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Wednesday 20 February, 2008
Gameplay:
Single player mode sheds a little light on the premise of the game, which is pretty clever: You are in your room playing with action figures, making them fight. This is evidenced by the final boss of single player being "Master Hand", and by the main menu screen being the characters lying limp on a desk in a bedroom. This is a cool idea for a story, and adds to the competitiveness. Everyone usually has their own favorite character, and this is a way for you to have them fight in an organized environment. I know I definitely had my action figures fight other kids when I was little, and this is a more fun, interactive version of that.
This game never gets old. There have been versions released on newer consoles, but the original is just as good. I love that the game keeps cumulative stats of the multiplayer mode, showing how many times a character has killed or been killed by all the other characters, shows their winning percentage, etc... It's fun to look at those and realize how many hours have been spent button mashing and playing this game. One of the aspects of this game that I think has been so fundamental to it's success is your attachment to certain things. For instance, I love playing with captain falcon, I love using the beam sword item, and I love the big levels where there is lot's of room to fight, or hide. The truly remarkable thing is that most people I know have attachments, but it's to all sorts of different things. Everyone finds something they like in this game, and that's what makes it so great.
Design:
With the ability to make the game as long or as short as possible, you get varying types of gameplay. When you play in timed mode, you win by killing more than you get killed, with your spread being the determinant of score. There is always the possibility of a thrilling sudden death overtime, where both players are one hit away from death. Stock mode, however, where each player has a certain number of lives, is more tactical, as you try to stay alive and don't necessarily have to record the most kills to win. Both game types are fun, but stock mode is more straightforward as the winner always has to single handedly defeat the runner up.
The levels are a very important part of the gameplay. There are hazards on each level that could hurt you, and knowing the terrain can be very strategic and helpful. Each level is a different character's "home base", which doesn't mean much, but is kinda cool because it gives a little more personality to the characters. Some levels are larger, which usually encourages longer, more strategic games, and some levels are smaller, which create hectic, quick games. This affects your tactics greatly.
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