I tried to like it, I really did.
The core gameplay is the same. Everyone SHOULD know what to expect here, so I'll skip this part.
On to the critiques. This is why, in my OPINION, this game deserves a flat two rating.
The fighting is ungodly simplistic, but sometimes, your character still refuses to do what you tell them. It's a button masher; not a fighting game that requires ANY real commitment to be able to play it. The different ways of controlling it all have their flaws. The GC controller seems to lag, the Wiimote seems to lack some functions, and the Wiimote with nunchuck still seems like a clunky way of handling it.
There are tons of characters to play, but most of them share the exact same moves. I know that Fox, Falco, and Wolf are all from the same series; but there should be a little diversity among their play style. Almost all characters play the same; the only difference is that some are FAR too fast, and some are incredibly slow. None of the attacks seem to do a decent amount of damage, even for hard hitters like DK or Dedede. That being said, it seems way, way too easy to get ring outs in this game. That's about it. If you actually like fighting games, this alone ought to bother you.
The graphics are par for the wii. In other words... Bad. They have nice, bright, seizure inducing colors, though!
The final smashes are barely worth paying attention to. None of them do enough damage, they're fun to watch once, but mostly annoying. Having the final smashes triggered by a power up you need to smash is kind of lame; I thought it would have been better if you filled a meter by attacking your opponents, or something.
And now... Subspace emissary. It's nice to have a longer adventure mode with cutscenes and everything, but I spent more time cursing insipidly poor platformer design, or annoying sidescrolling levels than anything. Just when you think you're done, you have to do another crappy level, culminating in a crappy montage of these levels, along with one of the worst boss fights ever conceived.
I really, really tried to like this game. Some parts are fun, but they're few and far between for ANYONE who has actually played the old Smash Bros (Which were far better games, I still play SSBM more often than SSBB), or anyone who has played any of the multitudinous better fighting games out there.
It's a good game. If you have never played another fighting game, that is. Or any other videogame, for that matter.
I'm selling my copy back. I'll stick to the better, earlier version.