|
Monday 18 February, 2008
GAMELOG 4 PART 2
GAMEPLAY:
The more I got into playing the one player campaign mode, the more I became bored with playing the CPU. The single player campaign has little or no storyline and you are basically playing to unlock the characters and levels at different intervals throughout the game.I wished the number of stages and characters was a little higher. Including the hidden classic stage, there are a total of nine different fighting environments. Nintendo owns such a wealth of characters that even a handful more locations and stages would have added much more depth to the single player game aspect of Super Smash Brothers.Although the game features unique (and sometimes tough) bonus stages for each of the 12 characters as well as a few group battles against multiple enemies, the opponents' order of appearance never changes. Playing through the game with different characters turns into a routine act to unlock hidden stuff. Although all the single player made me very good at the different button combinations for the players attacks, the single player aspect was monotonous and never truly appealed as a dynamic fighting game.
However, in contrast to the single player mode, the multiplayer aspect of this game is, of course, the game's main selling point. Thanks to the fixed viewpoint, Nintendo managed to create kicking four-player brawls that never seem to get old. Players either fight in a set time limit or until they get a certain number of "kills" and can even divide up in teams. Once you figure out the moves and the play controls, Smash Bros. quickly turns into one of the most addictive two-, three- and four-player N64 games out there. I was completely immersed in the game, much more than any other fighting game I'd ever experienced. The multiplayer was a fun introduction into the super smash brothers melee and brawl games. Which are the multiplayer hits of the current generation Wii and Gamecube. However this multiplayer part of the game introduced social multiplayer gaming to the console world.
DESIGN:
There are many innovative aspects to this game. The biggest and most influential aspect is the ability to have 4 players play together in a fluid and graphically rich environment with characters everyone knows relatively well. This dynamic is very social and paved the way for other bigger multiplayer games such as Rock Band, DDR, Melee, Brawl among others. Also, the differnce in this game as oppossed to other fighter games is the 3D environment in which the characters play in, however, the fighting itself is 2D. Although the graphics aren't up to Today's standards, this 3D/2D blend creates a unique look that defined the whole 3 Super Smash Brothers sequels. The overall tone of the gameworld is very upbeat and happy. The background music all reflects the different environments and the characters from their distinct games. For example, the background music for the Pokemon level is the pokemon theme music and so on. Also, even though the game is labeled a "fighting" game, the characters are hardly considered violent and lethal. Most of the attacks are very animated and unrealistic so I highly doubt kids will try to use mario's fireballs against other kids at school. Additionally, animations of the characters are very complex for the time. They are smooth and allow for a good progression of the game without and lagging on the audio and visuals.
|
