Happy Birthday Brawl: A One-Year Analysis

[xeleion]

Today is Brawl's one year birthday. I'd be interested to know people's thoughts and feelings on the game, now that we've had a year to dissect and analyze the game in both its simplest and most advanced components.

Personally, I still have mixed feelings about the game. There are a lot of love it/hate it aspects which have me torn between coming back and putting the game down for good. Sometimes it feels a lot less rewarding than I think a fighting game should be, and that bothers me a lot. I'll elaborate later when others have voiced their opinions, but if I have to put Brawl on a numerical scale, I'd put it in the 7.5 area.

What do you love/hate about Brawl? How have your feelings changed over these twelve months (ten for some)? Voice your opinion.

 

[Tachyon]

Hmm. I thought Brawl was released in February but oh well. Stupid memory. All in all I'd have to say that I'm rather pleased with the game. Yeah it's no melee, probably worse in some areas, but I still think this game can improve to become a game that can stand on it's own and won't have to live up to melee's name. Cause let's face it. Melee left some INSANELY huge shoes to fill. Which short of just remaking melee for the Wii would have been near impossible to fill.

I'm going to look forward to the next year of playing Brawl and maybe i can hopefully get into the competitive scene with this game instead of just watching videos of pros and learning ATs and such.

 

[Sonic Phantom]

If I remember right, the release date was February in Japan, March in North America, and April in Europe? Maybe I am putting everything a month later than what it was...

 

[xeleion]

Well, the Japanese release date is listed as January 31 and that's when my copy shipped from Play Asia, so that's what I'm going by.

 

[Sonic Phantom]

Well, the Japanese release date is listed as January 31 and that's when my copy shipped from Play Asia, so that's what I'm going by.

Ah, that makes sense. The North America release was a month later and the Europe release was two months later, so that is why I was thinking beginning of March since February is not a full month.

Anyways, I agree with you xeleion. I am also torn as to whether I like it or am just eh. I mean, a new characters to the roster is always a plus the multiple air dodges really aids in the recovery tactics. However, the game itself lacks the crispness and quickness of Melee which made the game more rewarding.

 

[Wave⁂]

Too many negatives in Brawl outweigh the positive.

 

[kupo15]

Too many negatives in Brawl outweigh the positive.

Play brawl+. Its the best anniversary gift I can think of

 

[Dxt XXII]

It came out March 9th here in the US.

I played melee, but not seriously. Brawl is a very good, but different game. After melee people were expected Melee 2.0. It is still a very competetive game, just not as much as melee.

 

[Veng]

Brawl is good, I don't give a rip about all the guys complaining about its dissimilarity's with melee, after all melee tournaments are still around. Most people end up comparing it to Melee, which doesn't make sense.

 

[Liex Link]

Brawl is good, I don't give a rip about all the guys complaining about its dissimilarity's with melee, after all melee tournaments are still around. Most people end up comparing it to Melee, which doesn't make sense.

Why we compare to Melee is because Melee's better.

 

[Frown]

Why we compare to Melee is because Melee's better.

AHEM

The phrase "Melee/Brawl is better" can get you an infraction, if the mods are feeling grumpy.

OnT: Brawl is great. I love it.

 

[Sosuke]

You can tell just how stupid your thoughts are by comparing them to your comprehension of how to write a correct sentence.
Oh, thats direction at the Link main btw.

I can't believe its been a year. =/
Feels like a few months.

 

[Vyse]

If I were to say Basketball is better than Baseball, most would view that as an entirely subjective opinion.
They're both sports, right?

If I were to say Melee is better than Brawl, most should view that as an entirely subjective opinion.
They're both video games, right?

Brawl is good stuff.

 

[Kaiasian]

When Brawl first released, i got all excited and played it nonstop. Then i reverted back to Melee for a few months, and now i play brawl again. And i enjoy it :D

 

[Team Giza]

If I were to say Basketball is better than Baseball, most would view that as an entirely subjective opinion.
They're both sports, right?

I don't agree to this.

 

[Amazing Ampharos]

I'm basically completely satisfied with brawl. I love how the game is still showing itself to be really balanced where you can actually use the characters you want to use, and I love how much it rewards smart play. I also only grow more in love with this game's stage list the more I play it. I feel no need to qualify my enjoyment of brawl with any negative comments; it's simply an amazing game that exceeded even my lofty expectations. I expect to be continuing to play and enjoy it for many more years to come.

 

[Vyse]

I don't agree to this.

Precisely my point

 

[mzink*]

Dang that year seemed to go by really fast. Though Brawl did not have as much of an impact on me as Melee did, its still worth it to wish Happy Birthday to a beloved smash game. May you live forever SSB. Thanks so much for all the happy memories.

 

[Shadic]

Smash64 is still definitely the best. I think it has down the "Easy to pickup, difficult to master" better than Melee or Brawl.

Anyways, I played a LOT of Brawl at first. Now I play Brawl+.

 

[Darxmarth23]

I still play all three games. Brawl sometimes just makes me sad.

 

[Revven]

Brawl annoys me a lot but, I only play it because my friends do and because my Melee skills are sorta lame... I got into it quite late so, it's a bit too late to get into Melee except for friendlies. I still think Melee > Brawl but, Brawl is funnier at times. I also play Smash 64 on my Wii and Brawl+.

