Published by: Nintendo Developed by: Nintendo / Game Arts Genre: Fighting Number of Players: 1-4 Release Date: US: March 9, 2008 Japan: January 30, 2008 Europe: TBA 2008 Australia: TBA 2008 MSRP: $49.99 Super Smash Bros Brawl Snake vs Mario The 3D fighter, developed by Nintendo, Sora and Game Arts, is always at the tip-top of GameStats' most wanted list and these days it's also the most popular game on IGN thanks to readers like you. It's not difficult to understand why, either -- after all, the anticipated Wii brawler represents the culmination of Nintendo's beloved franchise; more characters, stages and options than ever before, not to mention enhanced graphics and addictive online-compatible multiplayer modes to boot. So now that we've vacationed 24 hours with the title, can we definitely say that the final experience is worth the wait? You better believe it. Obviously, we'll be slamming the site with Brawl related content over the next several weeks. Today, though, we're kicking off with our initial impressions of the fighting experience, as well some thoughts on our favorite characters thus far. Brawl begins with a cinematic opening which introduces many of the trademark characters in the game. The quality of the render is pristine and the orchestrated music that accompanies helps set up the mood of the experience. Once you click over to the main menu, you are given several choices, including Group, Solo, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Vault, Options and Data. Interestingly, the interface is completely incompatible with the Wii remote's infrared pointer; rather, if you choose to play Brawl with the peripheral, you hold it classic style and use the D-Pad to navigate. (Amazingly, you can't even shoot at the end credits using infrared, which is unfortunate.) The different menu selectables aren't hard to follow, but we'll elaborate all the same. Group is designed for local multiplayer matches. Pick your characters, choose a stadium and have at it. Solo represents the single-player classic or adventure modes. In vault, you will find collectable trophies and stickers, your photo album ,the challenge board, instant replays you've saved, masterpieces (which houses classic Nintendo games), chronicle (a list of past and present Nintendo titles) and, of course the stage builder. Very likely, the majority of your time with Nintendo's new fighter will be spent in the Group Brawl mode, which houses the four-player compatible local multiplayer mode. Here, you can choose from 30-plus characters, including familiar mascots like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Samus, but also the likes of Lucas, Captain Olimar and the Pikmin, Pit from Kid Icarus, Zelda / Sheik, Ike, the Pokemon Trainer, Captain Falcon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Toon Link, Marth and Solid Snake. Unique move sets have been created for the majority of these characters so that, for example, Pikachu will execute a variety of different maneuvers from Captain Meta Knight, and so forth. If you've played any Smash Bros. title before, you already know all of this, we know, but supposing you're new to the franchise, Brawl is, like its predecessors, a seemingly simple fighter with a lot of hidden depth. While you have only a handful of different attacks (including variations) per character, you can do quite a lot with each character's skills and great timing is more important than in most other fighters on the market. Several of us experimented with different control schemes. We tried everything from playing with the Wii remote to using the Wave Bird and the truth is that the Smash Bros. purists among us ultimately prefer sticking with a traditional controller despite the fact that with some practice you can become very effective with the Wii remote, too. The good news is that the title affords you the option to fully customize the layout of whichever controller you choose. However, there are some inherent sacrifices to choosing the Wii remote over, say, the classic co
