Games that make you smile

Do we have this already?

I'll have to put Sonic CD here. Palmtree Panic wasn't the best level in the game (that belongs to Metallic Madness), but the present and especially the Good Future music really made me smile.

Little Big Planet. Just the entire game, it's all so amazing.

Seconding Little Big Planet. It's just a great game to play if I want to unwind and relax.

Kirby's Epic Yarn. Kirby on his own is already pretty endearing, but when you make everything look like one of those books for small children where everything is textured, and it's just too cute.

I can't even bring myself to attack Waddle Dees anymore. I found two of them asleep under a tree, with a heart made of beads floating above them, and the most I've intentionally done to them since is steal their weapons.

The Super Mario Bros Series. They bring me joy when I play them.

With a few exceptions, damn near every Sonic game has me smiling like a stereotypical jolly halfwit, especially Sonic 3 And Knuckles, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations.

Seconding Kirbys Epic Yarn. Not only is it adorable, but the music is fantastic. It's soothing and pretty and fits perfectly with the game. It reminds me of the music from one of my favorite little-kid's shows, Little Bear.

Also, Rayman Origins. I didn't think any game could come close to being as 100% delightful as Epic Yarn, but it certainly does! The graphics are beautiful still, and the music is both catchy AND adorable, thanks to it being full of singing Lums. Also, it's a really masterfully done platformer.

Going to have to agree on Little Big Planet and Kirby. They're fun, creative, and ridiculously cute. What's not to like?

Spyro the Dragon. Watching the intro to the first and thrid game still makes me laugh. XDD

Playing the second game I love going to the top of the home worlds and just gliding now taking in the scenery, it just puts a giant grin on my face.

And Sonic Colors, the cutscenes in that game gives me such Adventures of Sonic vibes*

It's not that tough to find happy, charming games on 8-bit and 16-bit systems. Bubble Bobble and Little Ninja Brothers have some wonky game mechanics, but are honestly quite fun with friends. Rescue Rangers can quickly decent into player versus player, but it remains a good, innocent game.

There's usually pleasant fun to be had in Mario games. One of the most smile-inducing examples is Superstar Saga for GBA, which is full of funny dialogue and humorous voiceovers.

Many Widget Series games have lots of comedy. There's plenty of moments to smile at in Katamari, Arcana Heart, Earthworm Jim, Ganbare Goemon, etc.

Some story-driven games have moments and scenes which make me smile. The tone of Persona 4 is relatively bleak (not compared to most of Shin Megami Tensei though), but there's some laugh-out-loud parts of the story. The tone of Sakura Wars So Long My Love is relatively upbeat, and even though some of its comedy doesn't seem to click (the dumb-as-dirt enemy in chapter three), it has plenty of intentionally ridiculous moments. Suikoden V is fairly serious, but includes some characters who mostly exist for comedy, and antics from semi-serious characters like Logg and Lun.

Finally, there's some romance games and visual novels which make me smile. A number of them present an upbeat story with pleasant relationships. Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side is not terribly serious, and the skinship sequences often lead to comedy. And there's some others which are just plain absurd — Hatoful Boyfriend, Panda Samurai, Dusk ~A Moonlight Romance~, My Magical Cosplay Cafe...

edited 4th Jan '12 4:46:22 PM by dorkatlarge

Mass Effect 2 brings many different kinds of smiles to my face, depending.

Okami and Viewtiful Joe. Just... gah. Such overlooked gems. Such fun. Such vibrancy and great quality. Such a shame.

Yes I do. As did VJ. Two of them, in fact, as well as a Super Smash Bros.-styled spin-off. My stance still remains unchanged.

edited 4th Jan '12 8:15:29 PM by X2X

You do know that Okami has a sequel, right?

The Disgaea games. They are just so hilariously awesome that I just cant help playing them with a huge goofy grin on my face.

Katamari Damacy

The only times I didn't have a big, goofy grin on my face while playing Portal2 were when I was really confused or in front of a loading screen.

Also Persona4 just really made me feel good during nearly every cutscene.

edited 4th Jan '12 8:46:57 PM by hnd03

Kirby, Dead Rising

Cave Story's Living Waterway sequence made me grin like a madman.

edited 5th Jan '12 3:34:12 AM by Nizbel

Mass Effect 2, in particular the loyalty mission of Mordin. Mordin is an alien Omnidisciplinary Scientist who helped create a Depopulation Bomb to basically neuter the Krogan. The mission is about exploring the ruins of one of the laboratories he used, and goes through his feelings about what he did - kind of like what the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project felt after the nuclear bombing of Japan in 1945.

The whole game makes me smile because like most Bio Ware games, it's full of moments where you get to make the characters' lives better, but Mordin's mission is my favourite.

Fancy Pants Adventures. Play it, it's an upbeat flash game that's oldschool, and fun.

Same reasons I like it. And the humor.

edited 5th Jan '12 6:34:42 AM by Firebert

Agreed, I loved both Fancy Pants games! They're so colourful...so well done...it's a good example of what Flash can do!

edited 5th Jan '12 6:49:58 AM by JustaUsername