Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as Dairantou Smash Brothers X , and often shortened to "SSBB" or "Brawl", is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series published by Nintendo. The game was designed by Masahiro Sakurai, who also created the two preceding Super Smash Bros. games, and was developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts, and staff from other developers, beginning in October 2005. The game uses an engine called Havok provided by an Irish company of the same name. The object of a match in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is to knock the opponent off the screen and so beyond the "blast lines" which denote the field of battle; an emphasis on ring outs is standard for the series, but a departure from traditional fighting games which focus on knockouts. This departure continues in Brawl’s relatively simplified move commands, which can be input on four types of controller - a Wii remote alone, the Wii remote and Nunchuk auxiliary controller, a Classic Controller/Classic Controller Pro, or a GameCube controller. Up to four players can engage in local multiplayer battles at any given time with any combination of controllers, while Brawl also supports online play through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the first game in the series to do so. However, while Brawl continues to include the tournament-like "Classic" and "All-Star" single-player modes, Melee’s Adventure Mode has been replaced with The Subspace Emissary; a more extensive side-scrolling beat-'em-up mode featuring both the playable characters and many enemies specifically created for the game. The resulting mode includes an involved plot, including numerous pre-rendered cutscenes, and some platform game elements during gameplay. Up to four players can play local multiplayer games using one of four sets of controllers. Further following from the earlier games in the series, Brawl showcases a wide selection of characters from Nintendo and its second parties, setting them to fight in several different types of matches. Unlike its predecessors, however, Brawl also includes two third party characters in Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. In total, the number of playable characters was increased from Melee’s 26 to 35. Most of the game's musical score is made up of newly-arranged versions of pieces that originated in earlier video games starring the characters featured in Brawl; with the remainder taken directly from the original games. The new arrangements were composed in a collaboration between 38 renowned video game composers and has been critically acclaimed for its representation of different generations in gaming history. The limited edition release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl came inside an extra cardboard sleeve depicting all of the characters available by default, and came with two postcards, providing a biopic on Zero Suit Samus and Zelda, giving a short summary of them, and showing images of their special moves. Following the release of the game in Japan, a bug was discovered in the game. This bug causes the game to display an error message when it starts, however, players can close the error message and play the game as usual. There has since been a replacement program. The game requires 128 free blocks of memory in the Wii System Memory. No data, except some vault data, can be copied to an SD Card or transferred onto another Wii. If the player does not create a save file when they start, he or she will not be able to play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and vault data will not be saved. Opening Video:

http://youtu.be/HZtLx1IiK3g

Mario is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who also appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and the original Super Smash Bros. He is the icon of Nintendo and the Mario series, from which Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Wario, and Yoshi also originate. As in every other video game in which he has a voice, Mario is voiced by Charles Martinet. Mario's moveset is largely unchanged in relation to that of Melee, except that his down special move has been changed to F.L.U.D.D., and his down aerial has been changed to Mario Tornado - Mario is the only character to have had a special move in one game changed to a standard attack in another.

Luigi is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who is also unlockable in Super Smash Bros. Melee and the original Super Smash Bros.. He is the brother of Mario, and the two originate from the Super Mario series, from which Princess Peach and Bowser, also hail. While his SSB64 and Melee voice is a higher pitched version of Mario's set of Super Mario 64 voice clips, Luigi's voice in Brawl is original, and is made up of a separate, unique set of sound clips voiced by Charles Martinet. Luigi's Brawl moveset has no major differences to that of Melee, except that the final hit of his dash attack now deals some knockback.

Peach is a veteran character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Her play style appears to be relatively unchanged from Melee, as she still possesses her floating ability, as well as her four distinct special moves. She has, however, been updated graphically with a more realistic look and based on her most recent appearances in the Mario series. According to an interview with Sakurai, Peach's entire character layout, which consists of attack configuration, animation schemes, and so forth, was one of the most time consuming of all characters to configure from Melee to Brawl.

Bowser is the primary antagonist of the Super Mario series. His Super Smash Bros. series debut was in Super Smash Bros. Melee and he returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Donkey Kong is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He was first shown very briefly at the E3 2007 press conference. Like most other characters in Brawl, has been graphically updated to match his more recent appearances. His fur is more brightly colored, and he also appears furrier, especially around his head. Due to his heavy weight, the screen will shake slightly when Donkey Kong jumps and lands, like Bowser and King Dedede. His new voice actor is Takashi Nagasako, who also voiced Ganondorf in Melee.

