Editing Super Smash Bros. Brawl

{{ArticleIcons|brawl=yes|featured=yes}}{{Cquote|''They're back. Stronger than ever. And they've brought friends. Lots of them.''|cite=North American commercial}}

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'''''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''''' ({{ja|大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズＸ|Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu Ekkusu}}, ''Great Fray Smash Brothers X''), often shortened to "'''''SSBB'''''" or "'''''Brawl'''''" ({{ja|スマブラＸ|Sumabura ekkusu}}), is the third installment in the ''{{b|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' series published by [[Nintendo]]. The game was directed by [[Masahiro Sakurai]], who also created the two preceding ''Super Smash Bros.'' games, and was developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of [[Sora Ltd.|Sora]], [[Game Arts]], and staff from other developers. The game released for [[Wii]] on January 31st, 2008 in Japan, March 9th, 2008 in North America, June 26th, 2008 in Australia, and June 27th, 2008 in Europe. The game requires 128 free blocks of memory in the Wii System Memory. A limited edition release of the game came with an extra cardboard sleeve depicting all of the characters available by default, and came with two postcards, providing a biopic on {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSBB|Zelda}}, giving a short summary of them, and showing images of their special moves.

''Brawl'' is fundamentally similar to its predecessors ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', being a fighting game that contains characters with simple movesets and an emphasis on movement and ringouts. However, ''Brawl'' introduced many elements that would become standard in later installments, such as a stage builder and support for online play through the [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]].<ref name="Wi-Fi Play">{{cite web|url= http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/gamemode/wi-fi/wi-fi01.html|title=Wi-Fi Play|author=Sakurai, Masahiro|date=2007-11-16|publisher=Smash Bros. DOJO!!|accessdate=2008-04-22}}</ref> No data, except some vault data, can be copied to an SD Card or transferred onto another Wii. If the player does not create a save file when they start, they are unable to play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and vault data will not be saved. However, as of May 20, 2014, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has been shut down, therefore making it impossible for anyone to play ''Brawl'' online without hacking. While some characters were cut from ''Melee'', many more were introduced, including third-party characters for the first time in the series.

''Brawl'' received universal acclaim, with praise centered on its entertainment value despite issues relating to its content loading times, and its musical score was lauded for its representation of different generations in gaming history.

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[[File:SSBBcast.png|thumb|300px|The entire cast, as they appear in the ending; excluding {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSBB|Sheik}}, the transformations of {{SSBB|Samus}} and {{SSBB|Zelda}}, respectively.]]

The cast of 35 playable characters (39 if [[Zelda]], [[Sheik]], [[Samus]], [[Zero Suit Samus]], [[Squirtle]], [[Ivysaur]] and [[Charizard]] are all treated as separate without counting the trainer himself) includes 20 (21 including Sheik) returning veterans from ''Melee'' and 15 newcomers (18 including transformations). Of these, 21 are [[starter character]]s (25 if the seven transformation characters above are all treated as separate) and the other 14 need to be [[unlockable character|unlocked]]. Many of the returning characters have been updated or refined since their last appearance, either in terms of appearance, fighting capabilities, or both. For example, Link and Fox have taken on new designs from more recent titles, while [[Samus Aran]] has gained the ability to change into a new form, [[Zero Suit Samus]], by using her [[Final Smash]] or by the player pressing a certain button after picking Samus and before picking a stage.

Several franchises already represented in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series gain additional character slots, with the {{uv|Kirby}} universe the biggest gainer, as both [[King Dedede]] and [[Meta Knight]] make their playable ''Super Smash Bros.'' debuts. Otherwise, {{uv|EarthBound}} sees [[Lucas]] join, the {{uv|Star Fox}} franchise adds [[Wolf O'Donnell|Wolf]], and the {{uv|Donkey Kong}} universe adds [[Diddy Kong]], while {{uv|Metroid}} has Samus' aforementioned "Zero Suit" form, which originally debuted in ''[[Metroid: Zero Mission]]'', added as a transformation for its sole character.

New character slots which go to Nintendo series previously unrepresented include [[Pit]], the first appearance of the {{uv|Kid Icarus}} series since the 1991 Game Boy game ''{{s|Wikipedia|Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters}}''; [[Wario]], originally a ''Mario'' spin-off but long launched into [[Wario (universe)|a franchise of his own]]; [[Captain Olimar]] from the {{uv|Pikmin}} series; and the NES accessory [[R.O.B.]]

''Brawl'' introduces "Masterpieces", time-limited [[Virtual Console]] game demonstrations, to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. The international release has twelve such games available, each of which features one or more of the playable characters from ''Brawl''. Seven games are available for play to begin with, with five more unlockable by completing [[Challenges]], which range from Mario's debut in ''{{b|Donkey Kong|game}}'' to the critically acclaimed late [[Nintendo 64]] title ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]''. The time-limits on each individual play last between 30 seconds (''Donkey Kong''), to five minutes (''Ocarina of Time'').

