Zero Punctuation: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

[burnside65]

Maybe it's because I thoroughly enjoy Smash Bros games, but this seemed to be his most biased review yet, in that he brought up almost no valid arguments about the game itself, though the do-all-the-levels-twice thing I completely agree with. Oh, and that gametraders thing was really unfunny, and it was worse because I was showing a friend this review so he could see what ZP is all about, and I was all like "I swear to God this is usually funny".

I honestly don't see what's so bad about unlockables. Up until this review I didn't even know people didn't like them. I enjoy them, because it kind of gives you something to look forward to and be surprised about. I guess if you're chock full of 21st century impatience and you need everything now, then unlockables aren't going to be your thing. And I suppose it might be bad to lock the most-hyped characters, but it could have been worse. All the other hyped new characters were ready to go, so I was able to try out Diddy Kong and Pokemon Trainer right away.

I've always thought SSB has 2 things going for it:
1. A fanboy massive crossover, yes.
2. A successful reinvention of the wheel of fighting games.
I've never liked mortal kombat style games, because the button sequences were too hard to master, and all the levels were purely cosmetic (but even though I don't like them, I don't mind that other people do). With SSB, every character uses the same simple control scheme to create unique attacks to form strategy around, you can use items and weapons to further mix things up, and the levels actually matter. If SSB was a plain old Mario Party minigame game, then yes it would just be a big fanboy game, but I don't think it would have sold as well because the gameplay in SSB is a lot of fun and appeals to a lot of people.

Lastly, Yahtzee again seems to discourage anyone who plays games by themselves long enough to get good at them, and says everyone should just sample everything and not be outstanding at anything. Then he proceeds to play that Minority song. That seems contradictory to me. The alternative music crowd plays all these songs about not conforming, but as soon as they meet someone who doesn't conform to their cool interests, they shun them.

 

[DashiWarhawk03]

Another game that is ruined yet again by a horrible camera, samey game play, and the company trying to squeze every last dime out of their dying franchise.

 

[144_v1legacy]

I'm not sure I agree with most of the above statements. Firstly, I have a friend who doesn't normally find Yahtzee funny (weird, right?) but thought this review was funny. It depends on the person, yeah? Secondly, Yahtzee's reviews are reviews, even if they ARE funny, and even if you don't have an extreme opinion as to its truthfulness in your case.

 

[Evilducks]

I like the way people comment about how they are gonna show this to their friends to piss them off. I mean, even tho you believe Yathzee is your god, i doubt your friends will care much about a random australian game being angry at nintendo for being so succesful using the same formula. It's funny, but at the point he clearly said ''im only gonna review the part i want to review'' (like in the halo 3 review), you know this is not gonna be a serious review. I agree with him when he says that this review is useless tho, because reviewing a multiplayer game without the multiplayer aspect of it makes it lose all it's credibility. But the fact that this is entertainment and not really reviews ALSO make it lose all of it's credibility (as a review, and not entertainment... because it is entertaining or i wouldnt be here).

PS: This is entertainement. Thats why you watch it and laugh so hard.

I don't even know where to begin...

Oh wait, yes I do. If some random Aussie talking crap about their beloved game didn't make people angry then why are we closing in on 1000 posts in this thread?


Next up, Are you confusing this with the Halo 3 review? He clearly played this one multiplayer because it is a multiplayer game by design. That was the point, he and all his multiplayer friends found it to be 'meh'.

On your last point, this is entertainment and a review. Reviews can be entertaining. He clearly pointed out what he thought were the flaws of the game and why he thinks the flaws are in the game to begin with.


Somebody needs to make this point clear: just because somebody disagrees with you on the value of a game does not mean that opinion is not valid or does not count as a review of said game.

 

[_daxter_]

Very funny review! Possibly one of the best.

And I feel really sorry for Yahtzee... People should let him review whatever he wants to.

Yeah, that'd be great. How about letting him review games he really likes. So he's got a chance to be positive for once. I really feel less and less the need to be transported to the sarcastic middle of the universe time and again. Yathzee should do a rant of brilliant alternative ideas for short and longtime development of the medium - with one brilliant example that he likes. Maybe one of his own games?

