This mod made me love platform fighters. It goes well beyond changing brawl's mechanics to be more in line with that of melee, it goes about the changes it makes to the characters with a level of reverence to their home series that I would personally say is on the level of the smash team, it adds new stages and costumes for the cast, and it adds content like turbo mode and all star that gives the mod more appeal at a casual level. And all of this is on top of the definitive casual experience that I would consider Vanilla Brawl. It's cancellation before its definitive release was a tragedy, but what we have in 3.6 is something that should be appreciated.

This game is incredible. It takes the best of Brawl and Melee and combines them together. It brings the fluid movement from Melee with new Brawl additions, such as RARing and DACUS. It also has all the Brawl singleplayer content, which made Brawl the best smash game. My one issue is that all the characters feel a bit too easy and uncanny. That might just be because all the animations are sped up a bit (as far as I can tell). A lot of characters are combo monsters that are super speedy, leading to the game feeling kind of homogenous. That does mean every character is easy to pick up and play. This game is still phenomonal. The buffer and L-canceling options in the menu are really good for when I introduce my friends to it.

This is possibly the best smash bros game. One of the most, if not the most polished mods to ever be created for a fighting game, all in the name of improving upon Brawl. I was introduced to it in the smash 4 era and I can't even begin to explain the fun I had with it and the cultural significance it had in the community. There was even a tournament for it in my high school that I almost won. On a personal note, it was one of the first mods I ever installed in a game and I had a blast adding on to it. To this day, I still believe Sakurai and the rest of the Smash 4 devs looked at the success of PM and tried to riff off it by adding Mewtwo, Roy, and Lucas back into smash 4. Further development of PM being cut off by the big N is, to me, one of the saddest events to occur in the industry.

Frankly i think it's a glorious victory for video games that the beloved 'hardcore competitive' mod was made by people who still have a love and appreciation for the casual side of the game, aka what made smash The One in the first place.
Project M struck the same casual-competitive balance that Melee did where you COULD go super-mega-tryhard and find a great, complex, and mostly balanced competitive game, but even if you didnt, it was still perhaps even more fun to play than the game it's based on when playing casually. The changes that they made to the characters were nigh perfect; where something like HDR made big sweeping changes to the whole cast with the only documentation being a google doc with few if any images (often including changes that are daunting, scarcely intuitive, and make you wonder if they were really necessary), PM changed the cast in subtle enough ways that anyone with smash experience could jump in and play any character like they would normally. When you start playing PM and you pick Captain Falcon or Wario or Samus, they feel similar enough to their base game counterparts that you won't feel lost while playing them while also having subtle, exciting changes under the hood. Instead of being confused at what's different, any new player would marvel at how PM changed things that anyone would want changed. Originally this was a short list, but I think it deserves to be more exhaustive:
-Decloning Ganon without completely changing how he plays,
-Giving Donkey Kong a dash attack so clever and appropriate that it got copied in the next official smash game,
-Making each pokemon in pokemon trainer's kit their own character so you wouldn't be punished for wanting to stick with just one,
-Giving Wario his iconic Shoulder Bash,
-Giving Roy and entirely new, from-the-ground-up moveset that's still heavily reminiscent of Marth but shares almost no direct functions, making him an agressive, combo-heavy speedster even before his appearance in smash 4,
-nerfing Meta Knight without removing all of his appeal factors; for example, letting him keep a super fast up air but compensating by giving it more endlag,
-giving Sonic a more robust and interesting moveset, pulling moves from his prior fighting games,
-Even smaller aesthetic things; giving melee veterans new taunts to match Brawl's standard of 3 per character, giving Ike his iconic blue flames, adding a host of custom character skins across each update, and on and on and on.
Every change - sans dubious things like them removing warlock punch - is something a casual player would either love instantly or come to understand after even just a few matches of playtime.
I think the fact that they gave every custom character their own fully unique final smash and made subspace fully playable is the most plain and obvious touchstone of this fact; the dev team very clearly loves and cares about the simple, silly, fun fanfare that makes smash what it is and used their immense skillset to match nintendo at their own game. Even the aforementioned removal of warlock punch was compensated by them giving this same function of slow, strong, style-points move to his down taunt - which even doubled as allowing Ganon to finally use his sword!
In my opinion, if I could only play one smash game for the rest of my life, it'd be PM with no hesitation. I give out a lot of 5 star ratings on this Backlooggd shit, but I think this mod easily and comfortably deserves it without the slightest doubt.

