Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii (FAQ-Sheet)

By: Lucas M. Thomas and Matt Casamassina

Everything you want to know about Nintendo’s forthcoming fighter, in one convenient spot. Updated: The Year-End Recap.

Veterans

Over 25 different, classic Nintendo characters have previously become fighting Smash Brothers. Through the original Smash on the N64 and its follow-up Melee on the GameCube, mascots both well known and abstract have been called into the fight – and most of them are getting called back once again.

Bowser
First Appearance: Super Mario Bros., NES, 1985
Confirmed for Brawl: July 3, 2007 King Bowser Koopa, leader of the Koopa Klan. This middle-aged mutant wizard turtle has been terrorizing the Mushroom Kingdom and its heroes the Mario Brothers for now over 20 years. He’s addicted to kidnapping Princess Peach – having done so in the majority of games in which he’s appeared – even though he’s always foiled, in the end, by the mighty red-capped plumber. Bowser first arrived in the Smash world in SSB Melee, and used his signature heavyweight bulk to put the hurt on any opponent foolish enough to stray into range of his claws or fire breath. Now in Brawl, Bowser’s planning to pack on even more pounds – his Final Smash attack allows him to temporarily transform into the two-ton Giga Bowser and wreak massive destruction, Godzilla-style, over the entire stage. It’s also expected that Bowser, along with the other heavyweight fighters, will be more playable on a competitive level this time around with the revelation that some attacks from their opponents will now not cause the bulky bruisers to flinch.

Donkey Kong
First Appearance: Donkey Kong, Arcade, 1981
Confirmed for Brawl: July 12, 2007The leader of the bunch, you know him well. He’s finally back to kick some tail. Nintendo’s first major mascot, Donkey Kong was also the first hulking heavyweight in the Smash series, arriving as one of the original eight unlocked fighters back on the N64. His abilities are based largely on his large size and brute strength, but this time around the monkey’s also getting a bit funky – his Final Smash has been revealed to be a Donkey Konga bongo attack, in which DK pulls a GameCube Bongo controller out of thin air and begins to slap and clap to the beat. He may also benefit from an increased resistance to light attacks, which should serve him well in not getting knocked around on his own home stage of Rumble Falls.

Fox McCloud
First Appearance: Star Fox, SNES, 1993
Confirmed for Brawl: November 3, 2006Fast, frantic and furry, the ace Arwing pilot Fox McCloud has received a more significant graphical overhaul than many of his fellow returning fighters. In Melee, his look was more realistic – here in Brawl, he’s been adapted into something more closely resembling his look from Star Fox Command. His new enormous boots don’t seem to have slowed him down, though, as Fox is expected to remain one of the quickest fighters in the roster – and he’s set to wield a newly redesigned version of his trusty KO-stealing hand blaster as well. There’s no word yet on whether or not Fox’s feathered friend Falco will also be returning to playability, though other elements from the Star Fox series – like the Lylat Cruise stage and Space Armada soundtrack piece – have been revealed.

And Fox can do a barrel roll! The furry fighter is set to take his wingman Peppy’s epic advice once again here in Smash Bros. Brawl, as his Final Smash has been confirmed as facilitating exactly that action. A to-scale Landmaster tank will appear on stage when Fox manages to grab a Smash Ball, and Fox will be able to command it to do barrel rolls on the spot and damage anyone standing in the vicinty of the vehicle. He’ll also be able to make it jump and hover, presumably crushing anyone underneath when it comes back down again, and fire its primary cannon with the attack button. You’re becoming more like your father, Fox.

The Ice Climbers
First Appearance: Ice Climber, NES, 1985
Confirmed for Brawl: September 14, 2007 Nana and Popo are a pair of mountain climbing adventurers whose only game was the 1985 NES launch title, Ice Climber. The title was a platformer that strictly scrolled vertically, as you began your ascent at the base of each mountain and used your huge hammer to chip away at the ceilings above you, eventually breaking through a path to the peak. Near the top of every level, a bonus round tasked you to collect vegetables for bonus points – the story of the game was that a thieving Condor had stolen the food reserves of Nana and Popo’s village, and they were out to get them back.

And that’s why their franchise icon is an eggplant, just as it was when this duo was introduced as a playable pair in Smash Bros. Melee. They were one of the most unique character choices in that game, as controlling two fighters at once was an innovative addition – though you primarily control Popo, and Nana follows behind as an AI partner. That appears to be the case again for Brawl, though these first screens indicate that the Climbers may be more frigidly powerful than before.

Nana and Popo will certainly be bringing the pain when they grab a Smash Ball, as on the spot they’ll summon forth a massive iceberg to spike through the center of the current stage. It’ll become an enormous obstacle for the fighters to have to deal with – but the Ice Climbers will be right at home, with their natural ability to move on ice without slipping. Better retreat to the far left or right side of the stage if you see a Climber player start glowing with Smash Ball power, too – because if you’re caught in the inital punch of the peak coming up from the bottom of the screen, you could get frozen solid.

If you’d like to get more familiar with these slightly abstract mascots, the original NES version of Ice Climber is available for download on the Wii’s Virtual Console.