Diddy Kong, commonly known as just Diddy, is a character for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is unique, distinct among the cast for his charm and gaiety. Unlike in most Donkey Kong games and Mario spinoffs, where Diddy Kong has a cartoonish voice, Brawl has him using a high-pitched chimpanzee-like voice. He is also the first playable character to be introduced from the Donkey Kong universe since the original game, much like Lucas' appearance from the EarthBound universe.

Yoshi is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is relatively unchanged from the previous games except for one thing - he can now use his Egg Toss as a recovery move (though it only gives him a small upwards boost). His smashes appear less powerful, but his aerials and tilts are slightly more powerful. He has also taken on his upright posture and his appearance is like the younger Yoshi in Yoshi's Story. He appears to be slightly larger now in relation to the human-sized characters as well.

Wario makes his first playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Wearing his WarioWare outfit, Wario has an attack where he builds up flatulence over time and later releases a deadly fart called the Wario Waft, which was highly exaggerated in the trailer by making it a bigger explosion of fart than it is in the actual game, similar to the exaggeration of Dimensional Cape. Wario moves with a Mr. Game & Watch-like stop-motion gait (similar to his movement in WarioWare cutscenes).

Link was confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl at E3 2006. His graphics have been completely revamped from his Super Smash Bros. Melee form, since his new look is derived from the game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and his special moves have also been changed to fit the style of Twilight Princess.

Zelda is a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The titular character of the Legend of Zelda universe, Zelda's model from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is reused in Brawl. Having previously appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Zelda reappears in Brawl as a character utilizing strong magical attacks, but despite many of her attributes being strongly buffed. Sheik is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sheik transforms from Zelda by using her down special move Transform, and can also transform back from Sheik. Her design saw great changes in that she was given a great deal more detail in her costume, as well as a ninjato and hair braid. The most significant change to her design is in her figure, which now appears much more feminine than in previous titles. Sheik's Brawl design isn't based on her appearance from Ocarina of Time like it was in Melee. It is actually based on conceptual designs that were created for Twilight Princess. The playability of Sheik had earlier been hinted by Eiji Aonuma, the director of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, who stated that he sent Twilight Princess-style designs of Sheik and Ganondorf to Sakurai. Sheik can be selected off of the Character Select screen by clicking on her image, like selecting a starting Pokémon with the Pokémon Trainer. However, unlike the Pokémon Trainer, there is no Random option between the two.

Ganondorf returns from Super Smash Bros. Melee in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character. His design is based upon his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (although slightly shorter compared to Link). He retains his Melee incarnation's hand-to-hand combat style (not using his sword outside of taunts), remaining the only character to be based on a character from another series, but is no longer a straight clone of Captain Falcon.

Toon Link is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "Toon Link" is simply a reference name to give distinction between the two Links that appear in Brawl and to not confuse him with Young Link (again, a reference name). In all actuality, he's simply named Link and comes from a different era and timeline branch than "Twilight" Link does. His moveset appears similar to that of Young Link. His appearance is based on his look in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. However, Toon Link looks slightly more realistic in Brawl than in Wind Waker. This can be seen by comparing his standard trophy and his Outset Link trophy, as his character model in Brawl is not cel-shaded like that of Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks.

Samus is a character that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Samus originally belongs to the Metroid series. She is a bounty hunter and uses a suit to perform strong attacks. Her different missions lead her all across the galaxy, making friends and enemies alike. Samus is a starter character and appears in the Subspace Emissary. Her alternate form, Zero Suit Samus, is acquired by use of the Final Smash.

Zero Suit Samus, often abbreviated as ZSS, 0SS, or Zamus, is a character that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Zero Suit Samus lacks stamina compared to when she is in her suit, but is faster. She uses a gun known as the Paralyzer, which can be converted into a Plasma Whip. The Plasma Whip can be used for a tether recovery, similar to her Grapple Beam while in the power suit. The only two games in which Zero Suit Samus is playable are Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid: Other M. While Samus is without her power suit in these games, her only form of attack is the paralyzer pistol, which does nothing but shoot paralyzing shots. The idea of a whip coming out of it was created for use in Brawl. Zero Suit Samus is voiced by Alésia Glidewell, who also voices Krystal from Star Fox and the Assist Trophy Knuckle Joe. The impact from Samus's Final Smash is enough to remove her Power Suit, transforming her into Zero Suit Samus. Zero Suit Samus is able to transform back into normal Samus by using her Final Smash, which causes her to get her suit back while performing a move similar to the Crystal Flash from Super Metroid.

