The single-player game in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is pretty enjoyable. The Subspace Emissary is a decent side-scrolling brawler, and there's a ton to do offline outside of that. You can pass hours building stages, breaking targets, launching coins, clearing events, and taking on the Multi-Man Brawl. There are characters, trophies, stickers, and songs to collect. But the truth is that Brawl is really about competition. It's about fighting with other people, just like every other fighting game.
But what if you're, say, not competitive? Or you're, uh, not good at the game? If you don't have a lot of time to play, there's not too much chance of success online, in Game Night or any other setting. Do you think it's possible to have a satisfactory experience with a multiplayer-oriented game like Brawl without taking part in too much multiplayer? Is it possible to enjoy a fighting game without being competitive?
Wii Warm Up: One-man Brawl
Posted Mar 28th 2008 9:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Wii Warm Up
Tags: fighting, single-player, smash-bros-brawl
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-28-2008 @ 9:19AM
Mr Khan said...
I've always been as much a single-player smash player than a multiplayer one, especially in Melee. Through Melee's run I played hundreds of tournaments against the CPU and mastered all the single-player modes except Multi-man Melee. I could trash the CPU on any difficulty, but put me against a human and i would flop
Now in Brawl's case, Online is keeping me up to speed against what other people are doing, but i still love me some offline. "Challenges" only sweeten the deal
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3-28-2008 @ 9:24AM
Ben said...
Heck yeah it is. I am. It's a little thing called the "Challenges wall" and it's why Kirby's Air Ride was a buyable game at all... There are things to do.
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3-28-2008 @ 9:24AM
dsendecki said...
Subspace Embassy? Doh!
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3-28-2008 @ 9:30AM
Shadow31 said...
Even if you're not for the multiplayer environment, Smash Bros can always be an exception. You can suck and still have fun playing it. That being said, I've logged so many hours in single player of Brawl trying to clear all the challenges, much more than that logged against human players.
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3-28-2008 @ 9:31AM
gerias said...
I'm not to the most competitive of players. My husband TRULY is, however. I don't win every time with him but if it feels like it for him, he won't talk to me for a while ^_^
It's silly but has led me to start enjoying the more single player modes or just watch him play. The coin roll is actually a bunch of fun, if any of you haven't tried it, I suggest giving it a go. Stage Builder is also where I love to spend my time. I tend to make sadistic stages, however. Like my 'No-Escape-Bouncy-Zone'. Pure evil >=D
Beyond that, though, the single-player experience is like it always has been. You've got your classic, your adventure, your Multi and your Home Run.
It's a great experience, especially for those with competitive SO ^_^
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3-28-2008 @ 9:31AM
samfish (Brawl: 2793 0291 2277) said...
I prefer playing against other people, but unfortunately Nintendo still hasn't gotten their shit together with Brawl's online system. I only get to see my friends every other week or so at best these days, so online is preferred for me.
But it's still a mess. I'll sit there for 5 minutes waiting for someone to connect to a random battle...nevermind the luck it takes to see someone from my Friend code list online. It'd be SO much smarter if Nintendo let us do something other than sit around and wait in queue while waiting for friends to connect.
So I've been whiling away the time doing single player Brawls against higher level CPUs, mostly. If I use Pikachu or both Links I can take out a level 9 CPU pretty easily, but if I use Peach or Jigglypuff, level 8 gives me a hard time.
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3-28-2008 @ 11:41AM
Gewurztraminer (needs more umlaut) said...
Back on Melee I despised playing higher level CPUs. If memory serves me right, 3 opposing Level 7's was the most I could take. Of course, that was years ago...
3-28-2008 @ 9:37AM
LordGek said...
I think I have a love/hate relationship with Subspace.
Love:
-Having a use for stickers.
-Fighting zillions of grunts.
-Boss fights.
-Silly cutscenes.
Hate:
-Platforming crap.
-Feeling compelled to find all of the cubes (which require advanced platforming so, forget that).
-Scoring system (totally useless, I would have assumed there would be a bonus depending on how quickly the level was cleared or how many lives I had left, but no, just running back and forth and killing respawned baddies could get you infinite points.
On an unrelated note, does anybody know if there is a POINT to the trophies? Like do I need to find the trophy of key pokemon to ever see their assists, or are they COMPLETELY meaningless to the game itself (short of getting X total unlocks some guys)?
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3-28-2008 @ 6:02PM
WhatIsThatThing said...
Trophies are nothing more than collectibles. They do nothing. Actually, I think there's a challenge that opens when you get a certain number. Maybe all of them. Other than that, they serve no use.
But I like to collect them...
3-28-2008 @ 9:44AM
Gabe_ said...
Absolutely.
