Giving Thanks to Gaming

Soon, one of the most fattening days of the year will be upon us.  Thanksgiving is usually seen as a time to be grateful for what we have, who we have in our lives, and what we're lucky enough to do with our lives.  This is done by eating a giant meal with our families and loved ones and maybe saying a word of thanks before digging in.  Some families have traditions for this day: to go around the table and give thanks, the father cutting into the turkey, watching hours of football with an unbuckled belt.  Whatever your personal tradition, Super Dope Gaming hopes you each have a lovely Thanksgiving, full of joy and laughter.  For those gamers out there, more concerned with getting to the next level than with what part of the bird you get to eat, here is a selection of games that you should not only be thankful for, but also ones that you can share with others.

1. MarioKart Wii

The game that keeps on giving, even after all the courses have been memorized and you've become a pro at drifting.  No, not with DLC; MarioKart Wii allows for a rewarding experience through 32 tracks, half of which are taken from previous MarioKart games and updated; split screen multiplayer, competitive online matches, a leader board, fun and exciting items, and more characters to play as than ever.  This game, like it's predecessors, is most enjoyed when playing with friends -- just make sure they know what they're doing first, racing against beginners is never fun -- and having several hours devoted to finding out who's the better kart driver.  The courses aren't too challenging, which means more people can get in on the action, but some of the most difficult challenges come from catching up to your friend after a blue shell.  This game is always a fun time with a small group and works best when people just want to have fun and forget the serious nature of other games.

2. World of Warcraft

I know, I know, it's an MMO and a lot of people don't have it or don't want to pay the $15 a month subscription fee.  I don't blame you.  But what could be better than getting a group of your friends online and setting up a PvP raid against the Alliance?  It's been a long time since I played WoW (it was back before the first expansion) but the best memories I have of my 60+ days of play time are the ones where I took a trip to Ironforge and sneaked around, ganking low-level noobs.  I was cruel.  Of course, there have been battle grounds for a long time, places where there can be a point to the pointless slaughtering of others, but the best situation is going to the lowest leveled, contested area and griefing the rival faction with your friends, hopefully there with you at a LAN party.  Ah, memories.

3. Super Smash Brothers Brawl

Another Wii game, but deservedly on this list.  Not too many people can keep up with the fast pacing of Melee, and there are some who won't go near the clunky, unbalanced mess that is the original Smash Brothers, so that leaves the latest iteration of the series.  This game has pissed off "hardcore" fighter fans since it came out, but does much to improve on accepted greatness.  Brawl offers a roster of 35 characters and 41 stages, which is more than enough to add the required depth for more serious players and a great way to bring in people whose favorite characters may not have been in the games before.  The game offers a Co-op mode, the subspace emissary, which is a pretty big let-down, really, but the game shines when it's a group of four going at it on random stages.  You can make it more competitive by getting rid of items and, if you're playing against someone without much experience, you can add a handicap to make it easier.  If you want crazy fun, create your own stage with lots of traps and spikes, then turn on items to very high and watch as sh*t hits the fan.

4. Secret of Mana

An oldie but a goodie.  If you want retro fun with a great game, then look no further than this classic gem.  Secret of Mana allows for two or three (with a multitap) people to play in what is usually a single-player genre.  This SNES game does what most RPGs now don't even do: have each person control a member of your party.  It's perfect and I don't know why it doesn't happen in each party-gathering RPG.  Taking down run-of-the-mill baddies to a giant moth-thing and then a giant bat-thing with your friends instills a great feeling of accomplishment in each person.  Leveling-up is also a feel-good experience during which you can be cheered on by your friends for now being able to kill enemies in a single hit, or be berated for having chosen the cleric.  Clerics are lame.  The game loses a few points for having only three characters, but gains it all back and more in the stellar gameplay.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

This game is both the longest-titled on the list and my personal favorite.  It holds a special place in my heart because A Link to the Past is one of my favorite games (Ocarina of Time is still better) and I have great memories with my friends.  The story is different, but the visuals and the dungeons are taken frame-by-frame from the SNES version.  It's hands-down the most difficult to arrange with your friends since, in addition to the game, you need four Game Boy Advances or SPs, and also a connector cord for each to plug into the Gamecube.  These are not easy to come by, but once it happens, it's a thing of magic.  Top-down, multi-player Zelda action.  My friends and I have taken a weekend off just to take the time to get through the game.  There isn't a lot of difficulty for fans of the Zelda series, but there is a ton of carnage.  Each player can hold an item (some of which can be upgraded) and use that item to attack other players.  You got bombs? Blow up your friends.  A Roc's feather? Jump up and slam them.  A hammer?  You know what to do.  Then, at the end of each level, you can vote for the best and worst "hero" to further honor or denounce your friends.  I would still love to play this game, but my God, are those connector cables a b*tch to find... and three other gamer friends.

