Games for my pet midget

MundaneSoul

Hey all, my son's 5th birthday is coming up and he's been asking for a DS for a while now - his older brother has one and that's a big selling point. I think I'm going to grant him his wish, but I need some good game recommendations for a kid his age.

The perfect game is probably something very simple, straightforward, and easy, without much (if any) reading required. He can read a little, but not enough to really follow a wall of text. Anything come to mind, PAers?

Figgy

Well, I will suggest that you buy him the DSi. Not only is it brand new, comparatively priced, and geared toward younger kids to have fun creatively... his older brother will be rightly jealous!

lowlylowlycook

Nintendogs is an obvious choice.

darleysam

Electroplankton?

Lunker

The NPDs don't lie: New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS are phenomenal and very pick-up-and-play for young kids. I would think that a 5-year-old would have some problems with all-touchscreen games, so maybe regular ol' button games would be better. Maybe also Super Princess Peach (though that is "A Girl Game" by kid standards) and Kirby?

Though I know he wouldn't be happy about it since his brother has the DS, I honestly think the GBA SP is the perfect 5-year-old device. Built like a tank, cheap and plays a ton of kid-friendly games.

Dyvion

My sister has a DS for both of her boys, one is 7 and the other is 5. The 5 year old plays lots of disney games. Sorry I didn't pay much attention when they visited but he was going to town with the stylus and every few minutes he would shout out to whoever was listening, "I beated it!"

So uh... something by disney?

JamesDM

New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl, I have 4 and 7 year old cousins that love all of these.

h8b1llg8ts

My daughter turns 4 on the 4th and of course the DSi comes out the 5th. She's getting the blue one which will probally match her disappointment for 24hrs hours but it'll be worth it ... I hope

Nappuccino

Can the little guy read at all? (i'm totally unaware of when kids start doing anything since I haven't been around a kid long term since I was that age myself) Keep that in mind because even games like Pokemon have a fair share of reading involved.

I do remember one of my cousins needing me to read Pokemon Blue to him, but I can't remember how old he was at the time.

MundaneSoul

Dyvion wrote: »

My sister has a DS for both of her boys, one is 7 and the other is 5. The 5 year old plays lots of disney games. Sorry I didn't pay much attention when they visited but he was going to town with the stylus and every few minutes he would shout out to whoever was listening, "I beated it!"

So uh... something by disney?

You have captured my heart.

Graviija

The standard Kirby platformers are both great and fairly easy (Canvas Curse is sometimes fairly brutal). And virtually no reading, from what I remember.

xeviq

I'd becareful about getting the DSi for him. If his bro is the super jealous type, you might have to cave and buy a second one.

maximumzero

Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Not only will it be helpful with his reading skillz, but you can get two copies and the two of them can visit each other's towns.

That being said, I'd get him a DS Lite simply so you can give him the Super Mario Advance series along with the Classic NES release of Super Mario Bros.

Nothing like starting him off with the classics.

maximumzero

Oh, and Kirby: Squeak Squad. It's a fun game that's not difficult, so he can get his platforming feet wet.

MundaneSoul

Would Sonic Rush or its sequel be simple enough for him? He seems to enjoy watching his brother play Sonic Unleashed.

xeviq

This just dawned on me: How much gaming experience does he have?

My when little bro was five, he was playing PSO with me.

Taximes

Depending on the amount of cartoony violence you're comfortable with, I hear that the Lego Star Wars / Indiana Jones / Batman games were well translated to DS.

Though, those games are also highly recommended for a good co-op experience on home consoles, so you might prefer to play them that way.

TheStig

Get him the new GTA and mail a picture of him playing it to jack thompson!

Seriously though, mariokart, new super mario bros and maybe simcity, i can't remember what age I was when I started playing simcity.

Animal crossing is good too, but you should try to avoid furry encouragement as much as possible.

troublebrewing

I have a kid that age and he loves animal crossing for both the DS and Wii , and the Diego games for DS.

desc

TheStig wrote: »

Get him the new GTA and mail a picture of him playing it to jack thompson!

GTA will help with his early math skills!

MundaneSoul

xeviq wrote: »

This just dawned on me: How much gaming experience does he have?

My when little bro was five, he was playing PSO with me.

We play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Earth Defense Force together. He's actually not bad at the shoot 'em up/beat 'em up side of things, he just has some trouble when things start leaning into the puzzle genre.

MundaneSoul

Taximes wrote: »

Depending on the amount of cartoony violence you're comfortable with, I hear that the Lego Star Wars / Indiana Jones / Batman games were well translated to DS.

Though, those games are also highly recommended for a good co-op experience on home consoles, so you might prefer to play them that way.

I'm glad you recommended this - he's a huge Batman fan, and I'd forgotten that game was out. He'll eat that up.

Get him the new GTA and mail a picture of him playing it to jack thompson!

He likes to watch me play Fallout 3 and one time I forgot to wait until he was out of the room to headshot a super mutant. He cracked up when the mutant's head exploded in slow motion. Do I win?

Jutranjo

darleysam wrote: »

Electroplankton?

Sorry not the same game, but close enough.

xeviq

Lego Batman would be a good choice.
I see a lot of people suggesting AC:WW... would this be too much reading for him? I know how it feels being asked what the game says every 3 mins, and it's not fun lol.
And about the Sonic Rush games... I think those are the generic get-to-the-right-side-of-the-stage games.

Graviija

Electroplankton and fl0w aren't even close to the same game.

maximumzero

MundaneSoul wrote: »

Would Sonic Rush or its sequel be simple enough for him? He seems to enjoy watching his brother play Sonic Unleashed.

Sonic Rush can be a bit difficult at times. I'd recommend any of the Sonic Advance titles whole-heartedly though.

anoffday

maximumzero wrote: »

Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Not only will it be helpful with his reading skillz, but you can get two copies and the two of them can visit each other's towns.

That being said, I'd get him a DS Lite simply so you can give him the Super Mario Advance series along with the Classic NES release of Super Mario Bros.

Nothing like starting him off with the classics.

This. We can't let the classics die with the next generation of young gamers. Keep them alive!

Rami

Recommendations in spoiler:

New Super Mario Bros Kirby Canvas Curse Soul Bubbles Wario Ware Touched Kirby Squeak Squad Animal Crossing Wild World

Also you should get Mario Kart simply because of this advert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0LfLk9lLEg&feature=related

maximumzero

Rami wrote: »

Recommendations in spoiler:

New Super Mario Bros Kirby Canvas Curse Soul Bubbles Wario Ware Touched Kirby Squeak Squad Animal Crossing Wild World

Also you should get Mario Kart simply because of this advert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0LfLk9lLEg&feature=related

Nice job, but I'd swap Squeak Squad in for Canvas Curse at the moment. Canvas Curse can be downright difficult at times, whereas Squeak Squad is easier, which will be better suited for him.

After he's done with Squeak Squad, if he liked it, move him up to Super Star, and then to Canvas Curse after that.