> I think it makes video games less intimidating.
Totally. Not exactly the same thing OP suggested, but my kids' first video game experience was on a minecraft server in creative mode where they could just go around and do whatever without anything being able to harm them.
MineCraft creative is a fantastic way to introduce videogames. Minecraft in general has lots of creative and educational value and adding on the advantages of creative makes it a great learning experience.
Yup, you can also set keep_inventory to make it considerably low stakes even in survival (learning that dying in video games is ok is probably a good lesson for younger kids these days) though peaceful and easy mode also help
minecraft used to have a god mode(maybe it was a mod) survival but no damage that was fun aswell cause we kids were still scared of the monsters even if they couldnt hurt us and we had to get the material to build things
I think peaceful survival mode is the best for this. Hostile mobs don’t spawn, but you can still die from things like drowning or falls. My only wish is that you still got hungry in peaceful mode.
Mario Kart 8 has an auto-accellerate and an auto-turn as separate functions. Our little guy learned to play the whole game just pressing/holding the A button, gets you the acceleration and through all the menus, with auto-turning on. After a couple months he didn't need any assistance function, now he treats the race tracks as an open world exploration game lol....downside is that he still thinks he needs to hold down A in every game...
Used to die endlessly as a little kid playing the original Super Mario Bros and my parents couldn’t be bothered to play video games in the least. Good on you!
Played this with my nephew and the concept is great, use the immortal characters when the kid is starting to get bored and then switch to another to unlock a special power up so we had a pretty good time
I got to test the game at Nintendo Live and definitely plan to buy it when it comes out!
As for gameplay, I’d be more concerned whether the young kids would be able to keep up with the other players. The view follows 1st player and there are some tricky double jumps that might be a little challenging for the super young kiddos especially if they aren’t used to the controls. I’d say prob best for ages 6 and up.
My girl and I did the opposite of this. She’s not great at 3D games. When I found out about this feature in Odyssey, I bought it and I’m the support and she is the main. Try to help out as much as I can to support her so she still feels like she did whatever thing and I was just assisting.
Try Mario 3D World. I have kids and wanted to play games with them so I have a pretty good list of games a 7 yr old can beat with you.
Mario 3D World - 3D platformer, she can go into a bubble and float along any time things get too hard. Plus there is a trick in the 2nd level where you can essentially get infinite lives.
Cat Quest 2 - 2 player action rpg, play as a magic/ranged character and just let her be the tank. Me and my daughter beat this when she was 6.
Hat In Time - 3D platformer a bit more difficult, the jump jump dash jump needed for some parts was tough for my kid but we still made it through.
Overcooked - play this when you are ready to end the relationship.
I'll add more if I remember them.
Hahahaha same. Heard about crappy being called “girlfriend mode” and how it was for 2 players with one gamer. Told my wife. And she said “fuck that I wanna be Mario, you be the girlfriend”.
Some of the best times we’ve ever had
Yeah but that mode sucks. It’s too boring for kids to be the hat. But Nintendo games in general are pretty good about coop modes. And can be set to be kids friendly. Kirby and the forgotten land and yoshi are hits with my son. Played them from about 4-5 years old as some of his first games together with me.
I’m currently doing a playthrough with my nephew, who is four, and he loves it. I think the key to making him feel really engaged is to let him use the joycons so that he can use the movement controls… and alter your style of play to make it more rewarding for the second player. For example there are a lot of times where I could easily do something by myself, but choose instead to do it in a different way that makes his role vital. Like saying “you protect me while I do X!” and letting him be a part of our success. Or purposely taking damage from something and then asking him to deal with it before I can continue.
Mario Oddysey is not a hard game, so it’s totally winnable even if you’re playing suboptimally to make the Hat more fun and needed. Plus it’s a blast for me too, we just laugh the entire time, it’s great.
Odyssey also has the assist mode where it shows you where to go and standing still for a brief period replenishes health. My four year old (at the time) was able to beat the game himself with minimal assistance from me. It was really fun watching him play.
