Smash Bros. busting open level editor

SIDEBAR: The Super Smash Bros. series has always had legs. Super Smash Bros. Melee was released in December 2001 in North America, barely two weeks after the GameCube arrived on store shelves, and it has continued to sell even after the system disappeared from shelves. For the first seven months of 2007 alone, Melee has racked up sales of more than 118,000, according to the industry-tracking NPD Group. As of the end of July 2007, the game sold over 3.6 million copies domestically, generating over $136 million in sales.

While longevity doesn't seem to be an issue for the series, Nintendo today announced a feature that could extend it regardless. The official Super Smash Bros. Brawl Web site has been updated with a first look at the game's new create-a-level mode.

Players who tire of the game's standard levels will be able to use a simple tool to create their own fighting arenas. After picking one of three sizes, a backdrop, and theme music for the level, players place an array of building-block-style platforms, ladders, and traps to a grid. Users will be able to jump into under-construction levels to see how they play before returning to the level editor to make necessary tweaks.

Once completed, players can save levels to a memory card, or send them online to their friends (provided their systems and games are both registered with friend codes). They will also be able to submit created levels to Nintendo for consideration to be made the featured user-created stage of the day. The game's developers are planning to spotlight a different user-created level every day, which will then be sent back out to the user base. However, these levels will be playable only for the day on which they are released.

Originally set to ship in early December, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii has been pushed back to a February 10 release in North America.