 

[tobyornottoby]

I honestly don't see what's so bad about unlockables. Up until this review I didn't even know people didn't like them. I enjoy them, because it kind of gives you something to look forward to and be surprised about. I guess if you're chock full of 21st century impatience and you need everything now, then unlockables aren't going to be your thing. And I suppose it might be bad to lock the most-hyped characters, but it could have been worse. All the other hyped new characters were ready to go, so I was able to try out Diddy Kong and Pokemon Trainer right away.

For multiplayer games I say it sucks!
Smash bros isn't the worst. Okay maybe not all characters are available, but you can always pick someone else and still play the real game

I remember buying Wario Ware with a group of friends, just to have it for some friend nights, only to find out you have to play through the entire single player just to unlock the multiplayer -.-

Even smash bros again, I think the bad times I had to play without a save game far outweight that 'unlocking pleasure' the first time

 

[disposable157]

I love unlockables and they can work in multiplayer games- it's a nice suprise to unlock Marth for example, or the complete waste of space that is Jiggly Puff.

But making Snake and Sonic locked by default is just stupid. Ditto Zero Suit Samus. I suppose the theory behind it is to give a real reward for playing the game for a long time but that can be effectively countered with the argument- Don't be so stupid.

On the subject of Yahtzee's reviews being reviews- they are in that he criticises the game and talks about various bits of it etc. etc. but in real terms-

the function of a review is to determine whether or not an average player will like the game in question. Yahtzee's reviews are all about what Yahtzee thinks. That's not a criticism, it's just true. That's not a review, that's an editorial.

You can tell I used to study English can't you? Pedant to the bone, I am...

 

[burnside65]

Oh yes, I agree with the WarioWare stuff for sure. We tried saving our data to a remote to use on a friend's Wii, but it was tied to our Mii data at home or something. We did manage to race through the single player in time to have some fun together, but it was still very annoying. It's really too bad because that's an excellent party game.

I actually played the game expecting him to comment on several phoned-in aspects of the game, like the character clones, break the targets, and removal of end-of-level bonuses.

 

[tobyornottoby]

I love unlockables and they can work in multiplayer games- it's a nice suprise to unlock Marth for example, or the complete waste of space that is Jiggly Puff.

I dunno about brawl, but in melee jigglypuff certainly wasn't worthless. At least in the 'competetive casual' atmosphere, any character could own the field depending on the master

 

[Xenoveritas]

But making Snake and Sonic locked by default is just stupid. Ditto Zero Suit Samus. I suppose the theory behind it is to give a real reward for playing the game for a long time but that can be effectively countered with the argument- Don't be so stupid.

Zero Suit Samus isn't locked, per se. (Is she?) She's just secret, sort of like how to start as Sheik instead of Zelda.

There are apparently three ways to trigger Zero Suit Samus:

1. Use Samus's Final Smash.
2. Hold down any Shield button while advancing to the next screen (not while selecting Samus).
3. Quickly (very quickly) toggle between Up/Down/Up taunts.

So not locked, it's just that the only way to find out how to start as Zero Suit Samus is online [http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/zerosuit_samus.html] which is obnoxious. Then again, quite a lot about how to play this game is never explained in the game itself and can only be learned elsewhere.

Which is probably why Yahtzee figured it's a plain-old button masher. If you don't know how Smash Attacks and Specials work, it might as well be.

 

[Satoz]

Well in order to cater to everyones needs, let me begin by listing what I am not- I am not a Nintendo fan boy, I am not a game troll, I am not a person who feels the need to go alongside everyone else, I am not a prick who has never played this game and is jealous of people who own it, or want to put down any wii users, I am not another consoles fan boy, I am not a biased fool with not thought process, and I am not here to kiss somebody's ass. (insert any other annoying things you could possible call me here)....
Ok lets go! well first off this review was one of the few I only chuckled at once. While I do like SSBB, I was hoping for some fun poking at its numerous flaws (every game has them) instead I, like a few others, felt this was just a rant, intent on debasing a fairly decent multi-player game. Dont get me wrong, im not here to say "OMG SSBB ROcks so hard" but it certainly doesnt deserve to not even get a fair review. I mean I usually like yahtzee because I can see what he reviews, and decide if a game is good or not (like no more heroes which I enjoyed) based on how many flaws it had. Yet here is just seems that he hated it to start with. Stating he was happy he left it somewhere else giving him time to review a game he likes, and all that drinking etc. while he was right at many points, he also seemed to be bashing the game more than usual, to the point where it felt more insulting towards anyone who even partially enjoyed the game. Of course many of the people here do not like any sort of post here, as anything I say can be and probably will be flamed, or called idiotic or fan boyish. But to be honest, ssb is one of the few multiplayer games I have, that can be enjoyed for quite some time, and since Yahtzee is not a fan of multi players its just not a good idea for him to review them for any group. (just look at this thread)

