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  • $49.99
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Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

common sense media says

Fun, cartoonish, multiplayer Wii fighting game.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this title -- at its core -- is a fighting game, so those opposed to violence of any kind shouldn't buy this for their kids. This brawler is over-the-top and cartoonish; the fighters don't look real; and there's no blood, gore, or excessive violence. This game handles hand-to-hand combat in a non-realistic and less-graphic way than most fighting games. It's fun to play with up to four friends on the same Wii, or online. The "crude humor" warning likely refers to the character, Wario, who lets out gas from his buttocks!

Educational value: Not applicable.
Positive messages: This is a kind of King of the Mountain game; where you goal is to knock an opponent off their platform using cartoon violence. While online, you can watch other matches and can use coins earned in the game to bet on the outcome of online matches.
Violence: No blood, but this game is chock-full of animated cartoon violence. Characters can punch, kick, pounce, fart, whirl, and beat on opponents.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Part of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Characters and backgrounds are from other games.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.

More on Super Smash Bros. Brawl

What to talk about

Talk to your kids

Families can talk about types of violence in games. Do cartoon characters and some over-the-top combat moves make this brawl game feel less violent, even with the constant fighting? How do gore and realism in games change how you feel about the gameplay? Which type of game is more fun? Which would you prefer to play and why?

What's the story?

What's the story?

Ever wanted to see who would win in a fight between Mario and Sonic? Now you can in SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL for the Nintendo Wii. Veteran Nintendo fans are familiar with the idea behind these cartoon fighting games: Duke it out with and against popular Nintendo mascots such as Mario, Link, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Wario -- each with their own unique abilities and power attacks. Now you also have access to new playable characters from other video games, including the Zero Suit Samus (from Metroid: Zero Mission), Meta Knight (from the Kirby games), Pit (from Kid Icarus), and even Solid Snake (from Konami's Metal Gear Solid), and Sonic (from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series). The goal is to use your special way of fighting so effectively that you weaken your opponent and they fall off their platform.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Having all of these familiar and beloved characters in one game is a treat, not to mention you need to unlock new characters by winning matches since not everyone is available right from the get-go. Up to four players can compete together on one Wii, which makes this a great game to play with friends. New to the series is online play, so you can brawl against friends on another Wii in another city, which works surprisingly well. There's also a new lengthy story-driven mode called The Subspace Emissary, which is essentially a side-scrolling game where one or two players fight against more difficult "boss" characters.

Another aspect of this game that makes it so good is the ability to customize the game. You can tweak everything from the character's special powers, weapons, and moves to the musical score and how the game is controlled (whether you prefer Wii Remote, Wii Remote and Nunchuk, Classic Controller, or the GameCube controller). You can even design your own levels to share online with friends. This eagerly anticipated title is great fun for those new to the franchise or longstanding followers.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Nintendo Wii
Available online
Genre: Fighting
Developer: Nintendo
Released on: March 9, 2008
Price: 49.99
ESRB Rating: T for Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor

This review was written by Marc Saltzman
 
 

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What parents & educators say

9

Most useful reviews by all members

 
Great fun but not necessarily the best influence
I have to admit. I love playing Brawl. I have three kids, and they love it too. The kids their age at school and church love it. They play it online together, and even organize parties where they have tournaments. From an entertainment standpoint this game is a clear winner. But there are some concerns. Although the violence is cartoon violence, it is still violence. If a person spends hours trying to inflict maximum damage to other players on screen, how can it not carry through to real life? My kids seem more aggressive and less tolerant during and after playing this game. I feel it too when I play. Also, because the is so entertaining, game play can easily override other concerns in a kid's life like school work, hobbies, and the like. After getting this, for a while, life in my house ended up seeming like one big Brawl-fest. Things have calmed down little, but it seems like Brawl is still the most popular thing among the kids. So while I recommend Brawl as an enjoyable game that can bring kids (and even their Dads) together, I think parents should take care to limit game play, and take action to ensure the violence in the game does not carry over into real life.

CaSmFiRe
kid, 11 years old
 
A Great Game
I've been playing this since I was at leat 8, which is the inly reason I say 8+. It's nothing TOO violent, there's no blood, so I could say it being E10+ at least. My Mom approves of this, and she's SUPER stingy about what I play. It's not hard to use, but I don't think children will enjoy it much, just because their kids, but I LOVE these type of games, and this really DOES rock!

