LOL)

Yay for the return of Meowth as a Pokeball Pokeball!

Little Mac - I've read about this Assist Trophy in a 1UP preview, but I was picturing him to be 2D (like the "Excitebike", Lakitu, and "Advance Wars" ATs).

Peach: Final Smash - I've already seen this in a video, but now I know for sure what's going on. Personally, I was hoping it'd be her Rage emotion from "Super Princess Peach", but what they actually did is fine.

*GOES OFF TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY NEW "BRAWL" VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE*

[AdventureSerum]

Hahaha! Peach looks posessed!

[Drago]

That's because they haven't had their own game in years.

Minor digression, but have you ever played the IC game? Certainly doesn't wow me, and it didn't make the Ice Climbers 'iconic' in my eyes.

It is, it's in one of the videos on the Smash Bros Dojo. All you see is Supersonic flying about and doing damage. It looks like one of the more boring Final Smashes.

Also makes it appear to be very similar to Pikachu's Volt Tackle. I suppose the difference being that Pikachu's electric ball is slower, larger and does more damage?

Bummed by this week's updates? Me too. However, that doesn't mean that we're devoid of some supah schweet material... Some Subspace Emissary footage!
DK and Diddy's stage. If you're going to watch just one, I recommend this be it!! The intro makes me dance giddily in the street, you see.
Pit layin' the smacketh down. Finds a buddy along the way to help him out.
What happens to the princess you don't save from Petey?
Atop the Halberd.
Ooh, and a little gameplay vid. Don't get too excited, the computers are on a pitiful level...

[Jeff]

Nintendo World Report just ran some impressions of the game and they mentioned a few things that haven't been revealed at the dojo yet. One thing I found interesting is that my theory about Zero Suit Samus' final smash was right, she does turn back into regular Samus after using it. Also it turns out Sonic and Pikachu pretty much have the same final smash (as has been suspected). Also, after reading that, the banana peel actually sounds pretty cool.

[Alucard]

Link can go bad-ass as Shadow Link with bright red eyes.

I know who i'll be playing and mastering.

[Starry Might]

Nintendo World Report just ran some impressions of the game and they mentioned a few things that haven't been revealed at the dojo yet. One thing I found interesting is that my theory about Zero Suit Samus' final smash was right, she does turn back into regular Samus after using it. Also it turns out Sonic and Pikachu pretty much have the same final smash (as has been suspected). Also, after reading that, the banana peel actually sounds pretty cool.

I've read the link in your post earlier today...interesting read, but I noticed at least one blatant mistake in it:

Also, Peach has added a tennis racket to complement her frying pan attack.

Errrrm...

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/so...002/smash.html

Oh, and what they said about Ike...that's not quite the impression I personally got from the videos I've seen.

Anyhoo, if you wanna see some great "SSBB" videos on YouTube, check out what this guy named AsylumSmash has posted!:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AsylumSmash
(I hope this isn't considered advertising... )

[ssj4supernerd]

PictoChat stage is AWESOME! Really, it's so damn original, I honestly at first thought it was a function. xD

[AdventureSerum]

You know what would be really cool? If you could hook up your own DS to the Wii and use your very own Pictochat doodles!

[Chris 2.1]

TBA is going to be happy ... hehe

[Heald]

Yeah, another Kirby character...can't say I've ever played much of the Kirby series, but I'll probably give the new characters a try.

Still waiting on Waluigi Sakurai...make it happen.

[The Blue Avenger]

TBA is going to be happy ... hehe

Hell effing yeah.

[Starry Might]

PictoChat stage is AWESOME! Really, it's so damn original, I honestly at first thought it was a function. xD

Yeah, I was looking at an article about "Unreal Tournament 3" (I think) on Monday, and on the sidelines of the site, I saw the headline "Pictochat Invades Brawl". I assumed it was a function, too!

But, then again, my Dad (who looked at the site before me) told me that he saw a really crazy stage, but I wouldn't let him spoil it.

As for the other stuff:

Donkey Kong Makes His Stand - I know there's footage of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's part of the Subspace Emissary mode, but I haven't watched it.

