Finally played it. We played for about 9 hours only doing 4 player free for all. The gameplay takes some getting use to, as does the characters because they all got changed in some way. My favorite character to play was probably Pit, because him and Metaknight rack up a lot of damage, but aren't so good at smashing people off. I felt, inadequete, playing with my friends because in Melee I do pretty good against them, but their were just so many items and final smashes that I couldn't really get to the core of the gameplay. Overall Brawl is awesome, but with so many changes to the gameplay, items, and characters (new and old) it was a little bit disappointing.
EDIT: And Holy Shit, what was up with those load times?!