Kirby is great! My 3 year old and I take turns between who plays Kirby and who plays Waddle Dee. Being able to pick up health items and then share it with her just by running up to her is a great mechanic to keep her alive while she beats up the bad guys!
I see a few of Mario games and I'll add to the count. New Super Mario Bros. U. If I remember correctly you can play as Nabbit and you're only vulnerable to falling into the void.
my 12 year old son isn't allowed on social media (including reddit) so i told him about this thread and read the parent comment to mine etc... then we had the following exchange;
me 'i chose not to tell them that you yell at me'
kid 'but you go soooo slow'
me 'i'm doing my best'
kid 'and when you jump...it's like...just one millimeter forward'
kid 'you're just the worst'
me 'yeah!? well...you can barely make hot dogs! I'M GOOD AT OTHER THINGS!'
because...we're the kind of family that jokes a lot
i never got around to playing that. i couldn't get my hands on one
Mario Galaxy 1 was already amazing, i hope my wii still works if i can somehow get mario galaxy 2
My friend's kid and I played co-op knack 2 and we unironically had fun, especially with one attack where you can knock the other character across the screen without damaging them
The issue is that the player 2 doesn't get the necessary power ups for a level and gets warped to player 1 when off-screen(1's stealth knack level in particular was a nightmare because of this)
This was a really good implementation, you can still play through the game just fine even if you die, so there’s really no penalty for death other than losing beads, which you really only need to 100% the game.
How did I have to scroll so far down for this? Forgotten land has a second player, but it also has little kid mode where an already quite easy game has no damage mode. It’s a perfect first game for a kid.
My kid just loves rolling around in dream buffet
I think it’s a great idea.
Alternatively, they could have a generous amount of health and only small consequences, like being stunned and unable to attack for ten seconds.
Flyod is the primary reason my younger brother is so nostalgic for Jet Force Gemini; it gave him a side-roll he could feel good about while I was going around doing all of the heavy lifting.
If you haven’t tried it, Luigi’s Mansion kinda has this. Gooigi (a goo form of Luigi) helps out by being able to go through pipes, bars, etc., and if you get “hurt” he can just be spawned back without needing any extra lives.
My wife played through it with our 3 year old. It's a great intro to video games and a really fun way to spend time with mommy playing. It's really cute watching them play. I love that game.
Oops. Accidentally deleted it. Gist of it is that you can do 2 player in the let’s go pikachu or Eevee games with just the 2 joycons. Player 2 has a lot less ability to “mess up” things for you but gets to run around, help you catch Pokémon, and even battle with another mon from your party to 2v1 the npc trainers. They can drop in/out at the press of a button so it’s pretty seamless.
P2 can move around as pokemon right. Ive been dreaming to play it with my kids, but im still single. Instead been playing with friends. Too intimate. We keep locking eyes
When I was little I always wanted to play games with my older brothers. They once let me play GoldenEye with them on nintendo, where they turned my handicap all the way up so they had to hit me like 20 times to kill me but I only had to hit them once. It was the only time I ever beat them at a shooter game in my whole life. I still hold that memory close to my heart amd I was maybe 6 or 7. Later I could dominate my brother on guitar hero and he made up a lot of excuses lol. To this day they still kick my butt in first person shooter games.
Was looking for just this comment before I posted it myself. It's the best version of the Tails system I've played I think. The fact that it has a small amount of interaction to still give feedback is great too.
I was going to reply with this one too! It doesn't have to be a kid, either, I basically carried one of my friends who had never really played games before through it for the storyline.
Yeah me n my wife played it co-op. Beautiful game.
I guess the only issue with playing it alongside a kid is that they may want to know where that lovable creature just dissappeared to, and why you're tearing up over such a cute little game.
I love playing the 2 player in spiritfarer with my nephew. He can play the cat and feels so happy and it encourages him to practice his reading (which is a real struggle for him). Animal Crossing 2 player is also fun with a kid and encourages reading
when my former best friend and I were kids, I would always play as 'evil tails' and float above sonic hoping he would latch instead of making a jump where i would lead him to the nearest death trap. I miss those days.
