Summary
Full disclosure here: I’ve never gone hunting. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good hamburger, but I just cannot bring myself to go out into the wild and kill an animal that’s ultimately just minding its own business. This, of course, makes me the penultimate authority on what makes a good hunting-themed video game.
With such crushing responsibility on my shoulders as the video-hunting expert, I took it upon myself to search the word ‘hunt’ in conjunction with ‘video game’ online, and played the results. Of the 50 or so games I tried out, and with my limitless knowledge of pretty much everythingbuthunting, here is my totally objective, now officially definitive ranking ofthe best games ever madeabout hunting.
6Deer Hunter: Interactive Hunting Experience
Now That’s A Nice Shot
Okay, yes, I know the game doesn’t really work that well, but that’s only an issue if you’re trying to shoot things, which I wasn’t. Deer Hunter markets itself as an experience, after all, not just a game, and thankfully, theGame Boy Colorversion fits that description quite nicely, thanks in no small part to its plentifulGame Boyquality voice acting and sound effects.
The game’s startup sound, for example, is a bit crushed shotgun blast that sounds kind of like what happens when you blow directly into a low-end microphone and play back the recording. As such, it has a variety of surprising uses outside the game. Use it as an incredibly effective morning alarm. Use it to test the durability of your speakers. The possibilities are endless!
5Cabela’s Big Game Hunter: Hunting Party
You Call Those Controllers?
No, before you ask, you may’t actually play the game without the gun peripheral. I would know, because I tried everything. NES Zapper, computer mouse,a Hatsune Miku figure I had on hand, and a NERF gun, and the game recognized none of these. That’s perfectly fine with me though, because the game itself isn’t what makes Hunting Party so amazing — that would be the game’s ludicrous launch trailer.
Presented with the same general energy as the early amiibo commercials were back in the Wii U era, Cabela’s Big Game Hunter: Hunting Party was gifted one of the cheesiest video game commercials I have ever seen, and that’s saying something. The notion that a light gun is ever going to be abetter controller than the iconic Xbox 360 controlleris laughable enough, but trust me, the acting makes it all the better.
4Deer Avenger
You’ve Found Your Next Rabbit Hole
You ever wonder if maybe, just maybe, it’s the humans who are the real monsters in the end? I’ll be honest with you, Deer Avenger doesn’t really care what the answer to that question is, but from 1998 to 2001, the four Deer Avenger games at least let youtake a little revengeon the humans for what they do during the hunting season.
The game’s very existence, and the fact that there got to be four of them, is baffling, but it gets even more interesting when you hear the exact type of humor you’d expect from this game in Tina Fey’s voice. She’s not even the only star in the game’s cast either. Amy Poehler is also here, for some reason. For fans of internet oddities and just bizarre stories in general, the Deer Avenger series is right up your alley.
This game in particular is dated enough to make it funny, but only because of how far we’ve come compared to what was acceptable back then.
Speaking on behalf of TheGamer, I want to stress that although this game is fun to laugh at, it is outdated, and it should stay in the past.
The story behind the game’s development and the big names involved are the main reason why we included it, so please keep that in mind if you’re looking to experience this game for yourself.
3Cod Of Duty
Fish In A Barrel
Hunting in real life looks like a lot of work, really. So why should video game hunting be just as complex and inaccessible? It makes no sense, I say, that’s what we have video games for in the first place! To make something we all could realistically learn to do on our own easy enough that we can do it at home instead. Cod of Duty is a title that really understands this and, in turn, was able to teach me to love to hunt.
None of that animal calling or prep work or anything like that. Just you, a gun, and some barrels with fish in ‘em. I like this. This makes sense to me. After 15 minutes, I can have all the hunting trophies I could ever want, and I haven’t had to hurt a fly. All conveniently laid out for me, all just waiting to be hunted. This is the pure essence of hunting. The wind in your hair, the gun in your hand, and the fish barrels.
2Yoshi’s Safari
The Mario FPS That Actually Got Made
Did anybody else just not know that at one point Nintendo gave Mario arealgun with a scope and everything, and then made an entire game revolving around it? To be honest, I’m a little upset that nobody told me about that before now, but I played it, it was awesome, and now you get to know about it, too. Tell your friends, too, this is the kind of thing everybody aught to know.
The game,which released in Japanas ‘ヨッシーのロードハンティング’ (this roughly translates to ‘Yoshi’s Road Hunting’ in English) and in the United States as Yoshi’s Safari, probably wasn’t more well known because it required the Super Scope, which itself wasn’t exactly the picture of popularity. It’s basically just an on rails FPS with Mario aesthetics, but that’s also a really awesome idea and the game is a joy to play. Plus, you ride a Yoshi the entire time.
1Duck Hunt
The Dog, The Duck, The Legend
Outside of Bowser Jr. (exclusively clad in the Larry skin), Duck Hunt is my favorite Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter. Now, I realize that makes me annoying to a great many of you, but really, I just can’t help it. I think the dog and duck combo makes for an adorable pair, and I’m a sucker for classic video games getting modern representation. All of that said, I still think Duck Hunt is pretty fantastic on its own.
No, I’d never shoot real ducks, and I don’t necessarily like shooting these 8-bit virtual ones either, but old as it is, Duck Hunt on NES actually has me covered in that regard with its delightful little clay pigeon mode. The sounds are nice and crisp, and the game works incredibly well if you’re willing to go through the headache of getting the proper hardware to run it. Hunter or no, what’s not to like?