Pit is a playable character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl after a sixteen year absence from video games. He uses a bow and arrow as a weapon, and it can also split into 2 small blades. Pit's arrows shoot out beams of light when fired, and the curve of the arrows' trajectory can be controlled by the player, by pressing up or down. Pit has the ability to jump in midair multiple times; however, according to the DOJO!!, Pit is an angel who cannot ordinarily fly. Pit's up special move, known as the Wings of Icarus, allows him to fly freely for a brief period of time, though, like his midair jumps, he will fall soon afterwards, as if he's tired. This move cannot cause damage, and Pit cancels it if he attacks or is attacked. Like Meta Knight and Charizard, Pit is able to glide.

The Ice Climbers, known as Ice Climber in the Japanese versions, the ice-climbing duo from Super Smash Bros. Melee, make a return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. They have been given a significant texture boost to their character models. Although Popo and Nana fight as a duo, only one is directly controlled by the player. The other is computer-controlled, in a manner mimicking the player. In Melee, the player had the option to change the color of the costume and play as Nana, and the option still exists in Brawl, however the Climbers' positions on the character select screen portrait will not change.

R.O.B., known in Japan as the Famicom Robot, is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His full name is Robotic Operating Buddy and he's based on the R.O.B. NES peripheral. He was unveiled in a mass leak prior to the Japanese release of Brawl. R.O.B. was confirmed on the DOJO!! March 6, 2008.

Kirby is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Kirby was confirmed for Brawl in the first preview shown at May 2006's E3 show. Of all the characters shown, Kirby appears to be almost completely unchanged graphically.

Meta Knight, commonly abbreviated as MK, is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Originally from the Kirby universe, Meta Knight joins the brawl as a starter character who wields his short sword Galaxia as his primary weapon.

King Dedede, also known as Dedede, DDD, and D3, is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. King Dedede is a recurring villain in the Kirby series. He is an anthropomorphic, blue penguin-like being whose main weapon is his massive, wooden mallet, which has now been mechanized. King Dedede has been classified as a "Super Heavyweight", alongside Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Snake. However, he is capable of puffing up for multiple jumps, like Kirby and Jigglypuff. He was confirmed on October 25, 2007 on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! site. Dedede is voiced by the director of the game, Masahiro Sakurai, who also voiced him in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

Olimar, also known as Pikmin & Olimar is a playable character from the Pikmin series in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Olimar's fighter design in Brawl is collectively comprised of Captain Olimar himself, the main character of Pikmin, as well as his band of polychromatic Pikmin, coming in red, blue, yellow, purple, and white. Olimar is very weak on his own, and needs Pikmin to do smash attacks, most aerial attacks, and all throws. Each Pikmin has different effects for certain attacks. When Olimar plucks some Pikmin, they will all have a leaf on their head. After a certain period of time, their leaf will change into a bud, and later into a flower. All Pikmin are unaffected by Bumpers. In the original Pikmin games, Olimar is actually only 4 centimeters tall (including antenna), so his size is increased for Brawl. Olimar is one of the only characters in the game to have no voice at all, but in Pikmin games, he is shown to have a voice which he announces his name and various grunts.

Fox was the first fighter to appear on the DOJO!! that did not appear on the E3 2006 video. When he was revealed in the Nintendo World 2006 trailer, he was shown with his blaster in his hand at all times, leading to much speculation over how his attacks might change in Brawl. However, his gun is shown in its holster in all subsequent screen shots shown at the Super Smash Bros. DOJO!!.

Falco is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He reprises his role from Super Smash Bros. Melee, although his moveset has been somewhat altered, with many of his moves being decloned from Fox. Hailing from the Star Fox universe, Falco serves as one of the group of mercenaries captained by Fox McCloud.

