Videogames for very young children

[Wrestlevania]

My kids are starting to get quite interested in video games and are eager to start playing together with me.

I've got Kung Fu Panda and LEGO Indiana Jones on Xbox 360, but they're both a little complicated to begin with I think; they prefer to just watch me play those because of this. So I've been browsing through the GameCube's back-catalogue, trying to identify potentially good games to play with a 6, 4 and 2 year old.

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? There are so many versions of Mario Party, for example, that I've no idea where to start. I hear Wario Ware Inc. should be good fun to play with the older two at least--and I'm sure T wouldn't mind watching like he usually does.

Any other fun games Thumbs might think/know are good to play with young kids?

[ThunderPeel2001]

Haha! Awesome! I've no idea what to recommend, but I bet they soon start kicking your ass That must quite a fun moment for a gaming Dad: Welcome to the wonderful world of games... play this, this and this, and enjoy the best the gaming world has to offer.

I'd be almost tempted to break out a SNES with Super Mario World and say: Start old school, you need to know your history (I bet they'd complain about that, though!)

[Patters]

Mario Kart maybe?

[Sleepdance]

Try Peggle or even Tetris.

[elmuerte]

The MAW!

It's simple and it is fun.

[gdf]

You have to get Up and teach your kids about teamwork like Remo said! Use your kid to use the kid to kill the snake!

Maybe something freeform like Noby Noby Boy - though that could be frustrating to control - or even an old side-scroller. If you have a SNES kicking about, get them onto some simple platformers (the first game I played to a significant extent was Capcom's Aladdin, and I was 6 at the time). If not, then I guess there's the Wii Virtual Console.

If you have Guitar Hero give them a pop as well. Some of the really young kids at my old work liked to play beginner mode where it's just strumming.

Good luck! If they all take to gaming, you could have Goldeneye multiplayer on standby for the rest of your life. Remember to report back with the results.

[Fuzzy Lobster]

As far as older games go, the older Mario games seem great. After all, that's where many of us started! If you have got an old SNES around, Yoshi's Island is great. I used to play it back in the day with my 3 year old nephew and although he was a bit young, he loved just running Yoshi around. I'd bet your little kids would love the cute art style and it's a lot of fun.

For XBox, there's the Viva Pinata games.

[Wrestlevania]

No SNES, Wii or PS3 I'm afraid. But the SNES does rekindle some fantastic memories in me of when I properly got into video games in the 16-bit era.

And I completely forgot to mention we already have Viva Piñata on 360. Which likely implies how much fun it is(n't); it's very slow and mechanical and the kids get bored of it after about 20 minutes.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, on the other hand, they quite liked. But the vehicle building is slow and can be quite repetative when you're trying to iteratively create the ideal machine for a particular task. And it's not multiplayer either, which I think is where all these first steps are going wrong.

We tried playing LEGO Indiana Jones in co-op, but it's quite a fiddly platformer in practice - particularly if you don't understand its glitchy nature - and therefore can get frustrating quickly. Especially as they're just getting started with gaming and have no prior experience of platforming.

But I definitely think some light platforming is the way to go. It just probably needs to be in two dimensions to begin with. The more I see of New Super Mario Brothers Wii, the more it seems like the perfect modern day example. But, as mentioned, we don't have a Wii, so not happening any time soon.

Any other GameCube-specific recommendations? I was going to get Animal Crossing, but had a bad experience ordering it second hand from Amazon Marketplace this week. And, in hindsight, it's probably going to be no more fun for the kids than VP...

I know they're meant to be horrible, but is it worth considering one of the Mario Party games?

[miffy495]

I'd certainly say it is. It's one of the few things my sister would play with my back in the day, so even though the game isn't really that great I have some awesome memories of Mario Party 2.

One of the easier things I found to play as a kid was a sports game. The rules are already defined, and odds are, they know them. I spent so much damn time with NHL 94 as a wee one. More cartoon-y ones work as well. One of my favorite sports games to date is Mario Strikers on the GCN, so if you can find it for cheap I'd go for it. The majority doesn't seem to share my love for that game, but I think it's really accessible and a ton of fun.

[gdf]

Nuts & Bolts does have multiplayer! It's a blast as well, though kids could struggle with the vehicle handling, especially on a tiny screen.

If they like Banjo, though, I'd recommend getting one of the old ones off of the Marketplace. The first is single-player only I think, but its puzzles are more contained and, well, easy. Tooie's structure is far more obtuse and it's a lot less focussed (for my money it's better on the whole, but probably too tough for younger kids), but it has varied and enjoyable versus modes that showcase a wide variety of genres, including a basic form of FPS, racer and football game (it's like Super Soccer fuck yeah!)