8colony8
teen, 15 years old
 
This is an EXTREMELY good fighting game. I really reccomend it. There is no blood, but tons of cartoon violence. Your goal is to launch the opponents off of the course, and you can launch them easier by beating them up. Violence includes punching, kicking, lazer guns, bombs, grenade launchers, baseball bats, hammers, and tons of other weapons. Sometimes when you launch characters tey slam into the screen. There are tons of modes, characters, rules, items, and stages to keep you entertained. You can also maneuver the camera when paused and take pictures. The only iffy stuff besides the violence is that one character can toot as an attack, and one female character wears very tight clothes. 10/10

java
adult
 
A Mindless Game of Non-stop Violence
My son begged me to get him this game. I wish I hadn't. I asked the clerk at the game store why it was rated T, and he said it was only because of the "Wario Waft", and was otherwise a very fun game with just cartoon violence. Yes, it doesn't have any blood or gory violence, but the game is relentless hitting, punching, kicking, shooting, crashing and mindless violence. It doesn't seem to utilize the Wii remote in any interesting way; they just continually press buttons to hit each other. On the plus side, there are a lot of characters that the kids like, and my kids (9 and 11) and their friends really have fun playing it. I think a rating of E-10 would be appropriate for this game.

Gummyfun
teen, 14 years old
 
Great game
i really don't think this should be rated T, it should probably be rated E. the violence is NOT bad at all. I mean, you wouldn't be wanting your 5 year old playing this, the violence does not affect younger kids.

Mr. Ford
kid, 11 years old
 
Nintendo's masterpeice is definetly the king of fighting games
I really like it. it is my favorite game right now. it is so good because you can use like 30 charachters, who each have like 10 different attacks(ranged and melee), 50 courses plus making your own courses, and a ton of items. there are also different types of brawls, and it is especially fun on multiplayer.

trickster123
kid, 12 years old
 
AWESOME FAMILY GAME
AWESOME FIGHT GAME.my 8 year old brother loves to play it with my dad and me.its ENDLESS FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.this game can bring back memories too,like one of the courses is the classic donkey kong game setting.its very easy to master,no online interactions (except CPU) so buy it NOW

IsItgoodORnot
teen, 16 years old
 
A Pure Nintendo Classic
This game is non-stop fun. Still playing it as of today, starting from the very first day it was released. The 'T' rating is completely incorrect, cartoon violence with minimal blood falls under more of the E 10+ rating.

Skandi
teen, 16 years old
 
Fun game. Some parents won't like it.
Obviously violence. There's no blood or gore, but the aim of the game is to use your character's various fighting moves to cause other characters' "damage" (represented by a percentage at the bottom of the screen). The higher the damage, the further the characters will fly back when you hit them. The objective is to get points by hitting characters off the screen. Weapons range from turnips to laser guns. The characters are from various other video games, some of them rated T for reasons other than violence. One character, Snake, is from Metal Gear Solid, a game rated M, and uses modern weapons like hand grenades and missile launchers. A character named Wario farts as an attack. A female character named Zero-Suit Samus wears a tight suit (which covers her entire body except for her head) and has a Barbie-doll body. I would understand why a lot of parents don't like their kids playing this game. It's loads of fun, though, especially its multiplayer mode.

The Frozen Flame
teen, 15 years old
 
cool game
This game is fairly fun for younger audiences. I recommend this for ages 8+ because its just cartoony violence.

smileyfacelover
teen, 16 years old
 
LOVE IT!
This is one of me and my brother's favorite games! I love how you can play with friends via the Wifi connection, and we do that a LOT. It's fun, easy to learn how to play, and it can keep you busy for hours. The violence isn't too bad- I mean it's real cartoony and fun- I mean you can shoot grenades at people, but it's not bloody or anything. I consider it "Tom and Jerry" violence. With grenades... Safety CAN be an issue on only one term: if your kid jumps up screaming at the TV cause one of his friends beat him in a match or he lost to a computer. Yeah, been there done that :)

Sneezer
kid, 11 years old
 
This game is Epic! One of my top 3 favorite Wii video games that I own at my house. It's not bloody, just violent, no fat chunk of dealio!

gamereviewer6469
parent of 11 year old
 
OK for Tweens
My only Concern is that Wario has a "Fart on the Face" move, but it think 10 and older can handle it, the Violence has a few Characters with knives, hammers, and guns. Overall, dont buy this for kids 1-9. They could use Wario as a role model, which isnt good.

Zero65
teen, 14 years old
 
The E10 rating exists for a reason...
Honestly, I have no idea what made this game T rated. Super Smash Bros Brawl is a fighter that, rather than having life bars, has damage counters that increase as the player is hurt. The higher the damage counter, the easier it is to launch your opponent. It's a simple concept, but it's executed flawlessly.The game is easy and simple enough for little kids to understand, but for tweens/teens/adults, the game packs a lot of advanced techniques that can be executed. This game is very multiplayer focused, but single player can be enjoyable as well. I urge you to buy this as quickly as possible, you will not be disappointed.

saurkrauts
kid, 9 years old
 
XD
i can play it

 
love it!
i love this game....its a "when ur bored" game but overall i give this game a 4 out of 5. i love using mario and marth also link......its pretty fun game. B+

Spex99
kid, 12 years old
 
Very fun for tweens
I think this game is pretty good. A little violent but there is not blood so it's fine with me.

maxwasson
kid, 11 years old
 
Inappropriate
This is too strong for the children 8 and under

Fawned
teen, 16 years old
 
Addicting and Fun
Great! It's a great fighting game with action packed, explosive, and humorous fights! I just loved it when they added Kirby and Snake! They're my favorite Gameplay Characters! There are some glitches in the game and it can get quite confusing and frustrating unlocking everything, but it challenges you and ( I don't know if this is true but.. ) Improves your gaming skills on fighting! When I heard Marth's Japanese taunt, it made my Japanese friend laugh. Worth playing!

