For those with kids, enter >>>>

[Flam]

So what are some good games to start your kids on? My son is about to turn 5 and he liked playing Bubble Bobble and I'm thinking about buying Rampage.

I can't really remember when I started being capable of playing video games. My earliest memories are playing Pitfall (I was born in 78 and I haven't done the math about what age I would have been)

I'm trying to figure out if he's still too young. I was reading an old Nintendo Power and it had an article about some nerd-knocker 5 year old that beat Legend of Zelda, I'm calling bull shit on that.

Anyway, how old do you think you were when you "got" video games. I think Rampage would be a good one to start him one since it's basically destroying buildings.

[Robocop2]

If my memory serves me it was probably around the time I turned 5 or 6. That having been said, my now barely four year old son is doing pretty well with Lego Star Wars so ymmv.

[treismac]

Some games are much easier with my five year old than others. The Wii has a decent bunch of game that he digs: Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Punch-Out, Mario Kart (he sucks, but he still likes it), and Wii Resort. He also likes beat 'em ups like Pro Wrestling (NES), TMNT II & III (NES), Saturday Slam Masters (SNES), Streets of Rage (Genesis), and the King of the Monsters series on the Virtual Console and the Genesis. My son likes Rampage too, by the way.

[Zing]

Bubble Bobble ramps up very quickly in difficulty. It's too hard for my daughter. She is rather good at controlling an analog stick, but the dpad gives her trouble.

I was five when I had decent skills at Atari 2600, and would have been earlier if my parents had bought their own. I had to borrow one or just play at neighbour's and relatives' homes. I finally got my own system at age six in 1982. It was a Coleco Vision. At that point, I was already well versed in arcade games and such.

I was most certainly leaps ahead of any kid I know today who is that age.

[Cornelius]

My son is 6 and does well with Lego Star Wars. He loves Mario Kart Wii, but sucks at it and won't even consider using the stick controls instead of the 'wheel'. He wanted to play Super Mario Bros. the other day, so I set him up and he only lasted a few minutes and never made it past the second pipe that you have to sprint to jump onto. I think I should get out a Kirby game for him to learn with. He has a tough time when he needs to press more than one button at a time.

[RP2A03]

I started playing games when I was three, although, my memory is a bit fuzzy on the details regarding how competent I was. The only thing I can say for sure was that the first game I played was Super Mario Bros.. By the time I was five or six I would say that I was definitely capable of holding my own in games like Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Mega Man. I would recommend games such as these and even Zelda. Just be sure to play with him and see to it that he doesn't give up just because he gets stuck.

[o.pwuaioc]

I played Zelda at four. Only problem is that I didn't quite grasp all of it. I instead preferred the 2600 (4-6, maybe a bit longer too, I'm sure) - especially Pole Position - and Sonic (so, 6, I think when I got a Genesis) or Mario (first played at 7, I think). The old Atari games are great for kids, and in general anything with a stick and a button is better for younger kids than a controller with a d-pad and 2/4 buttons.

[Flam]

I will say this, I hardly ever play video games with my son so his exposure to them is very minimal. He really likes to be out doors climbing trees, playing sports, etc. so I'd perfer spending time with him doing those things rather than trying to introduce him to video games. The main time I usually play my NES is after the kids go to bed.

[ncman071]

my twin sons are gonna be 4 in october and they love Hydro Thunder....we mainly play the xbla version but they have played the DC version.....i've tried to get them to play mario...but they dont really get the running and jumping on top of objects and avoiding falling to their death....but i imagine by the time their 6 mario will be their friend.

[Tanooki]

Well I'd look at how good your kids are with other games if you've handed them an iOS device or similar before. Depending on their patience and coordination you could go with the original SMB or 2(more colorful and picking up stuff is fun and girls can enjoy being Princess.) If they're not that slick, you can go with a simple button masher like an old black box title, a breaking game like Rampage, a coloring game, perhaps something Matchbox, Fisher Price, or Sesame Street based. Also maybe some of those Disney titles Capcom did would be good.

I wouldn't throw someone in front of a standard or harder edged Capcom or Konami title because it's played out with you it seems easy but it will drive them nuts in a bad alienating way.

[Flam]

he's really just a button smasher at this point, so that plus the fun of wrecking things is why I think he'd like Rampage.

It was really cute though when we were playing Bubble Bobble all he kept saying was "this game is really cool" ('cool' being his new favorite word)

[PreZZ]

Recently bought a genesis for my 5 year old nephew with sonic 1-2-3, streets of rage, golden axe, disney games, nhl 94. The easiest and most fun for him his beat-em-ups, we can easily beat 6 or 7 levels of streets of rage and he enjoys it. He also gets to the 5th level of sonic 2 in only 2 weeks! The disney games like lion king and toy story look great, but are too hard for kids. I gave him a 6 button controller because they are smaller for his hands, ps3 and 360 are too big for kids hands and games are too complex. NES, Super NES and genesis are perfect systems for young kids and they enjoy them.