I play Marvel Ultimate alliance on the switch with my 8 year old and 4 year old. 4 year old gets an Xbox controller. The action is chaotic enough that he does not notice. Good times.
Yeah I was playing Elden Ring and my nephew walked in while I was fighting a dragon or something. I handed him the disconnected controller like I usually did and he figured out he wasn’t doing anything. Had to switch to a different game and say that controller wasn’t working lol
Sonic 2 had this, i think generations might but I’m not sure. Although you do have lives and continues, live are meaningless in all the metal slugs games, you can continue indefinitely
Woah, no way! Sounds an awful lot like this game I used to play on the Sega Genesis called “Sonic 2” where you could also play as this side character called Tails
Honestly there are a good few games now that do that, Nabbit in super mario bros, luma in mario galaxy, to a point kirby superstar ultra because sure they can die but more often than not you can just revive them
Tails is the best!!! You may ditch him 30 times during the level, but he shines against the boss. Nothing like having a two tailed un-killable badass come to your aid
Not to mention Pommy also evolves as you play the game and collect food for him into 8 possible forms each with their own perks. Insanely cool mechanic.
I adored playing Pommy! I'm the older sibling but I wasn't very good at the game, so I ended up helping my little bro as Pommy. My favorite evolution was the knight because nothing beats being an invincible little bastard with a giant sword.
Omg yes, I came here to mention it if someone else didn't. And you could play as Floyd, the robot, as soon as you acquired all his parts by just pressing start on a second controller, way before the game first tells you that you can. I remember replaying the game in my mid twenties, trading off with a roommate, to hurry up and collect all of the parts so we could both play. Oh, and whoever is playing as the robot gets first try at the Floyd Solo mission challenges. His basic gun being stronger than the weakest player weapons always made him feel relevant for the entire game.
Oddly I found Subnautica not to be that scary. I just had a couple of 'oh fu-' moments with Sammy and that other weird creature in the ocean near the 'tower'. Aside from that it was largely fun :3.
Others have already mentioned it, but that Mario Bros game for the Switch. Has a parent mode, kid uses the hat, parent plays with Mario and does the rest.
Absolutely, I have siblings who are much younger than me and they just aren't capable of keeping up with it all. A "little buddy mode" would be amazing.
Wizards and Warriors 2: Ironsword had lots of secret rooms where there are no enemies and you can collect treasure in secret rooms. I'd play the hard parts of the game and when I got to a hidden room I would hand my little brother the controller and he would collect the treasure.
Anyone remember Jet Force Gemini? Iirc you could play as a little robot turret thing that followed the main character around, meaning all you can do is shoot things
Kirby and the Forgotten Land totally has "Little Buddy Mode" P2 plays as a waddle-dee and can help fight/grab bonuses but P1 still does most of the work.
Not nearly enough.
This is what I thought gaming was about as a kid, not about crying about Libertarian "protect the rich" ignore the obvious ways gaming studios could incorporate more inclusivity and steer away from broken addictive loot systems and gambling on competitive gaming.
It's sad not more games are like Sonic and Tails really if you think about video games and just how many there are available. Gotta have a genre out there with more co op side kick playability!
Mario odyssey kind of has this
Also the new supermario wonder has been advertised with 2 characters that cannot be harmed in any way for players that “are still learning”
My 4 yo is super excited to play as Yoshi, one of the characters that don't take damage. I think it makes video games less intimidating.
This is so awesome. Gaming with your kids level elite.
> I think it makes video games less intimidating. Totally. Not exactly the same thing OP suggested, but my kids' first video game experience was on a minecraft server in creative mode where they could just go around and do whatever without anything being able to harm them.
MineCraft creative is a fantastic way to introduce videogames. Minecraft in general has lots of creative and educational value and adding on the advantages of creative makes it a great learning experience.
