Super Smash Bros. Brawl

it's difficult to rate sequels for video games. on the one hand, it's Smash Bros. it's a fun, riotous experience that's perfect for a crowded basement. on the other hand, nearly every change made to this from Melee is for the worse. I understand the desire to take away the skill curve that Melee inadvertently introduced, but it's possible to do that without making numerous aspects of the experience deliberately unfun. the Subspace Emissary was a total letdown.

Subspace Emmisary

This game gets the short end of the stick compared to the other Smash games because its the slowest and didn't have a good competitive scene. However the story mode is by far the best because it's an actual campaign with a story unlike World of Light or Adventure Mode. One of my favorite gaming memories was playing for like 10 hours in a row the entirety of Subspace and finishing at 3:00AM when I was 10 years old.

TRIPPING. However, solid roster, good side modes, lots to do... Oh, and the Subspace Emissary is worth 50 of those 70 points.

Slow.

One taught me pain

I feel like Nintendo doesn't understand their own property or why so many people loved Melee. They are trying so hard to push the idea of using items when that was never the draw of the series. You can tell because tripping is a worthless mechanic which only holds this back. I'm rating this because it is still fun for casuals to play but the skill-ramp here is almost nonexistent.

Brawl was a major step down for the franchise. Lots of factors, but the gameplay just didn't draw like it used to. And you know what else? Tripping. Fucking tripping. This defies the logic of the world by which I stake my sanity. Tripping?! SAKURAI!!!! But, it's still pretty good. Also, the soundtrack? The orchestral renditions of past themes? Jesus Christ, I've written whole essays set to those beauties.

Brawl undeniable dumbed down the mechanics of Melee and added even dumber shit like tripping. Chain grabbing in Melee at least took some effort and was fast paced, here it's so laughably braindead it's as simple as just spamming the grab button in some matchups. The hitstun makes it impossible to follow up your moves into combos, which is somehow worse than 64's hitstun. Also, Subspace Emissary sucked. But hey, at least it has some cool mods.

Took everything brilliant about Melee and tossed it in the bin. But all is not lost, Project M is where it's at.