[Wrestlevania]

One of my favorite sports games to date is Mario Strikers on the GCN, so if you can find it for cheap I'd go for it. The majority doesn't seem to share my love for that game, but I think it's really accessible and a ton of fun.

Ah! I didn't even think of something like that. But when you put it like that - established rules, familiar setup, fun characters - it's so obvious! Will definitely pick that up along with a couple of extra controllers, too.

I guess Mario Tennis on GameCube would be a good choice as well..? Was also pondering Wave Race, but thought that might actually be a bit too complicated to begin with.

[miffy495]

Yeah, Mario Tennis is spectacular. The character's signature moves are a bit irritatingly over-powered, but even something like pitting Diddy Kong against Boo is enough to make up for it. Definite recommendation.

Wave Race is more difficult to recommend. Partially just because it's more difficult, period. It's a tough game, and can get really frustrating. I got it when I was 13 myself, and even then it drove me crazy on the lower settings. You really need to buy into that one all the way if you're going to play it.

I would say Strikers and Power Tennis are definite gets. If you have a chance to try Wave Race before you buy it, I would. It wasn't until getting the N64 one on Virtual Console that I finally worked out why the game was good. As a kid, I just didn't get it.

...oh yeah. I can't remember if anyone has said it yet, but Mario Kart. Freaking Mario Kart. Get it.

[ThunderPeel2001]

No SNES, Wii or PS3 I'm afraid. But the SNES does rekindle some fantastic memories in me of when I properly got into video games in the 16-bit era.

But I definitely think some light platforming is the way to go. It just probably needs to be in two dimensions to begin with.

Then surely this is what you want?

[Fuzzy Lobster]

It's in a different direction, but what about old adventure games on the PC? When I was little, my mother, brother and I would all play together and work through the puzzles. I loved it, and it was a bit more engaging than just watching my older brother play duck hunt.

[Gabbo]

I don't know about the two year old, but several of my friends have told me they loved The Incredible Machine when they were younger. GoG has them for cheap. You could play along with them of course. I doubt logic/physics puzzles would be something they gravitate towards on their own.

[miffy495]

If we're going to throw classic PC gaming into the mix, I became gaming-verb literate when I was 4 thanks to playing Lemmings with my mother. Doesn't get much better tha that for a kid learning that games have their own logic and how to exploit it.

[Wrestlevania]

Then surely this is what you want?

This item includes

1 Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES, or even SNES) console

1 controller

Power supply

Super Maria World game cartridge

Scart cable

Aerial cable (only needed if your TV has no scart)

Holy shit, it's that super-rare The Sound of Music bootleg--good find!

Fine, be like that then...

[ThunderPeel2001]

You never played Super Maria World? Man, you totally gots to get it, now!

[Baris]

I'm a firm believer that 2D platformers are the way to go for getting someone into video games. It's worth shelling out for a NES, SNES and the Mario games.

[toblix]

Maria was Giana's sister!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Maria was Giana's sister!

Very good! (I wouldn't be surprised if they'd wanted to go with Maria from the outset, lol.)

How about those Putt Putt adventure games that Ron Gilbert/Dave Grossman made? They're for youngsters aren't they?

[Moelman]

Very good! (I wouldn't be surprised if they'd wanted to go with Maria from the outset, lol.)

How about those Putt Putt adventure games that Ron Gilbert/Dave Grossman made? They're for youngsters aren't they?

Oh yeah, I played those games when I was young and loved them. I remember I had Putt Putt goes to the moon and Putt Putt saves the zoo or something like that, and I really played those games to death. Never even knew they were Ron Gilbert games till maybe last year.

[Sinkwater]

I really liked Harvest Moon when I was a kid. Although I haven't played the Gamecube versions, almost every HM game is the same, so I don't think you can go wrong with one of them.

[buemba]

My sister was obsessed with Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion (PC) and lightgun games like Shooting Gallery (Master System) and Duck Hunt (NES) when she was very young.

But your best bet would be to buy a Wii. Mario Galaxy is a great 2 player game both because the graphics are very colorful and because it doesn't demand a lot of involvement from the second player. There are other games like Excitebots and Wii Sport Resort that are also very endearing and fairly laid back, plus with the Virtual Console you'll also have access to several kid-friendly retro games like Kirby's Dream Course, Pokemon Snap, Puyo Puyo and Yoshi's Story.

And assuming you don't think they're too violent for your kids, side scrolling beat-em ups like Streets of Rage and Guardian Heroes are great due to their co-op focused gameplay. They used to be my favorite genre when I was young because I could play with my friends in a non-competitive environment.

[Sleepdance]

O my god. I just got flashback of memories when you mentioned Putt Putt. I remember that I played it when I didn't have a clue about English so I finished them just remembering pictures every day(because I didn't know how to save, if you can?) until I finished it over time.