I absolutely love point-and-click adventures. I understand why some people don't: it's methodical gameplay, with a very slow pace, and a lot of problem solving required. Even with all my love for the genre, sometimes I too want to just have mindless video gaming fun. But it still remains one of my favorite types of games, and of point-and-click adventures my favorite has always been Monkey Island, followed closely by Sam & Max. Both series are humorous, but their humor comes in different forms: Monkey Island is dorky, nerdy humor at its best. Sam & Max is a mix of unlikely scenarios coupled with sharp writing and rapier wit from the its characters. Nobody exemplifies this more than Max.
See, the thing about Max isn't just that he's funny; he's pretty much insane in every way imaginable. He acts as a great foil to the more calm, mild mannered Sam, and it works brilliantly. There isn't a moment where Max won't make you laugh as you play along, especially because most of his comments are inappropriate and usually spouted off at inappropriate times as well. In the end, Max makes this list because he's actually the main reason to play Sam & Max: without him, the games wouldn't be nearly as entertaining.
I still remember endlessly bickering with my cousin over who would get to play as Diddy Kong in Donkey Kong Country. Seriously, I don't know about anybody else, but our biggest fights were because of this. The main reason is because Diddy Kong is an amazing sidekick: he is faster and a thousand times more agile than Donkey Kong is. In fact, the only time Donkey Kong is really necessary is when you have to take out the bigger enemies that Diddy can't harm. But other than that, there's just no comparison.
The differences are even bigger in the newly released Donkey Kong Country Returns: not only is Diddy faster and more agile, he also has a rocket backpack that allows him an extra boost for jumps and a peanut gun that works wonders from a distance. Diddy Kong makes it to this list because he is just better than the protagonist as far as gameplay mechanics are concerned. Also, he's a monkey with a mother-fuckin'-hat! I mean, how cute is that?
I've talked about her before, but mostly about her as a female character. As a sidekick, she's just fuckin' awesome too. Elika is not only NOT a damsel in distress, but you are pretty much useless without her. While Yorda slows you down, Elika keeps you going. That's why she's a good sidekick: she's extremely likeable, she's smart, she's incredibly skilled with her powers, and she never, ever gets in the way of the gameplay flow (she's a requirement for it). She should be the standard for sidekicks everywhere. For every Slippy there should be fifteen Elikas.
The real hero of the Halo series. Master Chief is a boring, green block of no personality, so it's a good thing that Cortana was added to the mix to remove the black hole of suck created by MC. She's an A.I. construct, true, but she's beyond capable and without her, the Master Chief is nothing. Remember how MC was almost tricked by Guilty Spark into activating the Halo in Halo: Combat Evolved? Yeah, Cortana was the one who stopped him and told him the truth. Had it not been for her, every living being in the galaxy would have been wiped from existence. This kind of intelligence extends to the rest of the game: for all his armor and guns, The Master Chief is pretty much helpless without Cortana constantly being in his ear.
She directs The Master Chief, helps him avoid errors, hacks into enemy communcation systems to provide up-to-date information that is crucial to the battlefield, etc. Cortana is just fuckin' AWESOME.
Okay, I will admit that I was surprised when I first discovered, many, many, many years ago (and my age starts to show in five...four...three...) that Kazooie was a girl. I know it's an odd choice on the surface, but she gets a spot in my list for a lot of reasons. She's obviously very, very smart; much smarter than her partner-in-crime Banjo. She's also witty and bitingly sarcastic...and let's face it, she is what made Banjo-Kazooie such an amazing game. Running? Kazooie. Flying? Kazooie. Double Jumping? Kazooie. Climbing steep hills? Kazooie. Firing eggs? Kazooie. Best attack in the game (flying peck)? Kazooie. Protection? Kazooie. It was all Kazooie. The game should have been called Kazooie-Banjo.
A really fuckin' awesome sidekick that didn't make the list. Remember the really, really fuckin' scary Big Sisters that come out of nowhere to pound your metal-covered face into a bloody pulp in Bioshock 2? Yeah, Eleanor becomes a Big Sister eventually and you gain the ability to summon her, with all the advantages you think that might bring. She's brutally fast, vicious with her attacks, and sometimes she'll take out hordes of enemies before you can even touch them yourself. She's there to help you at the press of a button. The only reason she doesn't make it higher on the list is because she can only be summoned toward the last few hours of the game, but she's still amazing nonetheless.
- Kharlo -
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