If you've been up on the news, you're already quite aware that Super Smash Bros. Brawl (SSBB) has been officially announced and shown for the Wii. N-Sider attended the initial unveiling, headlined by Shigeru Miyamoto and Masahiro Sakurai, so we've opted to provide a bit more first-hand detail that may not already be floating around the net -- along with some inevitable redundant data that we just can't help but write about.
The trailer that Nintendo showcased featured a total of five new characters. In order of appearance, Meta Knight (from the Kirby games), Pit (from Kid Icarus), Zero Suit Samus (from the bonus ending sequence of Metroid Zero Mission), Wario (wearing his Wario Ware garb), and Solid Snake (from Konami's Metal Gear Solid series). That's right, Solid Snake. After an amusing codec conversation between him and the Colonel (also of MGS fame), snake reveals himself by emerging from a cardboard box stationed behind a fevered Nintendo-rostered brawl. In the hardened soldier's own words, "Knowing your enemy is the quickest path to victory."
According to Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind the entire Super Smash Bros. franchise, Hideo Kojima (father of the Metal Gear Solid series) came late during the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube and "begged" to have Snake included in the game. Unfortunately it was too late to add him, so the idea was dropped. Sakurai, remembering this conversation, reinitiated talks with Kojima during the development of SSBB and arranged for the character's inclusion. Snake's common usage of realistic firearms clashes stylistically with the conventions used in the SSB series, so Sakurai mused on how they may limit (perhaps even exclusively, jokingly) Snake's moves to explosive ones (rocket launcher, etc). Sakurai also mentioned that the inclusion of Snake may make the inclusion of other 3rd party characters "possible".
Snake's appearance was hardly the only notable part of the presentation, however. Meta Knight fights with a jagged blade, can fly freely (similarly in appearance to how Kirby could "fly" in SSBM), and can apparently deflect projectile attacks and become invisible by shielding himself with his cloak. Pit has been redesigned in a very athletic and decidedly anime-esque style. He can fly in a fashion similar to Meta Knight, and fights with a bow and arrow and a double-edged blade that can separate into two parts. Zero Suit Samus appears in her Varia Suit and delivers such a massive blast that it blows her armor clean off, and she joins the fray in her blue skin-tight suit armed with a blaster that transforms into an energy sword. Lastly, we have Wario, who arrives on his motorcycle and proceeds to nuke all of the other characters with a mighty sphinctoral explosion.
Sakurai vaguely talked about how the game would control, suggesting that gamers "don't throw out" their GameCube controllers. Sakurai prides himself on providing a "different" experience than what is normally available on a machine, and since motion-sensing control is the norm on the Wii, he consciously decided to maintain the standard SSB controls in an attempt to buck that trend. There's at least one new mechanic that was illustrated in the video presentation, however - a glowing SSB icon that, when acquired, allowed a character to perform a devastating special attack. Mario was shown executing a massive fire attack that engulfed the entire screen in front of him. Link entrapped his opponent in a prison of sorts created by the Triforce, and performed a large sword combo. Kirby dons a chef's hat... and apparently cooks his opponent in a pot? That last attack was confusing, to say the least.
Sakurai mentioned that SSBB would have a significantly reworked and expanded single-player mode, and that it was actually due to a difference of opinion between him and Miyamoto that the original SSB had such a small emphasis on single-player play. As for online multiplayer, Sakurai confirmed that the game would indeed be Wi-Fi compatible, with the decision to make a new SSB actually being partially due to the opinion that it would be a great banner online title for the company. However, Sakurai mentioned that standard 4-player battles may not be in the cards. Due to the difficulty in synching up 4 players in such a twitch-based fighting game, online battles may end up being "different" in some way.
New characters won't be limited to the 5 shown during this presentation - the audience was actually asked to yell out some of the characters that they'd like to see in the game. I (Cory) yelled out "Olimar" (from the Pikmin games), and Miyamoto looked in my direction and nodded knowingly, with an "ahhh yes" look on his face. I nodded back. Methinks there may be some merit to my suggestion.
When asked what 3rd-party character Sakurai would love to see in a future iteration of the SSB franchise, Sakurai's response was brief: "I won't make it again". Sakurai's reasons for leaving Nintendo and becoming an independent developer were actually due to his desire to no longer work on sequels - so his inclusion in the development of SSBB is already a lucky break. If Nintendo ever decides to produce a fourth SSB game, it will likely be without Sakurai's inclusion.
