Fans rewrite Brawl to balance characters

by JC Fletcher { Jun 30th 2009 at 5:00PM }

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a pretty fun fighting game to play with friends, right?

WRONG. It's actually an unbalanced mess. At least, that's what a group of Smash Boards members seems to believe, seemingly with more conviction than we've ever had for pretty much anything. It's important enough that they decided to patch the game's code to change specific gameplay elements. "Balanced Brawl" has three goals, as stated by the coders: first, to remove "infinites" and "inescapable lockdowns" (simple, unblockable combos that add more than 50% damage), increase overall character balance, and increase stage viability.

You can see examples of the kind of minute tweaking done to the characters in the chart above, and you can read way, way more about each change in the Smash Boards thread. It's a pretty impressive testament to just how much time has been spent thinking about Brawl.

Tags: balanced-brawl, fighting, hack, smash-bros-brawl

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 30th 2009 5:20PM

funny, I dont notice fox or falco on that list, which means the game is STILL unbalanced.

also, increasing the damage done by Pit when trying to BALANCE the game is FAIL

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 5:28PM

I may suggest your pre-emptive assumptions about who is good or bad in smash bros are entirely different to what those obsessed with the game know to be true.

Wiizer @ Jun 30th 2009 5:24PM

Smash Boards are such Meta Knight haters, too.

Guess what, Smash Boards? I'LL PICK META KNIGHT EVERY TIME I PLAY ONE OF YOU DOUCHES! HA!

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 30th 2009 5:28PM

I remember when one of my friends convinced me to go to a school wide tournament and I picked Meta Knight (who was the first character I ever used in a Smash Bros game) and someone said I couldn't, the conversation went something like this.

Me: Why not?
Him: 'Cause hes unbalanced
Me: Says the guy playing as Pit

Mokou @ Jun 30th 2009 5:34PM

Too bad Meta Knight out preforms Pit in basically everything except projectile.

Drahken @ Jun 30th 2009 5:58PM

Um, Falco was actually pretty heavily changed. I guess you didn't look at the thing itself and only looked at this picture here. This is only a piece of the whole grid.

THis sucks @ Jul 1st 2009 3:44PM

These people never heard of Brawl+.

Brawlplus.net

Much more balanced than this by far.

My name iz ur name @ Jun 30th 2009 5:42PM

What was the point in that? Thats just really stupid I think....

Santos L. Halper @ Jun 30th 2009 5:43PM

They should have made an exception to their hitbox rule with Zelda's forward-B (fireball). You barely even have to aim that shit. Just let it go wherever and there's about a 75% chance someone's gonna get their ass blown off. For a long distance move that fast and strong, it should require a little more skill.

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 5:46PM

Tourny players take both melee and brawl VERY seriously. If you've only experienced smash bros in the comfort of your own friends, you've never been to a real tournament before.

These guys have put a lot of effort into this, and its labor done a lot for the smash community in mind. Its easy to see why someone who has played the game a few times would think this was ludicrous.

ALSO, the link to the thread lists a desire for any coders who are experienced and wish to get into aspects of the game these coders are not able to do. Any amateur coders looking to get into a crazy cool project, here's your chance!

Wiizer @ Jun 30th 2009 6:33PM

Yeah! Sign me up for wasting my time on making a bastardized version of a game people think too much about already, and therefore will critique my 'enhancements' to oblivion!

:p

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 6:36PM

ie: video games

Drahken @ Jun 30th 2009 5:58PM

Also, YAY for buffing all my guys. Especially Samus.

Insanus @ Jul 1st 2009 12:08AM

Chicken #007? or am I waaaaaay off......?

Drahken @ Jul 1st 2009 1:01AM

Um, what? I don't know what you're talking about.

Slick @ Jun 30th 2009 6:02PM

Yeah, as if I'm going to waste my time doing this.

-looks at Toon Link-

Hmmm.... >_

Author X @ Jun 30th 2009 6:02PM

The real question is, why are they wasting their time with balance-tweaking instead of a nude Zero Suit Samus mod?

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 6:17PM

I may suggest the website www.google.com ;)

Adumbrodeus @ Jun 30th 2009 6:12PM

Girugamuk said:
"
I remember when one of my friends convinced me to go to a school wide tournament and I picked Meta Knight (who was the first character I ever used in a Smash Bros game) and someone said I couldn't, the conversation went something like this.

Me: Why not?
Him: 'Cause hes unbalanced
Me: Says the guy playing as Pit
"

Pit simply isn't particularly good. Sure he's got the arrows, but his close-up power really isn't that strong. It's not like the arrows have a rate of fire like Falco's lasers. His melee game also has substantial issues, especially due to his lack of range.

He's really not that good, upper middle.

Santos L. Halper said:

"They should have made an exception to their hitbox rule with Zelda's forward-B (fireball). You barely even have to aim that shit. Just let it go wherever and there's about a 75% chance someone's gonna get their ass blown off. For a long distance move that fast and strong, it should require a little more skill."

