Which had the better pre-release era: Brawl or Sm4sh?

[JamietheAuraUser]

Smash 4 definitely has amazing trailers for the newcomers. It's a little stop-and-go as far as the hype is, especially since it's a little more predictable as to what shows up when, but getting to see newcomers introduced by cutscenes in the style of their own games, coupled with instant gameplay footage, is something else.

I'm just a little disappointed by the lack of a story mode, however. I actually liked the concept behind SSE in Brawl, and the cutscenes were generally awesome, even if the levels played a little too slowly and important parts of the story ended up omitted due to time constraints. Sonic with Special Attack- and Body/Spin Attack-boosting stickers was really fun in SSE on Easy difficulty, by the way.

 

[Shiliski]

I admit that I liked SSE. Sure it was a simple story, but it was well told even if they had to rely upon pantomiming (to oversimplify: acting without speaking) for everything.

"Competitive" is a pretty vague term. Any game where a skilled player can reliably have an advantage over an unskilled player can be played competitively, but to use a definition like that is to miss the point because it would say that a game like Monopoly would be competitive. Yet I don't see to many Monopoly tournaments being played, and I personally wouldn't want to watch or participate even if they were. So clearly there's some gradient or scale here where one game is better for serious competitive play than another game is, but it's not as simple as "the more skilled player wins more often than the unskilled player".

I'd think it'd be more like: "Not only does the more skilled player have the advantage, but they persistently win every time (or at least very close to every time, consistently enough to win Bo3 or Bo5 for sure). Also the game has to be fun (or in some way fulfilling or satisfying) at a high level or else the competitive player will feel like he's wasting his time, and if a tournament is relying upon spectators for income then the game has to be fun to watch, too." But even with that, I feel like I'm missing some key details.

Still, sorry to hear about Brawl at EVO. It's strange enough that they had items, but they seriously allowed Hammers and Smash Balls? Geeze.

I never understood why people have any sort of "This is the way Smash is meant to be played" attitude. Smash is meant to be played "any way you darn well please". That's why Sakurai put in so many options. That's not a bad thing either, in fact I think most Smashers would be happier with yet even more options.

 

[DraginHikari]

Also add a simple thing, Smash 4 will be HD, which from a spectators perspective can be a huge thing, especially for those that rarely watched Brawl and have been watching Melee for years. Smash 4 will be HD, 60fps, beautiful 3D models of the characters, it'll be gorgeous. Add that with all of the other things, no more tripping, faster speeds, less floatiness, all of that will set it up to be an amazing game to watch. Add that to what they are trying to fix, and the balance they are trying to strike with Smash 4, and the game will also be an amazing game to play. I think Smash 4 will be incredible.

I think that does raise a few other points of interest in regards to the future. Now I'm not the most familiar with all the games that were at EVO considering I only watched Smash but most of the other games in EVO appeared to be either newer games or at least fairly recent games expect for Melee which was definitely the oldest game in the bunch. Right now Melee is staying strong mostly from the community that supports Melee and the attention it has received, there is a concerned about attracting new audience a game gets older is a pretty real problem when your talking about events that requires sponsors and a viewing audience. While Melee doesn't look awful by any sense of the word. It's visual style and overall appearance is definitely starting to show it age and I was surprised during EVO to see how many comments about how bored some people were.

For me it was a interesting thing I guess normally I am not a heavily graphically oriented individual when it comes to playing games, but when it came to watching games it's a bit more complicated. Now I haven't had a lot of exposure to the professional smash scene and only started watching it recently. That being EVO, The Smash 4 Invitational, and todays 3DS event. Now I was very excited when a good match would happen during both Smash 4 events while I found myself being very bored even with the more exciting matches in EVO from time to time. I thought at first I thought it was just Smash 4's hype that did it but now the more I think about it there seemed to be more that when your watching something rather then Playing it, the visuals have to drawn me and make me interested in the actions that are going on. The way Smash 4 pops and how the colors just give so much presence to what is going on screen that I found myself more engrossed on what was going on something at this point Melee doesn't do quite as much of as it's grown older.

I know until a level of depth is determined, this is mostly speculation on my part. However, I do think it's something to take into consideration depending on how that all plays out.

 

[Deleted member]

deleted account

 

[Yup!]

