You echoed my thoughts perfectly. I often criticized Brawl's choice of Trophies, but I didn't know how to explain it quite as well as you did here. I normally hate using words like "soul" and "charm" to convey that I didn't like some aspect about a game, but those words really are the only ones that I feel are applicable.
The Brawl main theme was amazing, but I quickly grew tired of it after hearing so many variations.
Even the Pokemon selection lacked something special, and I honestly can't explain what it is. Maybe nostalgia is clouding my perception, but I was always really excited to throw a Pokeball and see what came out. I wasn't as excited in Brawl for some (probably unjustifiable) reason.
Thanks, Silent! Brawl's main theme is a perfectly good theme by its own merit...
I like the Trophy Theme in Brawl better. Very chill.
... and so are most of the variations when taken on their own. But as you say, using it as a basis for the vast majority of original music in the game didn't do it any favors. On the Pokémon subject, I can't put my finger on it either, but I think the way the pokéballs are programmed may be unbalanced...
Am I the only one who noticed that the "random" in Brawl was screwed up, in terms of items, pokeballs and assist trophies?
This. Many a time the same Pokémon come out
in a row, and at least in my personal case, Munchlax and Gardevoir appear with alarming frequency.
Well said.
One of the best things that differentiated Melee from its predecessor, and made it appear as something more than just a quick cash-in sequel, was that it was essentially a Nintendo history museum on a disc. I absolutely loved that aspect of the game.
It would be pretty awesome if for SSB4 we had trophies or whatever where you get little known info about past Nintendo games. Kinda like a little developer's diary.
Thanks, man! Gotta agree with you there, and yeah, that'd be a kickass idea. You see how as you progressed in Brawl, the Chronicles section would get bigger? It'd be ace to see a Trivia section of sorts appear, where the more you accomplish in the game, the more tidbits from several franchises pop up.
Thank you. Thank you so much. This is basically exactly how I feel about Melee vs. Brawl.
It's not about balance, it's not about tripping. It's certainly not about wavedashing. It's about one game that absolutely trumps the other in everything except character number.
Melee was a joy to play in basically every way. To this day I can have a good amount of fun going through All-Star or Adventure mode with a character or two. Brawl is... still good, mind you, but much less so. All of its single player modes (literally ALL of them) are repetitive and uninspired, which is unacceptable coming after Melee's good balance between multiplayer and single player.
This post moved me. Richie, you are the man and you are so goddamn right on the money.
Thank you for reading it, mates! C. Olimar, you opine that Brawl, albeit good, compares unfavorably to Melee, and I can't help but agree. That's the key; good, but less so than Melee.
From that I segue into...
You mean like in brawl.
Or are we pretending brawl did everything wrong ever. what that guy even suggest is silly especially something so subjective i don't even think i can be held against the game
Brawl haters secretly love Brawl because it gives them an excuse to make long-winded posts about the depth and complexity of Melee on the internet.
Brawl was a disappointment in several aspects, but now to claim that it's fucking soulless and Melee's soundtrack was better? You cannot be serious.
Gonna be great when Brawl is lionized and everyone who hated Brawl hates the new Smash.
I think this is a good moment as any to clarify something.
I'm not a Brawl hater. Just last night, my bros and I spent about two hours and a half duking it out in SSBB, and having a pretty great time doing so (bros, pizza, beer, junk food and Smash, some of the most fun one can have without ladies involved!).
It's a game that's given me many a good moment in multiplayer, and I'm not ignoring everything it did do right; my complaints in the music department were aimed at the original tunes Brawl came up with, but I certainly recognize the colossal effort that went into the soundtrack as a whole, even if it's nowhere as cohesive as Melee's, how about those inspired choices? (Like X's Tunnel's Theme or Shin Onigashima). There's still creativity and enthusiasm reflected in parts of the game, be it with the stages (Warioware's, Pictochat, the amazing detail of K.K. playing on Saturday nights in Smashville) in the items (allowing one to move while holding the likes of a Fire Flower is much appreciated, as is the addition of Rocket Launcher, Gooey Bomb and plenty of others, Assist Trophies highlighted) roster selection (Pokémon Trainer made me explode with hype when it was unveiled and it's one of the most inspired choices for a character in the series, whereas Snake and Sonic are both welcome additions, and they cared enough to give Ma Man Wario his original clothes!)...and many other new features I'm thankful for (To mention some, Challenges is a great idea, having Snapshots available at all times ROCKS, Replays and Stage Builder, limited as they were, allowed for plenty of hilarity, and sending a new snapshot/video/stage daily was mindblowing for me at the time).
As you can see from the preceding wall o' text, I still like Brawl enough to replay it frequently from time to time; if that's not a sign that I recognize the game's virtues, what is?
Then comes the comparisons with Melee. I cant' be entirely objective about this, obviously, and no one should expect me to; it's a matter of opinions, and I can only speak from where I stand. But if I had to summarize my thoughts (and may as well do, since this post has ran long enough) is that Melee did
more with less. Its scope was nowhere near as ambitious as its successor's, but I firmly believe it managed to take full advantage of its potential, all circumstances considered, in a far greater way than Brawl managed.