Two of my childhood sweethearts that are still a big part of my life are the game Super Smash Bros. and the building blocks of LEGO. While these childhood loves still have a place in my heart, they decided to marry each other and the result is LEGO Brawls, playable on the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch, among others. How happy is this marriage?
Background
About 23 years ago, I first met Super Smash Bros. At home, we had a PlayStation and the Nintendo GameBoy, but friends had a Nintendo 64. After that Smash Bros. – a fighting game featuring beloved Nintendo characters – was published, many after-school afternoons turned into tournaments to see who was king of Hyrule, the Mushroom Kingdom or any of the other Nintendo worlds. With the advent of the GameCube and Super Smash Bros. Melee, my love for the joyful fighting game grew and I still love to play a game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch.
Way before I fell in love with Super Smash Bros. I had a great love as a child: LEGO. I still love playing with the building blocks and yellow minifigures, but in a completely unhealthy fashion with the disposable income of an adult… As a kid, I loved playing LEGO video games like LEGO Island 1 and 2 and more. As a kid, I hoped the classic minifigure would one day figure in the Smash Bros. games, but alas, creepy Mii characters were the closest alternative to a freely customizable, playable character.
Brawling with blocks
With LEGO Brawls, I have the opportunity to somewhat recreate the feel of Smash Bros. but with the ability to build my own characters from LEGO.
The game literally and figuratively contains several familiar building blocks. Mechanics from different types of games, including, of course, Smash Bros. Kid-friendly gameplay. Several popular themes based on different LEGO sets.
In LEGO Brawls, you play in the familiar worlds you know from Ninjago and Monkey Kid, as well as Alien Conquest and even Jurassic World. Some of the themes feel a bit older and LEGO has been getting along for quite a while, of course, but Brawls originally was published in 2019 before later appearing on the aforementioned consoles. You also know the characters from these LEGO themes. Players can collect different building blocks and accessories to build their own figures. As with the toys, in this game LEGO embodies customization.
In addition to different worlds, there are also different modes of play. Players can play a more “traditional” take on Smash where players must take each other out – although there are some differences in terms of gameplay. But there is also a game mode where players must build castles and demolish each other’s castles, there is a king of the hill-style mode and even more.
In terms of gameplay, it is fairly similar in principle to Smash Bros. and its “clones” such as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, but with a bit less depth than these titles. LEGO Brawls is therefore a bit more geared toward children and also clearly aimed at mobile players. There is a button for a regular attack and with the two other buttons you activate objects that can be picked up for special attacks. There is also a button for jumping, but that is basically the depth of fighting in Brawls. The real depth, of course, is in the game modes, but the primary system is fairly simple and, as a result, mostly child-friendly.
You’ll also notice the child-friendliness in the online system. Players can only use pre-selected words to compose their names and there is no chat system, making online play a safe environment.