Hype eras are pretty hit-or-miss. I was ghosting around during Brawl's but seeing everyone excited about it got my hopes up. No disappointment there. Now that I'm more into it, Smash 4 isn't disappointing either. Pretty amusing to see Twitter blow up when new stuff is announced. (
Although feelings were mixed on Pac-Man)

I don't think the two can be compared in terms of hype overall juuuust yet, but with the hype era for Smash 4 almost over, I'd say they were pretty equal in levels of hype. You've got the usual people pining and whining, but it's still great. I'm kinda sad that it'll all settle down once the game has been out, but at the same time I can't wait!

 

[Canuckduck]

Oh, and don't forget when THIS happened:

 

[kazrisk]

I think that does raise a few other points of interest in regards to the future. Now I'm not the most familiar with all the games that were at EVO considering I only watched Smash but most of the other games in EVO appeared to be either newer games or at least fairly recent games expect for Melee which was definitely the oldest game in the bunch. Right now Melee is staying strong mostly from the community that supports Melee and the attention it has received, there is a concerned about attracting new audience a game gets older is a pretty real problem when your talking about events that requires sponsors and a viewing audience. While Melee doesn't look awful by any sense of the word. It's visual style and overall appearance is definitely starting to show it age and I was surprised during EVO to see how many comments about how bored some people were.

For me it was a interesting thing I guess normally I am not a heavily graphically oriented individual when it comes to playing games, but when it came to watching games it's a bit more complicated. Now I haven't had a lot of exposure to the professional smash scene and only started watching it recently. That being EVO, The Smash 4 Invitational, and todays 3DS event. Now I was very excited when a good match would happen during both Smash 4 events while I found myself being very bored even with the more exciting matches in EVO from time to time. I thought at first I thought it was just Smash 4's hype that did it but now the more I think about it there seemed to be more that when your watching something rather then Playing it, the visuals have to drawn me and make me interested in the actions that are going on. The way Smash 4 pops and how the colors just give so much presence to what is going on screen that I found myself more engrossed on what was going on something at this point Melee doesn't do quite as much of as it's grown older.

I know until a level of depth is determined, this is mostly speculation on my part. However, I do think it's something to take into consideration depending on how that all plays out.

Yeah I agree that Melee doesn't look awful by any sense of the word, it must be hard for viewers who do highly value graphics to go from watching beautiful next gen shooters and fighting games at MLG and EVO to watching a standard definition relatively blocky game. Smash 4 will be on streams with other next gen games at EVO 2015 and be a vibrant HD game next to some darker grittier games and be a welcome sight.

 

[Sucumbio]

When I joined swf 6 years ago brawl was already out so I missed the hype leading up to it release date and stuff, the dojo etc.

How is this new smash comparing here? Is the buzz at swf just as huge? I recall something about the record number of users online at one time being set back then but I could be wrong I'm still half asleep.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Fairly certain Smashboards is more popular than ever, most other Smash sites are very small in comparison, back then it at least had Brawl-Central as competition.

I did prefer the Brawl hype though, it was just more fun, especially since the majority of popular wishes were actually fulfilled.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Yeah dude, Brawl flooded the boards. I mean it's cool and all, but now the forums are full of lame kids. Trade off I guess.

But yeah, it was pretty dope. I joined around the time Brawl was announced, but I lurked for a bit to learn Melee.

 

[Moon Monkey]

Brawl definitely had more hype leading up to it's release. Coming off of Melee everyone was hyped and ready for the game.
However, while smash 4 does show more promise of the game, the hype for Smash 4 has been dampened by:

• People who **** on Brawl/ Brawl fans
  
• People who **** on Melee/ Melee fans
  • These guys are the worst, they practically push away the melee point of view to the point where Melee enthusiasts don't even come on Smashboards anymore, they are on Twitter and Reddit rather than Smashboards.
• There are a lot more people that don't support their speculative ideas and just say "I want X character."

 

[Renji64]

Brawl hype was crazy. Smash 4 hype is average.

 

[FoxBlaze71]

The boards for this game are absolutely disgusting. Instead of discussion about mechanics/competitive play (there's some, but it's disproportionate) you have a flood of people who joined three days ago screaming "I WANT RIDLEY AND SAKURAI AND SPONGEBOB!". Though I'm sure there were plenty of bad posters around Brawl's release, it is pretty aggravating.

 

[Nielicus]

Well, I'm pretty sure I was like 8 when Brawl actually came out so I was too young to actually participate in discussion and post online. But seeing that this is my first time actually waiting for a new smash with an online community, I think my hype is off the ****ing charts, especially now because I will finally OWN a new smash bros game after 8 years

 

[Hydde]

8? damn your a kid!.

