Written by JBond007

Now I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a Nintendo fanboy. Yes, I have many of their consoles, but this is only because I prefer the games on offer to those on a Playstation or Xbox. And when you have a game which combines all of the Ninty elements that you’ve grown to love, you’re on to a winner. Characters new and old all in one game with original music and stages based on the games. The trophies, such a simple element of the game, allow you to delve into the history of Nintendo and possibly reveal things you didn’t know already.

Anyway, let’s move on to the game modes. Classic mode from the previous entries remains. This allows you to battle through a number of stages, facing a number of different characters, some with different characteristics, for instance they could be extra big, or turned into metal to make the job much harder. There are 5 different difficulties. All Star mode also returns, where you have to beat all of the game’s characters with one life and with limited health boosts.

Now we move onto the adventure mode, now more commonly known as Subspace Emmisary (SSE). Gone is the adventure mode of Melee, which I didn’t like the news of to begin with. But then as I learnt they’d incorporated the old features of adventure mode plus loads more into the SSE, they were soon forgiven. You follow the levels around a map, gradually building up a story. The nice additions are that you can unlock characters easily through this mode and gather trophies. You occasionally meet bosses; usually one’s from old Nintendo games. With around 10 hours plus of gameplay, with the length of some games nowadays, you could mistake this as a standalone game. The fact it is part of a game with so much more to offer, makes it all the better.

Downsides of the game? There are a few, and this is with me being picky. There are some Melee stages on offer, some of which need to be unlocked. However, I think all of them could have been included, unless it was a matter of not enough space. Also, I would have liked to have seen some of the characters included replaced with better ones. But that’s my own opinion, and some people would beg to differ. However characters like Ness and Lucas are from game’s never released in the UK, and with the time between the Japanese and European releases, they could have easily been replaced by other, more familiar characters, like Dry Bones, or Waluigi (although it took 3 games to get Wario and third party characters included at long last, so I best not complain!)

Now a quick rundown of the key features:

Graphics: For the Wii’s standard, the graphics are pretty good, second only to Mario Galaxy. Nothing more to be said – 92%

Audio: Probably the best soundtrack you will hear in a game (unless we have another SSB). The opening song says it all. Old classics from Nintendo’s back catalogue are in place, and can be played on stages related to the game they featured in. The only way they could improve is to add more songs – 100%

Game Modes: Classic Mode and Adventure Mode have already been discussed above. Classic mode can get a bit tedious when you have to complete it with 34 characters, to say you’ve fully completed the game. However the SSE more than makes up for this. Events, Training, and Stadium Modes all add to the game as well. All Star mode also returns from Melee – 96%

Innovation: Classic mode is practically the same to Melee as are the basic brawling system. However, the inclusion of a completely new feature, ie. SSE, massively boosts this score – 80%

Replay Value: The most important factor for me when buying a game, can I return to playing it again and again. Well although not having the game for long, going by past experience with Melee, this game will last you for ages. Of course, some people will not understand what all the fuss is about, but if you love this game, it will last for months, if not years. Not only is there a 10 hour single player game to make your way through, there’s also Classic and All Star mode to complete with all 34 characters (you get a trophy for each character you complete each mode with). The challenges feature will keep you going as well. If you are like me, you won’t want to stop until you’ve got all of the trophies, so completing all of the events, challenges and completing the game modes with every character will mean you’re most of the way there. Replaying of SSE is crucial as some trophies can only be found there – 100%

Overall thoughts: If you have liked previous SSB games, you will know what to expect and have probably already got this game. If you have been drawn in by the hype, give in and buy the game. Some have decided it is like a Marmite game; you either love it or hate it. If the former, you will be playing this game for months to come. If the latter, return it and speak nothing more of it, and carry on with your Mario Karting!

Overall Rating: 95%