In 1999 a game came along and took the world by storm, its name was Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64. The game had only twelve playable characters but made up for this in the wild variation of multiplayer play. The game was a success and spawned a sequel; Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Nintendo GameCube. Melee was another success, captivating gamers across the world for years. Now in 2008 a third game has been unleashed upon the world...

Story and characters -
Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduces a new aspect to the series; a storyline known as the Subspace Emissary, this brings together many of your favourite characters from Nintendo's past and shows them forming allegiances to defeat the Subspace Army. The plot will have you take control over many characters so that you experience what each character has to offer.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl gives you 35 playable characters to use throughout the course of the game, not all of them are available from the word "Go" and will have to be earned and unlocked by completing a variety of tasks. Nearly each and every character offers a unique and new way to play the game adding a lot of variety and fun to the multiplayer aspects of the game.

Gameplay -
Gameplay has remained the same over the past few years, you still have a percentage meter at the bottom of the screen and defeat your opponent by smashing them off the edge of the stage.
The newest feature to the series would have to be the Final Smash. Final Smashes can be obtained by hitting a Smash Ball that floats around the stage. A Final Smash is a special move which will almost certainly defeat any opponent.
The Subspace Emissary is a lot of fun, it acts as a mix of a platform adventure game and a traditional Super Smash Bros. fighter, it's balanced very well with a variety of enemies and bosses to keep you entertained.
Multiplayer and online play is where this game truly shines, with up to four players at any one time you can create a variety of unpredictable and fun matches. You can also use a Special Brawl option you can create even more varieties of matches using rules to change game play.
Classic and All-Star Modes both make returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and keep the same format as the previous games, other elements such as break the targets, multi-man matches and the home run smash game return.

Graphics -
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is presented very well from cutscenes, to gameplay, even the menu screens in Super Smash Bros. Brawl show an amazing attention to detail and tireless effort. In battle characters are animated fluidly in amazing detail. I was certainly not disappointed by this games presentation.

Sound -
This game has incredible sound, the theme song gives the feeling of an epic and incredible game, the scale of this is easily comparable to Final Fantasy VII's One Winged Angel. During the course of the game you will unlock music that will be played during matches on different stages, in fact you can choose how often a song will play on a certain stage and it really is a great feeling to hear such classic and nostalgic tunes.

Overall -
Story and characters - (B)
Gameplay - (A*)
Graphics - (B)
Sound (A*)

Finishing comments -
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a fantastically fun game, which would not go amiss at a party or with friends but alone it isn't quite as fun. The game is definitely worth buying if you have an internet connection or friends.