I think it's still a little early to tell what Brawl has to offer, tournament wise compared to Melee.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Official Smash Bros. Brawl Thread [SPOILERS!]
- Thread starter michaelltd
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think it's still a little early to tell what Brawl has to offer, tournament wise compared to Melee.
The Sears near me (at Golf Mill in Niles, IL) sells games but didn't have it. Incidentally, there was another person there looking for the game too!
Like I said, I've got around 14 hours in, and some of those guys have over 100 hours.
Brawl is slower, more tactical, more forgiving, and less technical (for the high end players who use wavedashing, L-cancelling, Dashcancelling, etcetc). It's still very, very fun, just from a competitive standpoint, Melee shows a larger difference. I was keeping up with players like Deva and Eggz that are on the same level as that Luigi player (Ka Master) I linked you to and would have eaten me alive on Melee.
Yeah, when I asked about they said "Smash Bros, right?". The person on the phone said they won't get any more copies until March 9th, so yeah, they got wise.
Thanks for the info Praxis. Yeah I feel content now with Melee, as just the other week I ran into someone with a Capt. Falcon that was a level above my Luigi 
The matches, most of which I lost, were tons of fun but really technical. To this end, I'm happy that Brawl appears to be less technical... as this will pose a lower barrier to entry and help bring more people into the game.
The matches, most of which I lost, were tons of fun but really technical. To this end, I'm happy that Brawl appears to be less technical... as this will pose a lower barrier to entry and help bring more people into the game.The Dojo today is pretty sweet!
When the Jap Verison of brawl came out I read a lot of the spoilers but nobody really posted videos on it. Or made a big deal out of this stage.
http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/stages/stage30.html
The 75m stage was an unlockable when i was looking at unlockable stages section. But i didn't think much of it. But it's just neat to see how much retro is put in this game! And this level of detail too.
When the Jap Verison of brawl came out I read a lot of the spoilers but nobody really posted videos on it. Or made a big deal out of this stage.
http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/stages/stage30.html
The 75m stage was an unlockable when i was looking at unlockable stages section. But i didn't think much of it. But it's just neat to see how much retro is put in this game! And this level of detail too.
Since people have been discussing tournaments and such, I thought I'd post a link to this article:
Smash Bros. and Competitive Elitism
I thought it was well written, and I agree with its sentiments.
Smash Bros. and Competitive Elitism
I thought it was well written, and I agree with its sentiments.
Elitists = LOOSE
I hate holier than thou attitudes. I like Smash because the games are fun. The randomness, the variety of items and weapons....the "unknown" factors are what make the game the most fun. Elitist attitudes ruin the experience.
To be honest I'd like to see the context of the quote in that article from the YouTube comments.
I once saw a YouTube posting in response to Ka Master's video that went something like this:
Person A: "He's okay my brother is awesome and could beat him."
Person B: "No, your brother couldn't touch him. Ka Master is THE best Luigi player in the world, if you're brother was so good we'd know about him. Blah blah blah"
Taken out of context you could easily make person B sound like a snob, but really, he was responding to person A being arrogant about his own skills.
Personally, I just ignore the Smash Bros snobs. When I see someone leagues better than me, I just want to play against that person so I can learn from the loss.
I dunno. I think there's a careful balance. I actually do understand the competitive scene a lot better than these guys do (the article is basically a bunch of casual players whining that the competitive players are too competitive for them). Really, the competitive guys need to restrict their criticism to the other competitive players and not berate casual players, and everyone will be happy. I've said similar things myself.
Last week a new guy showed up at a Smash Bros practice. We all played some rounds, and then the second-best player in the region showed up. The guy's leagues beyond any of us and I might kill him once for every four lives I lose, and I can fight the new guy pretty well. The new guy tries to go for a wagered match for $10 against Brady (the really good player) and we all laugh because we know he's going to lose. He was all defensive, then went in the game and was eaten alive.
Smash Bros Melee is an extremely competitive game, showing any even minor skill variation between players. Quite possibly the best tournament game there ever was. Do you know why tourney-players hate items? Because items introduce an element of randomness. Randomness is VERY fun for a casual match, and in fact we turned on some items during casual four-player matches, but in the single 1v1 matches, when one is trying to take pure skill vs pure skill...items (and erratic stages) are just a frustration. There's nothing as annoying as fighting your very best only to be killed by a random Bob-omb or slipping between two cars on Big Blue.
Honestly, though, Brawl levels the playing field notably, as the vastly more forgiving recovery and slower speeds allow players with slower reflexes to keep up with the insane wavedashers that I can normally never touch
The context of the quote is clearly given in the article. It was from "the user-posted summary of the video." It was not from the comments section, so it was not a response. It was blatant arrogance.
