Brawl, stop diluting my genre

Smash Brothers Brawl, the hundred pound gorilla is just everyone's favorite, isn't it?

The other day, I walk into a classroom to join my friends in some video games. Of course, Smash Brothers Brawl is on the screen right now and I see four excited/dumbfounded/pained expressions looking at a projected screen as four mascot characters from the Nintendo franchise beat the living snot out of each on board a spaceship every which way. I can sense a feeling of controlled chaos as the players know what they're doing yet don't know what will happen next considering it is a four person free for all with no allegiances. Projectiles are thrown, bodies are ringed out, and special attacks are executed. But after a few more games of this, I want to play Tatsunoko vs.Capcom. I'd just gotten off class after all and I wanted to play this new game starring the most obscure characters from the Capcom video game franchise and the Tatsunoko anime production company.

As soon as we start on that, all I can feel is confusion.


All the confidence my friends had of knowing what to do disappears. Sure, I can enjoy myself as a regular fighting game player, but only one other person has even the faintest grasp of what to do. I cringe every time our only female friend takes a shot at TvC and figuratively flails her way to a defeat. God bless everyone is still enjoying themselves but I just don't understand what's supposed to be complicated about TvC. I wouldn't say button mashing will bring you success, but a certain amount of controlled mashing can get you a few wins. You only have to worry about three buttons for crying out loud. It's beyond me how some people knew how to block in Brawl (which is a button) but not how to block in TvC (you move away from your opponent, like 95% of other fighting games). They're even similar to each other in some aspects, as many attacks are executed by pressing a button in combination with a direction on the joystick.

However it's not that I hate Brawl. Quite the contrary, I love it. While I don't want to brag that I win all the time, I will say that I typically win consistently among my peers. It is in the end a party game to me and not a competitive game. If I win or lose in it I brush it off either way. The problem for me is how people can't or won't learn the game. If you can devote energy crunching the numbers in an rpg to power level your character, why not getting the hang of some simple motions to throw a fireball? Don't use Brawl as a crutch to not explore other fighting games.

So Brawl, you're a good game. But please, let's play something else. Don't be afraid to pick up another fighting game. Don't be afraid of other fighting games just because it uses three buttons for punching and three buttons for kicking. Or because you have to hold away from your opponent to block. Or because you have to move your joystick in a quarter-circle forward motion from down to forward to shoot a fireball. Don't just stick with something like Brawl. Expand your horizons and you'll find something rewarding.