Super Mario 64

Mild overall intensity
Highest flag: Horror & psychological — spooky
AdventureFantasyPlatformer

What's in it

Violence cartoon/stylized
Low

Cartoon platforming action: Mario punches, kicks, and stomps fantasy enemies like Goombas and Koopas, who vanish harmlessly; no blood or injury depicted.

Horror & psychological spooky
Low

One course is a haunted house filled with giggling ghosts, a piano that snaps its lid at Mario, and eerie music. The scares are cartoonish, brief, and optional to visit.

Who can reach your kid

What it is

Super Mario 64 is a classic 3D platformer where the player controls Mario as he explores Princess Peach's castle and dives into painting-worlds to collect Power Stars and rescue the kidnapped princess from Bowser. Gameplay centers on running, jumping, and exploring colorful levels. The only conflict is cartoon combat: Mario defeats whimsical enemies by jumping on them, punching, or kicking, and they simply disappear without any blood, gore, or realistic injury. There is no sexual content, no strong language, no substances, and no online interaction of any kind—it is a fully single-player offline experience.

How it's framed

The game frames its action as lighthearted, heroic adventure. Enemies are cartoonish obstacles rather than realistic threats, defeating them is bloodless and playful, and the goal is the wholesome quest of rescuing the princess and collecting stars.

Details

Developer
Nintendo EAD
Publisher
Nintendo
Released
1996
Metacritic 94critic score (third-party) · out of 100

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