Yeah, from the sound of Sakurai's interview, the man isn't looking for consistency. He wants every game he makes, even if its the sequel to a previous game, to be different and new in many more ways than just superficial or minor. That means he WILL change moves, he WILL cut characters, he WILL add new characters, and he WILL change the physics and other aspects of control to such a degree that it takes getting used to in comparison to the previous installment. That's his whole goal. He blatantly states that he does not want to make beefy versions of existing games. He wants to take the fundamentals of that game and change it into something different, while still following the original intent of the series. That way it is NOT the same game, but something new that will require people to explore and experiment to fully understand, while at the same time removing aspects that may have gotten too familiar in the previous games.
To someone who thoroughly enjoyed a game like Melee and had to transfer to Brawl, it can be frustrating since it really isn't the same game when you really look into it. But in my opinion, I kind of like having the game change drastically from one installment to the next. It really gives you something to look forward to, and ensures that you're not gonna know the entire game before you even play it. For someone who isn't completely obsessed with consistent competitive play (i.e. the majority of gamers), what fun would it be if every addition to a game series was the same **** thing with a tweak or two changed, or only new modes or graphics?
I can see your point there. Come to think of it, if the physics of Brawl were exactly the same, then the game would already be half figured out. The change in style may change the entire game, but on the other hand, it gives us a whole new game to discover. If everything remained the same, the replay value would be reduced to only a small portion, since many people would get bored of it quickly.
On the other hand, though, the specific change from Melee to Brawl, the
way it was changed, I'm not a huge fan of it. A lot of it, Sakurai changed merely for the newbies, so they could pick it up easily. The mere principle of that annoys me to no end. Nintendo is my favorite company, and it would have to screw up pretty badly to be worse than Sony/Microsoft, but they're hardly catering to the hardcore gamers anymore; their goal is to attract new players. The people who have been with them for decades, they're saying that they don't care about us anymore because they have fancy motion-sensor and can get new people to play their games now.
/rant about user-friendly Nintendo
It's from the interview with Nintendo Power, I'll quote it:
NP: This is one that a lot of hardcore Smash Bros. fans have long wondered about. Was the ability to "Wavedash" in Melee intentional or a glitch?
Sakurai: Of course, we noticed that you could do that during the development period. With Super Smash Bros Brawl, it wasn't a matter of, "OK, do we leave it in or take it out?" We really just wanted this game, again, to appeal to and be played by gamers of all different levels. We felt that there was a growing gap between beginners and advanced players, and taking that out helps to level the playing field. It wasn't a real big priority or anything, but when we were building the game around the idea of making it fair for everybody, it just made sense to take it out. And it also goes back to wanting to make something different from Melee and giving the players the opportunity to find new things to enjoy.
The important part is bolded, the rest is there just for context.
Every game has glitches and Brawl has very few game breaking one's as opposed to some other games on the market.
True, but there are a lot of glitches that seem like they should've been found in development. For some reason, I can only think of the Jigglypuff Final Smash on Bridge of Eldin/Pirate Ship glitch and "air tripping" (there's a thread on that here, look it up if you're interested) but I know there's more that I'm not picking up.
They aren't game-breaking, but they're there. Then again, I enjoy non-game-breaking glitches a lot, I always enjoy old games for that reason. But it just...looks bad, you know what I mean?
Oh noez! What a senseless tragedy it would be to have ANOTHER Smash Brothers Game!!!111 I think these forums might explode with gloom and doom posts and trolls!!!!111!!!
Geez people, Melee wasn't perfect by any means either. Like c'mon, Wavedashing, that's not exactly realistic, is it? Brawl's physics are much more realistic, and with graphics aside, it is a much more realistic idea of how all these characters would fight if they met in a non-Brawl video game, no?
Sakurai should be applauded for making so many changes with Brawl, especially with regards to the physics. So many sequels are just re-hashes of their predecessor and its more there to get your 60 bucks than be anything different. Brawl is a breath of fresh air, and of course some people won't like it, but I've always thought that the only thing keeping this game from reaching a cult-like status is the expectations put on it by others. This game (save the online, and the SSE IMO) is polished and nearly perfect in every way.
If and when there is a new smash game somewhere down the line, people should applaud Sakurai if he again makes it different, although I think his team nailed the physics in this game.