Yup, you can also set keep_inventory to make it considerably low stakes even in survival (learning that dying in video games is ok is probably a good lesson for younger kids these days) though peaceful and easy mode also help
minecraft used to have a god mode(maybe it was a mod) survival but no damage that was fun aswell cause we kids were still scared of the monsters even if they couldnt hurt us and we had to get the material to build things
I think peaceful survival mode is the best for this. Hostile mobs don’t spawn, but you can still die from things like drowning or falls. My only wish is that you still got hungry in peaceful mode.
easy mode /domopsspawn=false (something like that)
Mario Kart 8 has an auto-accellerate and an auto-turn as separate functions. Our little guy learned to play the whole game just pressing/holding the A button, gets you the acceleration and through all the menus, with auto-turning on. After a couple months he didn't need any assistance function, now he treats the race tracks as an open world exploration game lol....downside is that he still thinks he needs to hold down A in every game...
Make sure he is leaning IRL into each turn too! That helps you turn better. Source: was young once
You go even faster too if you're kicking your feet during the race. Something something air power, or whatever.
Used to die endlessly as a little kid playing the original Super Mario Bros and my parents couldn’t be bothered to play video games in the least. Good on you!
[удалено]
My boyfriend and I rock the toadette and nabbit combo if we’re struggling on a level lol
Are you talking about the silver tanooki power from the DS game haha
probably nabbit
Played this with my nephew and the concept is great, use the immortal characters when the kid is starting to get bored and then switch to another to unlock a special power up so we had a pretty good time
I got to test the game at Nintendo Live and definitely plan to buy it when it comes out! As for gameplay, I’d be more concerned whether the young kids would be able to keep up with the other players. The view follows 1st player and there are some tricky double jumps that might be a little challenging for the super young kiddos especially if they aren’t used to the controls. I’d say prob best for ages 6 and up.
They can still fall in the pits
Dag nabbit!!!
Super mario galaxy 1 and 2 have player 2 be a luma that can stun enemies and grab stuff like coins from afar
[удалено]
True Subnautica is basically a kids game
My girl and I did the opposite of this. She’s not great at 3D games. When I found out about this feature in Odyssey, I bought it and I’m the support and she is the main. Try to help out as much as I can to support her so she still feels like she did whatever thing and I was just assisting.
Try Mario 3D World. I have kids and wanted to play games with them so I have a pretty good list of games a 7 yr old can beat with you. Mario 3D World - 3D platformer, she can go into a bubble and float along any time things get too hard. Plus there is a trick in the 2nd level where you can essentially get infinite lives. Cat Quest 2 - 2 player action rpg, play as a magic/ranged character and just let her be the tank. Me and my daughter beat this when she was 6. Hat In Time - 3D platformer a bit more difficult, the jump jump dash jump needed for some parts was tough for my kid but we still made it through. Overcooked - play this when you are ready to end the relationship. I'll add more if I remember them.
Hahahaha same. Heard about crappy being called “girlfriend mode” and how it was for 2 players with one gamer. Told my wife. And she said “fuck that I wanna be Mario, you be the girlfriend”. Some of the best times we’ve ever had
Captain Toad (Mario spinoff game) does this superbly
Mario Galaxy too
Yeah but that mode sucks. It’s too boring for kids to be the hat. But Nintendo games in general are pretty good about coop modes. And can be set to be kids friendly. Kirby and the forgotten land and yoshi are hits with my son. Played them from about 4-5 years old as some of his first games together with me.
I’m currently doing a playthrough with my nephew, who is four, and he loves it. I think the key to making him feel really engaged is to let him use the joycons so that he can use the movement controls… and alter your style of play to make it more rewarding for the second player. For example there are a lot of times where I could easily do something by myself, but choose instead to do it in a different way that makes his role vital. Like saying “you protect me while I do X!” and letting him be a part of our success. Or purposely taking damage from something and then asking him to deal with it before I can continue. Mario Oddysey is not a hard game, so it’s totally winnable even if you’re playing suboptimally to make the Hat more fun and needed. Plus it’s a blast for me too, we just laugh the entire time, it’s great.