I don't have the time dedicate to video games that I once did. The office, friends, owning a home, and various other hobbies eat away at the unoccupied real estate on my Google calendar.
On average, I game for a couple hours every week. I get eaten alive in online play (to the point where it's not even fun), but still enjoy the single player experience in fighting games - including Brawl.
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3-28-2008 @ 9:47AM
interceptor84 said...
I am a casual player, and i find myself picking up brawl for only a few minutes and having an excellent time with it, so I don't think you have to be fully committed to the multiplayer aspect to enjoy it even though kicking the crap out of your friends is a blast.
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3-28-2008 @ 9:54AM
Eternityx said...
I would really enjoy playing online if...I could? There are a lot of issues right now with online play and brawl. But hopefully when that is fixed it will be an enjoyable experience. On a side note I will never stop loving the good ole classic mode :D
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3-28-2008 @ 9:54AM
Dahk said...
Eh I agree to a degree. Single player definitely has the long hours of gameplay, but at the end of the day this game was BUILT for gameplay.
I don't think you can enjoy it AS MUCH as if you played with a group of friends sitting on a couch. That's when all the love and excitement happens =).
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3-28-2008 @ 9:57AM
jan_halmes said...
Trophey collecting, like Pokemon collecting or XBLA achievements, has no "point" other than the fact that its fun.
I beat Subspace in about 10 hours, but have put another 10 in just to collect trophies. It's a very Pokemon-esque activity, and quite fun, especially when trying to get the bosses.
The more I play Subspace, the more I like it. I think it ranks up there with Viewtiful Joe as one of the best action platformers in the past ten years.
If Melee and Brawl were like the original Smash and had limited single player modes, I probably wouldn't have either game. Multiplayer is by far my least favoriate thing about Smash Bros.
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3-28-2008 @ 10:08AM
michael said...
It's funny you bring this up, Wii Fanboy, because I'm having this exact issue. When Melee came out I lived in a house with 5 roommates and multiplayer gaming of all sorts was a constant. Now I live alone and in a different town and stuff, and none of my old friends have the game yet, so I have nobody to play online with except random people which works maybe 10 percent of the time. So I'm forced to play it alone and I must say the whole thing is a lot less compelling. Why do I care if I unlock new characters or whatever? The gameplay is still phenomenal but it's a 'tree falling in the forest' situation. It meant so much when we were all playing together and a new challenger appeared. Now it's just me, and I'm 5 years older anyway, so without the multiplayer it's just less thrilling. Why should I try to get good at it? I'll never be as good as the 14 year olds with tons of free time online, I don't have any roommates to measure myself against or be competitive (or cooperative) with, and to top it all off i can't even have a decent game with random people since that part of the online play is so laggy and broken. Sorry to be so down but you pushed my button, Fanboy.
In conclusion, yes it's still great fun but it's only 60% of how fun it could be.
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3-28-2008 @ 10:13AM
Roto13 said...
My internet connection sucks and I really haven't had a chance to play multiplayer with anyone, but I'm still enjoying the game quite a bit. I have most of the challenges unlocked. I look forward to playing it with friends, though. It should be ten times better.
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3-28-2008 @ 10:19AM
Gewurztraminer (needs more umlaut) said...
I don't think I'll ever duplicate that initial 15hr26min game time my Wii recorded on launch day alone, but I know I'll be playing it for years to come, trying to unlock all the crazy stuff.
Goals I've met were (um, spoilers?):
- play online
- unlock Sonic
- play online
- Beat SSE
- play online
- get Toon Link & Wolf (took FOREVER to defeat them. jerks.)
Recent goal not met:
- play online
I know I've started to hop on, look around for a Brawl, and hop offline again. I think I need to stick around longer though, because I'll never connect with anyone that way. I think I have about 50 people or so from the "uber-list" days but haven't seen much activity lately.
Also, the pic above reminds me to I want to try to play Saturday nights. Perhaps i'll be online then. (hint, hint)
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3-28-2008 @ 10:36AM
Mr Khan said...
I lost three times to Toon Link, beat him the fourth. The first time it was just because i suck as Link, and wasn't prepared, the other two times TL got the Smash Ball.
Wolf i beat easily because I didn't even bother trying the whole "Boss Rush with Fox" thing, so i just looked on GameFaqs and found where his door appears in SSE after you beat it once, he was tough, but I was able to choose my best characters to fight him with
3-28-2008 @ 11:49AM
Gewurztraminer (needs more umlaut) said...
For me, I was too tired to take on Toon Link and had to come back the following day.
For Wolf, I did the door in SSE a few times and got tired of going through the level just to reach it and lose. Then I tried the Boss mode with Fox and, like you said, that was even more work. In the end I gave up, died many quick deaths in multiplayer, also unlocked Jiggly, and finally got to the point where I could challenge Wolf nearly instantaneously... only to beat him in one shot. Oh well.
