Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Welcome to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the third installment of Nintendo's mascot fighting franchise. Like its predecessors, Brawl looks to be the reigning reason to own a Nintendo console.

This time, the developers have gone beyond just a great offline multiplayer game. Online matches, sending replays and screenshots, a single-player mode reminiscent of every major Nintendo game to come out since the Nintendo Entertainment System, classic game samples, stage building and sharing, the greatest soundtrack ever made and graphics to fit; all of this and we're still looking at the surface.

Are you ready to Brawl? You better be!

Do not take these words lightly, for the presentation and gameplay is phenomenal. Subspace Emissary, the new story for the game, is rich enough to keep players engaged with their favorite characters who cooperate without a single word spoken. In multiplayer, the graphics of Final Destination and many other stages are enough to make you stop and watch the colors in the background even at the risk of losing. The music collects some of the greatest gaming arrangements in the history of this industry with the original composers to back them all up.

What's different from Melee? Quite a lot. While the fundamentals remain the same, Game Creator Masahiro Sakurai clearly put much effort into tweaking the finer parts of the mechanics, which will be listed shortly. Are all of the tweaks perfect? No, but all of them are like learning a new bicycle after replacing an old one. Sure you've had that old bike with that great seat and the rusty chain for years, but adjusting to the new bike makes for an overall better experience. Like the Nintendo 64 version to the GameCube version, players need to learn new things and forget old ones.

Other characters, like Mario, have new moves, as well.

For example, players no longer have to hold down the special attack button to charge Sheik's special attack; instead, players press B to charge and B again to release. Crates can be slippery and move around now, and characters using Super Scope 6 can freely move around the stage without being held down. To hardcore players, jumps and speed feel slightly tweaked. Some attacks feel stronger, while others weaker. There are many new items to use and collect, and the game is even more of a virtual encyclopedia of Nintendo's history.

Multiplayer is as satisfying as it ever was. The colors are beautiful, the detail is amazing and the music is as close to perfection as a gamer can expect (with customizable playlists to boot). All characters have unique color schemes, such as Link's "Dark" form, Peach looking like Daisy and Samus wearing her suit from Metroid Fusion. From time limits to lives to items, nearly every aspect of battle can be set by the player or be randomized for those not wanting to bother.

It's the little touches that make you happy on the inside.

Four control styles are available: Wii Remote, Wii Remote/Nunchuk, GameCube Controller and Classic Controller. The button scheme of each can be completely customized, too. Assign these to your in-game profile and you'll never have to input the same reassignments on your console again.

Although the two controller options involving the Wii Remote work, and may be attractive to newcomers, the GameCube and Classic controllers provide the smoothest play experience for dedicated fans. A fast-paced game like Brawl demands perfect responsiveness, and the d-pad just doesn't seem as good as the analog stick in this regard. Anyone worried about tiring motion controls can be at ease, as none are forced (although a shake of the Wii Remote can be used for smash attacks).

Don't feel tied to one, play them all!

While the returning Melee stages are a blast from the past, owning a new bicycle means riding everywhere that you couldn't ride before. There's certainly a lot to explore: PictoChat, Mushroomy Kingdom, Frigate Orpheon, Halberd, Lylat Cruise, Port Town Aero Dive, New Pork City, and WarioWare, Inc. have brought endless amounts of life to a great, long-standing franchise. This isn't even counting all of the stages made by friends online and offline, which could very well (despite the limited map tools) bring another four years of Smash Bros. fanatics to the Wii.

In the next Stage, we will cover more of the Subspace Emissary, collecting items, and the ever-interesting online matches. Without at least 100 matches online, it's hard to critique a game whose predecessor enjoyed a console lifetime of popularity, so stay tuned.