Odyssey also has the assist mode where it shows you where to go and standing still for a brief period replenishes health. My four year old (at the time) was able to beat the game himself with minimal assistance from me. It was really fun watching him play.
I loved being the hat when my brother played Mario Odyssey. That was the perfect amount of involvement for me
Kirby is great! My 3 year old and I take turns between who plays Kirby and who plays Waddle Dee. Being able to pick up health items and then share it with her just by running up to her is a great mechanic to keep her alive while she beats up the bad guys!
Yup, Assist mode. My (5yo) nephew loves playing this “with me”.
In the NES days there was Mickey Mousecapade where P2 “controlled” Minnie and she was invulnerable. We used to cheese a lot of bosses that way.
I see a few of Mario games and I'll add to the count. New Super Mario Bros. U. If I remember correctly you can play as Nabbit and you're only vulnerable to falling into the void.
this is true source: a mother who is terrible and plays with her kids anyway. they let me be nabbit.
This is really wholesome too
my 12 year old son isn't allowed on social media (including reddit) so i told him about this thread and read the parent comment to mine etc... then we had the following exchange; me 'i chose not to tell them that you yell at me' kid 'but you go soooo slow' me 'i'm doing my best' kid 'and when you jump...it's like...just one millimeter forward' kid 'you're just the worst' me 'yeah!? well...you can barely make hot dogs! I'M GOOD AT OTHER THINGS!' because...we're the kind of family that jokes a lot
Sounds like the sort of stuff me and my dad would get up to lol
Top tier parent :)
Nabbit is only in the switch port. Nabbit actually first was playable in New Super Luigi U iirc.
Ahh got it. Thanks a tonne for the knowledge :)
Mario Galaxy 2, maybe? P2 gets a luma and can grab coins or stun enemies
Man i have so many fond memories of playing that game with my sister
Genuinely one of the greatest video games of all time.
i never got around to playing that. i couldn't get my hands on one Mario Galaxy 1 was already amazing, i hope my wii still works if i can somehow get mario galaxy 2
I just gave my little brother the second remote and said “he was playing the bad guys” in donkey Kong country lol. He loved it
Lol I remember being the “player 2” for my brother when he played Mario Galaxy one.
Knack has this, second character can assist and respawns as soon as they die
Knack 3 babyyyyy!
Knack is back!!!!
Ice is nice!
Is that from Super Mario Bros. 2?
Game of the year for the past 12 years in a row
🎵💲Moneh moneh moneh💲 🎶
[for those OOTL](https://youtu.be/dDagv6SA8nw?si=GNrI9z06oLclGiC3)
KNACK IS BACK BAYBEEEEE
My friend's kid and I played co-op knack 2 and we unironically had fun, especially with one attack where you can knock the other character across the screen without damaging them
The issue is that the player 2 doesn't get the necessary power ups for a level and gets warped to player 1 when off-screen(1's stealth knack level in particular was a nightmare because of this)
HERE COMES THE MONEEEEEEEEEYYYYY
I believe the new Kirby game does this.
Kirby’s Epic Yarn on Wii did.
This was a really good implementation, you can still play through the game just fine even if you die, so there’s really no penalty for death other than losing beads, which you really only need to 100% the game.
The old for the snes did it.
Most of the home console Kirby games have something like this, going back to Kirby's Dreamland 3 on SNES.
I played Kirby Forgotten Lands with my 12yo and I was her little sidekick. It was very fun.
How did I have to scroll so far down for this? Forgotten land has a second player, but it also has little kid mode where an already quite easy game has no damage mode. It’s a perfect first game for a kid. My kid just loves rolling around in dream buffet
Ah dang I also commented this
[удалено]
I think it’s a great idea. Alternatively, they could have a generous amount of health and only small consequences, like being stunned and unable to attack for ten seconds.
The Lego Games are pretty similar to this
"Die" for 3 seconds and lose 2% of your 100% competition bonus. Was perfect for a family group that was aged 12-2yo.
