| Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |
|---|---|
| Super Smash Bros. Brawl logo | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo Tokyo[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Masahiro Sakurai (director) |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release | TBA 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting game |
| Mode(s) | single player, multiplayer, online |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the title of an upcoming fighting game for the Wii. As the third iteration in the massively successful series, it has been confirmed that it will support some network features, Internet play, (Wi-Fi)[2] and will be released sometime in 2007, and thus will not be a launch title as was first planned. It also marks the first Super Smash Bros. game that features a character from a franchise not owned by Nintendo in a playable format with the inclusion of Solid Snake from the Metal Gear franchise. His introduction in the E3 trailer was a humorous send-up of some Metal Gear Solid series conventions, and referenced the games' Codec communication system and the now-famous cardboard boxes that Snake often hides in. It also featured the first game's musical coda performed in the Super Smash Bros. style.
Development
Masahiro Sakurai, former HAL Laboratories employee and creator of Kirby and the Super Smash Bros. series, has been announced as the director for the game.[3]
An IGN article states that "as of May 2005, the game's development staff consisted of exactly one person, Sakurai himself" and that there is an office in Tokyo just for the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The article also states that an unknown company whose employees spent a lot of time playing the game is being brought into the development team, and the team will have access to all the original material and tools from the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee.[4]
On Wednesday, May 10, 2006, at the After-Hours Press Conference at E3 2006, Nintendo revealed that the next game's name would be Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Although unconfirmed, by images within the game's trailer it seems that new stages will include Meta-Knight's airship, the Halberd, from Kirby Super Star and what appears to be a darkened castle, probably from Fire Emblem Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance or the recently announced Fire Emblem (Wii) as it shows the Daein crest.
Miyamoto and Sakurai, who were there to make the announcement, also confirmed that the game would have full compatibility with the GameCube controller. Sakurai stated that the reason was because he did not want to "alienate those familiar with the pad." It was confirmed by IGN that it will not use the Wii's motion sensing features because "We found that trying to implement too much motion-sensory functionality can get in the way of the game," said Sakurai.
In the E3 trailer it is also shown that puppies from Nintendogs will be an item in the game that will most likley veil the screen for a few seconds.
Videos also suggest new battle mechanics, such as "super smash" character moves that are triggered by the collection of emblem items.
The inclusion of Konami-created character Solid Snake may seem as a conflict of the Smash Bros. paradigm; to only include characters from games made by Nintendo and their second parties (ie. HAL Laboratory), but Sakurai stated that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima "practically begged" for Snake to be included in the next Smash Bros. game (which, at the time of said "begging", was Super Smash Bros. Melee, but production of the game was already too far in to make the addition viable). And, according to some arguments on the internet, the inclusion of Solid Snake is plausible, considering the first Metal Gear was released on the NES and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was released exclusively for the GameCube (and the latter featured cameo appearances from Nintendo icons Mario and Yoshi). According to Sakurai, discussions for possible other third-party character additions such as SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog and Capcom's Megaman are underway, but nothing has been confirmed.
Famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu contributed the main theme of the game. It is unknown whether he will be composing additional tracks. [5]
Japanese fans are currently being asked to submit their desired characters and themes to Nintendo's website, the most popular of which will be incorporated into the game. It is currently unknown if this will eventually be opened for overseas fans as well.[6]
Online Multiplayer
Super Smash Brothers Brawl may be the first game in the series to feature an online multiplayer mode. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service on Wii would be very similar to that of the Nintendo DS. It will likely feature a friend code system, which requires codes to be entered before a player can connect with a specific known opponent.
Confirmed Characters
- Mario (of the Super Mario Bros. series)
- Link (of the Legend of Zelda series; the Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
- Pikachu (of the Pokémon series)
- Kirby (of the Kirby series)
- Samus (of the Metroid series)
- Meta-Knight (from the Kirby series) new
- Pit (from Kid Icarus) new
- Zero-Suit Samus (from Metroid: Zero Mission of the Metroid series; Variation of Samus without her Power Suit) new
- Wario (from various Nintendo games, most notably the WarioWare and Wario Land series; wearing his WarioWare outfit) new
- Solid Snake (from Konami's Metal Gear series) new
- Sasuke Uchiha (from Shounen Jump's Naruto series)Sasuke is an emo from the popular anime Naruto, his special is speculated to be slitting his wrists. new
Screenshots
References
- ^ Famitsu - Super Smash Bros. Dojo press release Smashbros.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ "E3 2005: Smash Bros. For Revolution" Ign.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ "Smash Bros. Revolution Director Revealed" Ign.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ "Sakurai Elaborates on Smash Bros. Revolution" Ign.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ "A Main Theme with Emotion" Smashbros.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ "E3 2006: Fans Asked to Fill Smash Bros. Roster" Ign.com. URL Accessed May 11, 2006.