Скачать или смотреть Super Smash Bros. Brawl -- 25 September 2012, Friends Matches #03

So, it seems I was a big fat liar about that "in the evening" nonsense, so hopefully you're not too put out by the lack of words filling this space beyond the minimalistic and skeletal framework that I left in lieu of my usual linguistic labors.

---

Match #1 -- Mario Bros.
Sonic (Joou)
vs. Snake (Syl)
vs. Wario (EEL)

Now I definitely know I upload too many matches in this particular venue, unlike my debatable misgivings about "too much" (no such thing!...?!) of Flat Zone 2 in too short a timeframe. But I'll put it even more strongly that I don't care... this stage is great. It needs to be out there more!

There are actually a couple of reasons for my thoughts on this that you will certainly now endure, because you haven't stopped reading yet. (I will now leave a moment for those who wish to exit the vehicle to do so.)

The obvious first thought that always comes to mind is the extreme and ever-present disdain with which this stage is treated by the more "serious-minded" playerbase. It's no longer seen as a change of pace or an unexpected subversion of all the basics they had come to take for granted and instead choose to delve into a laundry list of all the things "wrong" with it that simply underscores how completely they've managed to miss the point in the first place. Seriously, go read SmashWiki's page on the stage, it's at times quite entertaining...if they weren't so completely serious. (Well, as of this writing, anyway...maybe they'll get more tone-neutral sometime later.)

The other reason why I like this stage so much wasn't entirely clear to me until I thought a bit about it. It is, of course, is the fact that it is a remake of another game I liked so much... although given the timing, my earliest memories of it came from its use as a multiplayer minigame within Super Mario Bros. 3 and later as a full-fledged mode in several subsequent remakes. It would be no small claim to say that at times I would play these with the local P2s than the actual games that came attached to them. So this little slice of games past coupled with the new rules of the universe in which it finds itself established makes for a culmination of old and new that I must confess I find quite near and dear to my memory card and heart drive.

---

Match #2 -- Corneria
Metaknight (Joou)
vs. Snake (Syl)
vs. R.O.B. (EEL)

This time, I'd like to get up on a soapbox about something that I've noticed a great disparity in views on over the years that this series has gone on ever since its induction: the Paper Fan. It is an incredibly powerful item, even if it's one of the means of incurring the absolute lowest damage possible per attack.

The obvious implication is, of course, that the most effective way to use the item is to repeatedly attack with it before people can escape in order to rack up the greatest amount of damage. This is objectively and quantifiably true. This is also annoying to be caught in, which is... less verifiable, but I do believe that it's safe to say that this is the case and hence it's exactly why this point of contention ever comes up in the first place.

Put simply, my response is not to use it as such except in retaliation for its use in this fashion. Otherwise, it's my standard operating procedure to throw it at people and attempt to use the resulting juggle opportunity for a follow-up where applicable. If it seems like there could be more chronic abuse than I could actually hope to return in kind, I simply get rid of it. This policy actually applies to a handful of items, but the Paper Fan is one of the ones that comes up most often and for the longest durations, since it's an equipped weapon rather than a limited-use item.

I consider the sum total of all this subjective reasoning to be the most "courteous" solution to the issue of what to do when a Paper Fan arrives, so take it as you will.

---

Match #3 -- Shadow Moses Island
Falco (Joou)
vs. Pokémon Trainer (Syl)
vs. Ness (EEL)

Oh, hey! The Paper Fan's back! ...well, that's not really the focus of this match, but it's interesting that it did show up in a match I wanted to save anyway. If you get too much in the habit of carelessly swinging it about, you'll leave the whole world blind (by papercuts!) in eye-for-an-eye style retaliation.

---

Match #4 -- 75m
Ganondorf (Joou)
vs. Kirby (Syl)

At the risk of posing some more subjective personal evaluation of informal indirect player interactions, I will point out that I see the idea of sacrificing yourself as a means of "evening out" the game to someone who had an unfortunate fall is something I'm fairly set against but will go along with if the climate of the room is adamant enough about it. The way I see it, it's not so much making things "fair" (and you should know by now that fairness isn't really my main objective anyway) so much as it is robbing the match of opportunities for an upset. Fairness is boring; give me even slim, outside chances at spectacle!