Basic Brawl
Basic Brawl is a mode used in Wi-Fi connection of Super Smash Bros Brawl. After choosing the "Basic Brawl" mode, the player goes to the character selection screen where they have 45 seconds to choose a character; after that they can cast a vote for which stage they would like to play by paying one coin. However, choosing a random stage is free. A stage and item settings are chosen by lottery from among those voted on by the players. After the character and stage are chosen, the player has to wait in the practice stage. Matches are permanently set to two minute time matches, and unlike With Friends mode, names will not be shown amongst players and it's not possible to send short taunt messages. If the player loses the connection to the opponent(s) in the middle of the match, the entire match will end and they will have to search again for new opponents. However, a player's character will automatically be replaced by a bot if that player happens to disconnect in the middle of a match.
Criticism
Basic Brawl is one of the most criticised additions to Brawl. A common criticism comes from the complete lack of control over the match type. As such, players can never play the more popular stock matches, nor play coin matches and longer/shorter time matches. Players additionally have no control over who can enter matches, which prevents players from being able to do one-on-one matches and three way matches to their own accord. Another criticism comes from the complete lack of restriction over item and stage selection. This prevents players from playing with no items nor only the items they want, and the lack of stage control allows for less altruistic players to force matches on stages less accommodating to gameplay (Temple has gained infamy in Brawl for being an overly common stage on Basic Brawl for this reason). The complete and mandatory anonymity of Basic Brawl is also criticised, as it prevents players from being able to try contacting others they play on Basic Brawl, and add them to their friend rosters to play them again. The largest criticism though, comes from all the limitations for Basic Brawl enabling the propensity of taunt matches and griefing, which can make it near impossible for players looking for serious matches to find them on Basic Brawl.
Trivia
- During an IGN interview with Sakurai, Sakurai has stated that he didn't plan any online ranking systems, and didn't want new players to be insulted by other experienced players via microphone chatting, explaining part of why Basic Brawl has so many limitations.
