Perfect Dark (N64, 2000)
Nintendo is known, regardless of whether or not it should be, for its family-friendly games that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. The likes of Mario, Link, and Kirby offer great adventures that truly stay true to their ESRB ‘Everyone’ rating.
But sometimes, Nintendo develops, publishes, or secures exclusive titles for their systems that are definitely not family-friendly. All these titles are rated ‘M’ for ‘Mature,’ and feature copious amounts of violence, sex, or drugs that secure that rating.
British game developer Rare has a long, storied history of developing great games. Rare developed some of the most loved games on the N64, including GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, and Jet Force Gemini. Perfect Dark is another notch in Rare’s N64 catalog, and was one of the few games rated ‘M’ by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Nowadays, Perfect Dark’s animated blood and guts look tame, but back in 2000, it was quite the experience.
This post was originally written by Matthew LaMar.
Conker’s Bad Fur Day (N64, 2001)
Conker’s Bad Fur Day is another Rare title, in more ways than one. Rare took a cute and cuddly character, Conker the Squirrel, and gave him an adult spin that was a stark juxtaposition with the art style. This type of adult cartoon entertainment is now commonplace, but Conker’s Bad Fur Day came out before Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim was even a thing. The ESRB uses content descriptors “Animated Violence, Mature Sexual Themes, Strong Language” for the game, right next to ‘Nintendo.’
Don’t make Conker mad, apparently.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GCN, 2002)
The Nintendo Gamecube, while not exactly selling like hotcakes, nevertheless had a number of pretty excellent games. One of which was the well-reviewed Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, which was originally slated by developer Silicon Knights to be an N64 game before it got pushed to being a Gamecube title. The game was rated ‘M’ for “Blood and Gore, Violence,” but it gained notoriety for something more sinister altogether. In the game, you had a meter that literally measured your sanity. Various encounters would trigger Sanity Effects, which resulted in bleeding walls and crazier things like trying to convince you that it deleted all your memory card data.
Resident Evil 4 (GCN, 2005)
While Resident Evil 4 was eventually ported to a whole bunch of devices, it was initially a Gamecube exclusive, and a heck of a Gamecube exclusive at that. It has the highest Metacritic score out of any Resident Evil game, and for good reason: it’s a terrifying, exciting romp where dudes with chainsaws nonchalantly try to cut you into teeny pieces. It features “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language” and is, of course, rated ‘M’ for ‘Maybe I should stop playing this in a dark room and play Super Mario Sunshine instead so I can sleep.’
No More Heroes (Wii, 2008)
No More Heroes was developed by legendary Japanese game maker Goichi Suda, better known as Suda51. No More Heroes features the story of Travis Touchdown (no, really) as he attempts to assassinate 10 assassins with his trusty beam katana to become the best assassin in the United Assassins Association. The game features a beautiful animated style, which stands in somewhat stark contrast to the sex, violence, blood and guts in which the game happily wallows.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii, 2009)
The original Silent Hill was a 1999 game for the original Sony PlayStation. After releasing a visual novel in 2001 and a feature film in 2006, Konami decided to do a retelling of the original idea with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. It features writer Harry Mason’s quest to find his daughter in the creepily-named city of Silent Hill. Oh yeah, and it involves an alternate dimension. And psychological profiling. And a frozen town that adds to the frozen mood of the game. Psychological horror had never been so cool.
MadWorld (Wii, 2010)
The Wii had loads of interesting and unique titles, but none of them were quite as visually stunning as PlatinumGames’ MadWorld. The hack and slash title featured a color palette straight out of Schindler’s List: black, white, and blood red. So much blood. Despite the Wii’s underpowered processing power, MadWorld was a stunning visual achievement and a testament to just how important art style can be. At the same time, MadWorld is just about the goriest a game can possibly be. The only color in the world is literally the blood and guts of your enemies. And, ah, there is an awful lot of it.
ZombiU (Wii U, 2012)
A launch title for the Wii U, Ubisoft’s creatively named ZombiU was one of the few Wii U games to utilize the gamepad to its full potential. In addition to extensive utilization of the touchscreen and gyroscope for varying gameplay purposes, such as executions and lockpicking, the game featured a unique pause system. Your map, items, and menus could not be displayed on the screen, and could only be accessed on the gamepad. The catch: the game never paused, so you couldn’t just zone out when you look down and navigate your menus unless you wanted to be dismembered. Which, hey, it is a zombie game. Do what makes you happy.
Bayonetta 2 (Wii U, 2014)
The original Bayonetta, developed by PlatinumGames, was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in 2009. It wasn’t supposed to get a sequel but Nintendo, desperate for games for the flopping Wii U console, partnered with Platinum to develop a sequel exclusively for the Wii U.
The game is hilariously sexual in addition to being particularly violent. Bayonetta’s clothing is actually her hair (Chewbacca would approve), which is what she uses to attack enemies. The bigger the attack, the more hair she uses, and… you get the idea. The ESRB throws the book at Bayonetta for its ‘M’ rating: “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes.” Mario, this ain’t.
Devil’s Third (Wii U, 2015)
Since the Wii U sold roughly eight units during its lifetime, Devil’s Third, developed by Valhalla Game Studios, sort of flew under the mainstream radar. The third-person shooter/action title looked and played like an 80s action movie, and while its online multiplayer was well-received, the servers were only up for the game for about a year and a half. Of all the games on this list, Devil’s Third is the one most likely to be forgotten by the sands of time. It’s a bit of a shame, really, as the game suffered through a dreadfully long and troubled development process.
Published: Mar 2, 2018 11:42 am