1. ‘Competitive’ can mean many very different things. I’m going to use this analogy a lot, but chess and poker are very different games, but both are very competitive. One is a game of pure skill involving heavy computation and planning; the other is a gaming of manipulation and mitigation of luck. However, both chess and poker are very solid competitive games with robust competitive scenes, and saying one is better than other is silly. You can have a preference, of course, and prefer chess, but that doesn’t mean that the world of poker is not highly competitive. An element of luck does not inherently make something non-competitive; in almost all professional sports, there are hundreds of elements of luck, yet these are arguably the very model of competition.
Chess and Poker are
completely different things, though. Melee and Brawl are both
fighting games where the emphasis is on
mindgames over tech skill (though ATs will invariably increase your mindgaming options by
a lot).
We're talking in terms of a "Competitive Fighting Game", not a "Competitive Anything". Would you compare Shakespeare to Kathy Griffin? They are, after all, both bards of entertainment. Or, say, The Lord of the Rings to Sudoku. They both involve, um, writing. Videogames to eating melons because both require you to use your hands in some way.
2. Brawl, much moreso than Melee was meant to be played with items, especially Final Smashes, on, and was built from the ground-up with items in mind. I know this conclusion has already been reached by many different people, but it really is true. Many of the factors so bemoaned in early impressions are precise adaptations for items and FS heavy play: higher percentages, weakened attacks, harder kills, easier recoveries. The increased power of several items and especially the significance of FSes has led to a game that, without items, plays much slower and clunkier.
If the game was so meant to be played with items on, especially Final Smashes, how come so many of them
suck testicles? Peach's is easily avoidable by
simply jumping into the air. Yes, they'll get 39% of damage, but since when does that compare to, say, Marth's little one-hit-KO or Link's one-hit-KO both which I've seen
comboed into? And they KO:ed at, like, 69% (after they hit).
Ice Climber's mountain stays on a long time and covers virtually the entire stage. Even the edge become deadly. Characters without multiple jumps are doomed to eat at least a few hits. Kirby's seems undodgable, Luigi's hits anyone within range (and that range is huge), damages them, slows them down
and puts them to sleep. Zelda's is a kinda slowish, cannot be comboed into and can be
spotdodged (at least it's strong). Meanwhile, Zero Suit Samus' not only forces her to transform into Samus, it's pretty much useless (she spins around and whips you around a little)... yeah... balance much?
A lot of items are also overpowered and will one-hit KO you. Items are also inherently unbalanced because of the
luck factor. I doubt Sakurai sat down and said "You know what, Smash should be played with items on. Let's limit the game play so that competitive play
must involve items". It's like Sammy (the makers of Guilty Gear XX) deciding to put random one-hit-KO jabs in. One in every 100 neutral slashes will KO.
There's not only luck based on what items pop up (because then at least all parties have the same chance at the item), there's also luck based on
where it appears. I could be downsmashing someone, with them flying off, when a Bob-omb spawns above me and kills me. Sheer Dumb Luck just turned the tide of the game! Or worse, just KO:ed me before my opponent was about to lose their last life, ending the match.
I could be half-way across the stage camping as Fox or having just smashed you half a stage away when a heart container or some other overpowered item spawns for you to use. Why did it not spawn next to me instead? Because it's random!
Heck, I have yet to hear about exploding capsules being turn-offable. At least with items, you can limit what items appear, eliminating the Overpowered variable. Doesn't mean squat if Marth's nairing someone, they fly off and next thing you know, an exploding capsule spawns above Marth, eats the nair, explodes, and kills him.
So, what are my overall impressions? 1v1 no items, Brawl is an inferior game. It’s really really hard to see it any other way. However, with items on, Brawl is an incredibly fun and competitive game; it is just COMPETITIVE IN A DIFFERENT WAY. It has moved from chess to poker, if you will, and is a game where the skill arises in rapidly, skillfully, and expertly dealing with random variables. Many of the changes, especially the slower and heavier setup, serve to reduce the power and effect of individual items, allowing for greater skill and variety in dealing with them. With items, the game is much more fast-paced, intense and dynamic; with final smashes, there are dozens of new skills and techniques to learn.
Fighting games are not poker. In fighting games, you
want to remove the element of luck as much as you can.
You know what Poker has that Brawl doesn't? Bluffing. Bluffing adds an entire new dimension of depth to Poker that wouldn't have existed had bluffing not existed. You can mindgame your opponent into thinking you've got the best hand and force them to forfeit the hand despite sitting on nothing. You can slow-bet and lure them in, pretending to have nothing from the start when you, in fact, flopped quads.
In Brawl, you don't have that. What you see is what you get + Luck element (if items are put on). And when there's a lot of money involved, we don't want luck f*ing things up. An errant exploding capsule of Bob-omb KO:ing Ken when he was just about to win 100,000 dollars because he was preparing to f-smash PC Chris to death from recovering with a charged tipper when a Bob-Omb spawns above him (last stock, last game, last set)?
At least in Poker, if you think/know you're beat, you can forfeit the game and still continue playing, retaining what little chips you have left to slowly work your way up. There's no coming back from luck screwing you over in Brawl.
This is a
fighting game. Please compare it only to fighting game or at least things that share the same "principles" and "ideals" as fighting games.
Edit: It's OK to play with items. Do it to your hearts content. But if Brawl is so limited you actually have to play it with items on (while your advanced techs are limited in numbers and usefulness), then it's even more limited, lacking of depth, relies more on luck than skill and boring than I originally thought.
I for one do not believe Sakurai intentionally wanted to force us into using items.
