As someone not in the competitive scene, Brawl's most glaring sin, and what puts it irremediably below SSBM in my eyes (whereas Melee is Top 5 From All Time material to me) is the loss of soul.
I could go on with my thoughts about Break The Targets, Event Matches, Bonus Points and such, but concerns with those features have been voiced already on this thread, so I'm going to focus on an aspect seldom discussed when talking about this: the trophies. Even if you personally couldn't care less about them, I think they're the perfect example to differentiate between the passion found in both games.
Trophies were fun in Melee. Their very nature instigate the player to do everything on his/her hands to obtain them. It's an achievement, and in a game in which you have to work your way into victory, it fits very well. However, what I truly found attractive was what they symbolized; Nintendo's rich history. So what if that blue haired swordsman was someone I had never seen before? I just needed to collect his trophy and give it a read. It would give me insight on the Smash world, educating me about the Big N's past, present, and even future (Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin and Animal Crossing figurines come to mind).
I was fascinated by both the concept and its execution. It was one of the best aspects of Melee for me. Finding out about the relevance of that character you used you much because they "looked cool", their background, important element from their adventures..."I'm not collecting mere Golden Trophies to prove I accomplished a certain goal, I'm slowly piecing up the company's legacy!" Games you didn't even know that existed and that, thanks to the trophies, made you care. Variety, people. It wasn't just the generic offerings you would expect. Bowser's Clown-Copter! Raphael the Raven! The ride from Pokemon Snap! Marin! Kirby Hats!! A Gamecube!!! It's pretty evident, in both the selection and descriptions (quirkiness was at the order of the day), that actual effort was put on this. Plenty of it, in fact.
I am sad, then, to perceive Brawl's selection as largely inferior to Melee, despite winning in the quantity department. There's this feeling I experiment with Brawl's choices...They don't seem to be picked up with a lot of inspiration, nor by someone truly in love with Nintendo's past. On the contrary, it transmits the message that the motivation behind their inclusion in Brawl is mere promotion for currently released games. Seriously. Look at the Nintendo category and tell me a classic game represented there that isn't an Assist Trophy or item. The only trophies that do not fall under that category are (for the time) new DS games. Who feels nostalgia for games released within the last 2 years?
When that isn't the case, most of the time the trophy focuses on games which are represented via a stage, ATs or stage hazards. I don't think they had fun. I think they perceived the trophies' selection as a chore. "Oh, we have this item/AT/hazard, damn now we have to make a trophy for it..." , it's just generic. Final Smashes had to have a trophy, but they actually look like they gave a damn about making them. Why just them? The worst offender is the Subspace Emissary category. 58 fricking trophies, when series like Mother, Wario, Yoshi, Kid Icarus and Fire Emblem are underrepresented. And 40+ showcase the horrendously generic enemies. I don't care about generic trophies from my beloved Nintendo series; you think I care about these uninspired designs created just to have something to punch or avoid on SSE?
There are no risks taken. Brawl plays it safe, promoting new releases and making trophies for things in the game. But where's the fun in that? The level of lost potential is almost depressing. Where are our surprises, our nostalgia, our creative trophies? I expected wacky, clever, creative offerings. The Fly Swatter Hand from Mario Paint, the Mic from Hey You Pikachu!, The Rod of Seasons and the Harp of Ages from Zelda, Pauline from DK, Captain Syrup and her pirate crew from the Wario Land games, Mother's Gyigas, the Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus, the stories from characters I don't know about from Fire Emblem...
That the development of the game focused heavily on SSE and thus, left little room in comparison for attention to other elements, is irrelevant to the fact that doing so deprived these returning game modes from the passion found in the past. As evidenced by the trophies ... and not just them.
Not to mention that there was more creativity in Melee's original soundtrack than there was in Brawl's, by ten country miles. Just a couple examples:
Target Test in Melee.
Target Test in Brawl.
Trophy's Theme in Melee
Trophy's Theme in Brawl
I could go on with my thoughts about Break The Targets, Event Matches, Bonus Points and such, but concerns with those features have been voiced already on this thread, so I'm going to focus on an aspect seldom discussed when talking about this: the trophies. Even if you personally couldn't care less about them, I think they're the perfect example to differentiate between the passion found in both games.
Trophies were fun in Melee. Their very nature instigate the player to do everything on his/her hands to obtain them. It's an achievement, and in a game in which you have to work your way into victory, it fits very well. However, what I truly found attractive was what they symbolized; Nintendo's rich history. So what if that blue haired swordsman was someone I had never seen before? I just needed to collect his trophy and give it a read. It would give me insight on the Smash world, educating me about the Big N's past, present, and even future (Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin and Animal Crossing figurines come to mind).
I was fascinated by both the concept and its execution. It was one of the best aspects of Melee for me. Finding out about the relevance of that character you used you much because they "looked cool", their background, important element from their adventures..."I'm not collecting mere Golden Trophies to prove I accomplished a certain goal, I'm slowly piecing up the company's legacy!" Games you didn't even know that existed and that, thanks to the trophies, made you care. Variety, people. It wasn't just the generic offerings you would expect. Bowser's Clown-Copter! Raphael the Raven! The ride from Pokemon Snap! Marin! Kirby Hats!! A Gamecube!!! It's pretty evident, in both the selection and descriptions (quirkiness was at the order of the day), that actual effort was put on this. Plenty of it, in fact.
I am sad, then, to perceive Brawl's selection as largely inferior to Melee, despite winning in the quantity department. There's this feeling I experiment with Brawl's choices...They don't seem to be picked up with a lot of inspiration, nor by someone truly in love with Nintendo's past. On the contrary, it transmits the message that the motivation behind their inclusion in Brawl is mere promotion for currently released games. Seriously. Look at the Nintendo category and tell me a classic game represented there that isn't an Assist Trophy or item. The only trophies that do not fall under that category are (for the time) new DS games. Who feels nostalgia for games released within the last 2 years?
When that isn't the case, most of the time the trophy focuses on games which are represented via a stage, ATs or stage hazards. I don't think they had fun. I think they perceived the trophies' selection as a chore. "Oh, we have this item/AT/hazard, damn now we have to make a trophy for it..." , it's just generic. Final Smashes had to have a trophy, but they actually look like they gave a damn about making them. Why just them? The worst offender is the Subspace Emissary category. 58 fricking trophies, when series like Mother, Wario, Yoshi, Kid Icarus and Fire Emblem are underrepresented. And 40+ showcase the horrendously generic enemies. I don't care about generic trophies from my beloved Nintendo series; you think I care about these uninspired designs created just to have something to punch or avoid on SSE?
There are no risks taken. Brawl plays it safe, promoting new releases and making trophies for things in the game. But where's the fun in that? The level of lost potential is almost depressing. Where are our surprises, our nostalgia, our creative trophies? I expected wacky, clever, creative offerings. The Fly Swatter Hand from Mario Paint, the Mic from Hey You Pikachu!, The Rod of Seasons and the Harp of Ages from Zelda, Pauline from DK, Captain Syrup and her pirate crew from the Wario Land games, Mother's Gyigas, the Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus, the stories from characters I don't know about from Fire Emblem...
That the development of the game focused heavily on SSE and thus, left little room in comparison for attention to other elements, is irrelevant to the fact that doing so deprived these returning game modes from the passion found in the past. As evidenced by the trophies ... and not just them.
Not to mention that there was more creativity in Melee's original soundtrack than there was in Brawl's, by ten country miles. Just a couple examples:
Target Test in Melee.
Target Test in Brawl.
Trophy's Theme in Melee
Trophy's Theme in Brawl
