Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

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Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a kid's game. Don't let the apologists fool you with their talk about deep gameplay or variety or skill; this is kiddie fare. It's quickly apparent from the bright colors and bloodless cheer and the pitiable squeaks and chirps that come from your Wii remote, all of which is aimed squarely at a pre-teen demographic. Your kids or younger siblings will be sucked into this game with all the gravitational pull of a black hole. Why else would Super Smash Bros. Brawl be released on a weekend?

But like the finest children's entertainment, there's something here for adults to tap into, something they all have in common: they were all once children. This approach is Nintendo's gift to gaming. Like Pixar or Miyazaki, this is entertainment wrapped in kiddie clothes, but its quality transcends age. It's a bridge across the generational divide that separates Sponge Bob from Budweiser. Nintendo is an empire of childhoods, yours and mine.

It's a-him, Mario!

Mario isn't just an Italian plumber with an absurd mustache. He's a signifier to pumping quarters into a Donkey Kong machine, or hooking up an NES using those little pronged connectors, or thrilling to the promise of your first Game Boy, or platformers transitioning to the same 3-D you saw in your favorite shooters. Mario is an icon for the Nintendo empire's conquest of our childhoods, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a testament to the breadth of that empire.

Here is a crazy and almost overbearing collection of licensed characters, some playable, with many guests appearing out of power-ups and even more as collectible trophies. The guest appearances are great, and not just the highly publicized unlockable characters like Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake. When a Nintendog rears it huge enthusiastic snout onto the screen or when Jill from Drill Dozer charges across the level, you'll come to appreciate how vast and wonderful Nintendo's catalog is. You can unlock brief demos of older games, and a list of all of Nintendo's titles is tucked in with all the extras.

Prelude to a punch

It helps that there's something universal about fighting games. A punch is every bit as universally understood as a kiss. It's the first step in the conflict that is the centerpiece of almost all gaming. What is a war game, a shooter, an RTS or an RPG but an extension of the simple act of punching someone?

It also helps that Super Smash Bros. Brawl is so simple. Here are none of the crazy long combos that characterize the hardcore "adult" fighting games. Here are no breast physics or decapitations or absurd arterial spray. Here the loser politely applauds the winner, who dances a happy little jig.

The heart of the game is the brawling, which has changed little since Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube. In fact, you can even use your GameCube controllers, and you'll get to fight on some of the same old levels. It's a viable complaint that Nintendo didn't do much to change the formula since the last game, but they can't be faulted for not throwing in enough new content.

Each character has his own special moves, and there's a power-up to unlock over-the-top fatalities called Final Smashes. These are a great treat, and they're part of how characters are balanced. One of my favorite variations is to turn off all the items but the Final Smash Ball and set its spawn frequency to "high." This makes each match a cross between a fight and a chase, and it guarantees some dramatic reversals of fortune.