Best of the Decade: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Platform: Wii

Release Date: March 8, 2008

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo, Game Arts, Monolith Soft

Like many gamers of my generation who grew up on the NES, I have a soft spot for Nintendo. I’ve had plenty of criticisms of the company over the years, but no matter how many times they screw up, I can’t help be drawn back in by their charming titles. Nintendo seems to have a knack for delivering pure, unadulterated fun more consistently than just about any other studio.

That fun comes at a cost however, and that hasn’t ever been more evident than this latest generation of consoles. Nintendo has still managed to produce a steady string of quality games, but thanks to the success of the Wii, those games are now buried in minigame collections and cheap third party swill. Not only that, but Nintendo’s increased focus on the casual market means that the games true Nintendo fans crave are farther apart than ever before. 

But, if you’re willing to persevere and hold out for the occasional gem Nintendo throws your way amongst the Wii Sports sequels and crappy party games, they’ve still got some fantastic stuff up their sleeves. 

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a celebration of all those good things Nintendo has managed to produce over the years. For a gamer like me, there is no other game that can produce the sheer amount of nostalgia and child-hearted glee that a Smash Bros. game can. After Melee I wondered how they could possibly top themselves and do it again. With Brawl I found out. 

First off, the basics are still solid. Kicking Kirby’s ass with Princess Zelda still hasn’t gotten old, even after three iterations. The increased character lineup is welcome and the new, more complex set of stages to play on makes for some tense battles.

Brawl is packed with a simply stupid amount of stuff to do and unlock. It includes a single player mode that’s actually an interesting diversion, complete with rather spectacular cutscenes; quite the rarity for Nintendo. It includes a level builder that allowed a friend and I to build crazy stages that totally confused the poor AI players so we could team up against them. It includes so many fun nods to Nintendo lore that it’s impossible to know where to even begin. I’m sure I still haven’t seen everything this game has to offer. 

The multiplayer experience in Brawl is unmatched by any other fighting game. Others may have more depth once you learn them, but nothing is easier to pick up than Smash Bros. and the sheer volume of fun brought on by a whole room of friends battling against one another in a series of intense fights is one of my favorite shared gaming experiences of this decade. By focusing on simplicity and craziness over complexity, but being deep enough that it remains interesting, Smash Bros. crafted a perfect multiplayer formula and Brawl perfected it. 

When you get together with a group of friends to play this game, it doesn’t matter that the balancing is a little broken or that certain items are annoying. What matters is that you’re guaranteed to have a good time, and with the almost intimidating amount of options, you won’t get bored either.

And let’s not forget the soundtrack. In a game full of fan service and well-crafted gameplay, it says a lot that perhaps the best part of Brawl is the unbelievably large collection of classic Nintendo music. It’s a true pleasure to the ears of any long-time fan.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl perfected the chaotic multiplayer brilliance that the N64 original introduced. It brought countless smiles to my face and made my ears happy. It gave me plenty of cherished good times with close friends. For all of the above and more, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of my Best of the Decade.