Support NeoGAF

[TheDinoman]

10 years ago on this very day, after hinting at it a few days prior with this mysterious update, Masahiro Sakurai formally unveiled The Subspace Emissary, the large scale adventure/story mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, on the Smash Bros. DOJO!!.

Naturally, there was a lot of hype and anticipation for this mode. Why wouldn't there be? It was the first time the Smash Bros. series (known for multiplayer/competitive action) had received a fleshed out single player mode of this scale, with a whole multitude of side-scrolling stages and boss fights. It was going to, at last, unite Nintendo's all-stars together in one cohesive storyline, told by extravagantly produced CG cutscenes. However, when Brawl was released in March 2008, most people found that the mode...wasn't quite what they were expecting. The CG cutscenes as previously mentioned were cool and all, but most people found SSE to be overall a bit...bland.

Rather than taking the Kingdom Hearts approach to crossovers and having multiple Nintendo themed universes to run around in, Subspace instead insisted on one single generic world, filled with generic and character-less forests, jungles, mountain sides, secret laboratories, etc which contain at best vague references to actual Nintendo series (look guys, Donkey Kong and Diddy are running around in a generic jungle, it's totally like Donkey Kong Country! Samus is running around a generic sci-fi labratory, it's totally like Metroid!). Instead of the main enemy forces being recognizable Nintendo enemies like Metroids, Redeads, Bulborbs, etc, Subspace instead relied on generic, bizarre OCs that were often irritating to fight against.

What the fuck, man. Seriously, what the fuck.

Gameplay wise, SSE had a lot of issues as well. The main problem is that, well, considering Sakurai's involvement, it's obviously all trying to be some Kirby game in the vein of Super Star. But this doesn't exactly quite work because the physics and mechanics of the game. Obviously, Smash has always been about its percentage bar, racking up damage to each opponent so you can knock them off the stage. The enemies in SSE however have a generic lifebar, and the general level design quite obviously isn't designed around the percentage meter, despite players still having it. So this means you're constantly being banged around the stage like some basketball whenever you get swarmed by enemies which cause your percentage meter to go up to like 170% or something like that. It's obnoxious. It also doesn't help that Brawl's physics were slow and floaty in of itself, and SSE actually messed with the physics of the characters even more.

So yeah, it had its moments but ultimately it was just kind of a chore that took up way, way too much development time and resources. I believe its been said that Sakurai apparently had more characters and extra features in mind for Brawl, but had to be scrapped due to work on the SSE, so if you were ever a fan of Mewtwo and Roy, you'd probably have to blame this for that. Ultimately, it goes without saying that it all hurt the quality of the game, and was probably a big factor into why Brawl felt so unpolished with so many weird bugs and glitches like chain grabbing and Meta Knight in general.

But maybe you disagree. Once Sakurai announced that Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS wouldn't have a big story mode like SSE, there was sort of an outcry from Smash fans who actually enjoyed it and felt that Smash 4 was worser off for not having it. So...what did you all think of The Subspace Emissary, 10 years later?

 

[PR_rambo]

Fuck no

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I loved it to death.

I really want it to return.

 

[Adam Prime]

Yeah, it was great! Like a big stupid fan faction, what's not to love? I wish Smash 4 Switch has something with all of its characters!

 

[Plasma]

I like the idea of it just not the implementation.

 

[Some Nobody]

I loved it to death.

I really want it to return.

On point.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Not using Nintendo enemies was the weirdest thing ever

Especially since that motocycle robot thing behaves like a Wheelie from Kirby, anyway. So... just make it a Wheelie.


Somehow they managed to make a team up of Bowser and Ganondorf boring.

 

[nbnt]

This is why Brawl > 4.

 

[Inferno313]

It was fine.

Enjoyed it, but also didn't really miss it in Smash 4.

 

[Nostremitus]

I loved it.

I played the hell out of it.

I barely played Smash Wii U because it was missing. It was the best way to learn characters in single player that's not just playing boring assed matches against the computer.

 

[Shiggy]

You have all Nintendo IPs, and what do you do with them? Nothing. Let's create a generic world with generic enemies instead.

