Overall, a pretty solid week for updates. Let’s dive right in shall we?
>>Pit’s Descent (Teaser Trailer) [9/3/07]
Such mixed feelings occur upon seeing that little movie camera icon on your update. You fought to stay up and are risking to be dead at work and/or class the next day and Sakurai awards you with a chance to see the game in beautiful, moving action …buuut you’re gonna have to fight with the rest of the internet fanatics to get it loaded and buffered. All the bandwidth in the world is no match for the foamy-mouthed Smash followers.
My solution: either check it out the next day or turn your volume up, go to bed, and just wait to get the living shit scared out of you. I’ve done both. I’m such a fuckin’ nerd.
What you would have seen eventually is a sweet little cinema that serves as Pit’s formal introduction to the Smash universe. Turns out he’s been watching the us fight via magic water broadcast all along. Where were you when Crazy Hand was beating the shit out of me, you bastard?! Anyway - seeing Mario, Kirby, Peach, and Zelda getting pwned is the last straw and Pit’s object of worship, Palutena agrees. In an eerily familiar moment, the goddess grants him a bow that can split into swords and unlimited light arrrows of sweetness. The eager large-footed angel boy then jumps into… or rather falls into action with a confident smirk. Pretty awesome. Not much more to say about it.
>>Special Moves: Diddy Kong (Character Move Set) [9/4/07]
As previously mentioned in his character profile, Diddy’s making his Smash debut armed with his Peanut Popgun and Rocketbarrels. This update gave us the lowdown on how these triumphs in jungle technology will function.
The Peanut Popgun presents an interesting concept (other than putting gunpowder in a wooden gun). The range of this weapon depends on how long you charge it - charge it too long and, naturally, it explodes, sending splinters and peanut shell shrapnel into your face. Unpleasant. Fire it correctly and not only can you laugh about shooting your nuts at people, but if you’re lucky, the peanut will break open, unveiling it’s edible contents. Granted, it’s only worth a small percentage, what good is the ability to generate your own health if you’re giving it to your enemies? Guess you’ll just have to go Rambo and run as you shoot, picking up the goodies as they bounce off your opponents’ faces.
If a gunpowder isn’t dangerous enough, you can always resort to rocket fuel. Diddy’s homemade jetpack serves as his 3rd jump - a sort of chargeable, controllable last resort. Apparently while thinking up this “ingenious” device, the silly monkey forgot to include a sturdy harness - being hit in the… well, anything will separate Diddy from his Rocketbarrels, leaving you with a helpless ape and wild, spiraling barrels of doom. This should be interesting.
>>Meta Knight (Character) [9/5/07]
In quite possibly the least surprising, least informative update EVER, Meta Knight finally gets his picture in front of a pretty gradient. No mention of special moves (despite having seen almost all of them already), no mention of his involvement in the Subspace Emissary, no nothin’ - just a brief physical description. Oh really, Sakurai? He has a mask and cape? I didn’t notice. *sigh* Just check out my updated character banner and move on. bannerjpeg3.jpg
>>Mario: Special Moves (Character Move Set) AND Pokémon Stadium 2 (Stage) [9/6/07]
A two’fer! I love two’fers! Ok, Sakurai - we forgive you for yesterday.
The first of the two this evening was an interesting look at Mario’s updated move set. Specifically his down B move - F.L.U.D.D. In one swift motion (I hope), Mario buckles on his trusty robot…backpack…super soaker…thingy and sprays enemies with water - and in what I believe is a Smash Bros. first, the offensive attack does no damage whatsoever - purely pushing power. I can see the edge-hogging already. At this point, myself and just about every other dork writing about this agree - count on Luigi busting out the Poltergust 3000.
…Wait a minute!! What happened to Mario’s original down B?! Yes, this update is more interesting than it looks initially - this is the first confirmation of an altered move set for a veteran character. But don’t worry - the Mario Tornado is still in his repertoire as a normal attack. I’m guessing a charged up B.
The back half of the update is the long-awaited profile for the Pokémon stage we’ve been seeing for some time now and the question on everyone’s tongue about it (Does it transform like the last Pokémon stage?) was answered - yes. Sakurai revealed that this stage’s transformations are made up of Pokémon types not featured in the similar stage in Melee (as if the name wasn’t hinting enough at the inclusion of the classic stage). What types you ask? Ice, ground, flying, and the yet to be revealed electric.
The one of particular interest to me, aside from the elusive electric type, is the flying type variation in which the floor is covered in air vents, increasing everyone’s jumping abilities, making for some floaty, mid-air battles. Also notable is the ground type background appearance of the only Pokémon I like - Cubone. Sweetness.
>>Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Main Theme (Music) AND Pokémon: Pokémon Stadium/Evolution (Music), AND My Music (Menu Option) [9/7/07]
A THREE’FER?! Oh, Sakurai - you are too much. In an unheard of three-part update, music takes the spotlight.
First of all, let me just say that the music in this game has got to be the best videogame music in the history of videogame music. There, I said it. You can’t deny it’s epic’ness. This update makes it apparent just how important music was in the planning of this game. For any given stage, there’s now a soundtrack as opposed to one repeating song. Anyone else tired of hearing Final Destination and Battlefield - I am. They must’ve gotten the memo. Anyway - these songs range anywhere from the hard-hitting orchestrated written-for-Brawl songs to original 8-bit nostalgia - basically any song pretaining to the franchise the stage you’re playing is based upon. And in case the selection isn’t big enough for your appetite right away, additional tracks can be found throughout the game as CDs.
But it doesn’t end there - in a system similar to that of the music options in Tony Hawk, you can change the likelihood of any given song - from all the time to not at all. Robust indeed. Some people have gripes about how the Brawl interface in general looks, but I’m saving my opinions until after I’ve seen it in action. There isn’t much to say about the two songs included in the update other than “yes, sexy.”
So there you have it, kids. Things are getting pretty exciting. Here’s an updated look at the “We know it, but it hasn’t been featured” list from last time:
Characters: Meta Knight, Snake
Stages: The Halberd, Mario Circuit, Pokémon Stadium, Shadow Moses
Assist Trophies: Hammer Bro., Nintendog
Pokémon: Chikorita, Goldeen
P.S. Word on the street is this box art could be official:
Damn low res…