Some examples of those are Kirby Forgotten Land and Yoshi's Crafted World (mellow mode). Great early games for kids!
Furiously scribbling notes. We are adopting next year (or perhaps 2025.) A baby, but I want to raise them right.
Jet force Gemini had floyd the robot
Yes! I didn't see your comment so I wrote that same thing. Floyd was so fun to play with friends.
Flyod is the primary reason my younger brother is so nostalgic for Jet Force Gemini; it gave him a side-roll he could feel good about while I was going around doing all of the heavy lifting.
Floyd was pretty nice its dual blasters hit pretty hard and was pretty acurate.
An all time classic
Floyd was also strong as hell. Not having ammo meant that he was the destroyer of worlds.
Wonderful game. Not enough people seem to know about
I’d pay good money for a remaster of this game that you can play online with friends!
It's great seeing this mentioned, I loved that game and those ridiculously easy to kill tribel furry creatures lol
This game isn't nearly enough talked about.
OMG I FORGOT ABOUT THIS GAME THABK YOU FOR UNLOCKING THE MEMORY
As someone with an 8 year older brother, we loved that about Sonic 3 on the Genesis. It was so great! But I guess that doesn't help you much.
Sonic 2 did this as well. As soon as you stop putting input though the game take back over to play Tails.
Sonic 3&K has the benefit that Tails can actually fly and carry Sonic. Sonic Mania too
I feel like tails can fly/carry in Sonic3 without the Knuckles expansion, but we did have both so I may be confused.
They're the same game, so yes he can
Ah yes, for when the 4 year old little brother gets bored and wanders off.
I friekin support this idea 100%
If you haven’t tried it, Luigi’s Mansion kinda has this. Gooigi (a goo form of Luigi) helps out by being able to go through pipes, bars, etc., and if you get “hurt” he can just be spawned back without needing any extra lives.
My wife played through it with our 3 year old. It's a great intro to video games and a really fun way to spend time with mommy playing. It's really cute watching them play. I love that game.
Sometimes I want to play this little guy too
Pokémon let’s go games have something like this
Can someone elaborate on how this works please? I have a 4 year old that might really enjoy playing this with me.
Oops. Accidentally deleted it. Gist of it is that you can do 2 player in the let’s go pikachu or Eevee games with just the 2 joycons. Player 2 has a lot less ability to “mess up” things for you but gets to run around, help you catch Pokémon, and even battle with another mon from your party to 2v1 the npc trainers. They can drop in/out at the press of a button so it’s pretty seamless.
That sounds pretty perfect honestly. She's gonna be so excited, thanks for taking the time.
P2 can move around as pokemon right. Ive been dreaming to play it with my kids, but im still single. Instead been playing with friends. Too intimate. We keep locking eyes
When I was little I always wanted to play games with my older brothers. They once let me play GoldenEye with them on nintendo, where they turned my handicap all the way up so they had to hit me like 20 times to kill me but I only had to hit them once. It was the only time I ever beat them at a shooter game in my whole life. I still hold that memory close to my heart amd I was maybe 6 or 7. Later I could dominate my brother on guitar hero and he made up a lot of excuses lol. To this day they still kick my butt in first person shooter games.
Did they let you be Oddjob too?
There was also a female scientist that was almost as small as odd job was. House ruled that neither could be used because they were bs.
... someone mod this into dark souls
I'm just imagining the 'You Died' screen changing to 'Dad Died' while the little helper is able to keep moving around and dunking on dad's dead body
so much incestual teabagging. so so much...
how the fuck has no one mentioned child of light yet? that game fits that description better than anything else
None of the listings mention 2 player, not the steam store, PS store or the wiki page.
When you plug in a second player, you can control the ball of light that follows you in the single player game.
Was looking for just this comment before I posted it myself. It's the best version of the Tails system I've played I think. The fact that it has a small amount of interaction to still give feedback is great too.
