Nintendo Counts Down to Super Smash Bros. Brawl

[I Took the Red Pill]

The servers being so bogged down is really pissing me off. I couldn't get into a single "With Anyone" match today. My mediocre internet connection could be partly to blame, but from what I've read, a lot of people are getting the same.

[Ouch!]

Ike is a freaking beast. I am happy.

[Kirobaito]

Ike is a freaking beast. I am happy.

Seems basically like Roy to me. Good close range, but even against a long-sworded Marth, really struggles.

(SPOILER)Snake=ownage

[Ouch!]

I've actually been fairly impressed by how far Ike's sword reaches. Granted, I've not played too much, but I think he's significantly better than Roy.

[El Bandito]

Oh my goodness, Olimar is amazing. With Sheik nerfed, I've found my new main character.

[NeoCracker]

I actually prefer Roy to Ike myself.

I think I'm just a very disagreeable person today, aren't I?

[JKTrix]

I found SSE kind of plain. I don't think I would have bought the game if that was all there was. But as part of a larger game, it's alright. I probably won't play it again unless it's with a friend, or when I finally get around to trophy hunting. I think I 'captured' 8 different enemies in SSE.

Capturing seemed pretty tricky. Some smaller enemies you can just chuck the thing at them one-time and they'll turn into a trophy, others will require you to weaken them quite a bit before they'll be taken. The item that allows you to do this, the Trophy Stand, shows up pretty rarely. Throwing it is actually its own special animation, and it has quite a bit of 'wind-up' to it. The timing is very very tricky, especially if you're trying to get an enemy that's in the air. It will disappear if you hit an enemy and don't capture it, or if you throw it and it goes off the screen. If you throw it and it hits a wall or another piece of the environment you can pick it up and use it again.

Spoiler for unlocking 2 secret charactersI unlocked Toon Link and Wolf shortly after I finished SSE. Toon Link you fight after beating Classic mode, Wolf you fight after beating Boss Rush with Fox. I've also 'finished' the Event Mode all on Normal except the FINAL final battle, which I had to drop down to Easy. It's pretty difficult, but also I'd been playing the game for a loooong time and my thumb was tired.

Watched 7 battles in Spectator mode, bet on 5 of them and lost them all. One of them had a special 'Chance!' item, but I guess you only get it if you bet correctly. You get stickers for watching.

There's a lot of little things that when put all together make this a really good game. The trophy capturing thing in SSE is the primary thing that makes me want to go back to it, despite me not being particularly pleased with how it played out. Coin launcher is decent fun, and Spectator mode can probably be quite rewarding...if I ever won.

Before I got very far in SSE, I was trying to complete the 100 Man Brawl to get Falco. Most characters have at least one non-smash move that can KO those guys in one hit. I haven't cleared it yet though, because the game starts to get nasty once you get <20. Every time I got there, the enemies suddenly start dodging and hitting me out of my little one-move spam. Then as soon as one hits me, the other 5 keep on hitting me so that I can't even retalliate (even with one of the countering people's counters). So the damage racks up incredibly quickly and I get KOd. Then, on the few times I get to <10 (the lowest I've gotten so far is 4 men remaining. 4~!) a bob-omb or smart bomb will spawn exactly where you are. Then it detonates and you die. I tried doing it online with a friend, but he kept getting killed. Then the one time we almost completed it (we were <10), it lagged out.

I can help to answer some questions if people have 'em.

Edit: Also, my Wii is fine. Though this game kinda makes me wish the Wii had a harddrive to store temporary data on. Every single time you enter a battle, even if it's one you just did (or failed), the game seems to have to re-load all the characters again. Particularly on stages that use many different characters, it takes a noticeable bit of time. There's no loading screen, everything just freezes until it's done.

Characters I've been mostly using: Mario, Marth, Lucario and Ike. My SSE Marth is Godly. All loaded up with stickers. Mario is Mario, but the FLUDD seems kind of useless. Maybe can be used as some kind of complicated edge guard. Ike feels very different from Marth/Roy. He does have a damaging Charge B move, he does have a counter, he uses a sword, but that's about all that's similar. He's much slower, and quite a bit more powerful. Lucario has a lot of great moves. His range is deceptive (moves you don't expect to hit do, but some moves you do expect to hit...don't) and his Down Air in particular has some pretty surprising properties. His 'short hop' is kind of high though, so excepting his wicked Down Air, you can't really use Air moves on grounded opponents effectively. His smashes are also kind of slow. I've probably used Lucario the most, though.

[ljkkjlcm9]

I actually grew to love Pit, which I was hoping. My favorite 4 in SSE have been Lucario, Fox, Pit, Marth.

