Between Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June, why not go crazy a bit and look into games in which there are… babies? Watch out, let’s go!
You would think that the most unlikely character in a video game is a baby. Nay! For better – and often for worse – toddlers are sometimes an integral part of the storyline of many titles.
In 1995, the game “Petz” offers players the opportunity to adopt a cat or a dog. The goal is to properly care for your pet and make it happy. Obviously, the idea is declined in an impressive number of titles – hamsters and horses, in particular, are the subject of dedicated games. But the device used for “Petz 3” is recycled to make… babies! No, you’re not dreaming. In “Babyz”, released for Windows in 1999 and unfortunately not found today in an online version, the player teaches his virtual child to walk, talk and play. A community is created, the site allowing amateurs to exchange tips and advice. In short, it is success.
Eight years later, in 2007, Ubisoft – si, si – developed under the name of “Imagine” a series of games with a vaguely educational vocation teaching young girls and pre-teens skills supposed to be typically “feminine” under a playful pretext – si , if. This is how “Imagine Babyz” was born for the Nintendo DS. The player, armed with her stylus, becomes a babysitter and must amuse, change, dress and feed a female baby given to her by her grandmother’s neighbor (yes, babies are definitely babies). stories of women!
This glorious era, not so long ago, is also that of the Bratz dolls – they were born in 2001 – then of the “Bratz Babyz” three years later. Obviously, the babies become the heroines of a video game, “Bratz Babyz”, which can still be played via a browser. But the cutest babies are unquestionably Nintendo’s. Because, in “Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island”, released in 1995, we discover with delight Mario and Luigi babies. The idea was then taken up in “Yoshi’s Island” for Nintendo DS in 2006 and then in “Yoshi’s New Island” for the 3DS in 2014.
Make babies…
When “The Sims” made its appearance with the craze that we know, it was possible for a heterosexual couple to have a child on the express condition that the couple be in love. The “baby” programmers are not yet in the nuance since the baby – considered in the game as an object and who cries every six hours – then becomes, without any transition, a child. In 2004, “The Sims 2” made babies a little more realistic. First, your Sim gets pregnant – no more miracle spawns from a crib. They are now part of the family, even if they do not have their clickable “portrait”. 2009’s “The Sims 3” makes babies full-fledged Sims. The player can now know exactly what he needs, choose certain character traits, but you have to wait until 2014 and “The Sims 4” to adopt a baby or to be able to breastfeed him.
“Stardew Valley” is a simulation game in which you take care of the farm that your grandfather bequeathed to you. Children become an integral part of the scenario after the player has met certain favorable conditions. But, and this is the most amusing, babies never grow beyond the stage of the child who begins to walk.
evil babies
A baby isn’t always cute and sometimes it’s downright dangerous. The proof? In “Zombies Ate My Neighbors”, a delirious game released in 1993 and reissued since, the player turns into a teenager whose mission is to kill monsters. And, among these monsters, we find the “Titanic Toddler”, a giant baby who runs around spilling eminently toxic milk.
For those who wish to return to childhood, it is possible to transform into a baby again. In “Jack the Nipper” and its sequel, “Jack the Nipper II: In Coconut Capers”, you play as Sweeny Toddler, a particularly dissipated toddler who must escape his pursuers or risk receiving… a spanking. Yes, the first game dates from 1986, a few centuries in terms of video games!
“Babyz”: https://www.retrogames.cc/nds-games/imagine-babyz-usa-en-fr-es.html for browser via emulator
“Bratz Babyz”: https://arcadespot.com/game/bratz-babyz/ for browser via emulator
«Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island»: https://myemulator.online/snes/super-mario-world-2-yoshis-island for browser via emulator
“Yoshi’s Island”: https://arcadespot.com/game/yoshis-island-ds/ for browser via emulator
“Yoshi’s New Island”: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/yoshis-new-island-3ds/ for the Nintendo 3DS
“The Sims 3”: https://www.thesims3.com/ for various platforms
“The Sims 4”: https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4 for various platforms
“Stardew Valley”: https://www.stardewvalley.net/ for different platforms
“Zombies Ate My Neighbors”: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/zombies-ate-my-neighbors-and-ghoul-patrol-switch/ for Switch and https://store.steampowered.com/ app/1137970/Zombies_Ate_My_Neighbors_and_Ghoul_Patrol/ for Windows
“Jack the Nipper”: https://c64online.com/c64-games/jack-the-nipper/ for browser via emulator
«Jack the Nipper II: In Coconut Capers»: https://www.msxgamesworld.com/emulator.php?id=775 for browser via emulator
https://zxart.ee/eng/software/game/arcade/adventure/jack-the-nipper-ii-in-coconut-capers/