[[File: Stage Select Brawl.png|thumb|300px|The ''Brawl'' Stages screen in ''Brawl''.]]

[[File: Stage Select Brawl Melee Stages.png|thumb|300px|The ''Melee'' Stages screen in ''Brawl''.]]

At the pre-E3 2005 press conference, the president of Nintendo, [[Satoru Iwata]], announced the next installment of ''Super Smash Bros.'' was not only already in development for their next gaming console, but would be a launch title with Wi-Fi compatibility for playing online.<ref name="E3 2005">{{Cite web |last=Casamassina |first=Matt |date=2005-05-17 |url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/670/670552p1.html |title=E3 2005: ''Smash Bros.'' For Revolution |publisher=IGN |accessdate=2006-05-03}}</ref> The announcement was unexpected to the creator of the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, [[Masahiro Sakurai]]. Back in 2003, he had left [[HAL Laboratory]], the company that was in charge with the franchises' development and was never informed of this announcement despite the fact shortly after resigning from the company, Iwata said if a new game was to be made, he would be in charge. It was not until after the conference Sakurai was called to Satoru Iwata's room on the top floor of a Los Angeles hotel where he was told by Iwata, "We'd like you to be involved in the production of the new ''Smash Bros.'', if possible near the level of director".<ref name="director">{{Cite web |url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/667/667525p1.html |title=''Smash Bros. Revolution'' Director Revealed|author=IGN Staff |accessdate=2007-06-21 |date=2005-11-16 |publisher=IGN}}</ref> Although originally announced to be a launch title, Sakurai stated "I decided to become director. And as of May, 2005, I was the only member of the new Smash Bros. development team". Iwata would later admit that, had Sakurai declined the role of director, he would have released a remastered version of ''Melee'' for Wii with added [[online]] capablilities.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXpFTHtlmCo&t Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Game Concepts]]</ref> Development of the game did not actually start until late 2005, and just for its production, Nintendo opened a new office in Tokyo at the beginning of October 2005, dubbed the Takadanobaba office.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDrNWAHaKfI=37s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [Game Concepts]]</ref> Sakurai's new company, [[Sora Ltd.]], was put in charge of the project and [[Game Arts]] was chosen as a lead developer, with other companies like [[Monolith Soft]] and [[Paon]] having significant hands in production. Sakurai has stated that the teams he chose had spent excessive amounts of time playing ''Melee'', and thus had a deep mechanical knowledge of the series. The team had access to all the original material and tools from the development of ''Melee'', courtesy of HAL Laboratory. This was the first team Sakurai was involved in that exceeded 100 members.

''Brawl'' was absent from Nintendo's Wii showing at its 2006 Pre-E3 press conference. The next day, on May 10, 2006, its first official trailer was unveiled at E3 and at the After-Hours Press Conference, Nintendo officially revealed the game under the name of ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. In an interview with IGN, Sakurai said the Wii's motion sensing features might not be included because, "we found that trying to implement too much motion-sensory functionality can get in the way of the game."<ref name="E3 2006">{{Cite web |last=Casamassina |first=Matt |coauthors=Peer Schneider |date=2006-05-10 |url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/707/707504p1.html |title=E3 2006: Super Smash Bros. Brawl |publisher=IGN |accessdate=2006-08-01}}</ref> As far as [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection|Wi-Fi]] play is concerned, Sakurai stated his plan was to include Wi-Fi connection compatibility and online functionality, he goes on to say "one of the primary reasons ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' was created was that Nintendo, when taking Wii online, wanted to have Smash Bros. to do that".<ref name="E3 2006"/> However, as stated on the Japanese version of the ''Smash Bros.'' website, "there would be many hurdles to cross," and an online ranking system is unlikely to be implemented.<ref name="Joystiq">{{Cite web |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/05/sakurai-reveals-new-smash-bros-brawl-details/ |title=Sakurai reveals new Smash Bros. Brawl details |accessdate=2007-06-21 |last=Miller |first=Ross |date=2006-06-05 |publisher=Joystiq}}</ref> During a test play between Sakurai and {{s|wikipedia|Hideo Kojima}}, creator of the ''Metal Gear'' series, Kojima stated that the game felt complete and that Nintendo "could put it out right now and it would sell millions of copies."<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159049 |title=Kojima's Played Super Smash Bros. Brawl |accessdate=2007-06-21 |last=Dormer |first=Dan |date=2007-04-27 |publisher=1up.com}}</ref> Starting May 22, 2007, the site had updates every weekday until shortly after ''Brawl''{{'}}s release. Throughout October 18-22, 2007 at the first Entertainment for All Expo show in Los Angeles, California, Nintendo hosted a ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' tournament.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wii.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=10866 |title=Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Galaxy Playable at E for All |accessdate=2007-10-21 |last=Wirgler |first=Matthew |date=2007-10-09 |publisher=Advance Media Network}}</ref>