Wolf you can also unlock through a mission in SSE, after you beat it first, you don't have to do the boss thing.

Characters I HATE: Ike is way too slow for me, as is snake. I just don't like how snake works. Such as his smash down, he buries a mine. That is extremely different than any other character. You don't use it to attack in the moment, you have to plant it for later. Metaknight was also a dissapointment. Tons of quick attacks, but he barely even makes enemies flinch with some of them. Olimar is alright, but I don't like him enough to get use to him. Shiek's nerf isn't even that noticeable.

THE JACKEL

[NeoCracker]

I change what I said earlier, I'm starting to like Ike. Played through classic with him, and he was quite a hoot.

King Dedede is surprisingly enjoyable. Not going to be one I use all the time, but he's definitely entertaining.

And a note on Lucario. His Aura ability is useful, but it's not as powerful as one might have originally guessed. He does last longer then Mewtwo did, but he's still relatively easy to knock off. Overall though, he seems like a better character.

[Monol]

I LOVE POKEMON TRAINER!! Hes definatly my new favorite character.

Everyone actually is really really really fun to play. As far as old schoolers the only one im not to fond of as of now is (SPOILER)ganon and out of the newcomers im not so hott on [PHP]R.O.B.[SPOILER

Subspace is fun. Extremly long and frustrating at times but all in all its not to shabby.

Got all the characters and stages along with 30 hours of gameplaly withe me and my buds so far. Just got home so im gonna start my own file n such. Yoshi, zelda, mario, (SPOILER)toon link and pokemon trainer are definatly who im aiming to be good with. Fun game, differnt from melee but thats expected. I hope to play some of you guys soon but for now im doing some solo-smashing. After all i wanna play my best when dealing with the likes of you fellow final fantasy smashers eh?

[Evastio]

They've updated Mr. Game & Watch on the Dojo. And it looks like many people were wrong about beating classic mode with everyone to unlock him. Either way it's nice to see our flat friend being updated so soon after ROB's update.

So does anyone know how much he's improved in Brawl? Is he any heavier and is his regular A attack much easier to trap people into?

[Crossblades]

Is anyone else having trouble unlocking (SPOILER)Toon Link and Jigglypuff? I can't seem to unlock them =(

[XxSephirothxX]

(SPOILER)You'll find Jigglypuff in a door most of the way through The Swamp, after the Diddy fight, in the middle of the barrel launching portion. Toon Link is in The Forest, I think, pretty near the beginning. You have to complete SSE first, though, and then go back to get them.

[I Took the Red Pill]

And a note on Lucario. His Aura ability is useful, but it's not as powerful as one might have originally guessed.

Unless you're going to use it as an interrupt attack, it's meant to be used at higher damages. Its attack power rises as Lucario's damage percentage increases.

[JKTrix]

Pretty much all of Lucario's attacks are Aura attacks. I think the damage multiplier maxes out at x2 damage when he's at 200% damage.

Anyway, I just got home from army and my Wii's sexy blue light was pulsing. First arrival of the Smash Service! I'll post the entire text of the Wii Message Board message.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Smash Service.

-New Vault data has been sent!-
Additional Vault data has now been made available. Obtain new data by starting Super Smash Bros. Brawl and connecting to Nintendo WFC

*Vault data is scheduled to be sent out every day.
Be aware that each new set of downloaded data will overwrite the last.

Check out the Smash Bros. Dojo!!
www.smashbros.com - Select Language - Nintendo

*This message was delivered to you by the Smash Service.

If you do not wish to receive further messages from the Smash Service, please click the opt-out icon in the uppr right corner of the screen. You can opt-out of receiving messages from (1) the Smash Service only; or (2) all messages for all Channels and Games

What they sent was a Snapshot, a replay, and a custom stage.

The Snapshot is of a bunch of stickers (Moo Moo Milk, 3 faeries-in-a-bottle, and a Dr. Mario body with some red pig on his head). You can't save it on to the console or to the SD slot.

The Replay is of a Bowser in the Home-Run Contest. He hit the sandbag 2365 feet. You also cannot save this.

The custom stage is something pretty simple. A small central floor with steps on either side leading to two elevators that rise up to a higher platform. In the center of the main floor is a little gazebo. Also, unable to be saved.

Kinda sucks that you can't save these things, but I guess these are things that can be used to inspire one's own creativity and make their own. You can also submit your own snapshots or replays or custom stages to be shared through the Smash Service. I submitted my snapshot that I posted earlier. Would be cool if I see that pop up on the 'service. This is something that can keep you coming back every day, it's pretty cool.