With Smash Bros. Brawl just over two months away I am going to give you my month by month insight until launch on what new and returning characters I believe will be announced that already haven’t as well as provide a few possible levels, items and modes that could potentially join the fray. Here is my second month’s lineup of possibles.

Returning Characters

Luigi – Okay, I know this one is basically a no-brainer but oh well. Luigi has been a veteran of the Smash series since its beginning as an unlockable character in both previous games, and I know that he will reemerge in Brawl as an unlockable fighter once again. After all he is Mario’s (a.k.a. Mr. Nintendo’s) taller, slenderer brother. Look for Luigi to return to brawl along with his incredibly wacky moveset that he utilized in Melee.

Jigglypuff – she’s the balloon fighting Pokemon that everyone loves to hate. Admit it; you used to set the computer player as Jigglypuff while you took pleasure in pounding that fat, pink little face of hers into the ground. It’s okay everyone did…I still do. Just like Luigi Jigglypuff has been around since the original N64 Smash Bros., she returned in Melee and rest assured will triumphantly return in Brawl come February 10, 2008. Again, just like Luigi, Jigglypuff will be unlockable – most likely as the very first hidden character unlocked (just like the previous Smash installments). So rest assured because your guilty pleasure will return for her third bid in Smash Bros. Brawl. Let’s face it. There is no character more disgraceful to lose to than Jigglypuff, especially when one of your friends taunts you with that ridiculously high-pitched “Hi” after he sends you flying with that powerfully absurd sleep move.

Newcomers

Cel Shaded Link – Was actually rumored to be included in the game only a month after Brawl was first announced. Cel Shaded Link along with Ridley, Samus’ arch-nemesis, and Bowser Jr. were all rumored to be in the new Smash installment after Masahiro Sakurai (Brawl’s producer) appeared on a Japanese talk show and allegedly confirmed their appearance in Brawl. That rumor has since been cast aside as false, yet I still maintain hope that he will make the cut as a playable character. He could easily replace Young Link from Melee, and in addition, he would wield an entirely different moveset than the Twilight Princess Link. I also think he has potential to make the roster because he now has two of his very own games under his tunic – Wind Waker, the smash hit on the now deceased Gamecube and Phantom Hourglass, released just a couple months ago on the Nintendo DS. So keep your eyes open because his early confirmation could be one rumor that ends up true.

Ridley – The archenemy of Samus Aran of the sci-fi Metroid series. Ridley has been a reoccurring enemy in all of the Metroid games dating back to the original on the NES. Just like Cel Shaded Link, Ridley too was rumored to be in Brawl after Sakurai’s comment on the Japanese talk show. Although those rumors have been denied by Sakurai himself, I still believe that Ridley has a good chance to join Brawl. For starters, there is only one character representing the Metroid series (two if you count Zero Suit Samus as a separate character), and that’s Samus herself. Another reason behind my hunch that Ridley will make the list of newcomers is because the Smash roster is lacking in villain characters. With the addition of Ridley not only would there be one more villain, but there would also be one more main character representing the Metroid franchise.

Paper Mario – This one is a long shot, but I think he still has some potential. Paper Mario is Nintendo’s answer for RPG fans who may have never been into Mario’s platformer titles. Paper Mario stands a chance to make Brawl’s cut in my mind because of his best-selling title, Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii. My prediction is that Doctor Mario will be cut from the roster, or a costume alternative for regular Mario, allowing an open spot for another Mario spin-off character, and who better to fill that spot than Paper Mario. He’s been around since the SNES days and he would boast an entirely different stamina and set of moves (based of his latest hit Super Paper Mario) than regular Mario. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this dream to come true.

New Items

Starbits – This one is another long shot, but it could be a really cool addition if done correctly. For those who don’t know what Starbits are look at the picture above. Do you see those colorful little star-shaped gems surrounding Mario? Those are Starbits, and Mario uses them primarily in Galaxy to shoot at enemies, stunning them or even killing them. Starbits could be a cool item in Brawl because once a player collects a pack of Starbits they could have the opportunity to use the motion control of the remote or the joystick of the Gamecube and Classic Controller as a makeshift cursor. With the cursor players could then shoot the Starbits they have collected at opposing players stunning them in mid-move, stealing jumps resulting in deaths and much more. I’m aiming high on Starbits appearing in Brawl…literally.

New Levels

Mario Galaxy Non-gravitational Planets – Sticking with the theme of Mario Galaxy, the coolest thing about the game was the addition of the non-gravitational planets. Mario jumps around on, walks on the bottoms of and flings from these non-gravitational planets throughout the course of the game. Adding these non-gravitational planets to Brawl could make fights much more interesting and challenging for combatants. Players could fight on the bottoms and backsides of levels as the camera pans around to follow the action. However, the gravitational field would only be limited so far off the planet’s ground. So if a player was cast off the planet at a high percentage it would be just as challenging to get back to the planet without plummeting to death as it would be to get back to the ledge of a standard level.

