Super Smash Bros. Brawl Preview

Despite its alarming popularity, and fan outcry for more information, Nintendo has remained tight-lipped about Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Aside from last year’s E3 trailer and a handful of images released sporadically throughout the year, there really hasn’t been a heck of a lot of info to work with, until now that is. With Nintendo recently unveiling the game’s official website, the floodgates have opened and new info is seeping its way on through. So to keep our beloved readers up-to-date with the latest and greatest news on one of the most anticipated games of 2007 we’re putting together a series of features highlighting every facet of the game, from character profiles, to stage details, to whether or not Samus indeed owns every other brawler as some have boldly claimed. So what are you waiting for? Read on!

For our first Brawl update, we’re going to take a look at some of the new stages, items and the lethal Final Smash move that was first shown at E3 2006 where Mario unleashed a hailstorm of fire, obliterating Link and Kirby. But first, let’s take a look at those stages shall we?

Stages

The Battlefield

Though we’ll be seeing plenty of epic stages, like the reinvented Hyrule Castle, or Meta Knight’s hanger for that matter, Brawl sports a much more simplistic stage for single-platform brawling. You may remember The Battlefield as the first stage shown during the E3 2006 video, and remains the most basic of stages you’ll battle on. Unlike the aforementioned character-specific stages, on The Battlefield, the platform won’t change, meaning the entire fight will take place on a single elevated chunk of land over a massive chasm.

The Battlefield features a sun-soaked playing field with three raised platforms that can be used to dodge attacks and help you get behind your opponent. The best part? Play long enough and you’ll notice the sun start to set and before you know it, you’ll be battling right on into the evening, night, and into the early morning. Yes, the stage may not feature any elaborate changes that will affect the flow of the battle, but the inclusion of a full day and night cycle is a nice aesthetic change considering the amount of time you’ll be spending brawling under the stage’s sky.

Delfino Plaza

You may remember (or may have chosen not to) a little title by the name of Super Mario Sunshine released in 2002. A bit of a departure from classic Mario settings, the game took place on the tropical resort of Isle Delfino, which also happens to be backdrop for a brand new stage in Brawl. While The Battlefield mentioned above is confined to a single area, Delfino Plaza has brawlers battling atop a platform in the sky that circles the city before landing in one of several landing points that any Sunshine fan will immediately recognize, from the centre of the city itself, to the nearby outskirts by the beach. After a set amount of time, the circling platform then scoops up the brawlers and the cycle repeats itself.

Items

Cracker Launcher

Yes the Super Scope 6 is back, but who needs that when you can wield a massive cannon that can light up your opponent like the 4th of July? The aptly named Cracker Launcher is one of the newest additions to Brawl’s ever-expanding arsenal and is easily one of the most powerful projectiles in the game. Like its baby brother, the Super Scope 6, as soon as you pick up this beast it’ll begin to rapidly launch a series of fire crackers (Cracker Launcher, get it?) that explode around the arena – whether you hit your target or not – in a burst of multi-coloured light. Pleasant on the eyes? Yes. Deadly? Double yes.

But what good would a fire-cracker-launching-cannon be if you couldn’t move around with it? In Brawl, you can easily move around the arena with any projectile weapon you’ve picked up. And by tilting the control stick up and down, you can aim the cannon at different angles and pick off opponents not only on the ground but in the air as well. Heck, you can even jump around and shoot at the same time if you want to cover more ground.

The Gooey Bomb

Halo’s plasma grenade in Smash Bros.? You bet… well, sort of. The Gooey Bomb is an explosive encased in, yes, you guessed it, goo, that adheres to just about anything, including your opponents. Pick up this gelatinous ball of explosive goodness and toss it at an opponent to have it stick right on them. Then sit back and watch the show. But beware, just because you’ve plastered a foe with a Gooey Bomb doesn’t mean your opponent can’t turn the tables right around if you aren’t careful. In fact, all your foe has to do is come in contact with you and the Gooey Bomb will attach itself to your character. Think of it as a deadly game of hot potato.

The Final Smash

The ultimate form of personalized destruction, the Final Smash will eradicate any opponents unlucky enough to get in your way. Each character’s Final Smash is vastly different from the others and can only be used once per battle, provided you’ve obtained the Smash Ball, though what causes a Smash Ball to appear has yet to be revealed. Either way, as soon as it does, you’re going to want to get your hands on it as Final Smashes are the most powerful moves in the game and can completely obliterate the competition.

So far, we’ve only witnessed Mario’s Final Smash in the form of a deadly explosion that expands across the screen, though the original trailer does show Link surrounding Mario in a Triforce and then unleashing a flurry of slashes in what appears to be his own Final Smash. Other than that, we can only theorize on the types of Smashes we’ll see. Maybe Samus will drop a super bomb in the middle of the arena, or Captain Falcon will launch himself in the air and proceed to Falcon punch his way down to the stage below. Oh the endless possibilities.

Well, that’s it for our first update, check back soon for another, but in the meantime, check out the comments below and tell us what kinds of Final Smashes you’d like to see featured in Brawl.