So I was walking down the mall near my house waiting for my girlfriend to finish working and something caught my eye.  On a screen in the Japanese store (can't remember what it is called) I saw Charizard laying in to Sonic with a flamethrower attack.

My mind being elsewhere walked a few steps and before it regestered then realized what I had seen and went back.  Two kids were playing a Japanese import version of Brawl and I nearly missed my chance to try it out a week and a half early.

So I waited patiently for the kids to get yelled at by their parents for making them wait, as almost always happens and then handed my license to the adolecent skater kid working the store  and grab a controller.

Here are some quick and dirty impressions from my short time with the game.

First, I was using the classic controller, and I have to say, any one who played the game extensively on gamecube will NOT want to use this controller.  The heal of your thumb naturally falls on the A button on the gamecube with an easy tap of the tip of your thumb going to B.  On the classic controller, your thumb naturally falls on the B button and the tip easily reaches Y, which does nothing.  So without a lot of getting used to you will find yourself NOT doing the up and B attack when you want (or especially NEED to) and accidentally throwning a boomerang (side B) when you are trying to do a smash.  Also the jumping seemed way too sensitive, with me jumping at inopportune times, but that could have just been that particular controller.

All very frustrating, but I was able to get the controls down enough in the few minutes i was playing to save my pride and beat the 8 year old I was fighting, though I do have to say a few were closer than I would like to admit.

The assist trophies are a cool addition as they add more variety to the game play.  Some are easily avoided if you are careful, so it doesn't shift things too heavily towards 'unfair' play and I can see skilled players not even being effected by these (as well as final smashes) after they play for a while.

I tried Link, Pit and Pokemon Trainer, and all were pretty fun, though as a Link player, Pit was not my cup of tea.  Pokemon Trainer was cool because of all the versitility you had, and I can see some really experienced players sticking with that as it gives you a ton of options when fighting.

Of the 6 or so final smashes I saw, some were good and some were so so. 

Pit's can be devistating as it is hard to avoid the centurians. 

Link's, as you can probably gather from the videos, is amazingly damaging, but only against 1 person.

Lucario's was easier to avoid than I thought it would be as it seems to have a limited angle in which you can aim the beam.

Sonic seemed like if you were practiced at it you could do some damage.

Pokemon Trainer's could easily knock a few people off on levels without walls, if you were lucky enough to catch people, as all you have to do is get to higher ground to avoid it.

And fox's was kind of lame as I knew it would be.

Graphically, the game looks great.  Some of the backgrounds are jaw dropping and the levels are much more interactive than previous versions.  Its fast and smooth and the character animations and models are excellent.

Gameplay wise, I wish I could have used a Gamecube controller, but other than that it was typical smash fun with new characters and new levels.  Natuarally I wasn't able to try a lot of features, subspace emissary, level builder, online play, etc, and I was only playing against 1 person, so I would have liked to try a four player battle.

Sound, can't really comment on as it was turned down pretty low.

Menus look like typical smash menus, but as they were in japanese, I couldn't read them.  Regardless, I was able to start a game from the root menu without any issue, which speaks to the intuitive layout of the menus.

I would like to add that I am not a "flat level no item" smash player.  I feel that intricate levels add a great deal to the fill, and requirement of skill, and that skill with items is just as important as any other attack or technique in the game.

Overall, I had a great time playing the game and look forward to its release.  Any one who liked the previous games will love this one, and even new player to the genre will find it fun and enjoyable.

I look forward to seeing you all online in the near future.

I would like to add a funny comment I heard though.  These two 8 or 9 year old kids were playing on the Mario Brothers level (POW block lvl.)  and one kid says "This level really brings back memories of the old game."  It made me chuckle.

well, sounds like the problems you had with the classic controller can easily be fixed by using a custom button mapping (which is supported)

or, I know this is a radical suggestion, but just use the GC controller?

 Excellent first-hand-on impression, Thanks Crashman
 

Yeah, though I was not able to do that during my time.

One thing I forgot to add is that the central placement of the analog stick felt a bit cramped in my hands.

 or, I know this is a radical suggestion, but rather than buying a GC controllers, someone might want to know that his main complaints can be fixed for free if you already have a classic controller?

 some people are just so stuck in the mud its unbelievable...

Well i would say that anyone who played the GC version extensively will probably have GC controllers, and someone who hasn't played the other versiona would have to get used to controls any way.

^i think that around no control scheme will be a a hindrance simply b/c you can shift so many buttons around

Thanks crashman, now, go back and practice, those little kids are going to flow the online fights...

Peope will BUY GC controllers just for SSBB and maybe MK, it's proven via numerous reviews that it's the best option to play SSBB.

Sure, you can go through the trouble of spending more money on classic controller and then go home and program it yourself, or, you can just go to your local store and pick up a couple of (used or not) GC controllers?

 And no, I don't want to go to different friend's house and having to re-program all their control scheme so I can kick their asses.

Can't you save your SSBB control schemes to your Wiimote or something?