Here, as promised, is the sixth portion (including my review) of my in-depth Super Smash Bros. Brawl critique for Rorschach’s contest.

After writing this all out, I realized it is way too long for a single post. I’ll break it down into two characters at a time and release them over the course of the week so you can read who you like at your own leisure.

The following will detail my impressions and thoughts of every character in the top row of the final roster, two at a time. So, if you haven’t finished unlocking the entire roster, or have been living under a fucking rock for a couple months, don’t read any further. There may be a surprise or two mentioned herein. I’ll also offer up one or two suggestions for additional characters that I feel should have made the roster or deserve a spot in the next iteration. Enjoy.

Mr. Game & Watch

I love G&W. He’s simply cool as shit. Maybe it’s because I remember actually owning some of those old Game & Watch handhelds back in the day, I dunno, I just think they did a great job of introducing a 2D character to a 3D fighting series. Not to mention his moves are as quirky as he is and he’s STILL pretty powerful in the hands of a skilled player.


Old School at its finest.

**Side note: G&W’s stage is one of the best presented AND annoying in the game. Those damn dudes with the chairs piss me off. I wish they woulda simply reused his stage from Melee, in all honesty.**

I like how they’ve changed G&W from his first appearance in Melee. I know the Game & Watch series had a long library of games from which to pull moves from, and they have done a good job of replacing some of his old moves with more uniquely animated, yet similarly functioning, moves. His Up+A smash attack with the diving helmet makes me giggle every time I see it. Seriously.

For a guy representing a ton of different games with wholly different themes and actions therein, I think they’ve done as well as they could to show off those games through G&W. Even in regards to his Final Smash.


Although gorgeously rendered, I preferred his old stage.

Again, I know G&W represents a whole chapter in Nintendo’s history, so that means the choices for his moves and his Final Smash were almost endless, but I actually like his transformation into the octopus. Granted, I never played the game it comes from, I think it’s so damn crazy and unique it fits him perfectly. When I first pulled it off in-match my friend I was playing against said, “What the fuck is that thing?” That’s the exact response it should get from players. While it’s not perfect in terms of damage and effectiveness, it’s perfect for the character as a whole.

Mr. Game & Watch = Win. He’s easily the quirkiest and most humorous fighter in the series, but when in skilled hands he can be deadly serious. Representing an entire portion of Nintendo’s history has never been pulled off so effectively, even by Mario. G&W should be the true mascot of the series. He’s THAT cool.

Due to a size constraint I broke today's update into two parts. Here is my bonus character critique.

Or read my review of the game here.

Or if you need to catch up on old critiques:

Mario and DK.
Link and Samus.
Kirby and Fox.
Pikachu and Marth.