Board 8 > 10 years since its release, I've been playing Brawl for the first time

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have to defeat every fucking character in this fucking maze are you kidding
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yeah the maze is pretty terrible
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Underleveled posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Subspace Emissary is probably the smartest thing they could have done with this series. Why exactly does everyone hate it?

I think Subspace is great. But unless you've played all the way through, it's hard to understand the hate it gets. There's something big that definitely could have been done differently and I totally understand all the hate that part gets.

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Ugh

I almost posted about how the R.O.B. reveal was one of the best moments in Nintendo history and how it cemented Brawl as the best Smash thus far. The Great Maze is really killing me though.
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Brawl was cool
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The Subspace Emissary was enjoyable just for the wow factor of a story mode in Smash, but in hindsight oh boy was it uninspired and full of annoying enemies and level design.

The best thing to come out of the SSE is The Runaway Guys' playthrough of it.
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SSE beated

Gonna tentatively say Brawl > 64 > Melee for now. But they are all of very similar quality--great games with obvious flaws that keep them from that elite tier.
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Melee in last, that might not go down well with some on this board.
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LinkMarioSamus posted...

Melee in last, that might not go down well with some on this board.

Yeah I know it's contrarian, but I honestly prefer the controls of 64 and the depth of Brawl. Melee is kind of in the middle there where it's outshined in the two biggest elements of the series.
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?

Melee gameplay >>>>>>>> 64 gameplay
Melee singleplayer >>>>>>> Brawl singleplayer
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CelesMyUserName posted...

?

Melee gameplay >>>>>>>> 64 gameplay
Melee singleplayer >>>>>>> Brawl singleplayer

64 feels better than Melee and Brawl. It's hard to explain, but maybe I'm just more accustomed to games from that era.

And as flawed as SSE is, it is better than the nothing that Melee offers. Brawl also has Event mode and All-Star mode, so it's really not a contest.
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Brawl's Event mode is meaningless, almost like their *significantly* shittier version of Break the Targets, and Adventure Mode >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SSE.

Adventure Mode doesn't drag and it's comprised of actual Nintendo-universe themes and even gameplay mechanics rather then a flood of samey generic bloat that is the SSE.

But seriously Break the Targets was awesome before Brawl came along and trashed it. I used to dedicate all my Smash playing on that thing, getting my total time of all characters in the 5 minute range.

Brawl's destruction of BtT is a seriously my greatest hatred of the game
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

And as flawed as SSE is, it is better than the nothing that Melee offers. Brawl also has Event mode and All-Star mode, so it's really not a contest.

Sure, Brawl has all the same single-player stuff as Melee, but they're not as good. Classic and All-Star are a lot more repetitive due to facing opponents in a set order, the Event matches are a lot less creative, Break the Targets doesn't have different levels for each character... everything in single-player except SSE feels like the developers just didn't care much. If SSE had been great that might not have been a big deal, but unfortunately SSE is pretty meh. Besides, Smash is more about multiplayer anyway and Melee is the clear winner there.
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Melee occupied me for years, Brawl occupied me for one year.
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CelesMyUserName posted...

But seriously Break the Targets was awesome before Brawl came along and trashed it. I used to dedicate all my Smash playing on that thing, getting my total time of all characters in the 5 minute range.

This I'll admit, Melee had the best Break the Targets by far.
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Ooh yeah I see what you guys mean with event mode. This is closer to Mario Party than Melee.

And why is break the targets the easiest thing ever devised now?
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Probably giving this its final bump with some closing thoughts.

Perhaps it's because of the history to the site contests, but Brawl to me was the most narratively satisfying entry in the Smash games. Seeing all of these series that have been so important to Nintendo/gaming history come together felt special--unlike any other game before it. Leaving Sonic for the finale of Subspace Emissary was, dare I say, poetic, especially for someone who grew up during the console wars of the 90s.

However, for all its majesty, Brawl has some glaring flaws that I think are more apparent than in its two predecessors. Event mode is pretty bad. Some of these stages are complete dumpster fires (I'm looking at the colossus that is New Pork City). And there is just an overabundance of stuff--from regular items, to ostentatious and ridiculous final smashes and assist trophies, to obnoxious stage hazards that can ruin an otherwise interesting battle.

