Super Smash Bros Brawl: The Game That Changed My Life

Since I started playing video games at the age of two I knew they would take over my life. I’m a very versatile gamer. I play whatever I can get my hands on, but I’ve always enjoyed Nintendo’s games more than others. The characters always spoke to me in such a beautiful way. The Legend of Zelda is my favorite game series, Kirby is adorable, and I have always been fascinated by Star Fox. 

I was four years old when the first Super Smash Bros was released on the Nintendo 64. It was such a joy to play as a child. The feeling of using your favorite Nintendo characters against each other in four player action was just incredible. 

I had three siblings and we would spend hours playing with our favorite characters. It was endless fun and some of the best times I had in my life involved playing that game.

Super Smash Bros Melee

Two years later, in 2001, Super Smash Bros Melee was released. Knowing how much I enjoyed the first game, I knew I would love Melee. It brought just as much joy if not more than what I experienced in Super Smash Bros. It added more characters, better music, new modes, and unlockables that will keep you occupied for hours.

Melee still holds up to this day. Whenever I get the chance I always play in with my friends. The fun just never ends it’s timeless. 
I thought Nintendo really out did themselves with that game and couldn’t go any further with the franchise, but happily I was wrong. 

The Announcement

E3 2006 my life changed forever. Nintendo was showing off the Wii U similar to how Sony was showing off the PlayStation 3. Doing whatever they could to hype up the release of the new console.

Games were announced and hardware was shown. Most of the games looked decent, but one thing stood out more than others. A trailer began, and it had Mario and Link running towards each other, and a background started to form. Then the unthinkable happened: they stopped and the graphics changed, and suddenly Pikachu and Kirby joined Mario and Link.

The graphics updated and Super Smash Bros Brawl was announced. I immediately started to celebrate. I jumped around my room like a wild animal with my siblings. We couldn’t believe that a new Smash Bros game was coming out–I almost shed a tear.

Five new characters were announced in that trailer. Pit, Meta Knight, Wario, Zero Suit Samus, and the biggest surprise of the entire trailer when Snake from Metal Gear Solid was announced. This trailer is still to this day in my opinion the greatest video game trailer of all time.

The Release

Now it’s March 2008, and Super Smash Bros Brawl has just been released. The ride home from GameStop felt like the longest car ride in my entire life. At long last, the game was finally in my grasp.

As I walked in my house and began to remove the game from its case, my hands began to shake. It felt like a huge mountain was thrown off my back. The wait was over–I could finally play what ended up becoming my favorite video game of all time. Now that you know my history with the franchise, I can finally explain why I love this game so much.

Character Roster

Easily the greatest part of every single Super Smash Bros game is the luscious character roster. Compared to Melee’s 26 characters, Brawl was upgraded with 13 new characters to make it a stacked 39 characters.

The roster is easily the best in the series. Characters were more balanced, some were upgraded, and some were sadly downgraded (Sheik). The new characters were also really good choices. Snake is very versatile with an unorthodox style, Sonic the Hedgehog is all about speed and chaining together combos, and Diddy Kong (who is easily the best character in the game) always keeps you guessing–it’s so hard to get close to him because of his bananas.

My favorite new addition to the game though, was Pikmin & Olimar. I felt that they deserved it because Pikmin is one of Nintendo’s biggest new franchises, and they deserved to be showcased. I missed characters like Roy and Mewtwo from Melee, but I like Ike and Lucario better, honestly. With how much I adore Super Smash Bros Brawl’s roster, I’m just hoping Smash Bros 4’s roster surpasses it. There is a good chance because they already announced Mega Man and Little Mac.

Soundtrack

A masterpiece displayed in its greatest form. Everything, and I repeat, everything about this soundtrack screams perfection at its finest. Once you hear the opening music from when you first turn on the game, you’re left in awe.

The theme is beautifully orchestrated and from that moment on you knew you were in for something special. All of some of the most legendary tracks from past video games from Nintendo, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Metal Gear Solid are remixed to perfection.

Songs like Stickerbrush Symphony from Donkey Kong Country 2 almost sound better than the original.  It’s a soundtrack that makes it modern and beautiful. I can listen to this soundtrack forever. I’m listening to it right now as I type. It gives you excitement, wonder, suspense, and inspiration all in one.

This soundtrack is what music is supposedto be. Sound that gives you a feeling of love for something, and that love is this game.

Gameplay

The best part of the game next to the soundtrack is the gameplay. The reason Super Smash Bros has always been special to me is because I have always adored its gameplay.

Around the time the first one in the franchise was released, gamers had never seen something like Smash Bros before. There was no energy or health bar–it was just fight until you could knock your opponent off the screen. There was so much strategy to the game, with so many ways you could attack your opponent. Hitting them with a special move, a regular physical attack, or maybe even an item. Endless possibilities; that’s what made Smash Bros great.

In Brawl they added some wealthy additions to the gameplay. The Final Smash was the greatest one. It was an item that gave whatever character that got it their own super attack. Mario would shoot fireballs across the screen, Ness and Lucas would cause comets to rain down, and Samus would shoot a giant charge beam.

Stages also became more gimmicky, with more interesting things, and added more reasons to choose them. Stages were now more unique; they had more personality and I loved that. The speed of the game was also slowed down. I know a ton of people complain because Melee was faster, but it makes sense for Brawl to be more floaty and slower.

Nintendo wanted the game to be all about playing four-player with your friends and family. Melee was great, but it was so fast paced and heavy; it was better to play it with only two people instead of four. Brawl brought encouraged everyone to play together and that’s what you’re supposed to get from a Smash Bros game.

Conclusion

Every gamer has that one game that has a special place in their heart. No matter what it is, just remember it’s special to you. It may have changed your life, or just given you that sense of joy, love, and adventure that you’ve always wanted.

I shared the game that changed my life and its name is Super Smash Bros Brawl. Here’s to hoping that Super Smash Bros 4 gives me a greater feeling than Brawl when it gets released this year.