|
Welcome to NSports, if we feel that you as a sports fan will be interested in a game or peripheral, we will give it coverage right here on NSports. If you enjoy other genres of games in addition to sports, then be sure to visit NAdventures and NShooters in order to get your fill of gaming content. Check out http://hub.ngenres.com for the highlight stories from each genre.
- |
|
Review  Super Smash Brothers
- By Mike Schneider
[Contributing Editor]
I’d like to open up by saying, “I am NOT a fan of fighting games!” I find them monotonous, tedious, and hard to control. With this said, I had absolutely no expectations for Super Smash Bros. I didn’t even want to rent it until my cousin convinced me it would be fun. So, I rented the game (mainly because I wanted to kick the crap out of Pikachu). After only about twenty minutes of playing I was already giddy as a schoolgirl. This game is so unbelievably fun! And the idea of being able to pit my favorite Nintendo characters against each other in an all out, no-holds-barred fight to the finish is enough to get my attention.
Gameplay:
Super Smash Bros. is not an ordinary type of fighting game. Besides the fact that the game features Nintendo’s trademark characters beating the living poo out of one another, it also has a different sort of feel from a majority of the fighting games that are currently available. The point of SSB is to weaken your opponent to the point that you are able to knock them off of the screen. Instead of the traditional health system in which you are given a set amount of health before you are dead, SSB gives players a percentage. This percentage begins at 0 and grows as your character gets damaged. The higher the percentage, the easier it is for you opponent to hit you off. It’s an ingenious system that works wonderfully.You can pick from eight characters (plus four hidden ones) and battle in 9 different levels based on locations from each character’s respective series of games. Each
stage is unique and has something that sets it apart from the rest. For example, Planet Zebes from the Metroid series features a rising lake off acid that often rises above some of the lower platforms and threatens to scorch contestants who aren’t quick enough to get to higher ground. Other details include a trademark floating barrel in the DK stage that can prevent characters from falling off of the level if they’re lucky enough to land inside, random Pokemon appearances in Saffron City, and an AR-WING in the Star Fox stage (which is set on the top of the Star Fox mother ship) that shoots at players.
All of the characters play differently, and have their own signature moves. Such as pikachu’s thunderbolt, and Captain Falcon’s “Falcon Bomb!” It takes a totally different strategy to win with characters like Yoshi or Mario than it does with Samos or Jigglypuff; every character feels unique.
During a battle various power-ups will randomly fall from the sky in boxes, canisters, or standalone. There is a wide array of power-ups in the game; they range from a giant hammer straight out of Donkey Kong to a light saber from Star Wars, and even hearts from Zelda OoT. These items help spice up the action and allow for the tables to turn, so that the person who was behind suddenly has the upper hand. Later on (after playing 50 multi-player battles) players will gain access to a menu that allows you to control what items appear and how often they appear.
The one-player game is more than what you might expect from this type of game. You fight in a wide array of battles against characters such as the Mario brothers, an over-sized Donkey Kong, and metal Mario. Players also compete against the clock in special bonus rounds. The main downfall here is that the one player game is short. However, players are encouraged to trek through this mode with every character, and as fast as they can to open up new levels and hidden characters. Beating the game with every character requires different strategies with different characters, which helps the game feel longer. This mode is also harder than you might think, just try beating it set on very hard with out continuing and you may find yourself humbled.
One-player may also go into battle mode and fight bots on any stage they please. You can choose how good you want the bots to be on a scale of 1 to 9 and choose to fight 1 vs. 3, or have a computer on your team. This mode though fun, just can’t compete with the thrill of battling against actual people.
Multiplayer:
This game was made for multiplayer mode, and it allows for up to 4 players. Players can choose to battle as every man for themselves or on teams. Even if you don’t have four players you have the option of turning on some computer bots to heighten the excitement (and putting the computers at level 9 will definitely make them worthy adversaries). Trust me if you are looking for a good multiplayer game to play with your buddies then look no further, SSB is amazingly fun.
Control:
The control in SSB is kept simple so that everyone who is willing to pick up the controller will be able control his or her characters after only a few minutes of practice. This doesn’t mean that SSB is a simple game though, not at all. The real challenge is not in learning complex button combinations; it’s in mastering the art of kicking other players off of the platforms. Being able to master every character in the game is one heck of a challenge, and a fun challenge at that. But the main thing here is that controlling your character is responsive and dependable. The only real problem that I can think of is that in some levels the camera gets a little too far away for players to see what they are doing, but this is a fairly rare occurrence.
Aesthetics:
Super Smash Bros. boasts some pretty impressive visuals. The gameplay is fast and furious, and so it’s a good thing that the frame rate stays at a blistering pace 99% of the time. Though the character models have fairly low poly counts, they are detailed and from the distances that they are normally seen they look great. Some of the moves in this game are quite impressive visually, and the amount that’s going on on-screen is astounding. One really cool feature is the ability for any player to pause the game during the heat of battle if something really cool is happening and the camera automatically zoom in on that player’s character and allows them to pan around and look at the situation. These little touches really add to this game.
Sound:
The music in this game is great, every level features it’s own spiced up version of it’s respective series music. The music is actually quite impressive in quality. In fact, the DK Jungle music is actually better than any of the music featured in DK 64! Sound effects are a treat, and hilarious at that. Every attack and effect sounds excellent, and I couldn’t ask for much more. Thought the announcer is cheesy he doesn’t talk during battles. Also there is a crowd that either cheers or mones for players. Getting the crowd to chant your name is great (they do this if you have a really high percentage but continue to knock other players around).
OVERALL:
This game is a refreshing new take on the fighting genre. I can’t recommend it enough, no matter what gaming genre you are a fan of, you will love this game!
The Lowdown on  Super Smash Brothers
| Aesthetics: Very Good |
Control: Awesome |
| Gameplay: Awesome |
Multiplayer: Awesome |
| Sound: Very Good |
Innovation: 6/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 6/6 |
|
Overall: Awesome!
"Top of the Genre"
|
|
|
|
This game is:
Awesome
|
|
|
|
INFO |
Developer: HAL Labratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Number of Players: 1-4
Rumble Pak: Yes
Expansion Pak: No
Memory Pak: No
Transfer Pak: No
ESRB Rating: E
Release Date:
TBA
|
|
ADDITIONAL
MEDIA: |
|
None Yet
|
|
|
|
|
