1st person animal video games

February 10, 2009 2:38 PM

My niece loves video games like Okami, Spyro, and Dog Island because they let you control an animal as the main character. Recommendations for more games like this? (Wii/PS2, please)

She doesn't want just to interact WITH the animal (e.g., pet it, teach it tricks), nor does she want a game where she points at the screen and sends the animal moving around. She actually wants to MOVE the character using a joystick or the nunchuck controller on the Wii. she especially wants games where the main character flies.

In addition to the three mentioned above, she already has these relevant games:
* Jaws
* Bolt
* Godzilla Saves the Earth
* Madagascar 1, 2
* Happy Feet
* The Bee Movie game
* Sea Monsters
* Ratatouille
* Finding Nemo

Are there any others? Thanks!

posted by parilous to sports, hobbies, & recreation (22 comments total)

Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii is pretty much like Okami, but i'll take a while before Link gets to transform into a wolf.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:43 PM on February 10

Dog's Life
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:47 PM on February 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ecco the Dolphin for PS2
posted by gnutron at 2:48 PM on February 10

Also, Deadly Creatures is about to come out for the Wii. You play as a Scorpion and a Tarantula though, so your niece may or may not like it.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:24 PM on February 10

Sim Animals is on its way, too.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 3:27 PM on February 10

Well, it's pretty old but I always liked playing Spider: the video game (psx). I was apparently one of few however.
posted by dead cousin ted at 3:57 PM on February 10

Dog's Life and Deadly Creatures are exactly in line with what she likes -- thanks!

The Sims Animals isn't -- in the game, you are a disembodied hand that creates little environments for your animals. You don't get to play as an animal, though.

I'm not sure about the Zelda game, but it's worth a rental.

Thanks for the suggestions so far -- I hope to get a couple more so she's motivated to save her allowance.
posted by parilous at 3:58 PM on February 10

Ooh, I forgot to mention -- Ecco is a great suggestion, too, but as it turns out, she already has it. :P
posted by parilous at 4:00 PM on February 10

I think she would definitely like the Zelda game if she likes Spyro. Also, my sister who is an avid Spyro fan (except the one where the gameplay is totally different and Sparx is voiced by David Spade, ugh!) loves the Crash Bandicoot games. Although Crash is an anthropomorphic animal, he is one nonetheless. In one of the games you get to ride a polar bear, too!
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 4:09 PM on February 10

Does Rayman work? He's animal-like...
posted by divabat at 4:27 PM on February 10

The Sly Cooper series?
posted by fearthehat at 4:44 PM on February 10

Oh, and since you have a Wii as a choice, there's heaps of games on the Virtual Console that allow you to play as an animal. Here's just a few of them;

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Bubble Bobble
Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Mario Kart 64 (you can play as several animal characters)
Lylat Wars
Yoshi's Story
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Altered Beast
Earthworm Jim
King of the Monsters

There's some new Sonic games being released too, I just remembered.

OK, that's all I got. I'll stay out of this thread now.
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:54 PM on February 10

My six year old just got Sonic the Secret Rings for Wii, he really likes it. You tilt the wi-remote to move, instead of using the buttons as much. And the party games area is fun too.
posted by saffry at 4:59 PM on February 10

parilous: "She actually wants to MOVE the character using a joystick or the nunchuck controller on the Wii. she especially wants games where the main character flies."

This may be pushing the definition of "animal" your niece has in mind, but Mr. Mosquito meets the rest of her conditions quite well.
posted by Rhaomi at 5:06 PM on February 10

The Ratchet & Clank series is very well regarded, and many of them are for the PS2.

The Monkey Ball series has you control monkeys, mostly contained in transparent balls.

If you have a Wii, you can play Gamecube games on it, including Star Fox Adventures.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 6:02 PM on February 10

What about the Star Fox games? You play an anthropomorphised fox, I played one for the gamecube that I quite liked, I'm not sure if there's one for the wii but it's worth looking into.
posted by LunaticFringe at 7:49 PM on February 10

Oh, I just saw CrunchyFrog's answer...
posted by LunaticFringe at 7:50 PM on February 10

I second "Dogs Life" -- very pleasant surprise in the quality and replay-ability
posted by olddogeyes at 7:57 PM on February 10

There's the Banjo-Kazooie games. The main character is an anthropomorphic brown bear and his sidekick is a little brown parrot.

I believe the original n64 game is available on the wii marketplace

(warning: I haven't turned on my wii in months so that may be wrong)
posted by tylerfulltilt at 9:25 PM on February 10

tylerfulltilt:

The original B-K is available on the 360 marketplace, not virtual console.

I'm going to second (third, whatever) Star Fox Adventures - just be aware that if you do get a Gamecube game for your Wii, you will need a Gamecube controller - no permutations of Wiimote + accessories will do it.
posted by bookwo3107 at 5:17 AM on February 11

This thread is awesome! I am going to get Deadly Creatures, my kids love that kind of stuff.
posted by Mister_A at 7:44 AM on February 11

Thanks for everyone's suggestions -- I ran them by her and marked as "best answer" the ones that she's planning on buying. (She's made herself a goal chart with little cut outs of the video game boxes to track her progress towards buying each of them!)
posted by parilous at 7:51 AM on February 11