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Wouldn’t it be cool to have a sidekick, an ever-faithful and trustworthy companion who’s always ready to back you up?
In both history and fiction, sidekicks always complete a hero or heroine by fulfilling a task the latter can't accomplish alone. However, they don't get the recognition they deserve playing a supporting role. Will sidekicks ever get credit they deserve?
It’s the same old story; the square jawed hero defeats the boss, gets the girl and walks off into the sunset accompanied by the words “And they lived happily ever after”, but what about the forgotten sidekick?
Although the sidekick is often overlooked in terms of being a hero, it is becoming ever more recognised that the right-hand man/woman can spread their wings and branch out into their own games.
This has been most apparent in the Nintendo world, where a vast amount of characters appear in games like Mario Kart/Tennis/Golf/Party, Smash Bros etc, and some of those characters have been the focus of their own adventure, namely Luigi, Wario and Yoshi.
Having seen Mario be the star of countless great Nintendo titles over the years, I was pleased to see an adventure staring the younger of the Chuckle Brother look-a-likes.
Many people have unfairly criticised Luigi’s Mansion for being too short or just slated it for other stupid reasons, but I loved it. Great music, clever graphical effects such as light and shadows, level interactivity and the sheer innovation of the title made it a mini classic in my books and one of the freshest games in years (and I’m an experienced gamer who knows about good games).
Wario World/Land, Yoshi’s Island/Story are other good Nintendo spin offs, and Diddy Kong Racing is the Donkey Kong-Mario Kart clone, all of these games are good in their own right, not just cash-ins.
If games developers run out of good new characters, something that IS happening (Jak & Daxter, Herdy Gerdy for example), they might consider making games with sidekicks from older games as the main characters instead.
I’m quite surprised that we haven’t had a Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog game yet, featuring the irritating little ginger sidekick.
For part of Rogue Leader on the Gamecube you play as Wedge, though he’s not necessarily a sidekick he’s not actually the main character, and Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great example; although you would probably say that Raiden is the main character, I actually still think of Snake as the protagonist from that game, and Raiden being the sidekick, even though you play as Raiden for the majority of the game.
Spin-offs are a similar idea, although not necessarily the same thing as you don’t control a sidekick, add-on packs are becoming more frequent, and has happened with Operation Flashpoint, where expansion packs come out and tell a different side of the conflict—from the perspective of the US, the Russians and soon the civilians.
Half-Life has Blue Shift where the player takes control of Barney the security guard, and Opposing Forces where you were a soldier trying to catch Gordon Freeman, two great expansion packs showing other view points of the Black Mesa incident.
Cheers had Frasier as a spin off, where it followed the adventures of one of the characters, and that proved a massive success with audiences worldwide (though I don’t find it very funny, Cheers was much better because Ted Danson ruled as Sam!)
So what sidekick adventures could we see in the future?
Slippy Toads Frogger, where the tiny toad from Star Fox has an intergalactic adventure by crossing various space age roads and trying not to be turned into a green pate.
An Otacon puzzle game?
The dreadlocked dude with the strange accent from Shenmue delivering hot-dogs Crazy Taxi style.
Han Solo and Chewbacca are the best hero-sidekick combo ever, so there should definitely be a Star Wars adventure game (possibly like Jedi Outcast) where you control Han Solo. Chewbacca can be a cpu controlled team mate and you can have flying sections in the Millennium Falcon and running about bits (the mixture of adventure & flying would make it similar to Star Fox Adventures). Who wouldn’t love the idea of controlling Han & Chewie as they get up to intergalactic hijinks?
Everyone loves the Han & Chewie double-act, so I’m a bit surprised that there hasn’t already been a fun intergalactic adventure/caper game with them as the stars.
The Indiana Jones series hasn’t done too well as video games, so what about Short Rounds driving? There could be an excuse if the playability turns out poor- the diminutive Short Round can hardly reach the peddles, and so finds driving fairly difficult.
Although we go around praising Lara Croft, Mario, Solid Snake etc, we mustn’t forget about the little guys, so lets all praise the life of the sidekick, the partner that never gets the credit that they deserve.
In both history and fiction, sidekicks always complete a hero or heroine by fulfilling a task the latter can't accomplish alone. However, they don't get the recognition they deserve playing a supporting role. Will sidekicks ever get credit they deserve?
It’s the same old story; the square jawed hero defeats the boss, gets the girl and walks off into the sunset accompanied by the words “And they lived happily ever after”, but what about the forgotten sidekick?
Although the sidekick is often overlooked in terms of being a hero, it is becoming ever more recognised that the right-hand man/woman can spread their wings and branch out into their own games.
This has been most apparent in the Nintendo world, where a vast amount of characters appear in games like Mario Kart/Tennis/Golf/Party, Smash Bros etc, and some of those characters have been the focus of their own adventure, namely Luigi, Wario and Yoshi.
Having seen Mario be the star of countless great Nintendo titles over the years, I was pleased to see an adventure staring the younger of the Chuckle Brother look-a-likes.
Many people have unfairly criticised Luigi’s Mansion for being too short or just slated it for other stupid reasons, but I loved it. Great music, clever graphical effects such as light and shadows, level interactivity and the sheer innovation of the title made it a mini classic in my books and one of the freshest games in years (and I’m an experienced gamer who knows about good games).
Wario World/Land, Yoshi’s Island/Story are other good Nintendo spin offs, and Diddy Kong Racing is the Donkey Kong-Mario Kart clone, all of these games are good in their own right, not just cash-ins.
If games developers run out of good new characters, something that IS happening (Jak & Daxter, Herdy Gerdy for example), they might consider making games with sidekicks from older games as the main characters instead.
I’m quite surprised that we haven’t had a Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog game yet, featuring the irritating little ginger sidekick.
For part of Rogue Leader on the Gamecube you play as Wedge, though he’s not necessarily a sidekick he’s not actually the main character, and Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great example; although you would probably say that Raiden is the main character, I actually still think of Snake as the protagonist from that game, and Raiden being the sidekick, even though you play as Raiden for the majority of the game.
Spin-offs are a similar idea, although not necessarily the same thing as you don’t control a sidekick, add-on packs are becoming more frequent, and has happened with Operation Flashpoint, where expansion packs come out and tell a different side of the conflict—from the perspective of the US, the Russians and soon the civilians.
Half-Life has Blue Shift where the player takes control of Barney the security guard, and Opposing Forces where you were a soldier trying to catch Gordon Freeman, two great expansion packs showing other view points of the Black Mesa incident.
Cheers had Frasier as a spin off, where it followed the adventures of one of the characters, and that proved a massive success with audiences worldwide (though I don’t find it very funny, Cheers was much better because Ted Danson ruled as Sam!)
So what sidekick adventures could we see in the future?
Slippy Toads Frogger, where the tiny toad from Star Fox has an intergalactic adventure by crossing various space age roads and trying not to be turned into a green pate.
An Otacon puzzle game?
The dreadlocked dude with the strange accent from Shenmue delivering hot-dogs Crazy Taxi style.
Han Solo and Chewbacca are the best hero-sidekick combo ever, so there should definitely be a Star Wars adventure game (possibly like Jedi Outcast) where you control Han Solo. Chewbacca can be a cpu controlled team mate and you can have flying sections in the Millennium Falcon and running about bits (the mixture of adventure & flying would make it similar to Star Fox Adventures). Who wouldn’t love the idea of controlling Han & Chewie as they get up to intergalactic hijinks?
Everyone loves the Han & Chewie double-act, so I’m a bit surprised that there hasn’t already been a fun intergalactic adventure/caper game with them as the stars.
The Indiana Jones series hasn’t done too well as video games, so what about Short Rounds driving? There could be an excuse if the playability turns out poor- the diminutive Short Round can hardly reach the peddles, and so finds driving fairly difficult.
Although we go around praising Lara Croft, Mario, Solid Snake etc, we mustn’t forget about the little guys, so lets all praise the life of the sidekick, the partner that never gets the credit that they deserve.
The thing with sidekicks is they exist for a certain reason. Most comic readers would argue that adding sidekicks gives the hero an extra dimension, and adds greater capacity for character development. But something that should be pointed out is that if heroes are so great and heroic, why should they need sidekicks?
The message is clear: nobody's perfect.
Even the most brave and courageous heroes have to rely on SOMEONE. Life is a team game, if you play it alone, you will invariably lose, and the everpresent sidekicks point this out brilliantly.
Batman: I rock
Robin: I know
Batman: Good.
Robin: But without me, you're just you.
Batman: ?
Robin: You need me
Batman: =( I know
Robin: I rock
Batman: yes...
back to the point though, if you make a game using the sidekick instead of the hero, what is it that you are doing that is so different? Not much in my eyes. Sure you get to play as someone else, but this could be done by simply altering the graphics for the game to replace the lead character. And this has probably been done before, releasing the same game twice, but with different lead characters. Especially in the world of Marvel.
But the thing is, games don't need heroes, they just need gamers. The sidekicks are meant to be exactly that. If they were meant to take the lead role, they would be called "heroes". I prefer a future where you carve out your own character, rather than relying on the imagination of some comic strip creator to have one created for you.
Sidekicks will always be there of course, but they shouldn't (by definition) be the lead character.
IB
The message is clear: nobody's perfect.
Even the most brave and courageous heroes have to rely on SOMEONE. Life is a team game, if you play it alone, you will invariably lose, and the everpresent sidekicks point this out brilliantly.
Batman: I rock
Robin: I know
Batman: Good.
Robin: But without me, you're just you.
Batman: ?
Robin: You need me
Batman: =( I know
Robin: I rock
Batman: yes...
back to the point though, if you make a game using the sidekick instead of the hero, what is it that you are doing that is so different? Not much in my eyes. Sure you get to play as someone else, but this could be done by simply altering the graphics for the game to replace the lead character. And this has probably been done before, releasing the same game twice, but with different lead characters. Especially in the world of Marvel.
But the thing is, games don't need heroes, they just need gamers. The sidekicks are meant to be exactly that. If they were meant to take the lead role, they would be called "heroes". I prefer a future where you carve out your own character, rather than relying on the imagination of some comic strip creator to have one created for you.
Sidekicks will always be there of course, but they shouldn't (by definition) be the lead character.
IB
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a sidekick, an ever-faithful and trustworthy companion who’s always ready to back you up?
In both history and fiction, sidekicks always complete a hero or heroine by fulfilling a task the latter can't accomplish alone. However, they don't get the recognition they deserve playing a supporting role. Will sidekicks ever get credit they deserve?
It’s the same old story; the square jawed hero defeats the boss, gets the girl and walks off into the sunset accompanied by the words “And they lived happily ever after”, but what about the forgotten sidekick?
Although the sidekick is often overlooked in terms of being a hero, it is becoming ever more recognised that the right-hand man/woman can spread their wings and branch out into their own games.
This has been most apparent in the Nintendo world, where a vast amount of characters appear in games like Mario Kart/Tennis/Golf/Party, Smash Bros etc, and some of those characters have been the focus of their own adventure, namely Luigi, Wario and Yoshi.
Having seen Mario be the star of countless great Nintendo titles over the years, I was pleased to see an adventure staring the younger of the Chuckle Brother look-a-likes.
Many people have unfairly criticised Luigi’s Mansion for being too short or just slated it for other stupid reasons, but I loved it. Great music, clever graphical effects such as light and shadows, level interactivity and the sheer innovation of the title made it a mini classic in my books and one of the freshest games in years (and I’m an experienced gamer who knows about good games).
Wario World/Land, Yoshi’s Island/Story are other good Nintendo spin offs, and Diddy Kong Racing is the Donkey Kong-Mario Kart clone, all of these games are good in their own right, not just cash-ins.
If games developers run out of good new characters, something that IS happening (Jak & Daxter, Herdy Gerdy for example), they might consider making games with sidekicks from older games as the main characters instead.
I’m quite surprised that we haven’t had a Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog game yet, featuring the irritating little ginger sidekick.
For part of Rogue Leader on the Gamecube you play as Wedge, though he’s not necessarily a sidekick he’s not actually the main character, and Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great example; although you would probably say that Raiden is the main character, I actually still think of Snake as the protagonist from that game, and Raiden being the sidekick, even though you play as Raiden for the majority of the game.
Spin-offs are a similar idea, although not necessarily the same thing as you don’t control a sidekick, add-on packs are becoming more frequent, and has happened with Operation Flashpoint, where expansion packs come out and tell a different side of the conflict—from the perspective of the US, the Russians and soon the civilians.
Half-Life has Blue Shift where the player takes control of Barney the security guard, and Opposing Forces where you were a soldier trying to catch Gordon Freeman, two great expansion packs showing other view points of the Black Mesa incident.
Cheers had Frasier as a spin off, where it followed the adventures of one of the characters, and that proved a massive success with audiences worldwide (though I don’t find it very funny, Cheers was much better because Ted Danson ruled as Sam!)
So what sidekick adventures could we see in the future?
Slippy Toads Frogger, where the tiny toad from Star Fox has an intergalactic adventure by crossing various space age roads and trying not to be turned into a green pate.
An Otacon puzzle game?
The dreadlocked dude with the strange accent from Shenmue delivering hot-dogs Crazy Taxi style.
Han Solo and Chewbacca are the best hero-sidekick combo ever, so there should definitely be a Star Wars adventure game (possibly like Jedi Outcast) where you control Han Solo. Chewbacca can be a cpu controlled team mate and you can have flying sections in the Millennium Falcon and running about bits (the mixture of adventure & flying would make it similar to Star Fox Adventures). Who wouldn’t love the idea of controlling Han & Chewie as they get up to intergalactic hijinks?
