I don’t care that Fox, Falco, and Wold have significant differences. They’re still modeled after the original Fox and it shows an incredible lack of imagination to throw in Wolf after Melee when Nintendo has so many more characters that could bring more flavor as well as unique mechanics.

My main complaint about Brawl is that it’s online, even when I picked up a solid router (which handles online perfectly well on other platforms and even some Wii games, gasp!), the online was still like playing some kind of turn-based RPG. I shouldn’t have to rely solely upon friend matches (especially when they require friend codes) to enjoy a game online. Why is it that I can play Call of Duty with no trouble at all, but when it comes to Brawl, I have an entire second of constant delay for entire matches? I’m not exaggerating this at all. It’s ridiculous.

All I wanted out of Brawl was a Smash Bros. game that I could finally play with other people more than once a month. Nintendo’s online is pretty terrible, but I’m sure Brawl could have got past it with more time in development. Mario Kart did it well. Brawl painted itself into a corner with the incredible amount of hype it layed for itself.

Brawl is pretty fun, but none of the things I really wanted from it (aside from Lucas) really delivered.

Wolf, Fox, and Falco are completely different characters, I could elaborate a lot but I won’t, if you think they’re all clones just because their B-moves are similar (the final smash nonsense was laziness) then you’re wrong, Wolf’s aerials and ground game is greatly superior to the other two’s with his awesome range and speed, his down+b has invincibility frames and range which actually makes it a lot different (read: better) than the other two’s, Fox’s smashes are great but other than that he’s completely average with sub-par B moves, and Falco is the most camping-oriented character in the game with a ridiculous chaingrab that can end with a 22% damage gatling combo.

And more.

Brawl’s one player mode is one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time, no contest. The SSE was horrible and the collect-a-thon that is the rest of the game has lost its charm.

But Brawl has an incredible amount of depth to it, so if you give its multiplayer mode a fair chance and play with some friends that actually know what they’re doing, it’s very, VERY fun and doesn’t get old because you’re always exercising your mind, looking for the next opening, predicting your opponent, utilizing your character to the fullest.

Also if you’ve played the WiFi since launch month (which I’m assuming you haven’t), the lag has cooled down SIGNIFICANTLY and while it still sucks (there’s a tenth of a second forced lag) the game runs completely smoothly. The WiFI sucks yes but it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be unless you’re running a 56K or playing people in Tibet. I play people from Texas with virtually no lag, anyway.

I guess if you’re a casual gamer that lives by yourself, Brawl is a horrible game. I won’t dispute that. But if you have friends and a willingness to learn and develop as a player, Brawl is amazing.

(ps – melee’s deeper yeah but Brawl is still p. deep, if you think the game’s been ruined still I don’t know what to say except that’s not true at all, it’s just different)

This is a video I just posted yesterday about my own Wii Fit obsession. Thought you might like.