The best smash to date, and by far the most addictive.
Let's start off with the graphics. This particular area seems to have caught the attention of other reviewers, some saying that it is just a refined version of melee. Others complain that it only runs in 480p. Firstly, you cannot fault a game for the graphical limitations of the system it runs on. Brawl is the best looking game to come out for the wii yet. The detail of the characters is immensly improved from melee.
On to gameplay, this game is one of the most fun games I have ever played. It runs smoothly and the controls are excellent in my opinion. The fact that you can choose your control type is a plus, and the fact that you can customize each one to fit your name is a great feature. The gameplay is highly addictive. You can play for hours without realizing it. The characters seem incredibly balanced, at least for now. The online play is aggrovating at best for me. I will admit that my internet connection is horrendously slow, and all of the other online games that I have tried have given me the same problems. The selection of unique characters is a plus as well. Add that in with the sheer amount of unlockable content and you have an amazing game. The only bad thing is the subspace emissary mode. I personally hate platformers in general and if you're just going to slap fighter controls on there, then you can count me out. Luckily, there is absolutely no need to play this mode. You can unlock every character, stage, sticker, trophy, and song just by brawling. If you're absolutely desperate to get all of the cutscenes and the whole story, then you can just go to youtube like everybody else. Sheesh. Another great thing which seems to have been kind of overlooked is the stage builder mode. The common theme is that it is not enough to seperate brawl form melee. But I think that it adds a more personal experience to the game. I personally make stages to learn to fight in certain situations. Also, the new items such as the assist trophies and final smashes add a kind of frantic element ton to the game that makes it impossible not to enjoy.
As for audio, this game has one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a game and the sound effects are very good as well. No problems with it at all. And the fact that you can add these songs on to a built stage once you've unlocked them is great.
And as far as "will this game last?", I think that with this game being such an improvement over melee, and the fact that melee was being played until the release of brawl. It's sfae to say that brawl will be played for years to come.
So, with a few minor things that could've been fixed, but a majorly improved gameplay element, better graphics, and an amazing soundtrack. I give this game a 10.