Sure, Brawl is slower now, and probably will be in 7 years (for the sake of comparison), but it is a different style than Melee. For me personally, I find Brawl to be a very defensive game. Sure, it takes a ton of effort to get a combo off, and Melee like Combos are almost non-existent in Brawl, but a player that can make the most of the defensive options in this game and play a smart counter style can really go far. For once, safer, more conservative players have a chance.
But that's besides the point. What's really wrong with another Smash game? It would be just as awesome, and assuming the development team learned from the online, it would be better.
I never said I didn't want another Smash Bros game. In fact, I would be rather upset if we didn't get another. I agree that change to a certain extent is good. What I'm worried about is the physics getting screwed up. I'm not saying Melee was perfect, no game is, but the way it was, where skill was rewarded rather than punished by tripping, camping, and other such things.
True, wavedashing isn't realistic, but neither is walking and jumping like you're in space, when you're not. Brawl is very floaty. I didn't notice it so much until I played Melee again, but it's really much floatier. Brawl isn't unbearable, it's physics aren't either, but Melee had a good system, where you could easily get better. And maybe I'm just forgetting Melee here, but it also seems like there are many more spammable attacks in Brawl, which is not only annoying, but is helpful to noobs. OK, so the damage is reduced if you spam an attack, but I tested this in Melee, and the same thing happens there.
Yeah, from the sound of Sakurai's interview, the man isn't looking for consistency. He wants every game he makes, even if its the sequel to a previous game, to be different and new in many more ways than just superficial or minor. That means he WILL change moves, he WILL cut characters, he WILL add new characters, and he WILL change the physics and other aspects of control to such a degree that it takes getting used to in comparison to the previous installment. That's his whole goal. He blatantly states that he does not want to make beefy versions of existing games. He wants to take the fundamentals of that game and change it into something different, while still following the original intent of the series. That way it is NOT the same game, but something new that will require people to explore and experiment to fully understand, while at the same time removing aspects that may have gotten too familiar in the previous games.
To someone who thoroughly enjoyed a game like Melee and had to transfer to Brawl, it can be frustrating since it really isn't the same game when you really look into it. But in my opinion, I kind of like having the game change drastically from one installment to the next. It really gives you something to look forward to, and ensures that you're not gonna know the entire game before you even play it. For someone who isn't completely obsessed with consistent competitive play (i.e. the majority of gamers), what fun would it be if every addition to a game series was the same **** thing with a tweak or two changed, or only new modes or graphics?
I can see your point there. Come to think of it, if the physics of Brawl were exactly the same, then the game would already be half figured out. The change in style may change the entire game, but on the other hand, it gives us a whole new game to discover. If everything remained the same, the replay value would be reduced to only a small portion, since many people would get bored of it quickly.
On the other hand, though, the specific change from Melee to Brawl, the
way it was changed, I'm not a huge fan of it. A lot of it, Sakurai changed merely for the newbies, so they could pick it up easily. The mere principle of that annoys me to no end. Nintendo is my favorite company, and it would have to screw up pretty badly to be worse than Sony/Microsoft, but they're hardly catering to the hardcore gamers anymore; their goal is to attract new players. The people who have been with them for decades, they're saying that they don't care about us anymore because they have fancy motion-sensor and can get new people to play their games now.
/rant about user-friendly Nintendo
It's from the interview with Nintendo Power, I'll quote it:
NP: This is one that a lot of hardcore Smash Bros. fans have long wondered about. Was the ability to "Wavedash" in Melee intentional or a glitch?
Sakurai: Of course, we noticed that you could do that during the development period. With Super Smash Bros Brawl, it wasn't a matter of, "OK, do we leave it in or take it out?" We really just wanted this game, again, to appeal to and be played by gamers of all different levels. We felt that there was a growing gap between beginners and advanced players, and taking that out helps to level the playing field. It wasn't a real big priority or anything, but when we were building the game around the idea of making it fair for everybody, it just made sense to take it out. And it also goes back to wanting to make something different from Melee and giving the players the opportunity to find new things to enjoy.
The important part is bolded, the rest is there just for context.
Every game has glitches and Brawl has very few game breaking one's as opposed to some other games on the market.
True, but there are a lot of glitches that seem like they should've been found in development. For some reason, I can only think of the Jigglypuff Final Smash on Bridge of Eldin/Pirate Ship glitch and "air tripping" (there's a thread on that here, look it up if you're interested) but I know there's more that I'm not picking up.
They aren't game-breaking, but they're there. Then again, I enjoy non-game-breaking glitches a lot, I always enjoy old games for that reason. But it just...looks bad, you know what I mean?
