Like it or not, the Smash Bros series wouldn’t be what it is without its most maligned entry

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is painted with much acclaim from critics and fans alike, but one game before it often gets maligned by fans: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Tripped up by its controversial own tripping feature and bad online implementation at the time of its release, Brawl deserves more praise: it laid the foundations for Ultimate to succeed. 15 years after its release, I am here to tell you why this maligned entry in one of the most sucessful gaming series of all time deserves more respect.

The Super Smash Bros. series is known for its epic character crossovers. And the eclectic cast just wouldn’t have worked without The Subspace Emissary tying them all together. A follow-up to Melee’s Adventure Mode, The Subspace Emissary is packed with high-quality cutscenes weaving together an entertaining story. It’s not easy to bring characters like Snake and Mario into one cohesive world, yet Brawl does it masterfully with this mode.

You’re always invested in what’s going to happen next, and the story it tells is the ultimate love letter to video game history. The Subspace Emissary also introduced lite-RPG elements with stickers you can equip to each character, adding stat boosts. This paved the foundations for the Spirits system in Ultimate; you can’t run before you can walk, after all.

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