What do you mean? There's nothing out of balance about people enjoying the game on a casual basis.
And how do you presume to know that? That comment shows some arrogance on your part. The article actually states that there is nothing wrong with players that are highly competitive: "I am not attempting to tell anyone how they should enjoy the game. Rather, I'm suggesting that those who do prefer a style of play shouldn't immediately assume that it's the only valid option."
Man I saw it today at Hollywood video (ironically going to rent Melee, my friend and I wanted to fill a craving since we've never actually owned Melee despite playing it so often) near the counter with a memo attached warning about breaking the street date.
I was so close to saying to the woman working "Hey how would you like $20" to sell me one of your products" but the more I thought of it the more complicated that situation would be with a camera right there and the register's trail.
Oh well, Sam's Club in 1 day, 23 hours and 25 minutes.
Btw on the subject of elitist, I'm by far no expert. I'm glad it's slower paced though, 4 player matches are just too fast moving for me to really be tactical and not button mash.
But so many are elitist when it comes to so many games. Look at Halo, how many people do you know claim or have claimed to be "the best", yet probably struggle through single player on medium? Smash Brothers is the same way.
Most of the time these people only play with other sub par players, and happen to be better then the sub par players.
I was so close to saying to the woman working "Hey how would you like $20" to sell me one of your products" but the more I thought of it the more complicated that situation would be with a camera right there and the register's trail.
Oh well, Sam's Club in 1 day, 23 hours and 25 minutes.
Btw on the subject of elitist, I'm by far no expert. I'm glad it's slower paced though, 4 player matches are just too fast moving for me to really be tactical and not button mash.
But so many are elitist when it comes to so many games. Look at Halo, how many people do you know claim or have claimed to be "the best", yet probably struggle through single player on medium? Smash Brothers is the same way.
Most of the time these people only play with other sub par players, and happen to be better then the sub par players.
A truly skilled player can adjust to any situation. They can constantly modify their tactics to account for anything that comes up. That is real skill.
Indeed. That's why Microsoft has the XBox 360 Elite. To cater to those kinds of people.
Preordered at EB can't wait til Sunday I'd go get it at midnight but I got work the next morning, but I can wait, I've been anticipating for so long I can wait a day more.
True, but in a match that's takes 10 mins, the amount of randomness with items far outweighs raw skill. If they were to play for 50 lives, a little better, but they don't play for 50 lives.
I'd go get it at midnight but I got work the next morning, but I can wait, I've been anticipating for so long I can wait a day more.True, but in a match that's takes 10 mins, the amount of randomness with items far outweighs raw skill. If they were to play for 50 lives, a little better, but they don't play for 50 lives.
Had a fellow student pick the game up for me yesterday. I'll be meeting him later today to pick it up.
I thinking I'll be heading to the midnight release tonight
No midnight releases near me, some local law problems... I'll be driving to Walmart at 6am.
I agree, but items can still unbalance a strict tournament. The last thing you want is for a random Bob-omb to fall out of the sky on someone using the hammer during the semi-finals, or a random exploding capsule to randomly appear in front of someone while he's doing an attack.
I like items, but I fully understand why they are turned off during tournaments.
Simple. There is nothing WRONG with extreme competitism. It's FUN to see how your skills rank up against the best of the best. Heck, it's the very story behind Pokemon ("be the best and beat the Elite Four"). I enjoy going to big tournaments and knowing which players are in my skill bracket and which will easily pwn me, and I know anyone would laugh if I even suggested taking the people I know are far beyond my skill level. It's that clear cut.
The balance is that said competitiveness should not bleed over in to criticizing the casual players.
And how do you presume to know that? That comment shows some arrogance on your part. The article actually states that there is nothing wrong with players that are highly competitive: "I am not attempting to tell anyone how they should enjoy the game. Rather, I'm suggesting that those who do prefer a style of play shouldn't immediately assume that it's the only valid option."
Okay, I'll admit to only skimming the second half of the article
The first half seemed to just be attacking the competitive players.
In a few more hours, I'll be heading to DigiPen for our first 3rd year game team meeting. At which point, I'll be able to get the game from my colleague.
I can't wait! It's going to be awesome!
... the team meeting I mean. Smash Bros. will be kinda neat too.
I can't wait! It's going to be awesome!
... the team meeting I mean. Smash Bros. will be kinda neat too.
In a few more hours, I'll be heading to DigiPen for our first 3rd year game team meeting. At which point, I'll be able to get the game from my colleague.
I can't wait! It's going to be awesome!
... the team meeting I mean. Smash Bros. will be kinda neat too.
Oh man, that's awesome. When you're a big dev at Nintendo, look me up
And make their online network not suck please.
Well, I can't wait to be among those who will pwn you!
And how do you know who you can or cannot beat if you never face them in battle?