Apple Arcade review #41: LEGO Brawls

LEGO® Brawls® is Nintendo® Super Smash Bros.® with LEGO® Minifigures®.

Now that joke’s out of my system, here’s the real opener: No, really, Brawls is Super Smash Bros. with Minifigs. You pick your plastic avatar and wait for seven other players to join in the platform brawling. The virtual joystick touch controls are unavoidably clunky, and the performance of the Apple TV makes it less than ideal, so the best solution here is an iPad paired with an Xbox game pad.

It’s still sort of dull, though, with none of SSB’s charms. And since you can’t play local multiplayer on one device, there’s none of the fun playing Nintendo’s game on the couch with a bunch of friends. (You can host a local party with everyone on their own phone, which is better than playing with random people on the internet, but still. Not as much fun.)

Rather than download this for free, I suggest buying a Switch with five extra controllers, a big screen TV, and inviting a bunch of friends over to your beautifully decorated and spacious home. It really is the better option.

So, yeah, in that context, I guess give it a shot? But the Apple Arcade player base is still limited, and you may have trouble finding other players: this is a challenge with all Arcade multiplayers, and I wonder how this will play out over time, as there are more games and the audience is spread even thinner.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/no/app/lego-brawls/id1466964862