Well, that’s all for this month’s session of “Let’s Get Ready to R-U-M-B-L-E!!” Stay tuned for next month’s final addition of possible returning characters, newcomers and the like. Also check out www.smashbros.com for daily, weekday updates as well as my picks for last month’s addition of “Let’s Get Ready to R-U-M-B-L-E!! – Month 1, Round 1.” As always, thanks for reading.

-Dillon (D-Dub)

WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!

That’s right Nintendo Wii fans; Mario is back and better than ever!

The local Game Stop opened at 10am yesterday, and I was in the store by 10:30 to pick up my very own copy of Super Mario Galaxy. The long awaited debut of Mario for the Nintendo Wii has finally arrived, and believe me when I say that this game is out of this world…literally.

Super Mario Galaxy is a spectacle for the eye from start to finish, and when you’re done it will leave you begging for more. From the minute you pick up the Wii Remote and Nunchuck you are seamlessly entrenched in a game unlike any other Mario, let alone any other game, you’ve ever played. However, despite all its new additions and innovations Super Mario Galaxy has a ton of historic Mario driven themes in place to make those of us hardcore gamers feel right at home. From the music to the enemies (yes Goombas, Kooopas and the like are all back), Super Mario Galaxy is like a freshly cooked homemade meal. It will have new gamers asking for seconds and hardcore gamers completely satisfied.

The biggest thing aside from the innovative use of physics in the game is that despite the lack of graphic prowess of the Wii the game looks amazing. Now I know that the Wii doesn’t support 1080p and high definition, but the 420p capability of the Wii hardware is pushed to the max. Hands down this is the greatest looking game on Nintendo’s home console by far. From the opening cinematic and throughout the course of the game I was constantly blown away by its crisp textures and vibrant colors. Mario jumps, shoots and soars from planet to planet and galaxy to galaxy leaving you taken back by the pure beauty of it all. The outstanding variety of the different worlds and levels in the game are enough to please a fan, but because this variety looks so sharp it doesn’t just please, it surprises. Take my word for it when I say that this game could rival some XBOX 360 titles in terms of sheer graphical outlook. It looks that good!

Yeah it really looks that pretty. Look at the texture of that volcano and the lighting effects on the lava. Impressed yet?

Aside from the visuals, Super Mario Galaxy boasts completely innovative game play just as its predecessors, Super Mario Bros. and Mario 64, had done before. Super Mario Bros., the originator, was released in America in 1985, and it transformed the way people played games. Before the debut of the NES, arcades were the best form of a videogame outlet for the masses. Atari came out with a home console, yet it was so barbaric that when Super Mario Bros. hit the market people were blown away by its graphics, its extremely tight control and its addictive game play. Then over a decade later, Mario 64, viewed as one of the greatest (if not the best) videogame(s) of all time brought the Mario franchise to the third dimension. For the very first time people finally had total freedom over the control of Mario and his environments. And now after another decade and a critically split GameCube installment, Super Mario Sunshine (some loved it, others hated it), Mario returns to glory on the Wii in Super Mario Galaxy, arguably his best game yet.

Super Mario Bros. – The game that started it all.

Super Mario 64 – Crafted tight control and originated seamless 3-D character roaming and environments.

Super Mario Galaxy – Brining game play into a whole new league with amazing physics and well done motion control.

Super Mario Galaxy’s innovation lies in its spectacular use of physics and gravity. The game takes place primarily in space after Bowser rips Princess Peach’s castle from the ground and carries it off into another galaxy. Of course Mario gives chase, and on his journey he encounters the various ends of the universe. The idea is so fresh and exciting that you’ll keep coming back for more the very first time you walk around on the bottom of a planet or jump as high as you can only to be sucked back to the surface by the planet’s gravitational field. The controls are tight and responsive, and they aren’t over used by forced motion control from the Wii Remote. There’s no motion control gimmick here. In fact, you hardly use the motion of the Wii Remote with the exception of Mario’s spin attack (a replacement of the punch) and some very well done racing and balancing situations. For example, Mario must stand atop a giant ball and steer it through a hole-ridden course from start to finish by using the Wii Remote’s motion control as a make-shift steering wheel.

However, despite all of Super Mario Galaxy’s triumphs, I do have a few miniscule areas of improvement. The game runs very smooth with little to no frame rate drops, yet sometimes the camera, which overall does a fabulous job of following Mario around the backsides and underbellies of planets and objects, gets stuck in a bad spot where you can’t use the free camera to change Mario’s view, or it changes view too quickly often resulting in death during an intense jump sequence. The developers this time around really tried to incorporate an actual story line into the game, and it works, but it is no Legend of Zelda tale. These are extremely minute details that should easily be overlooked because the good of this game outweighs the bad by far.

Overall, I can’t limit this games greatness to just mere words. Rather, you must take my advice, and pick this game up for yourself. Buy it, rent it, or steal it from a friend – I don’t care what it takes. If you have a Wii (or even if you don’t) you won’t want to miss this game. It is epic, and it is Mario, but most of all it just plain FUN, and that’s what Mario games have always been about.

-Dillon (a.k.a. D-Dub)