3-28-2008 @ 10:24AM
Justin said...
Well I fell into the Hype of Smash Brothers and have been quite disappointed. The game is great, but none of the people that come over like to play fighting games. Even though there is a lot of things to do in the game I am pretty sure that I am going to get bored with it very quickly. I have already found myself playing for 10 minutes and then putting in Umbrella Chronicles to fill the time in. I like Brawl they have done great things with it, but I guess I wasn't ready for it.
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3-28-2008 @ 10:40AM
TriptychR said...
Just out of curiosity: What do your friends who don't like fighting games like to play when they come over?
3-28-2008 @ 10:43AM
Justin said...
They like playing Wii Sports, Tanks on Wii Play. One of my friends comes over just to play Lego Star Wars. Most of the time it is Wii Sports.
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3-28-2008 @ 10:57AM
Blue_Falcon said...
I've only played about 25 matches online (if my memory is correct) and I've yet to play the game with multi-player offline.
Most of my time has been solo, and I'm enjoying myself a lot.
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3-28-2008 @ 11:12AM
Jonathan Tran said...
I gotta say, although the single player is a litttttle boring, it is MUCH more interesting than the "single player" in most fighting games.
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3-28-2008 @ 11:24AM
Matt said...
Yea I always played more against computers in the original N64 Smash Bros...
Never really played Melee, but Brawl there's usually two of us on the console at a time. Which makes me angry that we can't go 2v2 online with random opponents like in Strikers Charged...(argh, I hate you sometimes, Nintendo!)
Anyway, I'm not that great at brawl--I can get a few kills but online has been too laggy to worry about skill anyway half the time in my experience...Offline I'm always the second best player when we have 4 people playing, which means I'm the first to die since I'm the biggest threat to the best player in the game. It gets frustrating, but it's still a game close to my heart...
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3-28-2008 @ 1:00PM
zrockstar said...
Unfortunately I am one of the few who has not enjoyed this game as I am not too big on brawler multi-players! (by the way I did try the drunken party playing with friends and it still didn't quite measure up) But, I found out Blockbuster will take my trade-in of SSB for the new Mario Kart when it comes out and there will only be about a $5 difference. So it all works out in the end.
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3-28-2008 @ 1:48PM
Sisyphus said...
Between SSBB and Mario Kart, I'd much rather have Mario Kart. In the end, though, I'll probably spend my money on other games that I actually want.
3-28-2008 @ 3:25PM
Chris said...
Actually I'm starting to get bored with Brawl. I'm shocked, but when I'm alone, I find myself having more fun playing Medal of Honor Heroes 2, MLB 2K8, Guitar Hero III, or even Ocarina of Time. Subspace just doesn't make me want to play it. I'm not addicted to Brawl like I thought I would be, but it's still a great game.
I would probably like it more if the online worked right, but I can never seem to get a match going. I've only played a couple times.
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3-28-2008 @ 3:51PM
ArmorForVictor said...
yes it is that same thing for me too. i thought i would be playing this all the time, but i'm getting bored with it all ready. if the online interface was more like my ps3 i might like it more, but nintendo needs to stop with these fc's.
3-28-2008 @ 7:49PM
SoshiKitai said...
At most times, I'm a simple uno-player of Smash.
... my gf's constantly busy DS-ing away most times she's around me (or internet-ing away)...
And online fights get boring when you fight no one other than Marth... O_o... seriously, what's with all the Marths nowadays? If I remember correctly, people found him "okay" in Melee...
So, I usually train against Lvl 9s... and has anyone else noticed that the levels are completely different than they were from Melee? Level 9s used to be a lot more aggressive, now they're more defensive... I usually shove in a few level 7s and 8s to get a more "human" feel in the brawls....
Can you play a fighting game without being competitive?
Oh yes, I believe so... if you're not doing anything that is other than having a slap-fight... or just tossing things around.
Or if you just like dodging a lot.
... most times I'm not even thinking "I GOTS TA' WIN!" ... I'm usually thinking "Where the heck is that pitfall/banana? I wanna' see something funny..."... :P So I guess at that point, it's not really competitive.
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3-28-2008 @ 7:51PM
SoshiKitai said...
Oh and if it counts as "solo-playing", I do play copious amounts of "Stage Builder"...
I'm nearly up to 80 stages.
So... if anyone wants some stages, I've got tons to spare.
3-30-2008 @ 3:06PM
Paul said...
I sold my copy already because I found it boring to play single-player. I'm going to get Mario Kart instead, which I always had more fun with than the Smash Brothers series.
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