Geek vs Life

Cowering is not the right word, perhaps an infuriate pause while waiting is more appropriate, standing off to the side with my right eye twitching. I held my sword at the ready, letting it become like an extension of my phallus, and waited for the storm to pass. Thunder clapped, lightning shot down before me, driving itself through the earth, undoubtedly passing into the chasm below where it fell upon its waiting caller. I could hear the shout again, echoing through my entire being and through the past several years of my life. “Pika-CHU!” Bloody electric rat.

Few things have changed between this new incarnation of Super Smash Brothers, and those from the previous generations; it is a tongue and cheek fighting game allowing players to take the forms of various characters throughout Nintendo’s long history. Added elements, including new characters and items, a story mode, and a plethora of controller options make the game easy to jump into.

Ok, let’s be frank here. The bottom line is that the game is fun, if only when you’re with a bunch of people. By yourself, the extraordinarily long story mode can be amusing, if not confusing, but still has credibility since Kazushige Nojima, known for his work on the Final Fantasy series, was brought in to write the scenerios. The solo mode is tedious for those that haven’t spent long hours playing fighting games trying to hone your abilities to the sharpest they possibly can be given your genetic and psychological restrictions.

Among the new things that have been added, a ton of new characters spanning most of Nintendo’s intellectual properties (plus a couple), though the lead designer of the game has voices the opinion that these are shallow because Nintendo really hasn’t released anything as astonishing as Mario or Link over the past 10 years. This leaves us with a huge gap, with the most recent character being Olimar from Pikmin, and having to use Japan-only released characters like Lucas from Mother 3 (the follow up to EarthBound on the SNES, which is the sequel to Mother, another Japan-only game). Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid (though Snake did find a home at one point on the NES) as well as Sonic the Hedgehog have joined the fray with most of the old crew, giving a grand total of 35 playable charters.

Levels are vast and unless you have a really big screen you probably won’t be able to see anything. Random elements within some of the stages can be frustrating, and yet Pikachu still makes any of them far more so. Many of the stages will seem new to players who haven’t spent their lives digging up old games, so it will be refreshing. The stage creator can be used to make levels that send you and your friends perilously over pits of flame and spikes.

Multiplayer can be performed by sitting next to your buddies and grabbing a controller, or by utilizing the Nintendo WiFi Connection, which allows players to play over the Internet. This is the company’s first foray into online gaming, and does so by barely dipping their toes in. Brawls and some of the mini-games such as the Home-Run contest can be played with friends or randomly selected players over the network, though voice chat is still nil, but communications can be done by using four taunt phrases that appear in comic style voice bubbles over characters.

Some of the biggest changes come in the way of the items, especially two of them. One being the Assist Trophy, items that look like glass jars that contain further bits of history that aid the user such as Wil Wright from Sim City, a herd of Excitebike motorcyclists, and Little Mac from Punch Out. The other is the Super Smash Ball, a ball bearing the Super Smash Bros. logo. Provided that enough damage has been dealt, the last player to hit the Smash Ball gains access to their “Final Smash” move, and each character has their own to perform.

Final verdict for the game: Don’t play it alone, don’t play it somewhere you need to be quiet, and it’s a good game to keep on hand. 7 out of 10. Available on the Wii, rated T for teen. Player language may increase rating.

*Originally published in the Shoreline Community College student paper, the Ebbtide