Dojo Day: March 9th Edition

Yes, it's true. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been delayed once again, and this time to March 9th. But come on, don't tell me that good old Murphy and his ever-present Law didn't tip you off about that one already? Still, this a little odd, since the Japanese version (which just received an elusive 10 score from Japanese gaming mag Famitsu) is still releasing on January 31. It can't take over a month for localization of a game that already seems to have much of the English work finished from what we see on the blog. Possibly, they need time to prepare the online servers for the undoubtedly massive strain launch day will cause, but I still think that a month is a bit long to delay for.

Challenges: You are provided with a long wall of blue glass squares, and every time you acquire a new character, trophy, CD, or any other unlockable, you will open up its square. In addition, surrounding squares will turn red, and you will be able to see what the requirements are for getting that unlockable. (i.e. completing an event, playing a certain amount of hours) Plus, you can use Golden Hammers at the bottom to smash open almost any square that you want, regardless of position.

Distant Planet: On the suspiciously Earth-like planet, the setting of Pikmin, players will be able to fight on a variety of natural landscapes. They can stand on the leafy platforms, jump down to the dirt slope (susceptible to landslides in the rain), or onto the head of a dangerous frog-like creature.

Sheik: Zelda's alter-ego is back, much the same as she was in Melee. The major difference, however, is that she has been completely redesigned based on the art style for Twilight Princess. For those who were disappointed in the lack of Sheik in TP will be delighted with her new, really hardcore ninja-looking design.

Pikmin & Olimar: Final Smash: Olimar, with one of the more unique Final Smashes, climbs into his spaceship as the stage turns to night. Wild creatures then appear and stampede over his opponents, until daylight comes and Olimar's rocket comes crashing back to the ground.

Sticker Power-ups: So stickers do have more purpose than making little kids feel special! Each sticker has a power-up based on the picture is represents, and you can apply these power-ups to your character in story mode by placing your stickers onto the bottom of your character's trophy stand. The power-ups include things like Attack +13 and Launch Resistance +20. However, when you peel off a sticker to apply a new one, you will lose that sticker forever. Of course, for the lazy ones out there (i.e. me), you can hit a button to randomly select powerups for your character.

So it seems that we have another whole month of waiting for Super Smash Bros. Brawl to come out. What does that mean? For one thing, Nintendo is still doing what they always have done: delaying games over and over in order to iron out problems. That means you will have a near-perfect rendition of Smash Bros. when you go out to buy Brawl on that indefinite date in the future which--just our luck--is probably after March 9. For me, that means one more month of friggin' weekly Smash articles!

On a lighter note, this column feels sort of boring and played-out, so how's this for an idea? You guys can write my articles for me send in emails to anigamers.contact@gmail.com and tell me your thoughts on Smash Bros. and the latest announcements. Or, to make it even easier, you can also post them in the Dojo Day Forums thread. Good responses will be posted in the next Dojo Day article, for all the world (maybe just a bit of it) to read. See you all next week!

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]