Licensed Games That Don't Suck Part 2

How's that for a catchy title?

Licensed video games have certainly come a long way. While it is far more common to see some TLC being put into most licensed products these days, there are still stinkers mucking up the video game scene. But we won't be talking about those crappy games here (for the most part, anyway). No, this is all bout the licensed video games that are actually good.

Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers (NES)

Solid Snake may have made using a box to hide in for cover popular but he's hardly a master at using it to defend himself. No, that honor goes to two pint sized rodents, Chip and Dale, members of the Rescue Rangers. Not only can the two titular heroes throw boxes at enemies, but they can hide in the box and approaching enemies will take damage just by touching the boxes they hide under. How does that work? Your guess is as good as mine, but the fact that it does is both cool and fun. Chip & Dale is a pretty easy game and it won't take you long to beat alone or with a friend but it does the cartoon series it is based off of justice and its a good time whole it lasts.

Batman (NES)

What? No HD Batman games are getting a mention here yet? Patience, grasshopper, we'll get there when we get there. Batman on the NES is based off of the 1989 hit Tim Burton Batman film. Like the film, the game is dark and gritty. Batman is also hard, like, really friggin' hard. He may be the world's greatest detective and packing a nifty wall jump skill, but he's gonna more than that to save Gotham from the Joker.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)

This year's Mutants in Manhattan was another Turtles disappointment, serving to remind fans that the bulk of the good Turtles games were in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was originally in the arcades, but many feel that the SNES port of Turtles in Time one up's the co-op version. Sure, the arcade version has four player support but the SNES version has the Technodrome a fully playable stage, exclusive bosses and some sweet mode 7 effects. This is arguably the best Turtles gaming experience you're gonna get.

GoldenEye 007 (N64)

OK, so GoldenEye may be a bit dated now, but the game is still far and away from being what you'd call bad. I feel the N64's odd controller design really worked in the favor of FPS on the system. Or that could just be a testament to how well designed GoldenEye is. Moving, aiming, strafing, it all felt natural in this in GoldenEye. When you weren't fulfilling mission objectives in the game's single player mode, you were killing your friends in GoldenEye's highly addictive multiplayer mode. Many a night was spent with my friends running around, shooting, nuking and blowing each other up. Online gaming may be large and in charge but local multiplayer should never be counted out.