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75 Must Have Games for the Holidays

• By GamePro Staff
• December 19, 2008 16:42 PM PST
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Games for Kids

When video games were first unleashed upon the masses, there was a lot of hand wringing over the effect that they would have on developing minds. But those worries are all unfounded: Heck, we've been gaming since we were eight years old and our brains is still work goods. All kidding aside, video games, in moderation and under careful supervision-this means not exposing your children to games that are rated beyond their age categories, parents-can be a healthy and satisfying way for them to have fun. We've listed some kid-friendly titles below that are guaranteed to amaze and delight; some of them are so good that adults can pick up a controller and have just as much fun.

LEGO Indiana Jones

The LEGO series of games appeal to gamers of all ages but their charm and vibrant worlds are almost guaranteed to delight younger gamers. LEGO Indiana Jones is based on the popular movie franchise starring everyone's favorite professor turned adventurer Indiana Jones. The gameplay is addictive, the humor is wonderful and the action is thrilling without being unnecessarily violent. Best of all, it's the perfect game for parents to play with their kids.

LEGO Batman: The Videogame

The same goes for LEGO Batman, which reimagines the world of the Caped Crusader using the iconic LEGO block. The gameplay is relatively the same-you and a partner explore colorful worlds while smashing apart bricks, collecting LEGO pieces and solving puzzles-but the real charm of this game are the characters that populate it. Drawing from the Batman universe, every hero and villain displays tangible amounts of charm; the LEGO renditions of characters like the Joker and Catwoman are all ridiculously cute and the fact that you can unlock each character to play with only makes the game that much more amazing.

Boom Blox

Boom Blox was first noticed as it had famed film director Steven Spielberg sign on. The game probably gained even more attention upon release - not because of the mind behind Schindler's List, but thanks to a fantastically addictive and amazingly fun experiment by developer Electronic Arts. Equal parts mind-boggling puzzler and explosive party game, Boom Blox had just enough charm, variety and originality to help it stand out against a sea of mediocre puzzle games.

de Blob

A colorful game in every sense of the word, deBlob is an innovative and inspiring game for youngsters. Chroma City has been robbed of all its vibrance by the evil INKT Corporation; it's up to the player to save the world by literally painting it with color. As a little blue blob, you soak up paint and spread it over everything: buildings, roads, enemies -- the world is your canvas!

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

The Pokemon phenomenon continues on with the off-shoot Ranger series. Shadows of Almia is very kid friendly and should delight younger gamers who want to venture out in a quest to "catch 'em all."

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Games for the Family

Allow us to paraphrase an old saying and suggest that "the family that games together stays together." There are tons of great games out there that are fun for the entire family. Generations ago, families would gather together around the radio to listen to plays and comedy shows; when the television was introduced, they would sit around and watch shows together. We can also recall a time when families would play board games together. So there's really no reason why present day families can't do the same thing with video games. The following is a list of titles that will have every single member of the family excited to sit down and have fun.

Rock Band 2 / Guitar Hero: World Tour

The family that games together stay together, or at the least, they have a lot of fun together; nothing, and we mean nothing, gets the family hilarity going like Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. We don't care which game you bust out at your next holiday gathering: just set up the drums, the guitars and the mike and start rocking out. Put your mom on drums, give your dad the mike, encourage grandma to step up to the guitar and shut your bratty little cousin up by giving him bass duties: then, bust out the video camera and hit record. Trust us, it's like a recipe for instant lulz.

Buzz! The Mega Quiz / Scene It? Box Office Smash / Smarty Pants

In the good old days, families used to gather around and play board games like Yahtzee and Monopoly. Those classic board games are still awesome to have on hand but if you want to bring your family into the 21st Century, do it with these three awesome trivia games. SceneIt for the Xbox 360 focuses mostly on movie based trivia while Buzz for the PS2 and Smarty Pants for the Wii have more of a general knowledge bent but they allow up to four players to duke it out for trivia supremacy. Buzz and Smarty Pants are especially good for younger players but each game offers enough for any family who wants to have some fun together.

Wii Music

It's charming, it's cute and it's inventive: okay, so the game didn't get the highest reviews from game journalists but there's no denying that Wii Music still offers something interesting. We can easily imagine families gathering around and starting up virtual bands; the fact that there is such a wide assortment of instruments also makes it an interesting choice. The Wii is very clearly the family console of choice these days and we think Wii Music is a title that every family should consider. Who knows, it just might convince your youngster to peruse a life of music.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

It's easy to write off a Teen-rated, superhero-infused remix of Mortal Kombat as "bo-oo-oring." Frankly, we did almost that...until we played it. Sure, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe isn't the "coolest" MK game, but it's more fun and exciting than the last three games put together. The premise is goofy (Wonder Woman versus Liu Kang?), the graphics are only so-so, and the teen-friendly fatalities don't always measure up. Still, MK vs. DCU is a blast of giddy, old-school fighting fun that gives us new hope for future follow-ups (provided that Midway doesn't close up shop altogether. A surprisingly fun casual fighter that will appeal to veterans and newcomers alike.

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