Parent's Guide: Captain America: Super Soldier - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

Loosely based on the film of the same name, Captain America: Super Soldier puts you in the super boots of the patriotic hero himself, as you stomp your way around a number of WW2 themed levels, solving a few basic puzzles, while mostly beating some sense into the dastardly Hydra troops, who're looking to extract the super serum for your blood (which is what gives you super powers), in order to inject it into their troops, and help the Nazi war effort.

A fairly straightforward action adventure, there are a few features in Captain America: Super Soldier designed to make it easier for newcomers to get to grips with. Platforming, for example, is simplified with the inclusion of arrows that show you where you're going to jump to next - press B, and you'll leap straight to the indicated spot, without having to worry about awkward analogue stick skills. Similarly, the combat (which there's a lot of), is fairly simple too, with Cap' doing all the hard work for you, chucking the Hydra villains around, and knocking them out with his Super-forehead while your child sits there hammering A.

Meanwhile, the levels are punctuated with a few rudimentary puzzles, that'll see you either chucking Captain America's shield at a distant switch in order to activate it, or using its reflective abilities to deflect a laser towards a series of mirrors, which you have to angle to deliver the laser to its intended target. Offering a nice break from the action, and engaging your brain that little bit more, the puzzles are a welcome addition.

In all, Captain America is a fairly straightforward game that kids should be able to get the hang of - but it can be quite challenging at times. Sometimes, the shield doesn't target the things you want it to (and actually won't, no matter how many times you try), some of the boss fights can get rather tricky for adults, with several of them having the power to kill you in a single hit - and although you can never have a game over, it may still frustrate younger children that they'll have to restart a boss fight (or from the last check point) due to a single mistake.

Although you'll spend the majority of the game beating up the bad guys, there's little to be too concerned about in Captain America: Super Soldier. There's no blood, guts, and gore, and no swearing. It's actually tamer than the film.

Sadly, as an entirely single player game, there's no real room for a family to play together on Captain America: Super Soldier. If you're a game competent parent, however, you may well find yourself being called on for the trickier boss fights.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Nintendo 3DS