A Brief History of the SeriesSuper Smash Bros. Brawl is the third game in Nintendo’s fighting franchise, the first being the 1999 N64 effort Super Smash Bros. and the second being the 2001 GCN sequel Super Smash Bros. Melee. The unique fighters were developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. Interestingly, the company’s American subsidiary initially did not want to release the N64 Smash Bros. stateside, figuring that it was too violent, but changed its position after positive feedback from fans and media alike. Former HAL Laboratory head Satoru Iwata, a lifelong developer, was eventually named president of Nintendo Co. Ltd., and continues to take an active role in the upkeep of the popular franchise.Despite NOA’s initial skepticism, Smash Bros. has become one of the publisher’s worldwide, well, smashes: the N64 project has sold 2.6 million units and the GameCube sequel has amassed 3.7 million unit sales in America alone since they released. Today, Smash Bros. may be Nintendo’s single biggest console-based series. It was Melee and not Super Mario Sunshine or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which was the best-selling title on GameCube over the course of the system’s five-year cycle. Meanwhile, the highly anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl continues to be the fan favorite, as evidenced by the fact that it consistently ranks in the top two on www.gamestats.com, which tracks the popularity of game software. There is a reason we’ve created this FAQ: Wii owners, like GCN and N64 buyers before them, have Smash fever.

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Super Smash Bros.
Release Date: April 26, 1999
System: Nintendo 64

Could Mario beat up Link? Would Samus take down Donkey Kong? And if they ever decided to just throw down on the street, who would walk away the winner of an all-out brawl between Fox McCloud, Kirby and Pikachu? These were the questions asked and answered by the original Super Smash Bros., the game that broke the fourth wall of Nintendo’s previously separate game worlds and made their heroes mix it up in multiplayer combat.

The first Super Smash Bros. established the basics of the fighting design – rather than health bars, each character had a percentage meter. The more hits they took, the higher the number climbed. And the higher the number climbed, the easier it was for them to be sent sailing by subsequent strikes. You lost a stocked life or score point whenever your character flew off one of the edges of the screen, making Smash Bros. not unlike an ultimate game of King of the Hill. You’ve got to keep your feet on solid ground, defending your position from the opposition, and whoever’s done the best job at that at the end of a set time period or number of lives is declared the winner.

Twelve fighters were playable in the original game – eight unlocked to begin with, and four hidden away. Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Samus Aran, Kirby, Fox McCloud, Pikachu and Yoshi made up the original roster. Mario’s brother Luigi, F-Zero’s Captain Falcon, the singing Pokemon Jigglypuff and EarthBound’s adventurer Ness could all be unlocked. Each of the twelve played uniquely, save for similarities between the Mario Brothers, and their four-way battles set the stage for what would soon become a major new franchise for the Big N.

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Super Smash Bros. Melee
Release Date: December 3, 2001
System: Nintendo GameCube

The unexpected success of Super Smash Bros. prompted Nintendo to quickly take the small cult hit and expand it exponentially. Over twice as many characters, stages, items and modes were added into the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, which arrived on store shelves as a launch window title for the GameCube six years ago.

Melee was much more cinematic. The simple hand-playing-with-dolls motif from the original’s intro was axed, replaced by a rousing CG intro sequence that Nintendo outsourced to an outside animation studio – they weren’t cutting any corners here. And with the introduction of an expanded single-player experience, hundreds of collectible trophies and gameplay enhancements for every character, Melee seems have gotten just about every possible idea thrown in.

The original 12 fighters all returned, and were joined by 14 new arrivals. These included notable Nintendo mascots like Bowser and Princess Zelda, as well as some off-the-wall retro throwbacks like Mr. Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers. The ridiculously high sales that Melee would go on to enjoy all but guaranteed the ultimate arrival of another sequel, which is what this FAQ is all about.

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Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Release Date: February 10, 2008
System: Wii

Set to debut a little over six years after Melee’s release, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the most anticipated Nintendo titles of all time. It is set to raise the bar even further than before, with tons more characters, more stages, more items – more everything.

Probably the most interesting and unexpected addition this time around is The Subspace Emissary, a full-on side-scrolling action game that will serve as Brawl’s single-player experience. The game-within-a-game will feature rendered cinematic cut-scenes to tell its story, and will explore the backgrounds of many of Nintendo’s classic heroes. Including, notably, Pit from Kid Icarus – fans having been crying out for a new Kid Icarus game for over a decade and a half, and The Subspace Emissary is getting awfully close to looking like exactly that.

The mode will be joined by, of course, the Smash series’ signature multiplayer battles, which have been revised and refined yet again with new gameplay additions like the epically-scaled Final Smash attacks, the meteor-smashing Footstool Stomp and more. The most popular question of all, of course, is “will it be online?” And the answer to that is “yes”. But read on to find out the particulars.

In the pages that follow, you’ll learn all there is to know about Super Smash Bros. Brawl. All of the confirmed characters, stages and items. All of the assist trophies and Pokemon. All of the everything else there is to know about the game. Keep checking back, too, as we’ll be keeping this FAQ updated and current all the way through to February 10 and beyond. But before you leave this page, get a look at the future of Smash in action. The video below is the first trailer we saw for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, from E3 2006.

LINK HERE

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