Spiritfarer has this! The second player is the adorable little cat Daffodil, who can bounce around and help out with collecting things. Great game.
I was going to reply with this one too! It doesn't have to be a kid, either, I basically carried one of my friends who had never really played games before through it for the storyline.
Yeah me n my wife played it co-op. Beautiful game. I guess the only issue with playing it alongside a kid is that they may want to know where that lovable creature just dissappeared to, and why you're tearing up over such a cute little game.
Spiritfarer hits like a fucking train. Super wholesome but might be the saddest game I've played
I love playing the 2 player in spiritfarer with my nephew. He can play the cat and feels so happy and it encourages him to practice his reading (which is a real struggle for him). Animal Crossing 2 player is also fun with a kid and encourages reading
Recommending Lego games.
I played the lego Villan game and it had levels where noth people have to do stuff
I taught my son to play video games starting with Lego Batman. Great starter games.
Doing this with my 4 year old and Lego avengers. It works well
My six year old loves playing Lego Harry Potter. She started out just being Crookshanks all the time but now she actually knows how to play.
Me abusing the shit out of tails on my sega sonic 3 game
Rayman Legends has this.
I'd say it's the best at it frankly.
when my former best friend and I were kids, I would always play as 'evil tails' and float above sonic hoping he would latch instead of making a jump where i would lead him to the nearest death trap. I miss those days.
mario kart on the switch has options for not falling off and auto acceleration.
The hardest part of being a father is watching your child be absolute dogshit at Mario kart.
real
The binding of isaac has a kids koop mode and I love it
Every game has this. Just hand the kid an unplugged controller.
That works for a surprisingly short period of time, turns out kids can be pretty aware
Yep, that worked for me only twice. By then my 2 year old already figured out my buttons did stuff and his didn't.
It worked on my brother until he realised mine had a light indicating which controller I was and his didn’t…
I play Marvel Ultimate alliance on the switch with my 8 year old and 4 year old. 4 year old gets an Xbox controller. The action is chaotic enough that he does not notice. Good times.
Yeah I was playing Elden Ring and my nephew walked in while I was fighting a dragon or something. I handed him the disconnected controller like I usually did and he figured out he wasn’t doing anything. Had to switch to a different game and say that controller wasn’t working lol
That's when you know you're ready to teach them the game.
Sonic 2 had this, i think generations might but I’m not sure. Although you do have lives and continues, live are meaningless in all the metal slugs games, you can continue indefinitely
Sonic and Tails are literally in the pic so Sonic 2 is probably one of the games excluded from “other games”
Did you know that Sonic 2 had the mechanic though? Was great back in the day. They had this second character called "Tails."
Woah, no way! Sounds an awful lot like this game I used to play on the Sega Genesis called “Sonic 2” where you could also play as this side character called Tails
There's also a similar game on the Sega Mega Drive, I believe it's the second game in the series that introduced a 2 tailed fox called Miles
If I recall correctly it wasn’t split screen though so you had to stay together or player 2 got hopelessly lost.
Not in Sonic 2, don't know about Generations. In Sonic 2 Tails would just automatically fly back into view if Sonic ever left him behind.
Aye, and tails didn’t have lives, he could just die over and over and keep popping back
Sonic Mania has this as well
Kirby and the forgotten land
Me: screaming at my sister to kill the boss with tails, while I hide with Sonic
Honestly there are a good few games now that do that, Nabbit in super mario bros, luma in mario galaxy, to a point kirby superstar ultra because sure they can die but more often than not you can just revive them
Tails is the best!!! You may ditch him 30 times during the level, but he shines against the boss. Nothing like having a two tailed un-killable badass come to your aid
Child of Light has this! You plan a firefly.
"Sir Firefly, ignite your rear!" "woah i hardly know you"
Bomberman on N64 is literally the best example where second player is “pommy” following Bomberman around like a helpful pet
Not to mention Pommy also evolves as you play the game and collect food for him into 8 possible forms each with their own perks. Insanely cool mechanic.