 
This is THE informative Brawl post.
Hey guys, how's it going? I heard What They Play had closed, and someone else suggested this site, so I thought I'd check it out. Anyway, I gotta give some clarification on the whole "sexual innuendo" thing. First, an explanation of WHY what's going on is going on: Samus Aran, the main character from the Metroid games, is a female inside a Chozo suit (robotic armor). In the Metroid series, there were occasionally parts where the suit would glitch up/become defective, and she'd go without it. She'd wear what is basically an almost-but-not-quite skintight catsuit (Seriously, what else would you wear inside a suit like Iron Man's? A jeans/t-shirt/jacket combo just isn't gonna work, guys). Anyway, yeah, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, each character has a "Final Smash" attack, which is usually a large attack used to even the score, if you're falling behind. Samus' Final Smash is to use the last of the Chozo suit's energy to fire a massive blast of energy across the screen to hit the other opponents. Once finished, the Chozo suit falls off, and you're now playing as the much faster/more agile "Zero Suit Samus". Anyway, no, it's not presented in a sexual way AT ALL. Technically you don't even see her getting out of the suit, the character's entirely enveloped in a big flash of light, and when it goes away, she's just standing there. And there isn't any jiggling, either. There were actually some complaints from "adult" fans when the game first came out because "the jiggle physics aren't realistic enough" (Hint: There aren't any "jiggle physics" there, guys). So yeah, a movie spy-like catsuit. It can be considered suggestive material, but it's very mild in this case. Look up "Zero Suit Samus moveset" on YouTube and see for yourself. You're the parent of your own kid, you decide if it's too bad for your kid, but at least do the research first. And the stuff this "zezima536" kid down the page posted? I got a good laugh outta that. The characters always look the same, never appearing to have damage of any kind, IE wounds, missing limbs, blood/gore, or arrows piercing a girl's crotch. (heh, creative description, kid). Yeah, if you time it right, you can kick a character in the crotch, BUT it's no different from hitting anywhere else. Always the same cartoon punch/kick sound effects, with the same animations of the characters flinching and getting knocked back a couple feet. The character stated to "suck players up and while they are in his mouth viciously suck on them with passion", is KIRBY, Nintendo's famous little pink puffball alien. He sucks players up like a vacuum ( he actually has a vacuum-like sound effect, too), quickly swallows them, and gains some of their abilities. There's no "vicious sucking" involved here, folks. The character that "sh*ts them out as an egg" is the Mario series' dinosaur, Yoshi. The little dino dude swallows enemies, and lays an egg with them in it, temporarily keeping them from fighting, until they can break out. Nothing really vulgar here, either. As for "seeing under the princesses dresses", you can't really do that either. When you pause the game, you can change the camera angle and take screen shots. However, the camera is ridiculously restricted. Not so you can't see character's privates, but so that you can't see that those parts (along with quite a bit more of the game) aren't detailed at all. The princesses literally don't have crotches. With a bit of technical "hacking", the camera limits can be removed, and people have found that the legs just cease to exist slightly above the knee. Princess Zelda's dress is always too long to see anything slightly higher than the ankle, and in the occasional instance where you can see Princess Peach's legs, she's got a half slip and leggings, so you can't see anything there, either. SO ANYWAY, that's my rant about that. As far as the actual gameplay goes, this is a great multiplayer game. It's fun, and it lasts quite a while. Every match is different. There's a huge combination of characters, stages, and game modes, and there's also the fun random items and weapons appearing in the middle of a match, which can turn the tables quickly. To accurately describe it all would make this already long post two or three times longer. Just look up "Super Smash Bros. Brawl gameplay" on YouTube and see for yourself, then go buy a copy and play it, because Youtube videos don't do it justice, either. I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't played a Smash Bros. game yet. ...I also feel sorry for anyone who seriously had no idea who Kirby was and had to read through that part of this post. (The Kirby games are awesome for kids, by the way. Look 'em up. They're as tame as it gets, and they're pretty easy, made with beginning/younger gamers in mind) Anyway, that's just about it for now. I'm getting tired of writing this. RECAP TIME: 1. This is an awesome game, and everyone who's capable of playing it should. 2. There are VERY, SUPER-INCREDIBLY MILD suggestive themes. Quite a bit less harmful than most of the crap most of you let your kids see on Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon these days. Get over it. 3. Google/Youtube, ESRB, and the game's official website are your friends. Alright, NOW I'm done.

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