I've been playing SSMB for years and recently Brawl; however, the key to destroying people in that game is knowing which character is stronger and where you are exactly in the level. The game is about who has more kills, which could be achieved in a second. The game requires more skill than the first SSMB, but it's not very different. The type of skill you're talking about in Brawl is much more elementary as opposed to a traditional fighter. Take Soul Calibur for instance, say your opponent wants to knock you out of the ring, you can strafe horizontally to evade a verticle attack with a weapon (has to be split second thinking), leaving them open for your blow. In this instance if they used a horizontal In brawl if you were on a ledge, either you have a much higher chance of being hit whether or not you have skill. If they have a special, get the hell out of their way. It's a very simple concept.

The next thing about Brawl and Tekken or Soul Calibur are separated like this.

Concepts of SSMB: Block, primary attack (A button), One button beat 'em up combo (A button), throw things at people, dodge, Special (B button) and throws. Theres isn't much to work with there. The skill in the game basically comes from timing as you said. You're basically given all the tools in one button, it's just about how you use it that is key.

Tekken: Square and Triangle control the right and left arms, while the X and circle button control the lower limbs alone. Theres strafing, reversals, attacks based on button combinations, string-combos (combos that actually require skill), juggles and more. Things aren't given to you in Tekken. four throws based on your skill (2 for the front of opponents body, another two for the back and players have special throws which they can hit with button combinations)  In Tekken your ability to excel is based upon how quick your reflexes are, anticipation, knowledge of combos, and most importantly there are far more moments in a Tekken tournament when people freeze up, unlike brawl. Sometimes if you aren't sure of yourself, your muscles will get tense and lock up. I've never had that happen to me in Brawl, because win or lose I was having fun in a simplistic manner.

If you want a game where you can control you characters every limb in use for fighting, you're looking at traditional fighters.

traditional fighters

I like the Naruto fighting games on the Wii... Revolution 1 & 2.

That counts as non-traditional, right?

Would love to play against you guys, but I don't own a Wii.  When I say "lack of skill in the game", I literally mean lack of skill since the only major skill part in the game is mind reading your opponent.  If you can read your opponent in any fighter, it can give you the advantage in a fight, but that doesn't guarantee a Win.  It's easy to pull off every move a character has in Brawl, which is why the game heavily rely's on the bassics of all fighters, knowing your opponent.

While anyone can use Pikachu's Quick Attack (Up-B + directions), there's very few people who can use it as effectively as Anther does. Anyone can throw Diddy's bananas but to use them like NinjaLink does takes some serious skill. I like the fact that the moves aren't hard to do but you have to use them wisely. It's also one of the reasons I prefer Tekken over Street Fighter, no damn quarter circle, hold for 2 seconds.

You missed the joke. There's no such thing as SSMB. SSBM is what it's called. Also you ignored everything about the directional differences, smash attacks, platforming, and more importantly the physics of Brawl. Regardless of what technical fighter you are talking about, there is very little use for the environment and the physics of momentum and weight. That adds an entirely different level of depth.

You don't understand that by playing it casually, but the depth in Brawl has nothing to do with the level of buttons, but the momentum, environment, and physics. It's not elementary at all. It's very complex, and requires an understanding of the game that it's not going to hand you on a silver platter like the button combo mashing technical fighters you love.

It's a very different skill-set, and it's one that you won't by default be good at just because you play Tekken well.

Button mashing is for amateurs. Skillful players know their buttons in games like Tekken. A player who is good in Tekken can destroy a player in SSBB (Sorry for the typo). They are used to more complex and complicated strings and combos with variations and buttons; not to mention, they on top of that they have to have their wits about where they are. Playing SSBB takes the weight off. You are obviously talking about Melee which was on the Gamecube. That was one of the most underrated SSB games, but competitive players usually play that one. I'm sure its not much different than Brawl with a Cube controller.

No, you're simply wrong. A good player in Tekken can't hop into SSBB and beat an SSBB tourney player, and vice versa is true as well. It's a different skillset. All you understand is what you are seeing on the surface.

And weight is far more important in SSBB than it was in SSBM... you have no idea what you are talking about. You should stop.

@ naznatips and S.T.A.G.E.

You guys are both right, but if a professional Tekken went against a Pro in SSB, they wouldn't get beaten down as bad as you think. There is more skill involved in Tekken than in SSB just because of the options you have for attacking are far greater in Tekken than in SSB

If you made a flow chart of all the available attacks in every situation in both games, Tekken characters have a HUGE amount of options to choose from compared to SSB. For example, my main in Tekken, Hwoarang, has a huge flow chart since his attacks can differ from 4 different stances, that leads to at least 4 different options of next attack to choose from, which then leads to another set of options.

I know, thats why the game heavily rely's on reading your opponent.  If you randomly pull off a move, and read your opponent wrong, your screwed lol