A fun, fantastic game that anyone could enjoy
This time there's a thin story in a Smash Bros. game, but still it's not much to get excited about and sole purpose of it is to introduce the different playable characters. Adventure mode is played as a 2D side-scroller and in small doses it's somewhat fun.
Graphics especially in cutscenes are pretty much the best what Wii has to offer and the color palette of a Nintendo rainbow is in all its glory at full use. Actual gameplay is little more humble in its appearance, but that's forgivable since there's so much stuff happening on screen at once. Luckily the frame rate stays solid all the time.
Music is that familiar, over the top orchestrated Smash Bros. style, which works fine, but also doesn't deliver anything new to the table. Sound effects are varied, because in Brawl environment is also making noises in the heat of battle. Usually you're just too busy focusing on fighting rather than enjoying the nice scenery or listening that awesome music.
Controls are simple and responsive. Losing happens if you don't know what you're doing. Brawl is clearly a skill based game and in order to succeed you need to know your environment, enemies and of course your own abilities.
Basic gameplay in a Smash Bros. game is a 2D arena, where 4 fighters beat the snot out of each other. Everyone has their own numeric meter and when that number rises too high it's easy for other players to knock that contender out of the screen and score points that way.
Arenas are much more interesting than other fighting games, because these arenas live and change as the fight goes on. This means that one crucial thing to master is to pay close attention to one's environment. Both characters and arenas are heavily inspired by Nintendo franchises, with some Sega's Sonic and Konami's Metal Gear added to the mix. If you have played Nintendo for a long time chances are that you'll enjoy these different references a lot more than someone who is new to Nintendo games.
Even though the basic concept of Brawl is simple, there are lots of different things to unlock. I'll guarantee that it'll take quite some time to get them all.
Multiplayer is of course THE reason why people play a Smash Bros. game and this time there's a very functional Wi-Fi play added and this alone makes Brawl the best game in this franchise. Fights are fast, furious and unpredictable. All this is done with a light mood which Nintendo is known for.
Brawl is a polished game with very few flaws and it can be recommended to fans of previous games. On the other hand if you didn't enjoy those previous installments this new Brawl is not going to change your mind. I personally have never liked Smash Bros. games.