Yet despite all of that, this is my favorite Smash game. The sheer scope of the game is something to marvel at, and at some point the over-the-top aspect of everything makes the chaos feel cohesive. It kind of reminds me of a bullet-hell shmup--the more ridiculous it is the worse the game plays, until you reach a point where the insanity is fun again. That's Brawl in a nutshell.

And now after unlocking all characters in each game through Brawl, I can effectively say who my "go-to" mains are!

64: Captain Falcon
Melee: Roy
Brawl: Solid fucking Snake
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I actually kinda like New Pork City! The only stage I refused to play was that DK level that auto-scrolls up.

which is a shame because that's the stage with that rockin' Bramble Blast remix
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LeonhartFour posted...

I actually kinda like New Pork City!

There are a few that are just plain terrible, and playing as a little blip fighting in front of a too-detailed backdrop was just torture. Autoscrolling levels are also entirely dumb outside of gimmicky event modes.
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I dunno. I like the big stages. I loved Hyrule Temple in Melee, too.
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This perspective is so weird to me!

Melee is a game I played the everloving hell out of, both single- and multi-player, in part becuase I was the only one of my friends who owned it. I really liked the single-player mode.

Two other friends had a Wii, so SSE barely got any playtime at all. I played tons and tons of Brawl too, but almost no single-player.

Nelson_Mandela posted...

Autoscrolling levels are also entirely dumb outside of gimmicky event modes.

the music for ssbm's rainbow cruise tho
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SeabassDebeste posted...

This perspective is so weird to me!Melee is a game I played the everloving hell out of, both single- and multi-player, in part becuase I was the only one of my friends who owned it. I really liked the single-player mode.

I got Melee a little after it came out, but I never really became obsessed with it like others did. I probably played 64 more than it, and I didn't even own the system!
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Some of these stages are complete dumpster fires (I'm looking at the colossus that is New Pork City).

New Pork City is a really bad stage, but it's not the worst in the game either. I definitely like it better than Mario Bros and Flat Zone 2.
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Late to the topic, but I come here so little I didn't see it before.

I absolutely love SSE as well, even if The Great Maze isn't all that great. It's a shame if anyone spoiled it for themselves, I was excited every cutscene. It's not perfect no, I do wish more series had regular enemies in there and not only Mario. Bosses from a few more different series would have been cool as well and I always hated how Jiggs was added too late to have a real part.

Speaking of boss battles, those were generally fun and something Brawl has over Melee. It's true that Event matches and Break the Targets took a huge step back while Classic and All-Star took a small one, but I had just as much fun with Brawl when that came out, even coming off of perhaps the greatest prerelease hype ever (seriously can they bring the dojo back for the new title?).

Playing through SSE is probably a better memory than anything in any Smash game. I played it alone the first time. It's actually not that great a multiplayer since playing as player 2 sucks, but I didn't even know that at the time. I think I've had more multiplayer fun with Smash title coming, though after Smash 4 there's a bigger chance of me going back to Melee, because Brawl is more similar to Smash 4.

I probably think Smash 4 > Brawl > Melee > 64 overall. If I were to rank based only on singleplayer, it'd probably be different. Melee fans tend to lack any kind of understanding of how anyone could think it's not far superior. Imo it offers some different things, but I don't think it is.

Was fun reading someone playing this for the first time, that sure has been a while.
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Oh and Snake isn't even the second best character. Other than Meta Knight being broken, at least Ice Cimbers, Olimar and Diddy Kong are clearly a step better and I think there are more. It's just that when Brawl came out, they were quite unexplored compared to Snake who everyone wanted to play. IIRC it took a few years for people to realize Ice Climbers and Olimar were any good in particular as they effectively quite differently from anyone else. Ice Climbers has been speculated to be more broken than Meta Knight before but pretty much no one can play them that well and they're rarely ever used.
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Yeah but Meta Knight can literally fly under the stage and come around the other side >_>
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Imagine if Pichu had been in Brawl. Now play New Pork City on Tiny Brawl and make the only item Poison Mushrooms.
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