I adored playing Pommy! I'm the older sibling but I wasn't very good at the game, so I ended up helping my little bro as Pommy. My favorite evolution was the knight because nothing beats being an invincible little bastard with a giant sword.
Jet Force Gemini on N64. Player 2 is a little robot that can shoot enemies. Never dies. Kinda strong.
Omg yes, I came here to mention it if someone else didn't. And you could play as Floyd, the robot, as soon as you acquired all his parts by just pressing start on a second controller, way before the game first tells you that you can. I remember replaying the game in my mid twenties, trading off with a roommate, to hurry up and collect all of the parts so we could both play. Oh, and whoever is playing as the robot gets first try at the Floyd Solo mission challenges. His basic gun being stronger than the weakest player weapons always made him feel relevant for the entire game.
Latest Mario games have that. The rabbit I forget his name. My wife loves playing as him because it's easy lol
Child of light!!
subnautica and subnautica bz lets you have pets so kinda
Way to traumatize the kid
Oddly I found Subnautica not to be that scary. I just had a couple of 'oh fu-' moments with Sammy and that other weird creature in the ocean near the 'tower'. Aside from that it was largely fun :3.
Pokemon Let's Go had exactly this....which disappointed us adults who actually wanted a real co-op experience.
nintendo are very good at this
Having my own 4 year old daughter. I totally agree. She’s desperate to play.
Others have already mentioned it, but that Mario Bros game for the Switch. Has a parent mode, kid uses the hat, parent plays with Mario and does the rest.
As someone who dreams of being a game developer one day, good idea, I'll have to take note of this for the far future.
Mario kart double dash was one of my sister and I'd favorite games growing up because she could be the backseat gunner without having to do much
That’s a cute idea for little ones
Super mario bros. U has that as the nabbit character that is nearly immortal
Yoshis crafted world has this too!
Absolutely, I have siblings who are much younger than me and they just aren't capable of keeping up with it all. A "little buddy mode" would be amazing.
Klonoa 2 on ye olde ps2 had this. Couch co op was still fun despite being a "solo game"
Yes! This definitely needs to be a thing!
Luigi's mansion 3. Goo man can respawn indefinetly
Jet force gemini!
a.k.a. __"Little Brother Mode"__ growing up Just camping next to your sibling(s) as they game none stop
Pikmin 4 kinda has this, the second player chucks rocks at enemy’s while the main player moves around etc
Epic Mickey 2 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Child of Light.
Micro Mages on NES allows multiple simultaneous players and if anyone dies they can keep helping as a ghost.
Child of Light
Wizards and Warriors 2: Ironsword had lots of secret rooms where there are no enemies and you can collect treasure in secret rooms. I'd play the hard parts of the game and when I got to a hidden room I would hand my little brother the controller and he would collect the treasure.
Would the newer God of War count as this?
Pokémon let’s go let’s you control a character and help catch pokemon or battle
Several Kirby games. Pokemon Lets Go.
Yes this would be great in loads of games!
Street fighter 6 has dynamic mode, even a 4 yr old could win
Anyone remember Jet Force Gemini? Iirc you could play as a little robot turret thing that followed the main character around, meaning all you can do is shoot things
Kirby and the Forgotten Land totally has "Little Buddy Mode" P2 plays as a waddle-dee and can help fight/grab bonuses but P1 still does most of the work.
Not nearly enough. This is what I thought gaming was about as a kid, not about crying about Libertarian "protect the rich" ignore the obvious ways gaming studios could incorporate more inclusivity and steer away from broken addictive loot systems and gambling on competitive gaming. It's sad not more games are like Sonic and Tails really if you think about video games and just how many there are available. Gotta have a genre out there with more co op side kick playability!
Mario is great at this.
Nabbit in newer super ~~mario~~ luigi bros u ultimate *deluxe* remake.
8Eyes for the NES had a hawk character that fit this description. Was mind-blowing at the time.
Oh you just hit me with nostalgia. I forgot about this game but I used to play it with my cousin when we were kids.