Grass
Smash Lord
Before I start discussing things about Brawl and before people start grabbing their pitchforks (I'm looking at you Melee players) and start attacking me over it. I want to explain something. This is just an article detailing my current views and opinions on Brawl and Smash 4. Nothing more.
After replaying Brawl, I learned a few things more about the game than I had thought in the past. Melee and Brawl's speed were different however Smash 4 may be faster than Brawl but Brawl had greater balance and consistency (after taking metaknight out of the picture obviously). I love that the moment anyone mentions Brawl, all that comes to mind is MetaKnight. And frankly, I think Brawl's experience would've been a lot better if we had just outright banned MetaKnight as a playable character at tournaments. Now, I understand with the release of smash 4, a lot of aspects of brawl are thrown out the window. However, the more I played Brawl after playing Smash 4, the more I see that Brawl was in essence a lot closer to Melee than Smash 4 is. And here's why.
Brawl's capabilities as far as combos were limited but killing your opponent at under 100 was not only possible, it was actually a norm. Gimping, spiking, smash attacks. You had your choice of options for kill moves. Smash 4 limited kill moves down a lot more. Which is why Smash 4 physics allow you to survive to roughly 100-150%. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to engine design, but I can visually see that Sakurai did indeed try to make Brawl like Melee. Not just from how hitstun worked, but also from grab distances. Let's just take Marth for example. Marth in Brawl's grabs (with exception to his up throw) moved your opponent not too far from you. So you had access to easy follow-ups. A lot of other characters had grabs and hits that actually opened the door for combos and follow-ups back in Brawl. Now let's compare this to Smash 4 Marth.
Smash 4 marth, down throw is the only viable throw for follow-ups and only at low percents. Up throw just throws them really high. Forward and back throw them too far for follow-ups and only serve as a means to get off stage. Which basically shows that, in Smash 4. Grabs play a much smaller role to follow ups. Now I know Marth is bad example for this kind of statement, as people like Diddy and Falcon have easy grab aerial set-ups that make them really easy to pull off. But it is clear, that for the most part that grabs play an important role in both Brawl and Smash 4.
So, final analysis after reviewing what I've seen in Brawl, I think the game is still viable, but to bring this game back from the brink of hell, will need a great change in how people SEE the game and how we visualize smash in general. Now, feel free to blackmail me and tell me that I'm an idiot for saying the things I did.
After replaying Brawl, I learned a few things more about the game than I had thought in the past. Melee and Brawl's speed were different however Smash 4 may be faster than Brawl but Brawl had greater balance and consistency (after taking metaknight out of the picture obviously). I love that the moment anyone mentions Brawl, all that comes to mind is MetaKnight. And frankly, I think Brawl's experience would've been a lot better if we had just outright banned MetaKnight as a playable character at tournaments. Now, I understand with the release of smash 4, a lot of aspects of brawl are thrown out the window. However, the more I played Brawl after playing Smash 4, the more I see that Brawl was in essence a lot closer to Melee than Smash 4 is. And here's why.
Brawl's capabilities as far as combos were limited but killing your opponent at under 100 was not only possible, it was actually a norm. Gimping, spiking, smash attacks. You had your choice of options for kill moves. Smash 4 limited kill moves down a lot more. Which is why Smash 4 physics allow you to survive to roughly 100-150%. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to engine design, but I can visually see that Sakurai did indeed try to make Brawl like Melee. Not just from how hitstun worked, but also from grab distances. Let's just take Marth for example. Marth in Brawl's grabs (with exception to his up throw) moved your opponent not too far from you. So you had access to easy follow-ups. A lot of other characters had grabs and hits that actually opened the door for combos and follow-ups back in Brawl. Now let's compare this to Smash 4 Marth.
Smash 4 marth, down throw is the only viable throw for follow-ups and only at low percents. Up throw just throws them really high. Forward and back throw them too far for follow-ups and only serve as a means to get off stage. Which basically shows that, in Smash 4. Grabs play a much smaller role to follow ups. Now I know Marth is bad example for this kind of statement, as people like Diddy and Falcon have easy grab aerial set-ups that make them really easy to pull off. But it is clear, that for the most part that grabs play an important role in both Brawl and Smash 4.
So, final analysis after reviewing what I've seen in Brawl, I think the game is still viable, but to bring this game back from the brink of hell, will need a great change in how people SEE the game and how we visualize smash in general. Now, feel free to blackmail me and tell me that I'm an idiot for saying the things I did.
