[yes, I registered to comment on this specifically]
As a diehard Nintendo fanboy (not the rabid kind, just seriously stuck-in-my ways), I will concede that Nintendo games tend to be things that I _grudgingly_ like. There are a few things I absolutely hate about Brawl (mostly to do with online, which I'm surprised Yahtzee didn't rip apart, actually), and yes, having to unlock the stuff that was so hyped up is a pain (especially since some of the unlockable stages are awesome). The fact that some of the additional rules (especially the random stage switch) need to be unlocked is a pain, too. The fact that you can't download a savefile for the game (because Brawl SPECIFICALLY prevents you from copying its savefile off the Wii) feels like a kick in the balls from Nintendo. I'm lucky enough to be able to play with a lot of people who are roughly as good as me, so being "that guy" isn't much of a problem. And the Great Maze can go fuck itself, seriously.
And yes, the inclusion of MOTHER 3 stuff feels like an even bigger kick in the balls.
All this said, once you:
-Unlock all characters and stages
-Unlock the Random Stage Switch, and disable New Pork City, Temple, 75m, Mario Bros, Hanenbow, and any other stages you hate
-Get a general grasp of the controls (which are roughly the same for every character)
-Find a group of people to play against, who also are vaguely familiar with the game
-MAYBE learn one or two characters in detail...
...the game will become an epic clusterfuck of awesome and win.
Another fact is that one player being better than another is going to happen in any game, and attempting to "balance" things is a no-win situation. Either the game will become a coin-flipping contest (which happens in Brawl with a button masher faces someone who doesn't know how to counter (which isn't difficult once you figure it out), or offer such stupid handicaps that it becomes a disadvantage to be winning at any point (Mario Kart). The only way around is to somehow make losing a game less of a disappointment, but that's somewhat dependant on the player and their attitude.
Most of all, though, I think it's a mistake to play Brawl with the intent of criticizing it. The replay value in Brawl has fully nothing to do with unlocking stuff and everything to do with playing multiplayer again and again and again because of how damn FUN it is.
(afterthought: I dream about how awesome Brawl would be if it kept it's Nintendo content but had the backend (unlockables, online, interface) developed, published and marketed by Microsoft or Sony.)
(Now I'm depressed.)
As a diehard Nintendo fanboy (not the rabid kind, just seriously stuck-in-my ways), I will concede that Nintendo games tend to be things that I _grudgingly_ like. There are a few things I absolutely hate about Brawl (mostly to do with online, which I'm surprised Yahtzee didn't rip apart, actually), and yes, having to unlock the stuff that was so hyped up is a pain (especially since some of the unlockable stages are awesome). The fact that some of the additional rules (especially the random stage switch) need to be unlocked is a pain, too. The fact that you can't download a savefile for the game (because Brawl SPECIFICALLY prevents you from copying its savefile off the Wii) feels like a kick in the balls from Nintendo. I'm lucky enough to be able to play with a lot of people who are roughly as good as me, so being "that guy" isn't much of a problem. And the Great Maze can go fuck itself, seriously.
And yes, the inclusion of MOTHER 3 stuff feels like an even bigger kick in the balls.
All this said, once you:
-Unlock all characters and stages
-Unlock the Random Stage Switch, and disable New Pork City, Temple, 75m, Mario Bros, Hanenbow, and any other stages you hate
-Get a general grasp of the controls (which are roughly the same for every character)
-Find a group of people to play against, who also are vaguely familiar with the game
-MAYBE learn one or two characters in detail...
...the game will become an epic clusterfuck of awesome and win.
Another fact is that one player being better than another is going to happen in any game, and attempting to "balance" things is a no-win situation. Either the game will become a coin-flipping contest (which happens in Brawl with a button masher faces someone who doesn't know how to counter (which isn't difficult once you figure it out), or offer such stupid handicaps that it becomes a disadvantage to be winning at any point (Mario Kart). The only way around is to somehow make losing a game less of a disappointment, but that's somewhat dependant on the player and their attitude.
Most of all, though, I think it's a mistake to play Brawl with the intent of criticizing it. The replay value in Brawl has fully nothing to do with unlocking stuff and everything to do with playing multiplayer again and again and again because of how damn FUN it is.
(afterthought: I dream about how awesome Brawl would be if it kept it's Nintendo content but had the backend (unlockables, online, interface) developed, published and marketed by Microsoft or Sony.)
(Now I'm depressed.)