{{Main|Super Smash Bros. Brawl Trailers}}

Several different trailers for ''Brawl'' were released before the game came out. The original trailer was shown at E3 2006 on May 11, 2006 and revealed Pit, Meta Knight, Zero Suit Samus, Wario and Solid Snake as new playable characters, alongside the return of Mario, Link, Samus, Pikachu and Kirby. A second trailer was shown at the Nintendo World 2006 convention in December, and revealed Fox's return as a playable character. A third trailer was shown at the October 10, 2007 Nintendo Press Conference, which revealed Sonic as a playable character. A final trailer showcasing ''Brawl''{{'}}s adventure mode, the Subspace Emissary, was released on Friday, December 21, 2007. This trailer revealed that Ike and the Ice Climbers would appear in this mode, among other things.

|MC = 93/100 (81 reviews)<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/super-smash-bros-brawl/|title=Super Smash Bros. Brawl (wii: 2008): Reviews|accessdate=2008-04-23|publisher=Metacritic}}</ref>

''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' received critically positive reviews and sold successfully. In the United States, the game sold 874,000 units on launch day and 1.4 million units in its first week to become the fastest-selling video game in Nintendo of America's history, according to Nintendo. The game has sold 10.79 million units worldwide as of March 2012 according to Nintendo, which made it the best selling game in the series and best selling fighting game at the time. ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is currently the 8th best selling game for the [[Wii]] and sold 13.32 million units worldwide as of March 31, 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/software/wii.html|title=IR Information:Top Selling Title Sales Unit|publisher=Nintendo|accessdate=2023-12-29}}</ref>, and was only surpassed as the best selling in the series and best selling fighting game by its own sequel, ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', in 2019. ''Brawl'' currently holds an aggregate review score of 92.84% on Gamerankings and a score of 93/100 on Metacritic. Despite this, British publication NGamer received criticism for awarding a 93% rating to ''Brawl'', with readers deeming the score too low, especially in comparison to Official Nintendo Magazine's 95% rating. ''Brawl'' has reviews with ratings equal or slightly better than ''Melee''. The game's multiplayer was received excellently, but single player, while noted as superior to ''Melee''{{'}}s, was still only average.

Gamespot awarded ''Brawl'' best fighting game of 2008, beating competitors such as ''{{iw|wikipedia|Soul Calibur IV}}'', and ''{{iw|wikipedia|Blazblue: Calamity Trigger}}''. While ''{{iw|wikipedia|Street Fighter IV}}'' technically released in arcades in 2008, it was excluded from running due to not having a home console release until 2009.

==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''==

*A new move called the [[Final Smash]] has been introduced, activated by hitting a [[Smash Ball]].

*All characters now have three taunts instead of one, have unique [[on-screen appearances]], and the announcer counting down before the match begins which return from the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''

*Players can now configure personalized [[controls]] for [[name]]s.

*Along with the new opening, the [[announcer]] no longer announces the game's title, though there are unused sound files suggesting they originally would've.

*Visually, most characters appear much less saturated and have more realistic, detailed textures, even if it doesn't match with their appearances in other games. This is easily noticeable with {{SSBB|Mario}}, {{SSBB|Luigi}}, {{SSBB|Peach}}, {{SSBB|Yoshi}}, {{SSBB|Kirby}}, {{SSBB|Pikachu}}, {{SSBB|Ness}} and the {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}}.

 

 

 

The community has constructed a set of [[tournament legal (SSBB)|standard tournament rules]] to regulate tournament play. While rulesets may vary between different tournaments, generally universal gameplay rules include all matches being played via [[time]]d [[stock]] (three stocks and eight minutes), and restrictions on legal [[stage]]s. These regulations are enacted to ensure that gameplay at the highest level remains fair and interesting.

*''Brawl'' introduced the most new base-game [[fighter]]s (18) and [[stage]]s (31).

**It also has the most unlockable stages, with 12.

*The ''Brawl'' menu was designed to be very similar to the menu in ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby Air Ride}}'', including the [[Challenges]] Checklist.

*''Brawl'' was the first [[Wii]] appearance for [[Kirby]], [[Meta Knight]], [[King Dedede]], and [[Olimar]].

**Have no gameplay differences between different versions of the game. ''[[Smash 64]]'' and ''[[Melee]]'' had gameplay changes between [[List of regional version differences (disambiguation)|regional releases]], ''Melee'' was [[List of regional version differences (SSBM)|re-released]] with gameplay changes between NTSC versions, and ''[[Smash 4]]'' and ''[[Ultimate]]'' had gameplay changes between [[Patch (disambiguation)|patch updates]].

**Not feature any stages that debuted in ''Smash 64''.

**Not introduce a new ''Mario'' series fighter (discounting sub-universes).

**Not introduce a new Generation I [[Poké Ball]] Pokémon. It does, however, bring back [[Meowth]], who was absent from ''Melee''.

**Have an Asian language (namely Korean) dub the announcer.