I played a lot of video games as a kid. But probably not the ones you think. I hated the competitive and stressful nature of most video games kids liked to play, like slaying monsters or competing with your friend in a battle or something. Nope. Not for me. If you're non competitive like me, these games as a kid would have kept you busy, and also soothed your non competitive side.
5. 'Spongebob Battle For Bikini Bottom' on Nintendo SP
It’s just you in this game- nobody else to worry about. You get to be Spongebob Squarepants and travel Bikini Bottom, collecting Krabby Patties and golden spatulas. Some levels may be tough, like when you just can’t seem to grab those darn Krabby Patties when you’re riding your underwater unicycle… But that sentence sounds too non-threatening to get your blood boiling too hot.
4. 'The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker' on Nintendo Gamecube
Hear me out. I know this game can be super stressful. Like the kind of stressful where you take your hand away from the console and you find it’s super sweaty. There are monsters to fight and fight moves to learn. But the real trick is: Just stop the game before you know the shit is about to hit the fan. So what Link’s sister got kidnapped? That aint your damn problem. Just stay in that adorable beach town, romping around with that kid with the long snot coming out of his nose, and collecting pigs for money for that lady up the street. Live the simple life, and if you feel like going up the hill and into the woods to fight some monsters, that's your prerogative. And if you don't... just live life the way you want to.
3. 'Mario Kart' for Nintendo Wii
(Ok, the Wii version isn’t the old school version, but it’s the one I know.) Yes, Mario Kart can be stressful (cough RAINBOW ROAD)… But I actually just discovered a setting where you’re driving by yourself, and your only competition is… yourself. You create a “ghost” of you, and you compete against your own best time. Like… yes! It’s all I ever wanted, and it’s probably all you’ve ever wanted. Nobody is behind you to throw a red shell at you, orgod forbid, a BLUE shell. No fear. And really, it’s so relaxing getting behind a fake wheel and taking a fake drive through fake scenery.
2. 'Disney’s Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse' for Nintendo GameCube
The game itself, not stressful. But a little creepy, to be honest. Travel with Mickey through this weird mirror world, where absolutely nothing makes sense. You enter empty rooms which oddly seem to come to life sometimes, on the quest for all the pieces to the shattered mirror to get you back to the real world. Again, it’s only you in this game. Sometimes there’s a ghost, god I hate it when that happens, but this game is meant for kids. It’s a fun little mystery to work out on your own.
1. 'Disney's Party' for Nintendo Gamecube
And lastly, the game I played the most of, Disney Party. I think there is an actual way to play this game, but my friends and I would play the mini games. The first person to win 10 mini games, won the game. These games are great and cute and adorable. Like, be the first player to heard as many sheep as possible. Or pull as many carrots from the garden as possible. Or join in a dance number and hit the dance moves as perfectly as you can. It’s all so sweet, so innocent, so pure. And it will forever be my number one.
I don’t know who out there still owns such contraptions as a Gameboy SP, or a GameCube, but this list here was from me to you. From me, a person who can’t stand such serious situations in video games, to you, who gets heartburn from moments like these:
