First of all I want to state that this post is not meant to rub it in that this game was delayed in the rest of the world. I am not talking about it to brag or gloat, but to tell you that when it does come out in your area of the world, your patience will be rewarded. It is worth the wait. And shockingly it lives up to the amazing amounts of hype people have been giving it. Read on for more first impressions (spoiler free).

Call me a pessimist if you want, but I came into this game expecting to be disappointed. It’s not that I didn’t think Brawl would be a great game, I mean if all it was, was a roster update of Melee it would still be a wonderful game. It’s just that the amount of hype and anticipation this game received was (I thought) building up for a massive letdown.

It wouldn’t be the first time. Look at titles like Halo 3, Final Fantasy VIII, Twilight Princess, and any other heavily anticipated games. They usually turn out to be wonderful, classic titles, but compared to the months/years of speculation and hype, they can never fully climb to the top of the pedestal their fans placed them on pre-release.

So I was prepared to have a good time, but not to actually encounter a game that is as good (or better) as I hoped it would be. Masahiro Sakurai is an evil genius. A genius in the fact that he delivers a game with beautiful graphics and, as far as I can tell, extremely balanced gameplay. He is evil because for the first time in years I stayed up until 5:00am on a work night playing his amazing game. Now I sit here exhausted and probably getting a bit sick, but I know that rather than take a nap, as soon as I have a free moment I will be back to the game.

I put a good 6 hours into the game yesterday (I started late) and I believe that I haven’t even scratched the surface of Smash Bros. Brawl. I haven’t tried out most of the play modes, didn’t try the level editor, didn’t go online and only got to about the 10% point on the “Subspace Emissary” adventure mode. It hasn’t been my goal to unlock characters or collect trophies (though I definitely will do that later for my full review). Right now I am just enjoying the game. I chose characters and stages randomly and I loved all the surprises I found.

The battles are very much like those found in Melee so veteran players will be right at home. The inclusion of the smash ball leads to some new strategy though. Trying to activate a Final Smash and avoid being hit by another players Final Smash. The backgrounds are exciting and the stages have amazing variety. Pro players will once again have to both master their choice of characters and learn the ins and outs of the games stages.

As for the graphics the game is one of the best-looking Wii titles right now. The characters and backgrounds are colorful and detailed. The animations are smooth and the special effects are wonderfully flashy. It’s not as big of a leap in graphics as Smash Bros. 64 to Smash Bros. Melee, but it is definitely a good-looking title.

I have tried controlling the game with the Wii remote alone, the Wii remote/nunchuck combo and the GameCube controller. Of these, so far I like the GameCube controller the best, but that might be because that is what I am used to using for Melee. This weekend I am going to pick up a Classic Controller and give that a try. I’m inviting some friends over so I am also looking forward to experiencing the multiplayer in full.

The music in this game is fantastic and there are so many songs! I really can’t believe the amount of music in this game. 36 composers worked on the games soundtrack and I have heard it reported that there are literally hundreds of songs to be heard. The developers went totally overboard with the music, but actually they went overboard with everything.

The amount of game content is almost overwhelming. There are so many things, to unlock, collect, play with, customize that I think it will take me weeks just to play with everything much less master the game. And with the added bonus of online play this game could keep a gamer entertained for hundreds of hours. It is probably the best value for your money of any Wii title.

Just the added-on adventure mode really could have been a stand alone game by itself. It has a great (though slightly simple) story, beautiful cut-scenes and fun “beat ‘em up” gameplay. It felt like a classic 2D game and I wish more games of this type were being made for consoles. The only negative I found was that the Smash Bros. characters don’t jump the same way most platform game characters do. I found my jumps landing places I didn’t want them to (like bottomless pits). However, the more I played the more I got used to it. By the end of the game I am sure it will become second nature. For someone who loves side-scrollers this mode alone is with the price of the game.

I realize that saying all of this is not going to make your wait any easier. But I want to assure you that when you finally do get this game into your hands you will realize that as much as we would have loved to have it last year, the amount of extra effort put into this title has paid off. I hope you can take comfort in the fact that the game you eventually buy will be worth the agony some of you are going through. Miyamoto once said, “A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever”. In this case, the repeatedly delayed Smash Brothers Brawl could be the next Nintendo Masterpiece.