Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is probably one of the best games I've played in a long time. I'm a big Smash Bros. fan, and Brawl more than met expectations.

The soundtrack is fantastic. There are some songs that I don't like. The first Ground Theme from Super Mario Bros. is an abomination. I love the original song, but that first arrangement is a travesty. Ground Theme 2, on the other hand, is absolute gold. Not only does it capture the original theme well, but it also mixes in a bit of the Underground Theme, the Game Over theme, and the Flagpole theme.

Also of note are the Kirby songs. Meta Knight's Revenge, Gourmet Race, and King Dedede's Theme are wonderful songs. King Dedede's Theme is one of my favorite songs ever, and to hear this arrangement makes me so happy. Not all the Kirby songs are that great, but they don't all have to be good.

The Famicom Melody, for one of the hidden stages, is great for fans of the NES. It's fun to listen to the song and try and guess each game by the short sound byte.

As for the actual gameplay, it's almost identical to Melee. Which is far from a bad thing. Melee was such pure fun, that there wasn't anything needing changed. The Subspace Emissary mode, on the other hand, is a bit spotty in its performance. Some enemies are pushovers, while others can kill you in two or three hits. Some areas are a breeze to go through, while others are death traps. And the mode made me play as some of my most hated characters, like Yoshi, Olimar, and Lucas, to name a few. It's not entirely bad, and it does its job, but I would rather a more consistent difficulty level throughout.

The Target Smash mode is back, but I'm disappointed with it. Instead of being unique for each character, there are five generic maps, with varying difficulty, that all characters use. To me, it takes the fun out of the mode, as it used to be a showcase of the skills of that particular character, instead of a generic map that doesn't really make use of the characters skills.

The Virtual Console Trials are useless. Not only are they too short, but the game has to go through a long load time to get back to the main game after you're done playing one of the trials.

As for other modes, the Coin Launcher is a fun gimmick to win trophies. The online mode is functional, and it's fun playing against real people who aren't in your room. The new Assist Trophies are neat. The Final Smashes are pretty cool, though some are a bit confusing (like Wario's final smash).

Overall, the game is amazing. There are some faults, but it's just so good, regardless.