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Back in the day, there were these peculiar games that seemed to fit nowhere. I’ve coined these as “Cousin Games.”
Picture this: You enter a house with an oddly different smell and find yourself sitting across from a relative who’s like a slightly offbeat version of yourself. He’s glued to a Nintendo system, which you’re familiar with, but when you glance at the TV, all you can think is, “What on earth is this?” That’s the essence of a Cousin Game experience.
Cousin Games are those you don’t own, and in many cases, you wouldn’t even want to. However, this term doesn’t imply they’re unpleasant. Many games are terrible, but not necessarily Cousin Games.
Here’s a rundown of Cousin Games traits: They’re not your standard fare, like Madden – that’s simply a game your cousin might play. This holds true for most traditional sports games, although extreme sports and motorsport genres can sometimes blur the lines.
Take Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, for instance — it doesn’t qualify. On the other hand, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 definitely does, and so does AirBlade.
Games featuring Spider-Man have a 75% likelihood of being a Cousin Game. For Wolverine, that percentage rises to 80%, and for Taz, it’s 90%.
In licensing terms, tie-in games often fall into the Cousin Game category.
Mascot-driven games, whether first or third-party, generally steer clear of the Cousin Game label. Yet, the Sonic series has its exceptions. Notably, core Nintendo titles rarely venture into Cousin Game territory—apart from Geist, of course.
While PC games could be Cousin Games, they’re usually Uncle Games, but let’s leave that for another discussion.
What defines a Cousin Game is its intrigue. How did this particular game end up in such an unfamiliar-smelling home? Was it a random grab from the store shelves, gifted by an unknowing parent? Or perhaps your cousin genuinely found something worth believing in with BattleTanx 2. Do these games linger in their memory as warmly as they appear odd to you?
If, by any chance, reading about these games makes you think, “Hey, that’s not a Cousin Game,” you might need to entertain the unsettling thought that perhaps you are the cousin in question. Don’t worry—there’s help out there.
