Every year we like to recognize the best in gaming on Nintendo consoles.
Wii - Game of the Year
It was a long time coming. Endless delays along with the whistle-whetting promise of online four-player brawls resulted in Brawl being the year’s most anticipated Wii release. When it finally dropped, it did not disappoint - for the most part. Emphasizing a robust single-player campaign, Brawl did not leave our Wiis for months as we charged through the entertaining and rewarding Subspace Emissary mode, which presented platforming, epic boss battles, unique trophies and stickers, and a wonderfully nonsensical storyline that brings all of Nintendo’s most well-known characters together in brilliantly-animated cinema scenes. And then, of course, Classic mode offers up 35 characters for players to master. With five different difficulty settings for both Subspace and Classic, there’s an almost limitless amount of content. Just looking through all your trophies and reading their admittedly engrossing entries takes forever.
And then you’ve got the multiplayer modes. A ridiculous amount of customization options ensures that no two games are played the same way, and when you’ve got between two and four people in a room with Smash Bros., a better time cannot be had. You can even create your own stage and share it with your friends. The fighters are all balanced, and the inclusions of Snake and Sonic sweeten the experience even further, proving that Nintendo listens to the fans with at least one ear. It would be silly of me to forget to mention Brawl’s faux Achievements. New stages, demos, trophies, stickers, and entire game modes are unlockable, and luckily, you are often told exactly what needs to be done. Some of the tasks are simple (create a stage) while others are neigh-impossible (clear Boss Rush on Intense), but they will keep you motivated long into the night.
As wonderful as the single and local modes are, the same cannot be said for online play, which suffers from dropped games, crippling lag, and a wonky registration system that more often than not insists that your friend is “awaiting registration” months after you’ve both registered each other. When it works well (which is rare), online play is a hoot, but the safe money rides on local multiplayer matches. Happily, the game is just as incredible even if you completely ignore the online experience—which many of us have been forced to do anyway.
It’s not too often that a game completely engulfs you from day one, both as a single-player experience and a party game. For that reason and so many more, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is our Wii Game of the Year.
Runner-up: Boom Blox
