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Top 10 Videogames to Play with Your Girlfriend Rob Whang's List 10. Super Mario Kart (various, yet select incarnations) Starting with one of the most expected series, I must say that these being in a culmination of THE 10 best games to play with your girlfriend still speaks volumes. Before you go on bashing me for listing only the 3d versions as appropriate, let me hammer in a few basic facts as to why this list is even here... Your girlfriend is probably not a gamer like you, which is also probably why your sorry face is checking through this. But either way, you can't expect a girl or almost anyone else who hasn't played video games since infancy for that matter (like I have, thank you 1980's network tech dad and RPG fiend mom). To pick up a game marketed for the public over 10 years ago with flat, symbolic graphics and expect them to take the game or design presentation seriously. As YOU already know this game is instantly a party in whatever box it's playing out of. Not only is it a light hearted, whimsical racing game with true drifting and physics you, the hardcore fanatic of games, can appreciate. But there's also this element of randomness through the different items that aid you and handicap your opponent in the race (and vice versa) adding to all the fun. So even if you're an up an coming Dale Earnhart and your girl is the little old lady from Pasadena all ends up on equal levels in the race... In a very technical & fair, yet random sort of way. 9. Solitaire “Solitaire as a group thing?! Robby, put the bong down and come back to the subject at hand.” Nice thought, but if you actually sit and let yourself get stumped at a tough game of “standard” solitaire or even a game of Freecell/Towers/Spider Solitaire you'll appreciate that second mind and pair of eyes. It stands as an almost board game-esque gaming experience where it's mostly focused around bonding time. This can lead to a great night of sitting together “overcoming” a challenge and thus becoming closer and better partners. However, gentlemen I must warn you, if your lady friend shows any inkling of being one of those “neo-independent women” or some sort of girl with a chip on her shoulder about mental inferiority/mental capacities between genders... Please, don't play this game with them and I'm actually asking you nicely. It will lead to the worst situational debate between you and her over gender inequalities. 8. Pokemon This game is the “gateway RPG (role-playing game).” Not just for your girlfriend, but really for anyone. I've had hardcore gangster friends admit to being sucked in to at least one version of Pokemon (most of the time the classic Gameboy versions: Red, Blue or Yellow). While your girl gets to pick her team of the cutest anime animals, you can find solace in the fact that the game is built on a very solid RPG engine. Plus, I believe in the newer versions (DS and Wii for sure, possibly Gameboy Advance and Gamecube) you can even do some sort of doubles team co-op. So you're not totally smashing her level 99 pikachu with your perfect IV bred level 67 rampardos (and if you understood exactly what I meant in that sentence, then yes, you want to play the co-op battles with her and not the versus). 7. Balloon Fight The perfect go nowhere game... Imagine that coked out lancing game with giant bird mounts of the 80's, Joust. But with friendlier graphics, a more relaxed game pace, and non annoying sound effects (safe for the lightning strike/electrocution noise). The low learning curve of this game and kick back atmosphere of the game will make it easy for her to get into it, even if she never played this classic Nintendo title before. This is really a game of snuggling on the couch in some half spooning position perhaps while nursing a large beer, wine, or other lower alcohol content beverage and just spending time with one another. On a side note: you can harm your partner in this game... So this may also be a good time to hint around that there's some sort of underlying problem you feel between the 2 of you through the miscreant deed of "friendly" balloon popping. 6. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves To call Wario Ware: Smooth Moves a true video game would be somewhat inaccurate... It's really what someone on crack or meth would present as a legitimate video game. Imagine playing a quick round of the original 8 bit Super Mario Bros, but only being able to play 5 seconds worth of it... Then you move to making a sawing motion against a log, also limited to only 5 seconds. Continue this over various actions and previous games you've played in the past, all in an onslaught of 20 or so consecutive “tasks” set at only a few seconds each. If what I just said didn't make any sense... Well, so does the world of Wario Ware: Smooth Moves... The beauty of it? Both you and your lady will be equally confused on how to do this stuff initially (somewhat as most of the tasks are pretty intuitive). As this is a Wii game the tasks/micro-games are pretty motion dependent. So if you can put aside what little pride you have left in your life and stand to look like a bigger moron than you already are, an ideal setting for this game is to make a little stage right in front of your TV... You'll be treated to a fun filled night of looking stupid, but also getting the cleanest looks at your girl's hotness doing ass and hip moves all through the night (as there's no simultaneous play here). 