Check out what happens when a few dozen NWR readers get together for a twelve-hour Smash Bros. Brawl marathon. Read extended multiplayer impressions, watch real gamers play the game, and hear their reactions!
Earlier in the evening, NWR Forums member pSYCO-gAMER321 arrived with his Japanese Wii and copy of Brawl. The crowd was large enough to justify using it, but since everyone was having a good time just watching the action and waiting their turn with just one console, there wasn't a need to hook up the second one. It wasn't until about 9 p.m. in the evening when I decided to get it hooked up in my room, since I needed to eventually get some work done and record some gameplay video of everyone playing the game. (The video in this feature was all recorded during this time period.) It was also about this time when I realized how long I and many other people had been playing the game. Seven straight hours, with five more to go!
We now had the game going in two rooms of my home. The majority stayed in the living room, around ten people strong. Five took refuge in my bedroom with the other Wii, and just as we had been doing the entire night, we kept playing Smash Bros. We didn't have enough WaveBirds to go around for eight players on two consoles, so a few people tried their hands at the Wii Classic controller and the standard, wired GameCube pad. The guys that used the Classic controllers didn't have any problems playing with the guys who were using the GameCube controllers and they didn't have any complaints to speak of, so those of you who don't have the GameCube controller shouldn't have a problem jumping right in to Brawl. And remember, all four controllers have completely customizable control schemes!
The fighting went on. With the large group split into two smaller ones, the giant party atmosphere that dominated the early hours turned into a more intimate one, as if you and your buddies were getting together for a weekly Brawl session. Fewer people were playing and a smaller crowd was watching, but the outbursts and cheers were just as loud. Several times I jumped from one room to the other to see what a sudden ruckus was about, usually learning I had just missed a big comeback or an unbelievable (or unlucky) final smash.
A couple of guys enjoy Super Smash Bros. Brawl from the comfort of someone else's home.
The final smashes really got everyone going during the evening. The tone was set earlier in the party when a Zelda player hit not one, not two, but all three of his opponents with a light arrow final smash attack. Two of them were goners, and the third had just a low enough damage total to stay within the confines of the stage. The roar from the crowd that caused was nowhere near as loud as the one that happened when I killed three people with one mighty blow of Marth's sword. What made it more impressive was that Marth's final smash must be done at point-blank range, and there's a chance at instant death if it misses. When I hit it, three characters flew off the stage right after the other, as if they were lining up to die. It was certainly the highlight of the day for me.
But that was happening earlier in the day, when not everyone knew each other's final smash attacks. This late at night, after everyone knew better, I saw a dramatically different style of play after someone collected a smash ball. Some final smashes have limited range, so the best course of action is to simply run away from those characters. For the final smashes that cover a great area once activated, players turned aggressive, hoping to knock the smash ball loose before the bearer had a chance to unleash it.
Some final smashes that initially looked devastating, like Ness/Lucas's PK Starstorm, could, with practice, be escaped with relatively little harm. Others that looked rather useless, like Dedede's Waddle Dee army, became quite powerful once we figured out that its primary function is to annoy others and setup Dedede's earth-shattering forward+A smash attack, which is the most powerful in the game. Bodies were flying at damage rates as little as 60% under the king's hammer.
An octopus attacks the oceans of Wind Waker, and lava is everywhere at Norfair.
The adjustments to the smash ball and final smashes made it apparent that some characters had better attacks than others, and that some stages were more advantageous to certain characters than to others. In the grand scheme of things, though, it seems like all the characters are balanced when it comes to how the new items and attacks figure into everything. Not a soul in attendance regretted the smash ball being a part of Brawl. In fact, it seemed to be the most entertaining thing about the game.
Back in the bedroom with the second Wii, we started tiring (slightly) of the multiplayer action, opting to try another mode for the sake of video recording. I showed everyone the different game modes, a few replay clips and screenshots, some very juicy movie sequences of Subspace Emissary, and took another trip back to the sound test menu to look up some newly unlocked tunes. The folks in the living room quickly got back to the multiplayer action (and who could blame them), but in the bedroom we decided to break out the ol' Louisville Slugger and pummel that Sandbag.
I remember the Home Run Contest from Melee and how I would endlessly work on getting the perfect routine down to get maximum damage within the allotted ten seconds. It was way more addictive than it should been, but I eventually tired of it. I didn't jump into Brawl's version of this mode right away, and even when I did I felt it was more of the same. Even though I did spend a few minutes trying to get a routine down, and even with the addition of a forcefield around the starting platform that helps keep Sandbag on the platform, I felt I had had enough of it with Melee.
That was, until we tried doing it with two players. Holy crap, that sandbag must be filled with cocaine. Every time I see it, I just gotsa hit it. The strategies and combinations possible with two players is mind-boggling, and I dare not think how many hours two people can pour into Home Run Contest trying to get the highest maximum damage. After a good twenty minutes of working a Bowser-Yoshi combo with not much success, we gave it up. But we'll be back, Sandbag. Oh yes, we will be back.
Go through a few minutes of a co-op Home Run Contest in real time, and then see
two players take on the game's boss battle mode.
We changed gears and moved to a special new mode for Brawl, Boss Battle mode. Subspace Emissary contains a lot of boss fights, and seeing as how the mode is just a Kirby game dressed up for the Nintendo all-stars, it was only natural it included the traditional boss gauntlet. We wasted no time with the likes of Meta Ridley. We didn't really feel the need to recharge our health meters after that first fight, but after getting pretty roughed up by Master Hand and (regular) Ridley in the subsequent bouts, we found ourselves out of the allotted five heart containers with some big scary machine dude next in line.
We didn't like our chances in going much farther than what was ahead of us, a there were still a lot more bosses to go, including Subspace's final boss that can basically kill by breathing on you. Needless to say, we were looking too far ahead and let this last fight slip out of our grasp, despite the odds. Curses!
Playing this mode in co-op, as well as Subspace Emissary earlier in the week, made me realize that most co-op play modes are more difficult to clear with a teammate along for the ride. The game doesn't make any adjustments from the single player setup to compensate for the extra person, meaning you'll have half the resources to win the day. Sometimes, this is good if you need double the work (Multi-Man Brawl, Home Run Contest, Break the Targets), but when damage and lives are critical resources (Subspace Emissary, Boss Battle mode) it's a lot easier to go it on your own. Still, it's pretty satisfying to overcome the odds with a buddy.
