Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

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There is also new online play, which works every bit as smoothly as it did in Mario Kart for the DS. You can jump into games with your friends once you've exchanged friend codes, or you can play with strangers minus any actual interaction. The online play is a bit confined, as you'd expect. But Brawl would have definitely benefited from some of the crazy game variations that makes Halo 3 online such an exceptional experience.

Instead, Brawl was primarily built for a group of friends in the same living room. There isn't a wilder party game available. The sheer flexibility means there's something for everyone, and the amount of content means everyone will be at it all night. Brawl might seem like a great game for playing a quick match or two, but try telling that to everyone after they've been playing for five hours and still won't leave.

Once upon a ... huh?

There's a lot more than just brawling in here. One of the biggest new features is a campaign mode called Subspace Emissary, which tells some sort of incomprehensible story. Here you fight through a series of side-scrolling levels and bosses to get to the elaborate CG cut scenes. It even has its own collecting and RPG system, whereby you find stickers and apply them to the base of a given character to improve his fighting ability. You have to make sure stickers don't overlap, so there's a crazy inventory Tetris type of sub-game going on.

You can play through the storyline cooperatively, which is a great way to learn the characters in a more forgiving environment than by going directly into brawls. It's an open enough world to encourage exploration, although the impetus to do so is mainly to find trophies. This is no more contrived a goal than attaining Achievements in an Xbox 360 game. Watching the windows pop open on the wall of achievements is like getting candy from an Advent calendar.

Beyond this, Brawl is full of challenges and puzzles and mini-games and trophy viewers and achievements and sticker albums. It's like a big, messy toy box that defies organization because it's brimming with sheer fun. Upon closer scrutiny, it's a bit too messy. It would be nice to have a clearer picture of what it takes to unlock goodies, and the personal records feel like an afterthought (note to developers: pay attention to the way Valve tracks player performance in Team Fortress 2!). It's also a shame that there are no unlockables or accomplishments associated with online play.

A view to a punch

The options to save and trade screenshots and replays will be great for kids and Super Smash Bros. fetishists who want to capture stills of Princess Peach in mid-pummel. There's a level builder, and Nintendo has promised new downloadable levels every week. You can even exchange levels online with your friends.

If there's a more generous game for the Wii that captures so completely the broad and historical appeal of Nintendo, I have yet to see it. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a cross between a shrine, a love letter and blatant promotion. It's not just a great game spanning solo play, party play and online gaming; think of it as the definitive pitcher of Nintendo Kool-Aid -- and, boy, is it refreshing and delicious. Won't you have a sip?