Everyone loves the Han & Chewie double-act, so I’m a bit surprised that there hasn’t already been a fun intergalactic adventure/caper game with them as the stars.
The Indiana Jones series hasn’t done too well as video games, so what about Short Rounds driving? There could be an excuse if the playability turns out poor- the diminutive Short Round can hardly reach the peddles, and so finds driving fairly difficult.
Although we go around praising Lara Croft, Mario, Solid Snake etc, we mustn’t forget about the little guys, so lets all praise the life of the sidekick, the partner that never gets the credit that they deserve.
In both history and fiction, sidekicks always complete a hero or heroine by fulfilling a task the latter can't accomplish alone. However, they don't get the recognition they deserve playing a supporting role. Will sidekicks ever get credit they deserve?
It’s the same old story; the square jawed hero defeats the boss, gets the girl and walks off into the sunset accompanied by the words “And they lived happily ever after”, but what about the forgotten sidekick?
Although the sidekick is often overlooked in terms of being a hero, it is becoming ever more recognised that the right-hand man/woman can spread their wings and branch out into their own games.
This has been most apparent in the Nintendo world, where a vast amount of characters appear in games like Mario Kart/Tennis/Golf/Party, Smash Bros etc, and some of those characters have been the focus of their own adventure, namely Luigi, Wario and Yoshi.
Having seen Mario be the star of countless great Nintendo titles over the years, I was pleased to see an adventure staring the younger of the Chuckle Brother look-a-likes.
Many people have unfairly criticised Luigi’s Mansion for being too short or just slated it for other stupid reasons, but I loved it. Great music, clever graphical effects such as light and shadows, level interactivity and the sheer innovation of the title made it a mini classic in my books and one of the freshest games in years (and I’m an experienced gamer who knows about good games).
Wario World/Land, Yoshi’s Island/Story are other good Nintendo spin offs, and Diddy Kong Racing is the Donkey Kong-Mario Kart clone, all of these games are good in their own right, not just cash-ins.
If games developers run out of good new characters, something that IS happening (Jak & Daxter, Herdy Gerdy for example), they might consider making games with sidekicks from older games as the main characters instead.
I’m quite surprised that we haven’t had a Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog game yet, featuring the irritating little ginger sidekick.
For part of Rogue Leader on the Gamecube you play as Wedge, though he’s not necessarily a sidekick he’s not actually the main character, and Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great example; although you would probably say that Raiden is the main character, I actually still think of Snake as the protagonist from that game, and Raiden being the sidekick, even though you play as Raiden for the majority of the game.
Spin-offs are a similar idea, although not necessarily the same thing as you don’t control a sidekick, add-on packs are becoming more frequent, and has happened with Operation Flashpoint, where expansion packs come out and tell a different side of the conflict—from the perspective of the US, the Russians and soon the civilians.
Half-Life has Blue Shift where the player takes control of Barney the security guard, and Opposing Forces where you were a soldier trying to catch Gordon Freeman, two great expansion packs showing other view points of the Black Mesa incident.
Cheers had Frasier as a spin off, where it followed the adventures of one of the characters, and that proved a massive success with audiences worldwide (though I don’t find it very funny, Cheers was much better because Ted Danson ruled as Sam!)
So what sidekick adventures could we see in the future?
Slippy Toads Frogger, where the tiny toad from Star Fox has an intergalactic adventure by crossing various space age roads and trying not to be turned into a green pate.
An Otacon puzzle game?
The dreadlocked dude with the strange accent from Shenmue delivering hot-dogs Crazy Taxi style.
Han Solo and Chewbacca are the best hero-sidekick combo ever, so there should definitely be a Star Wars adventure game (possibly like Jedi Outcast) where you control Han Solo. Chewbacca can be a cpu controlled team mate and you can have flying sections in the Millennium Falcon and running about bits (the mixture of adventure & flying would make it similar to Star Fox Adventures). Who wouldn’t love the idea of controlling Han & Chewie as they get up to intergalactic hijinks?
Everyone loves the Han & Chewie double-act, so I’m a bit surprised that there hasn’t already been a fun intergalactic adventure/caper game with them as the stars.
The Indiana Jones series hasn’t done too well as video games, so what about Short Rounds driving? There could be an excuse if the playability turns out poor- the diminutive Short Round can hardly reach the peddles, and so finds driving fairly difficult.
Although we go around praising Lara Croft, Mario, Solid Snake etc, we mustn’t forget about the little guys, so lets all praise the life of the sidekick, the partner that never gets the credit that they deserve.