I would think so, Kellie. My girls are mostly 'button-pushers' lol, and they do just fine! I'd think if he could, if you showed him what buttons do what, like kick, jump, and all the other stuff they do... But it is a bit hard to follow where your character is on the screen sometimes with all of them flying around the place, and getting bounced off the screen, sometimes the fights are fast paced, depending on how many people are playing. My girls play on 2 player together- they can completely set it up themselves, pick their players, and level, and playing together, they aren't going up against a computer player who'll beat them every time - although, I believe you can even pick the level of skill thatthe computer player has that you go up against. My girls are 5...
Do you know anyone who has it who would let you check it out first? Or a used video game store nearby that would let you test it out? I'd hate to recommend it and have him not like it, or not get the controls... Does he play other games on the wii?