anyways on an added note, button mashing is possible in many games, but lets be honest, a basic grasp of the controls in brawl is all you need to play well and beat THAT GUY. (that part made chuckle)

so all in all, the review itself was what bugged me, not the statements about the game, I mean ok, Yahtzee is not going to like every game I like, and hes not the god of gaming who decides what is good and what is rubbish, but at least keep it to its usual formula, where there is some mild bashing, but followed with a reasonable description of why. I like his review for that, and this time it just didnt feel up to standard.

p.s again i am not a fanboy, I just dont want to see review go sour like this one felt to me, and yes he has rated games that I have liked poorly before, just like he has rated ones that I have liked highly, however they were always good reviews.

 

[tthor]

i personally like smash bros. Brawl. tho, yes, it does have its weak points, but, as fighting games go, this game isnt too bad
PS: i am not a nintendo fan boy, and in most other mario games i would rather beat the plumber over the head with a bat repeatedly so i nvr have to see is his face on another mario title...

...wait a minute, i CAN beat mario over the head with a bat now! =D

 

[tthor]

I love unlockables and they can work in multiplayer games- it's a nice suprise to unlock Marth for example, or the complete waste of space that is Jiggly Puff.

I dunno about brawl, but in melee jigglypuff certainly wasn't worthless. At least in the 'competetive casual' atmosphere, any character could own the field depending on the master

why hasnt nintendo gotten rid of jigglypuff? i dont think there is a single person that even LIKES jigglypuff!

 

[burnside65]

I dunno, if you analyze Jigglypuff as a pure fighter she really isn't that bad. She can be lethally powerful if you know what you're doing. For example, Jigglypuff was the only character I ever beat the last event match with, because it was notoriously easy to get rid of Giga Bowser. A true unbiased player can probably become super cheap with Jigglypuff.

The real problem with Jigglypuff is that it honours the anime too much over the original game, which is what SSB should be about. At the time the original SSB came out, people weren't sick of the anime yet and putting in Jigglypuff probably made those fans happy. Now, it seems out of date. Although, I thank God every day that they made him "Pokemon Trainer" and not "Ash".

 

[The Thief]

You're forgetting the humiliation of getting beaten by a pink, floaty, narcoleptic fluffball.

 

[Eremiel]

I play Jigglypuff. And I'm pretty damn good with the floating little ball of pink fluff.

Jiggly is massively underestimated and can be deadly in the right hands, even if she (it?) has gotten massively nerfed from it's (her?) Melee incarnation.

 

[SiirusNagisa]

despite how much i love SSBB, you've made a ton of points which were dead-on (particularly the one about being "that guy") - this is EASILY the best review you've done. bra-vo good sir.

(also, if more reviews start with eye of the tiger, they will achieve the same level of praise imo)

 

[tobyornottoby]

I love unlockables and they can work in multiplayer games- it's a nice suprise to unlock Marth for example, or the complete waste of space that is Jiggly Puff.

I dunno about brawl, but in melee jigglypuff certainly wasn't worthless. At least in the 'competetive casual' atmosphere, any character could own the field depending on the master

why hasnt nintendo gotten rid of jigglypuff? i dont think there is a single person that even LIKES jigglypuff!

girls.

A lot of girls like jiggly. Even some 'non-pink' girls

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I love unlockables and they can work in multiplayer games- it's a nice suprise to unlock Marth for example, or the complete waste of space that is Jiggly Puff.

I dunno about brawl, but in melee jigglypuff certainly wasn't worthless. At least in the 'competetive casual' atmosphere, any character could own the field depending on the master

why hasnt nintendo gotten rid of jigglypuff? i dont think there is a single person that even LIKES jigglypuff!

girls.

A lot of girls like jiggly. Even some 'non-pink' girls

And my sister's fiance, as he has taken the time to learn how to use her Rest move effectively.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

This jigglypuff talk reminds me of when you had to use Jigglypuff in melee to kill gigabowser, ganondorf, and..some other character, and at first you are like "oh my god are you kidding?" - but then you realize that there is no better person than jigglypuff for this fight.