 

[Caffeine]

it was a good idea, and I think if they would try it again they would get it to click better. def has things that needed changing or ironing out. I was really sad when smash 4 didnt have it.

some of you acting like taking smash's fighting mechanics and putting it into a side scroller made it turn out like subzero mythologies lol

 

[yuoke]

This was one case where having OCs was a bad thing. It should have been all enemies from nintendo series.

 

[LeleSocho]

No!

 

[KelpPlankton]

The gameplay was fun, but I wish it's story had been a bit more interesting and worked some more characters into it a bit better. It felt like not enough time was spent on the fun crossover angle of it and too much was like, Mario and Pit wandering around for a while.

Maybe if it had used areas from the various games' worlds it would have felt better?

 

[Voidwolf]

Yeah I loved it, so wacky and fun. Really want another one with more cutscenes.

 

[CaviarMeths]

The level design was kind of ass and the controls weren't well suited for platforming.

Nah it wasn't my jam.

Story was kind of wacky nonsensical fun though. Also Samus teaming up with Pikachu was probably the greatest thing of all time.

 

[Aizen.S.Kennedy]

Nah B

 

[nintendoman58]

I liked the story aspect and how it was told without any character saying a word.

 

[Aim_Ed]

I was like 14 and I played the entire thing coop with my older brother during a week long blizzard. It's one of the warmest video game memories I have, and young me was getting super emotional as all these characters were teaming up. I absolutely loved it at the time.

Absolutely 0 urge to go back and replay it out of fear that it sucks ass though.

 

[Dimitri LH]

Yes! Loved it so damn much.

 

[Strings]

Yes - a ton! Like, the execution was just okay, but I'm desperate for more singleplayer content in Nintendo's multiplayer games, if only so they can get better and better at implementing it. As is, I'm extremely burnt out on Mario Kart, Party, Golf, Smash, etc; just way too much of the same.

Crash Team Racing is still my favourite cart racer by far, mostly because of the campaign.

 

[ffdgh]

Eh not really aside from the scenes. Still waiting for an expanded melee adventure mode.

 

[McNum]

I liked it and honestly missed having something like it in Smash 4.

But I do agree that not using Nintendo enemies was a bit strange. I'd love to see the next Smash have a long optionally co-op campaign, but using real Nintendo enemies this time. That might be a little trouble for the Fire Emblem characters, but on the flipside, who doesn't want to fight a giant dragon boss?

 

[FrontalMonk]

I enjoyed SSE, but I think I liked Adventure Mode from Melee more. In either case, the lack of an adventure mode in 4 really hurt its longevity for me (well that and my usual group of smash players had all moved to the four corners of the world by the time Smash 4 was out).

 

[R00bot]

I liked it a lot, but it also had a lot that could have been improved on and I can see why they abandoned it after the reception (especially with the amount of work that obviously went into it).

 

[patapuf]

Yeah.

Lot's of room for improvement but i liked it a lot.

 

[redmetal86]

I liked the Ridley boss fight. That and Tabuu are all I remember.

 

[elyetis]

Yup, had great fun in coop with it.

 

[Bisnic]

Could have been a lot better if they had use worlds & enemies from Nintendo franchises rather than creating these generic worlds filled with abominations.

 

[LinkSlayer64]

It was fun, and Smash Run was a really good evolution of it that included actual Nintendo enemies.
Also, I didn't mind having some unique designs for the world of Smash. Especially those tiny dudes

 

[Poyunch]

Of course.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Yes it was awesome, we need this again in smash.

 

[DarkTom]

I like the idea of it just not the implementation.

Basically my opinion.

 

[Raptomex]

It was better than Smash Tour, that's for sure, at least when talking about playing solo.

 

[NotLiquid]

I only played it for the cutscenes.

It had some of the most boring platforming in any Nintendo game and I have no idea what Sakurai was thinking not actually basing worlds/enemies off of established properties outside of just Halberd. In this regard it was a massive step down from Melee's Adventure mode. The lack of cohesion makes it come across as Fanfiction.net material half the time.

 

[TheDinoman]

It's interesting how, despite Smash 4 not having a SSE like mode, all of its components actually kinda are in the game: platforming/brawling, boss battles, and the cutscenes. Just spread throughout.