If anything it should've had a buff, it may have a large hitbox, but it's pretty easy to beat with an aerial or a short-hopped airdodge. It's a punisher (move that hits an opponent after they made a mistake), not much more. It's only really useful in a select few match-ups.

Girugamuk (Moptimus Slimed) @ Jun 30th 2009 6:52PM

Pit=Meta Knight with an arrow and a shield

Meta Knight is routinely banned in tournaments for being "Teh brokenz" yet Pit is considered one of the best characters.

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 7:14PM

If you believe this to be true, I wish to challenge you to a money laden match, sir

SKI @ Jun 30th 2009 9:11PM

Pit also has the down+B that blocks EVERYTHING and reflects projectiles AND his over+B reflects projectiles and goes forever.

Also, Pit has better recovery then Meta Knight.

Tim @ Jun 30th 2009 6:37PM

LOL @ fanboys and FANGirlS, attempting to make this into another Marvel VS Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. x3

megapenguinx @ Jun 30th 2009 10:26PM

Much as I love that game, it's fight mechanics are broken as hell

BPMOmega [GT,Steam] @ Jul 4th 2009 2:33AM

They're trying to make it LESS broken, not MORE. :V

mazza_man @ Jun 30th 2009 6:45PM

I really never understood any of this unbalanced shit. You just play the fucking game and whoever wins wins, right? Don't start making up excuses when you lose.

Windmill @ Jun 30th 2009 7:14PM

I don't understand the hate. If you don't want to play it, don't. For those that want to, then play it.

While I'm not a tourney SSBB player, and just play it with friends, this could be fun to try.

ChibiKawase @ Jun 30th 2009 7:33PM

NO ITEMS FOX ONLY FINAL DESTINATION

Wiizer @ Jun 30th 2009 8:21PM

That's a great idea!

I think we've solved this balancing issue! EVERYONE JUST PLAY THE SAME F*CKING PERSON AND THE SAME STAGE OVER AND OVER AGAIN...

until someone gives up! PERFECT IDEA!

modnite @ Jun 30th 2009 10:47PM

Why haven't you gotten three hearts yet? +1

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 11:03PM

He hasn't gotten three stars because "NO ITEMS FOX ONLY FINAL DESTINATION" is a very common internet meme that most any gamer would recognize, thus his asinine response to it only serves in exposing his ignorance further.

modnite @ Jun 30th 2009 11:40PM

Oops, I was referring to the OP, not Wiizer. Sorry.

Wiizer (Michael Pachter MUST DIE.. Professionally) @ Jul 1st 2009 12:03AM

YOU FOOLS! I was not being sarcastic! I'M SERIOUS.

Why go through all the bullsh*t of reprogramming this game? If you want "balance" just play THE SAME F*CKING CHARACTER!

Tim @ Jul 1st 2009 1:54AM

FOX ONLY NO ITEMS FINAL DESTINATION...

That's my kind of a mirror match.

Aero @ Jul 1st 2009 9:47AM

SMASH BALLS ON HIGH, SONIC ONLY, 75M

Leish @ Jun 30th 2009 7:39PM

Any good player would be still be able to beat a stronger, unbalanced character. If you can't, get better. Only whiney pussies do stuff like this.

Michael Kendrick @ Jun 30th 2009 8:23PM

This patch was probably made by some losers who suck at Brawl. The game is great the was it is. If it was a problem don't you think nintendo wouldn't have made characters with different effects? So loser hacker probably said," Maybe if I balance the game, I won't SUCK at Brawl.

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 8:54PM

I think if someone was willing to spend 1000 hours coding a new version of a video game, they would have also been willing to spend 1000 hours practicing it.

Wiizer @ Jun 30th 2009 9:06PM

I think if someone spent 1000 hours practicing, and was STILL losing, they would hatch a half-baked idea such as this.

Genome4824 @ Jun 30th 2009 8:22PM

whiny losers

bongoes @ Jun 30th 2009 10:13PM

I don't get it. Is this supposed to be the new tournament standard? What if there are tourney players who don't like this? And what is Nintendo going to think of a hacked version of their game being the standard? (They probably won't do anything but still, they could).

Mune @ Jun 30th 2009 10:42PM

A valiant effort, but it will not fix a lost cause. People who take Brawl seriously are wasting their time. There are dozens of better competitive fighting games out there that are more balanced, as well as exciting (which includes Melee; likely you will either disagree with this statement or agree with it, but let's not get into that). Brawl is fun, but that's it.

My favorite thing to do is play Brawl players in Melee. They usually can't hold a candle to Melee players, which has been the source of some amusement.

WiiFTW @ Jul 1st 2009 11:32AM

O RLY?

People who play one game can't beat others at the others' preferred game.

Genius.