By "a very familiar hand", though...do they mean Master Hand?! Hey, it's not "Super Smash Bros." without the Master Hand...

STADIUM: Target Smash! - ...And it's not "Super Smash Bros." without breaking the Targets either, huh? (BTW, the Replay function they announced in the same article sounds cool, too!)

King Dedede - My Dad told me there was a new character at the Dojo, too, but he didn't spoil it for me...he just gave me a couple of hints. I was wondering who it would be, and while I was wondering about this, "King Dedede" actually popped into my brain at some point.

Looks like I was right there!

[Heald]

Big news guys - they're putting a Stage Creator in the game.

Big news for people like me who absolutely love this kind of stuff. Ever since Micro Machines 96 on the Sega Mega Drive had track-building options, I've been hooked on making insane courses and stages.

Judging from the screenshots, it looks quite detailed and seems that it is both easy enough for beginners to knock up a stage and for perfectionists like myself to make a really decent stage.

Also, judging from the shots they've put up, there are Donkey Kong-style ladders and Sonic-style spikes. Is this some sort of way of telling us that there will be a classic arcade Donkey Kong stage on the way, and maybe Sonic's stage will feature menacing spikes? Either wait, I can hardly wait for the next updates.

[Drago]

For some reason, I came into this topic specifically to ask what you thought, Heald. Dunno why, just thought you'd dig it.

Anyway, though the level hazards will likely be largely static, this is abso-f'in-lutely fantastic. I love this update, it's really gotten me pumped.

Oh and also, I think the DK-ladders were in the Jungle Falls level, which may shoot down the idea of a classic DK arcade stage. Just maybe, though.

EDIT: DKC2's Bramble Blast music confirmed for Brawl. HELL F'IN YES.

[Blademaster]

That music still creeps me out to this day...

Building my own stages, huh? Sakurai better be careful - the rate Brawl is going, he may just run out of ideas for the next game!

[AdventureSerum]

S-stage... Creator?!

I'm in heaven already. :3

[PNT510]

I like map editors, not because I can make my own maps, but because there are some people out there who are way more creative than me who I'm sure will post their awesome maps online for me to steal.

[Jeff]

Hopefully, Nintendo will pick the really good ones to post as the "stage of the day", and we'll be able to save the ones we really like.

Even if there isn't a classic DK stage, it probably wouldn't be too hard to create something similar.

[Starry Might]

Big news guys - they're putting a Stage Creator in the game.

I already knew this, since I saw it on Digg with my Dad Monday night...but I didn't look at the actual update 'til today. It looks like something I'd have a lot of fun with!

BTW, did anyone else besides me think of the old game "Lode Runner" when they saw Mario climbing the ladder in one shot and the "Fearsome Ruins" stage in another shot?

Classic - Yay for Classic mode returning! (I figured that it would likely return, though - it wouldn't be "Super Smash Bros." without it!)

ÜBERBOO at the apparent disappearance of the unique side-by-side poses pre-match, though...here's Marth's left-hand Classic Mode pose in "Melee" as an example of what I'm talking about:



Those were awesome, IMHO. (*SIGHS*)

The Summit - The Ice Climbers' new stage sounds crazy awesome! Why? It eventually breaks off of the top of the mountain and slides into the ocean!

Meta Knight: Final Smash - Not bad.

"Heh heh heh. I got it."

Ah, you gotta love Sakurai's unique way with words.

On-Screen Appearances - I already knew about this thanks to the videos on YouTube, but I'm glad they're back...that was a really neat thing about the original "Super Smash Bros." that was sorely missed in "Melee".

[Drago]

Today's video was pretty cool...
Fox just totally owned Rayquaza. The only thing I would prefer to see is at least a little bit of dialogue from Fox. I mean, he's like one of the only Nintendo characters who's regularly speaking, hopefully he'll have something to say at some point. Not likely he's gonna yak with Diddy anyhow, I guess.

EDIT: Oh, and Rayquaza is way too powerful to just take that one lying down. A new boss character semi-confirmed?