Life couldn't be any sweeter.

 

[Jonas]

It hasn't been out a year in Europe yet. It came out in late June D:
I imported the American version though...

Anyways, I think it's a great game, easily my favourite game on the Wii (although it's not saying much :\).

I don't really care if it's better than Melee or not. Both games are great and, since I have both, I can just pop in which ever game I feel like playing.

 

[ynnek123]

Brawl isn't bad. If it would've came out before 64 and melee everyone would love it. then if melee would come after that, people would complain about how fast it was and how AT's were removed(at least I think, people are very unpredictable in this community). ^^ so yeah, brawl's good, melee is better.

 

[BEES]

Originally I was even excited when I heard there would be physics changes. New game, different tricks right? Some people judged the game before they even played it. I was determined to prove them wrong. But the combos never materialized. There just was no way to punish without counter-punishment. I begrudgingly was forced to admit the game did not live up to its predecessors in terms of gameplay.

That said, Brawl+ fixed the problems, and now I get that rush that I used to get during an intense melee match. Wouldn't go back.

 

[ExCeL 52]

Brawl is a great game.
How do I know?
Feels like I have been playing it for 4 months max.
Total time? 526 Hours... In one year.
I would never have gotten that in 7 years of melee.

Brawl is smart play.
Melee is quick play.

 

[kupo15]

Brawl is a great game.
How do I know?
Feels like I have been playing it for 4 months max.
Total time? 526 Hours... In one year.
I would never have gotten that in 7 years of melee.

Brawl is smart play.
Melee is quick play.

What does that make brawl+? Smart quick play lol?

 

[Denzi]

I love Brawl. I can't believe it's already been a year.

 

[alex3]

If I were to say Basketball is better than Baseball, most would view that as an entirely subjective opinion.
They're both sports, right?

Your analogy is wrong. it would be more on the lines of comparing american football to rugby.

 

[Problem2]

First I was like: zomg it's Brawl!!!

then I was like: this is fun

after that, I was like: ugh, you can't combo

and then later, I was like: wtf, I get hit right after landing hits

eventually I was like: screw Brawl, I'm going back to Melee

and then Brawl+ came around and I was like: awesome, Brawl the way it should be

but then I was like: Nobody wants to play Brawl+

so later on I was like: w/e, I'll play Brawl

and now I'm like: Brawl is cool in it's own way.

 

[Vyse]

Your analogy is wrong. it would be more on the lines of comparing american football to rugby.

The point still stands.

 

[Tornadith]

Ugh I hate when people say "Brawl sucks" or "It's a bad game".

It's an AMAZING game.

The thing is is that this is a gaming website and most people here are very into competitive SSB and/or very skilled SSB.

Just because you can't MAD, you trip sometimes and you can't combo doesn't make Brawl a horrible game.

Brawl is still fun to play, has a lot of features and is overall just a great game. I can say that for Melee as well.

 

[eRonin]

Happy Birthday Brawl!
Just to clear this up, Brawl's been out in PAL format for just a little over HALF A YEAR!
Yeah...sad isn't it. At any rate...
I love Brawl.
Melee was like...I played it quite a bit but I could never get my head around it. As in I could never keep up and I just could NOT wavedash even when in training mode...couldn't get any of the advanced techniques right...so well, that's my personal reason for liking Brawl more.

 

[shadenexus18]

Well...Brawl took some getting use to seeing how it plays way way slower than Melee, but I believe I've improved over the countless hours I've played trying to improve my craft with most characters.

It would get a perfect 10 in my book, but since that dumb tripping feature is in the game (**** you Sakurai), I'll give it 8.3.

 

[Kinzer]

I really enjoy this game...

I don't feel like going into detail, but I'm moreorless happy with the end result.

 

[Chis]

Ah, that makes sense. The North America release was a month later and the Europe release was two months later, so that is why I was thinking beginning of March since February is not a full month.

lol no.

Around 4 months later.

 

[.Kiyo]

Man one year... it's been a good long ride, and hopefully it'll keep running too!

 

[Jonkku]

lol no.

Around 4 months later.

I was going to say this, but seems like I don't have to..
So yeah, happy 8 months and 5 days, European Brawl. (8 months and 6 days for Australian Brawl..)

First the differences between melee and brawl felt weird, but during this time I've gotten used to them and right now I would say that I like Brawl better.

 

[Vanst]

My friend and I always used to play Melee all the time and go to tournaments. When brawl came out we were expecting the same thing, but it's a very different game. My friend actually doesn't play Brawl because he is disgusted with how it turned out, but I am moving on and forgetting about Melee. Brawl really is a great game it's just not as fast paced and doesn't have all the advanced techniques Melee has.

Happy Birthday Super Smash Bros Brawl :D

 

[TheSMASHtyke]

To make everything moot:

I love brawl.

The End.

 

[BBoyindo]

The thing i like about brawl is that it's way easier to play competitive. With melee, i practiced AT's against cpu's and my sister, but of course that had no use -.-.
With brawl, i can practice everything against my friend who also wants to play the game more competitively, and of course there is online which is ( for me at least ) really useful.
Brawl, even though it is not as flashy and hard as melee, is still a very good game.