About Brawl vsSb4 hype.... well the brawl hype was unparaleled.
The boards were flooded with anxiety and happiness.
The guessing game about the roster was astonishing.
There forums were united and
I remember that everyday i looked into the smash dojo to see the new daily pic or random music sakurai brought us.

My pals and me were excited beyond belief because we were at the top of our melee form, going to tournies and drooling about how epic brawl was going to be,

Then the first hands on came...and all started to fall like dominoes for us.
Anyways, we were in the line the day brawl came out....eagerly went to my house to play...and figured out the game was totally different from what we expected.

I think it has be the biggest let down in my whole life. Especialy because i was hyped as hell. Now is totally different and i have taken a more mature apporach to this release beause i more or less know whats im expecting.

 

[Sucumbio]

That's interesting, I wonder if people who were around to remember the "let down" will apply the same knowledge as you and decide to be more cautious... it's a tough corner to be in, it's like you want to anticipate, you want to be excitied, but you don't want to be hurt either, and then there's the problem of shades of disgust looming over everything, it's like... i dunno, you're playing then something happens that sucks and you're like OH this game sucks! I knew it! Brawl TWO!!! blah blah, heh ugh. I guess I can't truly appreciate just how bad everyone felt when Brawl came out after years of Melee cause Brawl was my first game. I can understand how it feels, but it just didn't feel that way to me, to me Brawl was epic on so many levels THEN I got into Melee and was like woah, this game is so much harder to play what with learning on a Wiichuck and all the ATs I still can't do, lol.

 

[Hong]

@ Sucumbio
I merged your thread into this one, as they both compare pre-release hype.

 

[Raijinken]

That's interesting, I wonder if people who were around to remember the "let down" will apply the same knowledge as you and decide to be more cautious... it's a tough corner to be in, it's like you want to anticipate, you want to be excitied, but you don't want to be hurt either, and then there's the problem of shades of disgust looming over everything, it's like... i dunno, you're playing then something happens that sucks and you're like OH this game sucks! I knew it! Brawl TWO!!! blah blah, heh ugh. I guess I can't truly appreciate just how bad everyone felt when Brawl came out after years of Melee cause Brawl was my first game. I can understand how it feels, but it just didn't feel that way to me, to me Brawl was epic on so many levels THEN I got into Melee and was like woah, this game is so much harder to play what with learning on a Wiichuck and all the ATs I still can't do, lol.

I wasn't on the Boards during the hype (I still sometimes ask myself why I joined up for this part of the hype, then I remember I joined to discuss alt costumes in Project M) for Brawl, but I can still remember the adjustment period coming off of Melee. But, as a player who plays across the spectrum (with friends who insist on items since that gives them a chance, as well as with friends who insist that any non-flat stage is lame), rather than be disappointed in what Brawl wasn't, I enjoyed what it was, so the hype wasn't really diluted (the roster has always held more appeal to me than silly technical mechanics that put a physical barrier to skilled play).

 

[Aninymouse]

About Brawl vsSb4 hype.... well the brawl hype was unparaleled.
The boards were flooded with anxiety and happiness.
The guessing game about the roster was astonishing.
There forums were united and
I remember that everyday i looked into the smash dojo to see the new daily pic or random music sakurai brought us.

My pals and me were excited beyond belief because we were at the top of our melee form, going to tournies and drooling about how epic brawl was going to be,

Then the first hands on came...and all started to fall like dominoes for us.
Anyways, we were in the line the day brawl came out....eagerly went to my house to play...and figured out the game was totally different from what we expected.

I think it has be the biggest let down in my whole life. Especialy because i was hyped as hell. Now is totally different and i have taken a more mature apporach to this release beause i more or less know whats im expecting.

This pretty much sums it up. Brawl had more hype, but because we really knew so little about the game, we didn't know what we were in for. We had very little video of gameplay leading up to release.

With Smash 4, they have given us a more complete and candid look into what Smash 4 actually is, what it actually plays like. And while it isn't perfect, it is better and faster than Brawl was. We have all kinds of real footage to watch, and although it is a build of the game from January, it is still going to be mostly accurate to what we can expect. Pretty much every veteran character on the roster has seen at least one major buff - even Zelda.

I feel less "I'm going insane" levels of hype and speculation like with Brawl, but I am very excited for Smash 4 in a much more healthy way. I have a better idea of what to expect, this time.

 

[Renji64]

I'm glad they did turn down with the hype this go around brawl's hype was 2 much small music clips and all dat info had expectations through the roof.

 

[Raijinken]

This pretty much sums it up. Brawl had more hype, but because we really knew so little about the game, we didn't know what we were in for. We had very little video of gameplay leading up to release.

With Smash 4, they have given us a more complete and candid look into what Smash 4 actually is, what it actually plays like. And while it isn't perfect, it is better and faster than Brawl was. We have all kinds of real footage to watch, and although it is a build of the game from January, it is still going to be mostly accurate to what we can expect. Pretty much every veteran character on the roster has seen at least one major buff - even Zelda.

I feel less "I'm going insane" levels of hype and speculation like with Brawl, but I am very excited for Smash 4 in a much more healthy way. I have a better idea of what to expect, this time.

On the other hand, I do wish there was a more complete Dojo-like compilation of revealed content like there was for Brawl. I hate having to go back through the wiki just to find whether or not a certain item has been revealed, for instance.

 

[Aninymouse]

On the other hand, I do wish there was a more complete Dojo-like compilation of revealed content like there was for Brawl. I hate having to go back through the wiki just to find whether or not a certain item has been revealed, for instance.

Sure, but even though stuff on Brawl was cataloged, that was mostly the secondary stuff. Meanwhile, we barely had any clue what to expect from Brawl's core gameplay, even though we knew all the songs, and items, and little quirks. With Smash 4, we might know less about the songs, the items, and the little quirks, because they aren't cataloged, but we have a wealth of core gameplay to mull over: how the characters work, how they move, the physics, etc.

Smash 4 isn't perfect, but Sakurai and Nintendo seem to be more open about the more important stuff, which matters a lot to me.

 

[Hydde]

Of course Brawl.

Everything was lovey dovey. Those were the golden years of melee..and the transition to a game that promised SOOO much was impending. The community was united as a whole.
Personally, i was hyped like never before. No other game has hyped like Brawl did, not even til today...and most likely no game will.

Melee was in those days my air and water, the same for my pals. We were literally going nuts with the hype.
But then the game came and everything just crashed like a meteor....since the game was totally different of what we expected.

I was destroyed personally. Expected so much and got so little. It made me the annoyed smasher im today, longing for a past that will never return.

Im just wishing that SSB4 will at the very least be enjoyable, maybe that way ill be able to exorcise the demons and hatred i have towards Brawl and what Sakurai did it with.

 

[Raijinken]

Sure, but even though stuff on Brawl was cataloged, that was mostly the secondary stuff. Meanwhile, we barely had any clue what to expect from Brawl's core gameplay, even though we knew all the songs, and items, and little quirks. With Smash 4, we might know less about the songs, the items, and the little quirks, because they aren't cataloged, but we have a wealth of core gameplay to mull over: how the characters work, how they move, the physics, etc.

Smash 4 isn't perfect, but Sakurai and Nintendo seem to be more open about the more important stuff, which matters a lot to me.

Of course, a combination of the two would be great. I think it's safe to say I'm in the minority when I pay significant attention to the music and over-all look of the game, and while the gameplay videos and whatnot are great, there hasn't been a real equivalent to getting to hear the samples of some of the Brawl songs (aside from youtube videos from the events) for me.

Though at this point, voice language holds greater interest to me than most other non-gameplay details, and we really won't know on that until it hits US shores.

 

[Hydde]

Now that we talk about this in the thread..... it is indeed weird remembering..

I do not play smash anymore...nor brawl nor melee.

I played Melee with my pals for like 5 straight years,... every weekend. After Brawl came...we played it for like 5 months and then abandoned it.... we were so crushed that we forgot how much we enjoyed Melee, and we stopped playing smash altogether.

It has been like 5 years since we played smash like we used to. We see each other frequently... but no one talks about Brawl or smash. IN fact... in december we reunited to play at my house and we played melee instead of brawl...i wasnt able to find my brawl copy, i lost it..and what pains me is that i dont even cared.

I feel like im some kind of Smash-Zombie. Im here everyday waiting for SSB4, but i dont even play smash anymore. I cant even go back to melee because it pains me just to remember the crash i had with brawl.

I hope Sakurai get things right this time. I promised i was not going to buy a console just for smash like i did in the past... but i found a "like new" WiiU which ill be able to puy for peanuts... so ill maybe commit the same mistake

 

[Shiliski]

Now that we talk about this in the thread..... it is indeed weird remembering..

I do not play smash anymore...nor brawl nor melee.

I played Melee with my pals for like 5 straight years,... every weekend. After Brawl came...we played it for like 5 months and then abandoned it.... we were so crushed that we forgot how much we enjoyed Melee, and we stopped playing smash altogether.

