Toddler Game Suggestions

PetroRie

Well, I think GTA 5 or Manhunt is a good game for your 4 year old boy... Just kidding lol. I would say Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island (SNES):

Yoshi Island on the SNES is in my opinion the Nr. 1 Kiddie game available on the SNES. He really should try it out, even as an adult I have had a lot of fun with this game. A real masterpiece! The SNES had many games which are child friendly, just to name a couple:

Super Mario ALL-Stars (platform game).
Super Mario World (platform game) very easy Mario platform game. It's a true classic. One of my favorite SNES games, this is one of those epic timeless games a game you could play everyday without getting bored out of it.
Super Mario Kart (race game)
Donkey Kong Country I, II and III (platform game) imo one of the BEST SNES games, great graphics, great music, this game is just epic and timeless. The games are pretty hard on later levels, but thank God for save states (and cheats).

On Sega Megadrive/Genesis I would say; all the Sonic games. All of them are platform games, child friendly and very fun to play they never get old or boring.

And of course ... TETRIS. I was addicted to this game in my childhood, I used to try to beat my best score everyday.

XVO

As a four year old, I loved the Mario Bros and Land games on the Nintendo systems, also you could try bomberman for the pce (just to see if he likes it) if yes you have many games to play ;).

Wasn't there a coöp Asterix and Obelisk for the Snes?

And don't forget World of Illusion staring Mickey and Donald on the Genesis ;)

celly

@mattrixk I almost forgot about the old point and click games, playable through ScummVM. Fatty Bear, Freddie Fish, Putt-Putt, Spy Fox to name a few. Great games to get the mind going and fun for them too.

meleu

@celly said in Toddler Game Suggestions:

I almost forgot about the old point and click games

oh yeah! I remember my older son liked Anika's Odyssey very much. It's a flash game to play on a web browser, but it's fun anyway.

backstander

I forgot about ScummVM...to add to what @celly listed (with Freddi Fish, Putt-Putt and Spy Fox)...pretty much anything made by "Humongous Entertainment Games"

Here is a list of many of the ScummVM supported games that can still be purchased:
http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Where_to_get_the_games

I would think about half of the games listed on that site can be potential candidates for the kiddos but there's a few obvious ones that are not appropriate like Leisure Suit Larry, Gabriel Knight, Phantasmagoria and maybe even Police Quest.

AlexMurphy

@backstander Let your kids play Leisure Suit Larry... Social Services are coming to take them into protective care!

backstander

@AlexMurphy or worse yet! They'll grow up to be just like us!

mattrixk

Cheers @celly, @meleu and @backstander. The only ScummVM games I'm familiar with are the Lucasarts ones (Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, etc), so I'll have to give those others a look.

herb_fargus

@mattrixk I have all the humongous entertainment games. They are by far my favourite, especially pajama sam

celly

@herb_fargus is the voice of Pajama Sam, the same as Bobby Hill, from the tv show King of the Hill?

herb_fargus

@celly and the same as spinelli in recess

meleu

I was looking easy games for my niece (5 y/o) and just discovered a really good one for Gameboy Advance: Dora the Explorer - Super Spies. There are more Dora the Explorer games too.

Omnija

snes - Mario and Wario BS (Simple Puzzle Game)

mediamogul

@Omnija

snes - Mario and Wario BS (Simple Puzzle Game)

Great suggestion. This game works well with a mouse and there's even a hack to allow controller support.

mattrixk

@mediamogul said in Toddler Game Suggestions:

there's even a hack to allow controller support.

Considering it's a SNES game, wouldn't it already have controller support by default?

mediamogul

@mattrixk

Actually this was one of the few mouse only games for the system, the most famous of course being 'Mario Paint'.

edmaul69

@flop good ole parasol stars for the turbografx. Indead a good game. A buddy of mine has that game complete. I got it from a game store for $5. Its worth $115. I also got air zonk and bonk 3 complete for him for $5 each. So for $15 i got about $1000 in turbografx games.

edmaul69

@mattrixk they share the blue tooth just fine. Setup bluetooth devices first, then ps3. If you need to add more blutooth devices, uninstall the ps3 driver then install your extra bluetooth devices. Then when you are done reinstall the ps3 driver. Wash rinse repeat.

Capeman

I'm getting my 3 year old started on some basic atari 2600 games. Freeway is a good one, the simple "chicken crossing the road" formula. Only controls are up and down. Pacman will be next when he has mastered up and down, i'll introduce left and right into the mix. Space invaders will be in there too, mix the left and right mechanic with one button action.

I feel like the simplicity of really old games is great for those first baby steps.

pjft

@Capeman I had no idea of this game (or any of the Atari library, in fact).

I tried it and it sounds very much like something that could work. I tried getting my 3 year old into Frogger, but yes, it's a bit too much. And truth be told, even Freeway might be a bit too fast - and I certainly don't want him to create panicky or negative associations with crossing the street :)

But anyway, if he doesn't get scared, it sounds like a great recommendation - thank you!