Flower

There are few things in this world that are worse than going to bed frustrated over a video game, such as cancerAIDS. I’m sure many of you know what I am talking about. That one impossibly difficult boss who smites you one second after you spawn. That door that requires a key you searched everywhere for but still cannot find it for the life of you. Or maybe just getting humiliatingly reamed without mercy in a versus match of Left 4 Dead, Brawl, Counterstrike, Mario Kart, or what have you.

YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, BLUE SHELL!

You begin to obsess over these obstacles and how much of your precious time you have dedicated to everything that it just seems to be a complete waste. You’re a failure. You suck at life. You suck at taking care of your dog that just starved to death because you forgot to feed it. Well, hopefully not that last one. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, you’re just too damn proud to admit it. Jerk.

These trials and tribulations are also what make a majority of video games so enjoyable. It can provide that feeling of relief like after finishing a ridiculously hard final exam; once it’s done you never have to deal with it ever again.

Knowing this, imagine a game developer talking to a big gaming executive as he tries to pitch a game that has little to no migraine inducing hardships, and which is not specifically geared towards kids. And it’s centered around botany:

Exec: “Lemme get this straight. You’re a flower petal…”

Guy: “Yes.”

Exec: “Okay. And your goal is to float around collecting other flower petals…”

Guy: “Right.”

Exec: “Is there a time limit or anything?”

Guy: “No, you go at your own pace.”

Exec: “Any characters? Story arcs? Boss fights?”

Guy: “Not really, kinda, and no. You just kind of float around collecting petals.”

Exec: “Float around collecting petals…”

Guy: “Yes.”

*Stony silence. Exec stares straight through guy.*

Guy: “You’re a flower petal.”

Exec: “No, I get it. Would you like some coffee?”

*Executive stands up and grabs coffee pot.*

Guy: “I’m actually not much of a coffee—“

*Exec unloads pot of boiling hot coffee on guy’s head. Guy’s face starts melting off.”

Guy: “OH MY GOD WHYYYYYYYY?????”

*Exec takes out cigar from his jacket’s inside pocket and starts smoking.*

Exec: “You people make me sick.”

That might be a somewhat exaggerated account of what happened, but the premise of the game discussed actually exists. It’s on PS3 from the indie game developers at thatgamecompany and it is named Flower and it deals with flowers! None of the traditional structure from typical challenge based games is to be found here. Exposition through dialogue or text is also nowhere to be seen. Instead, the game relies completely on telling its simple nature appreciation story through its serene images and soothing music. The result is one of the most relaxing, stress relieving, and simplest games ever made.

The game starts in the room of a decrepit city apartment where a wilted flower sits on a windowsill.

Once the flower is selected, it takes you to a valley that is riddled with various dead spots of grass. The goal is for the player to control the wind (all by tilting the controller) to blow the single flower petal through the environment to collect as many petals as possible. When the special flowers are collected, the dead patches in the valley come to life. This is the goal in every level, the main feature that changes being the environments explored. The levels lead the player eventually into a bleak, colorless industrial city overgrown with broken power lines and jagged metal clusters. After the six levels are complete, your apartment is now in filled with glorious color with a view of industry and nature living in perfect harmony. Yay!

The real world is a stressful place, so I found myself playing Flower for a good period of time, just letting it wash over me as I would decompress from another fruitless day of applying for jobs, even when my parents would glare at the television confused and worried about what I was doing (their expression pretty much asked “When are you going to kill something?”). The graphics look amazing, especially on a high definition television when every color on the spectrum is splashed on the screen. The soundtrack, which is synchronized with the pace the player plays the level, is also impressive and just full of that positive energy. In many ways this game is just like throwing in a tape of nature sounds, or better yet, being thrown into a roomful of puppies (or kittens, your choice)! I even felt compelled to complete all the PS3 trophy challenges, shamelessly giving myself another excuse to play the game.

If you are looking for a game that will not cause you any grief (because we are all such fragile beings *sniff*) and would like a wholly original gameplay experience then I could not recommend Flower more. If you want to blow $#%* up, decapitate zombies, or beat someone into a pulp, this game might offend you.

4/5 A Beautiful, Relaxing Game. Pretty Dope!