Wolf is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who, along with Fox and Falco, originates from the Star Fox universe. Wolf's appearance in the game was witnessed several months before its release, via a leak in Japan, and he was confirmed officially on March 31st, 2008; the final officially confirmed character. His Japanese voice actor is Mahito Oba, and his English voice actor is Jay Ward. Contrary to the common perception among newer and casual players that Wolf is a semi-clone, Wolf's move set is quite different from from Fox and Falco's, though his special moves, floor and ledge recovery animations, and Final Smash are similar to theirs.

Captain Falcon, commonly known as Falcon or CFalcon, appears as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Originating from the F-Zero universe, Captain Falcon returns once again to compete in Brawl.

Pikachu is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In the E3 2006 trailer, Pikachu didn't show its Final Smash like Mario, Kirby, and Link did. Visually, Pikachu has barely changed at all from its Melee design, only being larger and touched up slightly. It retains all of its moves from Melee.

Pokémon Trainer is a selectable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His design is taken from that of Red, the male protagonist of the Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen versions of Pokémon. Pokémon Trainer wears a VS. Seeker, an item in Pokémon used for detecting if people want to battle. Rather than fighting directly as the Trainer, the player instead controls his three Pokémon, which consist of Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. There are many different reasons for choosing these particular Pokémon. They are all: originals; different types; different sizes; at different stages of evolution; evolutions of the starter Pokémon in the first generation of Pokémon games. Charizard, known in Japan as Lizardon, is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in a sense; it is one of three Pokémon that are played through Pokémon Trainer, the other two being Squirtle and Ivysaur. Charizard originates from the original Pokémon games as the second and final evolved form of Charmander, one of the initial Pokémon the player can start out with at the beginning of the adventure. Ivysaur, known as Fushigisou in Japan, is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in a sense; it is one of three Pokémon that are played through Pokémon Trainer, the other two being Squirtle and Charizard. Ivysaur originated from the original Pokémon game for Game Boy as the first evolved form of Bulbasaur, one of the initial Pokémon the player can start out with at the beginning of the adventure. When Ivysaur moves, it sheds very small leaves, similar to Pit's feathers shedding when he jumps. Squirtle, known as Zenigame in Japan, is a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in a sense; it is one of three Pokémon that are played through Pokémon Trainer, the other two being Ivysaur and Charizard. Squirtle is the only character who Pokémon Trainer uses who is not an evolved form (Charizard and Ivysaur are evolved forms of Charmeleon and Bulbasaur, respectively). Squirtle is also the only playable Pokémon character in Brawl that doesn't have a pre-evolved form at all, as Jigglypuff evolves from Igglybuff, Lucario evolves from Riolu, and Pikachu evolves from Pichu. Squirtle originated from the original Pokémon game for Game Boy as one of the initial Pokémon the player can start out with at the beginning of the adventure.

Lucario is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who, like Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Squirtle, Charizard, and Ivysaur, originates from the Pokémon universe. Confirmation of Lucario's inclusion in Brawl was leaked before the game's release, through a promotional video on the Japanese Wii website about sticker power ups. An evolution of Riolu, Lucario is a dual Fighting/Steel type Pokémon, and is the first Pokémon to possess either of these types in a Smash game. It is also the first Pokémon in a Smash game that is able to speak English, and it is the only Pokémon in Brawl that speaks in full sentences. A common belief is that Lucario "replaced" Super Smash Bros. Melee's Mewtwo (particularly around the time of Brawl's release), primarily as they share a few superficial properties. Aesthetically, they have the ability to speak human language in a deep voice through the use of telepathy, and Lucario's Aura is similar in appearance to Mewtwo's shadow energy. Both characters also possess floaty air movement, fast and long distanced rolls, and similar neutral special moves - Lucario's Aura Sphere grows in size as it is charged and damages opponents who contact it during its charging phase, in the same way as Mewtwo's Shadow Ball. However, there is no evidence that Lucario was intended to "replace" or exist as a clone of Mewtwo in Brawl; on the contrary, Mewtwo's unfinished character data on Brawl's disc suggests that the two were supposed to appear alongside each other as playable characters. Lucario's moveset and character design as a whole is also vastly different from Mewtwo's, lending even less credence to the claim that Lucario was included as a replacement for Mewtwo.