Project M is undoubtedly a unique entry in the Super Smash Bros. universe, delivering a fresh take on the beloved franchise. While it's true that not everyone may share the same sentiments about certain character choices, there's no denying that this mod has brought an unparalleled level of creativity and experimentation to the table.

There's a lot to say about the robustness and stability of Project M. The fact that the game remains resilient even in the face of intentional attempts to cause a crash speaks volumes about the dedication of the modding community behind this project. Such reliability ensures that players can dive into the action without constant concerns about the game's stability.

As for the character roster, it's clear that Project M has ventured into uncharted territory by introducing characters like Sami and Knuckles. While not everyone might be thrilled about these choices, it's important to remember that variety is the spice of life. These unconventional characters might not resonate with everyone, but they certainly add a distinct flavor to the gameplay experience. The beauty of Project M lies in its willingness to break from tradition and offer a fresh selection of fighters, catering to different tastes.

Now, of course Bubsy is my favorite character in the game. Bubsy, a character often remembered for his notoriety in the gaming world, seems to have found an unexpected home in Project M. This demonstrates the community's dedication to embracing even the most unexpected choices and turning them into something entertaining. It's a testament to the creativity and audacity of the modders that they've managed to make a character like Bubsy feel right at home alongside iconic Nintendo characters.

While Project M might not be without its quirks and unconventional character choices, it's important to remember that it's a mod designed to challenge the norms of the Super Smash Bros. series. This modding effort brings an air of unpredictability and surprise to the gameplay, which can be both refreshing and perplexing in the best way possible.

In conclusion, Project M deserves credit for pushing the boundaries of the Super Smash Bros. experience. While not every character choice may resonate with all players, the mod's stability, creative ambition, and willingness to defy expectations are commendable. If you're open to exploring a more eclectic side of the Super Smash Bros. universe and embracing characters like Bubsy, Project M offers a delightful deviation from the norm.

Rating: 7/10

The best mod I have ever played, as well as the best smash game I've ever played. This game truly embraces that character buffs are more fun than nerfs, and I think that concept is what makes every character in this game so fun to play. The battle speed is certainly akin to Melee's, encouraging an expressive combo game and completely locking your eyes to the screen. Fighting in this game is like a dance, there's so much room for creativity and unique play styles, there's always room for enhancing your skill but it's always fun. The kit that each character has at their disposal is so dynamic and lovingly created that it makes picking up any character so much fun to do. The aura system that Lucario has, Ivysaur's wicked solar beam, Fox/Falco's shines being reworked, the feeling of a DUNK with DK, a balanced but fun Meta-Knight, Pit's arrows being able to move around like a damn snake, this game is Smash on steroids. While some characters are VERY good, it feels like you can be good and win with any character. Combat moves at hyperactive speeds and each player can do so much damage that a 1v1 can realistically be over in a minute, yet your brain is completely hooked into you and your opponent for that minute. Furthermore, everything about Brawl, besides the gameplay, was great, and Project M retains all of that. Subspace Emissary, trophy collecting, stage builder, so many things. I'm nostalgic for Brawl, so seeing this game become better in such an objective and inarguable sense is like having your cake and eating it too. I'm not a huge fighting game guy, but I do love smash and am sad that this game has the circumstances it does. While an extremely easy mod to install, it does require a Wii, Brawl, and an SD card, and most people aren't going to have that stuff around. Project M tournaments never caught on like other smash games, seeing as it isn't an official Nintendo game, and I know most people prefer Melee. I find it sad that this game's heyday ended a decade ago, and the heyday of playing it with my friends ended half a decade ago, but I look back on this game so fondly. What a great time.