5. Gauntlet Legends/Dark Legacy/Seven Sorrows What seems like would be a total man game of mindless milling through hordes of goblins, rock men, natives, etc. This is actually a very fun and easy to introduce co-op game to anyone. If your lady can get over the fact that she can either be a hyper sexualized amazon, hulk like barbarian, decrepit old sorcerer, or some Orlando Bloom fruity elf ranger (he does play really well in game, but looks laughably dainty and femme) then you're both in for a night of satisfying that bloodlust and berserker rage inbred in all of us as formerly feral humans (even the ladies). All jokes aside there's really nothing like showing your love to your lady while you the barbarian named “Fuck” offer gold or health replenishing meat you find in your travels to her, despite the fact you need it more. In fact, it's almost a way of telling her “Yeah babe, I'll fight for you against all odds... I'm down for whatever as long as I know you're safe.” 4. Goldeneye64 While I only have this game on the list since I've only played it with the ladies (and my psychotic cousin, male). I must say, this is a great game! All around, no bullshit... Like Pokemon being a gateway RPG, this truly is a gateway first person shooter. Even I normally hate games of this genre (and for those of you who don't know first person shooter = floating hand with the gun game). I've played this game for hours at various parties and have honestly only beaten 3 of the 15+ missions in the single player campaign (which on a sidenote is why I'm really petitioning a release for Wii Virtual Console, despite the unlikeliness of it due to Microsoft currently owning Goldeneye64's development company). This game has so much natural handicap in it to help your lady out if she's not a gamer... Like if she never played this try: “Man with the golden gun, (enabling a special weapon with one hit kills)” you be Jaws (the biggest character in the game) and set her as Oddjob (the smallest character in the game). After that avoid the golden gun (the one hit KO weapon) and let her find it and have at you. 3. Bubble Bobble “Do you have Bubble Bobble?” she asked me... I stared at her in shock as if that was the only classic game she knew. Sadly it was, as she called Mortal Kombat the game where the dude in the gi yells “Hadouken.” Thus is my life and my dealings with some girl I was crushing (in a non-wrestling/non-combat way). Apart from my personal sad story, I found that this is the quintessential girl game, with extremely simple gameplay, hyper cutesy characters, and a soundtrack that's so annoyingly catchy I could only produce a song based on it called “Bubble Bobble: Happy Heavy Drugged Mix.” In fact, I've never owned a copy of this game and the only people who I knew had it for sure, were these 2 daughters of my mom's friend (who coincidently grew up to be 2 of the hottest half white/half latina girls I ever seen) and one of my homie's little sisters (and this was actually HER game and also the only Nintendo Entertainment System game she called her own). I guess like Josh mentioned before, girls have an affinity to the little bubble blowing dinosaurs Bob and Bub. Shit, even I find them kinda cute and endearing. 2. Donkey Kong County Donkey Kong Country will kinda be seen as weird being so high on this list. Almost like a sleeper entry. However, if you talk to any girl that ever owned her own Super Nintendo or had a brother who was willing to share theirs with them, you'll find this is sort of a personal game to many of those girls. Rob: Yeah, I was hitting the blunt the other night and playing DKC... That shit looks real and is fun as fuck when you're high. I can easily see how it would be platformer that girls can sink their teeth into. As opposed to the Nintendo game chronicling the rivals of the Kongs, Donkey Kong Country's characters aren't overweight Italians who wade through shit and sewage as an occupation. Rather it's a story of an adult Donkey Kong Jr. and his young chimpanzee cohort trying to defeat a race of invading dinomen (Mario much?). Aside from being an even more user friendly version of the Mario concept (is that even possible?), the gameplay is much more fluid like you're actually controlling an organic creature. Rather than some plumber with the same physics as a jumping brick with a slick surface (not bashing the platforming greatness that is the Mario series, but DKC and it's sequels feel more organic than Super Mario games of the same era). 1. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure Having just got this game less than a week ago, I feel a little bold for putting it up as my #1 choice. But let me tell you, I see nothing but “Babe, you're so smart”s coming out of my mouth as I play this game with any girl I date. Since this really isn't a video game, but like a cause and effect puzzle put in 3d graphics form. To the extent where you don't need any video game knowledge to excel, but rather good eyes and a mind that logically break down if-then situations. Though the basic concept of a video game remain. You play “short” (and I use the term loosely since some cause and effect sequencing can take up to an hour to do with no save points) levels in the form of a simple puzzle. The underlying solution to each puzzle is simple, get your young pirate and his simian friend over to a treasure chest at the end of the level. But here's the rub, as getting to the treasure requires you to search your environment and find items cleverly placed there to deactivate/evade: sentries, pattern based locks, pitfalls with hidden toggle switches, etc. And while everything in the game is controlled by pointing and clicking taught to our modern society in the way of the PC and real life based actions such as: turning knobs, pulling levers, and yanking stuck objects from what holds them; there's absolutely no handicap for not having the thumb dexterity of a hardcore gamer. Another great thing about this game is while one player does control the action of Zack, the titular character, a second wiimote can be used as a sort of on screen cursor to point out anything that may need to be checked.
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