No it's gash brawler.

@NTM: It has nothing to do with Nintendo or it's characters but how it looks and plays.

Its about as much of a fighting game as gears of war is a first person shooter.

Not a traditional fighting game, but a fighting game none the less

By Nintendo's definition...

Its just a brawler/fighting game

I think there's nuance than it's given credit for but it's incredibly unbalanced. I would put it in the category closer to Power Stone than Street Fighter.

It's a spectacle fighter, just like MvC. 

The reason sub genres exist is so arguments like this don't ever happen. 

And not using sub-genres is like calling all Humans Hominidae. Are humans and gorillas the same thing? Nope. Do they both belong to the family hominidae? Yep. Do you see where this is going?

a fighting game yes

It's definitely a fighting game. Mortal Kombat's main focus is the fatalities and gore, SF is very technical, SSB mixes elements of platforming. They're all fighting games just with different focuses.

I always considered Smash Bros. to be a party game. 

SSBM is a serious fighting game. Unintentionally but it definitely is a fighting game that is as hard or harder to master than anything else out there.

I always considered Smash Bros. to be a party game. 

Of course it is. No one would make the argument that Bulletstorm isn't a first-person shooter because it's just a bunch of silly fun, while Battlefield is a first-person shooter because of it's well thought out competitive gameplay. The competitive merits of a game are unrelated to genre.

It's a fighting game. You can't really classify it as anything else. "Party game" and "brawler" both ignore that it's a game where the primary action is two-to-four players on a 2D plane performing fighting moves towards each other to try and beat the other guy. There's nothing else you can use to describe it without splitting hairs or making arbitrary distinctions.

@craigbo180 said:

SSBM is a serious fighting game. Unintentionally but it definitely is a fighting game that is as hard or harder to master than anything else out there.

I don't know that I would say its "in the same league" as those games but yes, it is a fighting game. Albeit a relatively simple one focused on accessibility and flair. 

It's a fighting game as much as calling Mass Effect is a Traditional RPG. It's evolved.

SSBM is a serious fighting game. Unintentionally but it definitely is a fighting game that is as hard or harder to master than anything else out there.

@keris: You've not really made an argument there, you've either reinforced what I said or just listed some facts.

I know full SSB is a fighting game, that bit is obvious; but to lump it together with games like MK and Street Fighter it entirely foolish.

And sub genres were invented so arguments like this wouldn't happen after the first time. I should probably have added again to my initial post.

And going back to my analogy, of which you completely missed the point, were refer to ourselves as humans right? Just like we refer to gorillas as gorillas. We don't just refer to both as hominidae: so why should we refer to a video game by the family of videogames it belongs to?

Would you call Metal Gear Solid a shooter? Or Batman: Arkham Asylum a stealth game? Both games share a lot of elements with games of such genres; but they aren't necessarily similar games are they? So why label them similarly?

If we are going to go by your logic; we should just call every game 'game' and be done with it.

If Smash Bros. is considered a fighting game then so would Power Stone, right ?

SSBM has true high level play there is no way someone could beat me at that game if they were not already experienced and well versed in the techniques. I don't know if this has been answered yet but SSBM was represented at EVO. Just because you don't like or aren't good at that type at game doesn't make it "not a fighting game". If you want to turn on 4 player and have all the items on, then that's great! I really hope you have a blast, but there is a specific way that people play the game at the top level.

With the potentially-lone exception of WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game, wrestling games are NOT fighting games.

Games that break out of the standard one-on-one format, such as Power Stone or Super Smash Bros., still technically qualify for the fighting genre

So as you can see, WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game is indeed a fighting game.

I enjoyed all 3 Super Smash Bros, and I used to think they were great compared to Soul Caliber or Tekken. I recently played MVC3 and Mortal Kombat 9 and have to say that SSBs is a fighting game, but doesn't have that same kind of skill requirement that those games do.

Of course it's a fighting game. I mean, it's not a traditional fighting game, but it is a fighting game. It's kinda like how Gran Turismo and Mario Kart are both racing games. They're both very different and appeal to very different audiences, but they are racing games. SSB is very different from Street Fighter, and they appeal to very different audiences, but they are both fighting games.

I think those saying that SSBM requires no skill and is a party game are basing that off of "me playing with my bros on the couch" and not watching competitive matches.

...so people calling it a party game, what makes it party game and not a fighting game?

Why does the staff say that it isn't a fighting game?  Even people on SRK don't consider it a fighter.

Of course it is. No one would make the argument that Bulletstorm isn't a first-person shooter because it's just a bunch of silly fun, while Battlefield is a first-person shooter because of it's well thought out competitive gameplay. The competitive merits of a game are unrelated to genre.

Why does the staff say that it isn't a fighting game?  Even people on SRK don't consider it a fighter.

I'm not going to say anything others haven't, but whatever. Of course Smash Bros. is a fighting game. Just because it falls under a different sub-genre than Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat doesn't mean it isn't a fighting game. That's like saying Pokemon isn't an RPG. It's different than most RPGs in some ways, but similar in others. SSB is is different to most fighters in some ways, but similar in others. Also, like Pokemon, it has a very low barrier to entry but can also be extremely competitive.

Yes. 

To me as a fighting game it bores the hell out of me, but as an amazing party game with items and random crazyness its awesome, so i will say no on the fighting game like Zelda isn't an rpg, but thats another topic.

Of course it is. Hardcore fighting genre fans' elitism is astounding.

Of course it is. Hardcore fighting genre fans' elitism is astounding.

It's a laid-back, less serious fighting that's more about fun than anything else.  That's not to say there aren't crazy competitive people who have mastered it, though. 

It's the difference between a linear world game and a sandbox game. The Call of Duty saga is a linear based shooter. The Far Cry games are all Open world, except for the very first one. So if Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter is a, "closed stage fighter," Super Smash Brothers would be classified as an, "open stage fighter." CSF vs OSF.

@Pulloff said:

It's the difference between a linear world game and a sandbox game. The Call of Duty saga is a linear based shooter. The Far Cry games are all Open world, except for the very first one. So if Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter is a, "closed stage fighter," Super Smash Brothers would be classified as an, "open stage fighter." CSF vs OSF.

Indeed, I'd say the Smash Bros. games are a sub genre of fighting games. They are innovative, so they aren't pure 1 on 1 fighters, it is presenting your goals a situations in a vastly different way.

I feel like the people that say these games aren't fighting games are the same that say they don't make survival horror anymore.

It's a brawler people.