Summary
In the words ofA Bug’s Life’s Hopper, “It’s a bug-eat-bug world out there.” Insects are everywhere. They play a vital role in the ecosystem, being a source of food for other creatures and pollinating plants to help continue their life cycle. Sometimes, these insects do not get the reputation they deserve.
Fortunately, several video games allow people to take a look at the world through a bug’s eyes. Many of these offer more fantastical interpretations of the insect experience, and others more accurately depict their brutal fight for survival. Here are some titles that will have one scurrying on six legs.
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Saplinghas been left out since it is quite well-known, but it’s a great RPG for anyone searching for aPaper Mario-style title.
Sonic the Hedgehogis known for runningat ridiculous speeds. That doesn’t mean he has to do it alone, though.Sonic Heroes, released for the 6th generation of consoles, has Sonic and friends running through levels in teams of three, using each character’s unique abilities to overcome obstacles.
The main campaign is divided into four teams. One is Team Chaotix, composed of Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and Charmy Bee. Charmy is the flying type, allowing him to lift his allies to higher-up places and hover for a short period. He can also lob his allies at targets.
Glyphis a momentum-based platformer that asks what would happen if aMetroidgame was built entirely aroundSamus’s morph ball mode. The title sees the character hopping, gliding, and climbing across structures of a ruined civilization to obtain gems and reach the portal at the end.
The game’s rolling protagonist takes the form of a mechanical scarab beetle, which can momentarily unroll to flutter across short distances. Throughout the game, new creature forms can be unlocked, allowing it to take the form of other insects and creatures.
The PlayStation 2 is famous partly for its experimental titles. Included among these ranks isMister Mosquito. It is played from the perspective of a lone mosquito who invades the home of a typical Japanese family.
Gameplay requires landing on hot spots of the humans and sucking enough blood to pass the level. The humans will be going about their days doing run-of-the-mill activities.Mister Mosquitohas to avoid being detected, though, or the humans will attack him. At this point, he will have to hit certain points on the attacking humans to calm them. Even if it isnot the best gameon the platform, it is one of the more memorable.
BirdGutis a 2D platformer with a charmingly hand-drawn art style and a quirky sense of humor. The central protagonist gets eaten by a bird, whose innards are a brainwashing facility to program other victims into keeping the guttural machine going.
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BirdGut’s lead character is a bee that was born as less than ideal, according to the colony’s standards. The nursery guards unceremoniously kick out the bee before the queen can notice it. However, what the bees see as imperfection actually makes the game’s reluctant hero able to avoid being brainwashed. The rebel insects hiding out in the bird-wearing tin-foil hats have dubbed them “the Hatless One,” whom they believe will destroythe dystopia insidethe bird’s gut.
IndependANTis a free game from the development team that brought the worldOctoDad. This title followsa different multi-appendaged creaturein the form of an ant roaming around a household, acquiring food for his colony.
IndependANTdoes a good job of making one feel like an insect. Being within the average human-sized environment is a surreal experience, like the kind one would get from playing the tiny robot ofChibi-Robo. The ants even have their own culture, calling Cheerios ringalings and revering the Great Giants, which are most likely humans.
Anyone who grew up on Macintosh computers in the late 90s and early 2000s will have fond memories ofBugdom. This title, developed by Pangea Software, was a pack-in for several Mac systems of the time. It follows the pillbug Rollie McFly on a quest to fight against a tyrannical tribe of fire ants.
An open-source port ofBugdomwas released in late December 2020 by Iliyas Jorio for modern systems, with the approval of Pangea Software. The game holds up well even to this day. The visuals are bright and colorful, and it has a neat little lens flare effect from the sunlight. The gameplay consists of exploring environments, finding keys, and rescuing abducted ladybugs while being attacked by flying bugs with boxing gloves and ants that throw spears.
A Bug’s Lifeis the video game adaptation of the Disney/Pixar Film of the same name, the follow-up to Pixar’s groundbreakingToy Story. Pixar’s underrated sophomore effort follows Flik, a misfit ant who goes on a quest to recruit warrior bugs to protect his ant colony from a predatory swarm of grasshoppers.
Traveller’s Tales did an excellent job of putting players in the fantastical, yet familiar, world of the film. Rival insects are always around to get in the way. Flik can roam through the tunnels of his ant colony, glide on a dandelion seed, and explore an insect city made of discarded boxes from humans. Now imagineexploring these environmentsinDisney Dreamlight Valley!
Technically, the dual protagonists ofDeadly Creaturesare arachnids, but they still give a harrowing perspective of thefight for survivalamong some of nature’s smallest creatures. This Wii-exclusive title switches perspectives between a tarantula and a scorpion, as they explore environments and hunt foes against the backdrop of a story about two treasure hunters, voiced by Billy Bob Thorton and Dennis Hopper.
Each creature has its unique abilities. The tarantula can climb up walls and spit webs at enemies. It can even swing across rooms at certain points. The dual protagonists will even come up against some fierce bosses, such as a rattlesnake early on.
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