Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We buried our friend, the Smash Bros. Brawl Dojo, many months ago. Then, like a zombie, the beast rose from its grave to honor today's European Brawl release.

Aside from an apology (and the promise that you can play Brawl in five different languages), the Dojo doesn't offer much in terms of words. Yet, it does feature a snapshot gallery with some super silly Brawl images worth looking at. "Snapshots Galore" has been around the Dojo two times before, but since we happened to be around those parts today anyway, we decided to put the most recent ones in a gallery for your viewing pleasure (below).

We're really proud of what the Smash Bros. community has done, regarding these snapshots (which are filled with ridiculousness, awesomeness, and "huh?") and other creations, too. Now it's your turn to take the Brawl torch, Europe. Let's see what types of goodies you can come up with.

Warning: The pictures in the gallery below reveal spoilers! Only view the gallery if you're man (or woman!) enough to handle it.


[Thanks RupeeClock!]

This week, we said goodbye to a longtime friend: the Smash Bros. Dojo. It has been a constant source of kicks for us over the past really long time (seriously, it's been around for awhile). We'll miss you Sakurai, and all of your fun and wonderful postings.

Features:

• Wii Warm Up: The price of Wii Fit
  Vote in our poll and tell us if it's too expensive for you
• Brawl Stage of the Week: Joystiq edition
  We introduce a new feature!
• VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 4/14/08
  We check out this week's new VC games
• Virtually Overlooked: Astro Boy: The Omega Factor
  We tell you why it should be on the Virtual Console
• Another Week in Sales
  Our analysis of sales figures for the European and Japan regions

Videos:

• Super Mario Galaxy mod reaches for the stars
  About the best mod EVAR
• Glitching with ghosts in Mario Kart Wii
  Glitching? Already?
• Dealership uses Wii to sell cars
  Great marketing, if we may say so
• Johnny Lee rocks the TED conference
  Is the man not completely amazing?

Other Items of Interest:

• Forget Chuck Taylor: Nintendo All Stars
  Now you're walking with power!
• Student-developed DS games appear on Everybody's Nintendo Channel
  Nice (if you live in Japan)

The Smash Bros. Dojo has been with us for so long, offering daily glimpses into one of the Wii's most anticipated titles, but as of yesterday, the blog is no longer updating. Where will we turn now for our daily fix? Oh, we could play the game, sure (at least, those of us not in Europe; sorry, folks), but Masahiro Sakurai's informative, enthusiastic posts gave us the tools we needed to succeed and grow as people (and, uh, players). It's like losing a friend.

In honor of our months with the dojo, the Wii Fanboy staff got together and prepared a gallery collecting some of our favorite reveals, so that we can relive the experience one last time. Can someone pass the tissue? We're having a moment here.

		Let Meowth show you it >

So, are we all enjoying Brawl? Of course, because I'm a mug and reside in the UK, I'm still waiting for my copy, but as long as you guys are happy and having a hoot, that's all that matters. Seriously, no jealousy here. Really! What, that throbbing vein? Yeah, it's always been there. Go past the break for the usual spoilers while yours truly curls up in the corner and sobs heavily.

This is it, folks: the final dojo update before Brawl hits the U.S., and there's a definite "last day of school" feel to proceedings. Rather than deal with the drudgery of introducing new stages or describing individual items in fine detail, Sakurai and his team of translators have just loafed around with their shirts hanging out, flicked ink at girls, and uploaded around a hundred of the goofiest images that users have taken using Brawl's Snapshot mode (unfortunately, because we have a blog to run here, we only found time to upload around half).

Some of these made us titter, some missed the mark, and others really need to be viewed with their caption (you'll have to go to the dojo itself for that) for the full effect. Oh, and you can forget shots of Peach's underwear, or of Snake and Pikachu in compromising positions. The dojo is a place for all the family, after all. Not some depraved message board thread populated by the likes of us.

Looks like we may have our final character, folks! Hit the break to find out who it is!

You all know the drill by now. What's included after the break can be considered spoiler material, so continue at your own risk.

Ah, where would we be without continues? You'd probably find us taking an anger management class or two if they didn't exist, truth be told.

Of course, you shouldn't rely on continues. Even though you can use them, you should certainly try to get by without them. Sakurai seems to feel the same way, which is why you get punished for using continues in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Not that the punishment is all that bad -- Kirby won't puff into your home and slap you in the face, for example. Yet, in Classic Mode, each continue comes at the cost of points and coins. Your score will automatically get cut in half, and the amount of coins you owe is based on the difficulty you're playing in. Naturally, easy playthroughs cost less coins than difficult playthroughs. And yes, these are the same coins that you'll be using in Spectator Mode. Just like an arcade game, if you don't have enough coinage to continue, it's game over.

As for Adventure Mode, the consequences aren't as bad. You don't have to spend your coins to continue, but you'll lose half of the trophies and stickers that you've collected on your current quest. You'll also receive less coins when you beat stages after continuing.

We wonder just how hard these single player modes are going to be. Until we figure that out, you can bet that we'll be big penny pinchers.

Would you believe Brawl contains even more Pokemans? It's true! See which of the other critters made the cut after the break.

The 31st character to be revealed on the dojo might not be who you expect -- go past the break for the full, spoiler-filled lowdown.

Fancy some quick tips on how to complete -- and by that we mean fully, 100% complete -- The Subspace Emissary? Hit the break!

Hit the break to learn more about the latest Smash Bros. veteran to appear on the dojo, but be warned: if you're showing spoilers the hand (oof), you'll want to stay put.

The spoiler barrier is back down for today, after Masahiro Sakurai revealed another unlockable character in Brawl. To find out who, go past the break! To remain free of spoilers, stay here!

We're lifting our spoiler barrier for today's dojo update, simply because there's a complete lack of stuff to spoil. Bowser's special moves -- the Flying Slam and the Bowser Bomb -- have long been available on his dojo character profile.

The former replaces Koopa Klaw from Melee, and sees Bowser grab his opponents (either on the ground or in mid-air) and slam them back down to earth, providing the victim doesn't reverse the move and clamber on top of Bowser (damage will play a part in how strong any resistance is). The Bowser Bomb, meanwhile, is much the same as it was in Melee.

Elsewhere, Sakurai discusses Meteor Smashes, maneuvers that let you spike already stricken opponents, sometimes with devastating effect.

Read: Bowser: Special Moves
Read: Meteor Smash

For the past fortnight, we've been positioning all dojo updates and spoilers past the post break, so if you've been avoiding anything that could ruin Brawl's element of surprise, move on now! The rest of you are advised to click through for one of the juicier updates in a while...