By Mike Rougeau
Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii)
Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Samus, Pikachu: anyone who played video games during their childhood should be overcome by a wave of nostalgia upon hearing these names. And although there are those who would have us dismiss our nostalgia as an unhealthy tendency to clutch to our childhoods, Nintendo would have us embrace it.
Enter “Super Smash Brothers Brawl” for the Nintendo Wii. While Nintendo is, once again, capitalizing on fans’ nostalgia, the bulk of the game is so much darn fun it doesn’t matter. Besides, the gurus at Nintendo put a lot of love into this one, and it shows.
Since the days of the original “Super Smash Bros.” on the Nintendo 64 in 1999, gamers have been taking control of their favorite Nintendo characters of yore and duking it out nonstop. The original game and its sequel, “Super Smash Bros. Melee” for the Nintendo Gamecube (released in 2001), are staples of college residence halls to this day.
Despite the nearly seven years since the release of the last game in the series, “Brawl” does little to change the established formula. Instead, it takes every aspect of the previous two games and builds upon it until there’s hardly room on the disc for all the content (in fact, “Brawl” game discs are dual-layer, which is why some Wiis have trouble reading them).
Every character from the original has returned, along with many of the characters added in 2001’s “Melee.” “Brawl” also brings a plethora of new additions, including, for the first time in the series, non-Nintendo characters Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake. Thankfully, both feel satisfyingly different from the other characters, and great overall.
“Brawl” features a total of 35 characters, a fact that will delight fans. However, it’s clear that the majority of the development time was spent on the new single player campaign, dubbed the “Subspace Emissary.” Unfortunately, this adventure mode is the biggest failure the series has ever seen.
Beautiful cut scenes are sprinkled throughout sprawling, side-scrolling levels populated by original and varied enemies. Players choose from a few characters at a time and make their way through the courses, rescuing friends, fighting age-old enemies, gaining allies and being generally dramatic. Where this mode fails is in its inescapable (and, at seven to nine hours to completion, unending) tedium. It is just not fun, plain and simple.
Thankfully, the main draw is still the multiplayer, and this mode delivers in spades. It’s as fun as ever, and with the addition of the new characters, courses and the simple-but-addictive level editing mode, “Brawl” features enough other content to make up for the poorly-executed adventure mode. In other words, invite a few friends over, crack open some root beers and you’ve got yourself one hell of an evening.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
The tenth anniversary of “Final Fantasy VII,” one of the most popular games of all time, has come and gone, and March saw yet another in the mixed bag of releases inspired by the illustrious 1997 Playstation role-playing game (RPG).
Past releases, like the ill-received “Dirge of Cerberus” (Playstation 2, 2006) and the highly criticized feature-length film, “Advent Children” (2006), have by and large disappointed fans. As a result, “Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII,” the long-awaited Playstation Portable (PSP) prequel to the original game, was viewed with skepticism and doubt throughout its development.
Ultimately, however, the low expectations work in its favor. “Crisis Core” is, if nothing else, a solid action RPG. The story, as fans of “Final Fantasy VII” already know, is epic and heart-wrenching. The gameplay is fresh without being overly complex, and the combat, though occasionally repetitive, remains fun throughout, and is never daunting, even for beginners.
The player takes control of Zack Fair, a member of evil corporation Shinra’s elite fighting force, referred to as SOLDIER. “Final Fantasy VII” veterans will recognize Zack as Cloud Strife’s alter-ego of sorts, and “Crisis Core” goes a long way in explaining how their relationship developed.
Although the most important bits of the plot are already common knowledge among fans, developers Square-Enix have added several previously unknown characters, throwing continuity to the wind in lieu of a more fleshed-out plot. Though some may squawk at any perversion of the source material, the new faces are a welcome addition, fitting in well with the established “Final Fantasy VII” canon.
Combat is live and action-packed, forgoing the turn-based battles of the original for a more portable-friendly battle system. During battles, which rarely last longer than a few minutes, actions are readily accessible and intuitively mapped to the PSP’s buttons.
Zack (the only playable character) can be outfitted with equipment to boost his stats, and familiar “materia” to grant him special moves and magic. Customization comes in the form of materia fusion, a system that allows players to mix and match materia to create powerful ability cocktails.
The graphics are among the best seen on the PSP, and the CG cut scenes are, as has come to be expected of Square-Enix, breathtaking. Voice acting is mostly tolerable, though occasionally shaky, and the game is generally very polished.
“Crisis Core” is a great game overall, and moreso a fantastic portable game. The easy learning curve and mission-style gameplay make it perfect for play in short bursts, on the train or between classes. Fans of “Final Fantasy VII” will probably be pleasantly surprised, and as far as action RPGs on the PSP go, there is no better choice.