Jigglypuff is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Jigglypuff visually appears unchanged from past Smash Bros. games, though has suffered a large nerf from Super Smash Bros. Melee to Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Marth is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Despite being a "hidden" character, Marth appears in the game's opening video, standing back to back with Meta Knight. It is uncertain whether Marth has improved or been nerfed since Super Smash Bros. Melee (in which he was ranked 4th on the tier list), as he has gained the ability to escape from most combos, the tip of his sword is stronger in most attacks, Dolphin Slash improved, and Counter deals more damage. On the downside, his standard attack combo is slower, the tip is harder to land with most attacks, his standard special is harder to hit with, and the range of his sword and grabs is shorter.

Ike is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Revealed in the Smash Bros. DOJO!! on August 1st, 2007, Ike is a newcomer to the franchise. He is the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and also appears in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. His sword from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Ragnell, is a two-handed sword, but he is known to wield it with one hand, showing his incredible strength. Ike is the first, and currently the only, playable Fire Emblem character in the Super Smash Bros. series to speak English (as the remake of the very first Fire Emblem game, starring Marth where he speaks English, was released after Brawl). Additionally, he is the first Fire Emblem character available as a starter character in the Super Smash Bros. series. A common belief is that Ike "replaced" Roy from Super Smash Bros. Melee, primarily as they are both characters who wield swords from the Fire Emblem series and have a neutral special that is similar in function (a powerful special attack that involves charging their sword in flames that can OHKO opponents but deal damage to themselves at the same time). However, there is no evidence that Ike was intended to replace or exist as a clone of Roy in Brawl; on the contrary, leftover data on Brawl's disc indicate that the two were intended to appear together in Brawl as playable characters. Additionally, their movesets and overall character designs are vastly different, lending even less credence to the claim that Ike was included as a replacement for Roy.

Ness is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and has appeared in every installment of the Smash Bros. series thus far. Ness is one of the only four unlockable characters to appear in the opening cinematic of Brawl. The three others sharing this attribute are Marth, Snake, and Sonic.

Lucas is a playable character and newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, becoming the second installment in EarthBound characters. He is the main character of Mother 3, the Japan-only sequel to EarthBound. Lucas' special moves are similar to Ness', but his physical attacks are almost all completely different. He relies on his PSI powers far more than Ness, using them for all but his forward smash, up aerial, down tilt, and standard combo attacks. Lucas uses Duster's Rope Snake from Mother 3 to perform a tether recovery. The Rope Snake is also a taunt, where Lucas looks at the snake and argues with it. Lucas also utilizes Duster's Rope Snake for his grabs, giving him a ranged grab, much like Link, Toon Link, Samus, and Olimar. Like Ness, all of his special moves, as well as his Final Smash, derive from in-game attacks that are instead learned by another character, in his case, Kumatora, not Lucas himself.

Mr. Game & Watch is a veteran character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, returning from Melee. At first, Mr. Game & Watch was indirectly revealed from a leaked copy of the game. However, he was officially confirmed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on March 10, 2008, one day after Brawl was released in North America.

Snake, known as Solid Snake in the character roll call and by other sources, is a character from the Metal Gear universe who appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Instead of using a gun like he usually does in his games, he was designed instead to use explosive-type weapons and CQC (close quarters combat) from his own games. Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear, was good friends with Masahiro Sakurai and wanted him to include Snake in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but since the game was in an advanced development stage and in an early launch in Japan, it was too late to include him as a character. However, it was later announced at E3 2006 in one of the first teaser videos for Super Smash Bros. Brawl that Snake would be included in the game, making him the first official "guest" character in a Super Smash Bros. game.

Sonic, known as Sonic The Hedgehog in the Character Roll Call, is a character from SEGA who appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as one of the two third-party characters (the other being Snake). Sonic was the first unlockable character to be playable prior to the game's release. He was first playable in Nintendo Media Summit in October 2007, shortly after he was confirmed to be in the game. A swift character, Sonic runs at an extremely fast pace that surpasses even Captain Falcon. Nintendo Power states that since Sonic isn't well known for his fighting skills, some of his fighting moves were influenced by SEGA's fighting property, Virtua Fighter. A majority of Sonic's moves are also influenced by SEGA's Sonic The Fighters and (to a lesser extent) Sonic Battle. He is voiced by Jason Griffith.