Mune @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:31AM

Perhaps I wasn't specific enough: Brawl players get destroyed in Melee, while Melee players hold their own quite well in Brawl.

modnite @ Jun 30th 2009 11:02PM

I play Brawl a good deal. I'm not particularly good at it. I lose a considerable amount of times to my friends over WiFi and even to my sister in a group match. When I win, I feel like I've achieved something. Be it luck or actual skill. I play the game for fun and fun alone. No tourneys or any of that crap. If the game was made with items, use 'em. If they have stages that change up the gameplay, play in 'em. The tourney tards out there think this is their game and theirs only. They haven't been given any right by Nintendo to dictate to the masses how Brawl should be played. As a matter of fact, that's the reason why Brawl was made the way it was, to shut up those tards and keep them on Melee. Looks lke they failed though because the tards are still yapping.

Buying a game like Brawl that cost you a good deal of money, just to use a select few options of the game as dictated by some pimple-faced teen with too much free time is absurd. It is even more absurd when they waste their time cataloging and categorizing things about the stages and characters and making up moves and combos, painstakingly looking for ways to break locks in the game and whatnot to make you some uber leet untouchable game demon or something. If I can air dodge, I will air dodge. I don't wanna have to learn to air dodge into a slide and pull off some attach that got through with a hit because I tricked the game's engine. Nobody likes to play against someone like that except those kinds of people.

Then they try to justify by saying we're lame and can't play so we don't deserve to. Guess what? When I use Zelda's forward B? I'm playing. How do I know this? Because that's what the people who originally designed the game made her forward B do. What you're doing with your sliding into a chaingrab isn't playing. It's numbing your hands to try and look cool in front of people who think you have no life. Still though, it doesn't go to say that I don't appreciate the work these people are doing here to make an attempt at balancing the game. To be honest, some of the legit things some characters can get away with are rather unfair, especially when playing against people who think abusing is fun. I really just hate the attitudes of tourney tards. Seeing a bunch of people playing as Falco makes me sick. It's like if that's the only character in the damn game. Imagine if Nintendo released a tourney tard version of Brawl... It would be Melee with like 4 characters and one stage. Y'all know what that ONE stage is...

Please spare me the tl;dr's. I'll just say it for you.
tl;dr. :)

Alan @ Jun 30th 2009 11:23PM

I drive a good deal. I'm not particularly good at it. I've gotten a few tickets and even have gotten into a few wrecks. When I drive, I feel like I've gotten somewhere. Be it luck or actual skill. I drive for convenience and convenience alone. No Nascar or any of that crap. If driving could happen with road obstacles, use 'em. If there is weather that changes up the driving conditions, drive in 'em. The Nascar tards out there think this is their driving and theirs only. They haven't been given any right by Ford to dictate to the masses how driving should be done. As a matter of fact, that's the reason why cars were made the way they were, to shut up those tards and keep them off the road. Looks lke they failed though because the tards are still yapping.

Buying a car will cost you a good deal of money, just to use a select few components of the car as dictated by some red-neck driver with too much free time is absurd. It is even more absurd when they waste their time cataloging and categorizing things about the roads and vehicles and making up maneuvers and strategies, painstakingly looking for ways to drive faster on a track and whatnot to make you some uber leet untouchable speed demon or something. If I can turn right, I will turn right. I don't wanna have to learn to turn left into a slide and pull off some fast racing and get through without getting hit because I tricked out the car's engine. Nobody likes to drive against someone like that except those kinds of people.

Then they try to justify by saying we're lame and can't drive so we don't deserve to. Guess what? When I use my car's accelerator? I'm driving. How do I know this? Because that's what the people who originally designed the car made its accelerator do. What you're doing with your sliding into a corner isn't driving. It's spinning your tires to try and look cool in front of people who think you have no life. Still though, it doesn't go to say that I don't appreciate the work these people are doing here to make an attempt at driving faster. To be honest, some of the legit things some cars can get away with are rather unfair, especially when driving against people who think driving fast is fun. I really just hate the attitudes of racing tards. Seeing a bunch of people driving fast makes me sick. It's like if that's the only way to drive in the whole world. Imagine if Chevy released a tourney tard version of cars... It would be driving with like 4 types of engines and one track. Y'all know what shape that ONE track is...

Please spare me the tl;dr's. I'll just say it for you.
tl;dr. :)

modnite @ Jun 30th 2009 11:36PM

OMG LOL! XD

Fun DMC @ Jul 1st 2009 7:39PM

Way to completely misunderstand these kinds of projects, Brawl+ especially.

Melee's lack of balance may have made it so that only a few options were tournament-viable.

That's what these hacks, especially Brawl+, fix. Brawl+ is a great alternative to Brawl because it allows players to play whoever the fuck they want (in other words, have options) without having to worry about 'character balance' - nobody's been nerfed, weaker characters have just been tweaked. Hit stun added for actual combos, and combos like chaingrabbing are nixed. It's nothing like Melee, and it's a really great project. Don't make snap judgments plz