N-Sider would like to thank Nintendo for the opportunity to witness the unveiling of this game firsthand.
The trailer that Nintendo showcased featured a total of five new characters. In order of appearance, Meta Knight (from the Kirby games), Pit (from Kid Icarus), Zero Suit Samus (from the bonus ending sequence of Metroid Zero Mission), Wario (wearing his Wario Ware garb), and Solid Snake (from Konami's Metal Gear Solid series). That's right, Solid Snake. After an amusing codec conversation between him and the Colonel (also of MGS fame), snake reveals himself by emerging from a cardboard box stationed behind a fevered Nintendo-rostered brawl. In the hardened soldier's own words, "Knowing your enemy is the quickest path to victory."
According to Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind the entire Super Smash Bros. franchise, Hideo Kojima (father of the Metal Gear Solid series) came late during the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube and "begged" to have Snake included in the game. Unfortunately it was too late to add him, so the idea was dropped. Sakurai, remembering this conversation, reinitiated talks with Kojima during the development of SSBB and arranged for the character's inclusion. Snake's common usage of realistic firearms clashes stylistically with the conventions used in the SSB series, so Sakurai mused on how they may limit (perhaps even exclusively, jokingly) Snake's moves to explosive ones (rocket launcher, etc). Sakurai also mentioned that the inclusion of Snake may make the inclusion of other 3rd party characters "possible".
Snake's appearance was hardly the only notable part of the presentation, however. Meta Knight fights with a jagged blade, can fly freely (similarly in appearance to how Kirby could "fly" in SSBM), and can apparently deflect projectile attacks and become invisible by shielding himself with his cloak. Pit has been redesigned in a very athletic and decidedly anime-esque style. He can fly in a fashion similar to Meta Knight, and fights with a bow and arrow and a double-edged blade that can separate into two parts. Zero Suit Samus appears in her Varia Suit and delivers such a massive blast that it blows her armor clean off, and she joins the fray in her blue skin-tight suit armed with a blaster that transforms into an energy sword. Lastly, we have Wario, who arrives on his motorcycle and proceeds to nuke all of the other characters with a mighty sphinctoral explosion.
Sakurai vaguely talked about how the game would control, suggesting that gamers "don't throw out" their GameCube controllers. Sakurai prides himself on providing a "different" experience than what is normally available on a machine, and since motion-sensing control is the norm on the Wii, he consciously decided to maintain the standard SSB controls in an attempt to buck that trend. There's at least one new mechanic that was illustrated in the video presentation, however - a glowing SSB icon that, when acquired, allowed a character to perform a devastating special attack. Mario was shown executing a massive fire attack that engulfed the entire screen in front of him. Link entrapped his opponent in a prison of sorts created by the Triforce, and performed a large sword combo. Kirby dons a chef's hat... and apparently cooks his opponent in a pot? That last attack was confusing, to say the least.
Sakurai mentioned that SSBB would have a significantly reworked and expanded single-player mode, and that it was actually due to a difference of opinion between him and Miyamoto that the original SSB had such a small emphasis on single-player play. As for online multiplayer, Sakurai confirmed that the game would indeed be Wi-Fi compatible, with the decision to make a new SSB actually being partially due to the opinion that it would be a great banner online title for the company. However, Sakurai mentioned that standard 4-player battles may not be in the cards. Due to the difficulty in synching up 4 players in such a twitch-based fighting game, online battles may end up being "different" in some way.
New characters won't be limited to the 5 shown during this presentation - the audience was actually asked to yell out some of the characters that they'd like to see in the game. I (Cory) yelled out "Olimar" (from the Pikmin games), and Miyamoto looked in my direction and nodded knowingly, with an "ahhh yes" look on his face. I nodded back. Methinks there may be some merit to my suggestion.
When asked what 3rd-party character Sakurai would love to see in a future iteration of the SSB franchise, Sakurai's response was brief: "I won't make it again". Sakurai's reasons for leaving Nintendo and becoming an independent developer were actually due to his desire to no longer work on sequels - so his inclusion in the development of SSBB is already a lucky break. If Nintendo ever decides to produce a fourth SSB game, it will likely be without Sakurai's inclusion.
N-Sider would like to thank Nintendo for the opportunity to witness the unveiling of this game firsthand.