It has been like 5 years since we played smash like we used to. We see each other frequently... but no one talks about Brawl or smash. IN fact... in december we reunited to play at my house and we played melee instead of brawl...i wasnt able to find my brawl copy, i lost it..and what pains me is that i dont even cared.

I feel like im some kind of Smash-Zombie. Im here everyday waiting for SSB4, but i dont even play smash anymore. I cant even go back to melee because it pains me just to remember the crash i had with brawl.

I hope Sakurai get things right this time. I promised i was not going to buy a console just for smash like i did in the past... but i found a "like new" WiiU which ill be able to puy for peanuts... so ill maybe commit the same mistake

You know it's funny. My friends all played Melee too, but then Brawl came out and we stopped playing. Now, there was more to it than that. Life happened and so on, but... Brawl just wasn't the same. Brawl was a far better solo experience than it was a multiplayer experience.

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

I remember the pre-release Brawl experience as almost a blur. The game made its grand debut in 2006, but wasn't released until 2008. While it was only about 2 years, it felt like I spent the latter half of my entire childhood waiting for the game. The game was announced when I was 12 or 13 - middle school was like a personal hell - and didn't release until I was just about 15. A lot can happen in those years, and I've always felt like my friends and I "grew up" around Brawl. When we first saw the trailer, we were ecstatic little children, but for months, there was absolutely no info, and at times, we were close to forgetting that the game was coming out at all. But the entire time, we were completely hyped. I'd talk Smash with everyone who wished to (and some who didn't), and we'd talk about our love for Melee, and which newcomers we most wanted to see. Snake was a constant buzz topic, and when Sonic was revealed, it revitalized the discussion and made everyone remember that Brawl was still coming, even despite the delay. "They delayed it? Even after all this time? And Sonic's in? This is no doubt going to be the most carefully-crafted, content-packed game ever. Brawl will be perfect." That was my exact thought.

Brawl's pre-release was so long and extended, and with that massive dry spell at the beginning, it just felt like years to me. I changed as a person several times in the interim between E3 2006 and March 2008. Went from middle school to high school. Made friends, lost friends. And during that entire time, even during the early dry period, I was entirely hyped. When the Dojo started its updates, things just exploded. Seeing pictures of everything in the game, from the characters, to the stages, to the most insignificant items, was mind-blowing. The graphics looked so good (to me) at the time, and compared to Melee, it was a significant jump. Almost every single newcomer was a fan favorite, so every time the Dojo updated with a new challenger, I was super-hyped. My friends and I would spend all day month talking about the latest newcomer, until the next one showed up. I actually kind of liked not having a trailer for each newcomer; the few pictures and move descriptions by Sakurai left a lot to the imagination, and I enjoyed that. Music updates were another particular favorite, and something I dearly miss this time around. Sonic's reveal, for me, can never be topped (Sonic was possibly my favorite game series at the time). Coming off of that hype was like crashing from a massive adrenaline rush that lasted for months. I had many similar reactions during that time (Pokémon Trainer as one example), but Smash 4 has only come close to the Sonic hype once, with Pac-Man (and it very well may have matched it).

Of course, when Brawl finally released, and I found out that it wasn't the type of game I was wanting or expecting (something close to Melee), it was pretty disappointing. But you know what? I didn't get any significant hype backlash. I really did enjoy most of what I was hyped about. Pre-Brawl was like a constant rollercoaster. Big updates, small updates, whatever. There was always at least something to talk about.

I find Smash 4's pre-release period to be a much more passive experience. We're just sort of sitting around and waiting for some juicy info. I think that the way Nintendo has been handling Smash 4's pre-release is overall more intelligent than how they managed Brawl's, as it helps prevent the hype backlash many experienced with that game, and doesn't spoil everything months in advance. I liked how open Sakurai was about Brawl, though. The daily blog posts were infinitely more insightful than the Pic of the Day, and by comparison to Smash 4, it felt more like an adventure that Sakurai was taking you on. Smash 4 has been much more esoteric, and I think the idea was to build hype while controlling it, but I honestly think that being more open with this type of info is a lot more fun. Business-wise, I think they're a bit smarter to save a good amount of info for when a big surprise is needed. Long story short: The Smash 4 pre-release era is smarter for Nintendo, but Brawl's was better for Nintendo (far more discussion and media hype), and was far more enjoyable for me.

 

[ミスティック Speed]

Brawl generated tons more hype for me due to the nature of Sakurai's updates on his site.