Smash Run's maze portion is literally just SSE's platforming segments, even going so far as reusing a select few Subspace Army enemies. Basically the same gist, running a around generic temple area and beating up enemies along the way, except this time there's actual Nintendo goons to go against so it's all good. Master Fortress at the end of Classic Mode is also basically just a SSE stage.

The boss fights were, for better or worse, put on select stages. Ridley on Pyrosphere, Yellow Devil on Wily Castle, Dark Emperor on Find Mii, and Metal Face on Gaur Plains. There's also an entire boss rush at the end of Classic Mode, with the Master Core forms.

Lastly, the resources for the cutscenes obviously were used for all the character trailers. The cutscenes in SSE were cool but I definitely preferred this. Made each character announcement feel like an event.

 

[Merc_]

Honestly no.

The cutscenes were nice but the platforming was ass.

 

[peter0611]

Giant evil Diddy messed me up good.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

I enjoyed SSE, but I think I liked Adventure Mode from Melee more. In either case, the lack of an adventure mode in 4 really hurt its longevity for me (well that and my usual group of smash players had all moved to the four corners of the world by the time Smash 4 was out).

I don't think we'll ever see adventure mode again if the roster keeps expanding; it took so long to complete and with how Classic was done, the only way I see it come back is if you took like a squad of 5 and got all their trophies at once per completion.

 

[Jimnymebob]

I enjoyed it, but like others have said, I wish it focused more on the IPs than it's own stuff.

The Great Maze was stupid though, and the last boss (was he called Tabu?) was ridiculous.

 

[Berordn]

The idea was fine, but it ended up getting really dull really fast. The most interesting thing about it was the character interactions in the cutscenes and the rest of the mode didn't really live up to that.

Also the lack of a decent story didn't help matters, and deciding to cut all the scenes that actually explained what was going on was probably not a smart move.

Plus like OP points out, when there's a massive stable of Nintendo enemies, making up your own bizarre creatures makes no sense.

 

[maxcriden]

Are the cutscenes worth watching as a Nintendo (but not Smash) fan?

 

[Platy]

I like the idea of it just not the implementation.

This.

If it went more like Smash Run with familiar enemies and more like Meele Adventure mode with familiar places it would be MUCH better

 

[Nostremitus]

Are the cutscenes worth watching as a Nintendo (but not Smash) fan?

I think so.

 

[MrSaturn99]

I thought it was great. Personally, I think it was really ambitious they made an entire new cast of enemies just for one mode (the skipping horn guy being my favorite; I wish he was in Smash Run!). I get some of the complaints but I felt most of the hate was overblown. Also, Porky boss!

No Adventure Mode in Smash 4 wad a shame, but Smash Run is possibly the most fun I've had with a Smash mode and it plays kinda like it anyway, so it worked pyt.

 

[TheDinoman]

See, on paper, I don't think the idea of having original enemies is an entirely bad idea. Smash has already had its fair share of original creations as seen with Master Hand, all the fighting teams, Giga Bowser, etc. It was just overly relying on them that was the issue, as well as giving them really weird designs. I think Mario is pretty much the only Nintendo series to have its enemies present in SSE.

Smash Run kinda revealed a shocking revelation to me: the Subspace enemies aren't that bad looking as long as they have actual Nintendo enemies to back them up. Look at this image:

That Roturret doesn't stick out quite nearly as much with there being more familiar faces around it. It and the other SSE goons blend in pretty well with the other Nintendo enemies, just like how Smash's original items (ie the Motion Sensor Bomb, Cracker Launcher, etc) do with the items actually based on Nintendo properties.

 

[Skittzo0413]

God I absolutely loved it. Super upset any adventure mode was missing from Smash 4, and I'd be really upset if it's missing from the next one too.

And to be completely honest, I didn't even notice the generic world and enemies because I was having too much fun playing it. I really just didn't even think of that until reading the OP just now... and yeah, it is a bit disappointing that they didn't have enemies or worlds from various Nintendo games now that you mention it.

It was still fun as hell though, and I loved the cutscenes.

 

[Jintor]

I loved the idea of it and the cutscenes were pretty fun crossover times. But man the gameplay sucked

 

[Ged]

I really liked the idea of Nintendo characters interacting with each other. That's it.