With a Little Help From My Friends - Part 1

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There are times when the central character has aid from friends or allies. The former may be used in a looser sense when it comes to certain entries, but regardless, With a Little Help From My Friends shines the spotlight on those that help the main star on their journey.

Cappy - Super Mario Odyssey 

When Mario's cap gets destroyed after his latest scuffle with Bowser during a failed attempt to rescue Peach, Cappy decides to join Mario in rescuing her. The Koopa King also kidnapped Cappy's younger sister, Tiara, so the two have a common goal. Cappy replaces Mario's old cap as the two travel the globe on a grand adventure.

While Cappy may be a temporary replacement for Mario's cap, he is no mere substitute. This sentient cap can be tossed about to pull levers, collect coins and even function as an additional platformer for Mario. Whenever he's thrown, he'll return to Mario like a boomerang. That's all pretty dang handy and crafty players can skip certain sections of a level entirely when combining Mario's crazy jumping abilities with Cappy. If that were all Cappy could do, I'd still be pretty impressed but he has one other amazing skill: capture. Toss Cappy onto the head of an enemy and Mario will be able to take control of them. How does taking control of a giant fist to punch a stone creature in the face sound? Or taking over a Goomba so you won't slide around on ice? How about taking control of a freaking T-rex? I don't think I ever understood how much fun Hammer Bros. had until I was the one wearing their face, throwing the hammers at them. Cappy might just be the most valuable and powerful ally Mario has in his entire series. Sorry, Yoshi, but you're gonna have to step that game up.

Rush - Mega Man Classic Series

Your dog greets you when you come home from a rough day at work. They sit with your on the sofa while you watch Netflix or Hulu. Man's best friend. Yeah, no, your dog isn't that great. The best dog ever isn't made of flesh, but metal. Created by Dr. Light to assist Mega Man on his third adventure, its Rush.

Rush has "real" dogs beat because when Mega Man takes him out for a walk, he doesn't squat in the grass to make a mess, so Rock doesn't have to go through that whole awkwardness that is cleaning up after him in front of others. But wait, there's more! Rush comes with a spring board to launch Mega Man to out of reach places. He can transform into a jet for air travel. Rush is so good that Masahiro Sakurai decided to make him Mega Man's recovery in Super Smash Bros. and you can also use the red dog to help send suckers into the blast zone with Air Tornado. Can your dog do any of that? Of course he/she can't because your dog sucks!

Pepelogoo - Monster World IV

Asha, the first female lead in the Monster World/Monster Boy series is aided by a member of the Pepelogoo species. They come in two colors, and while the yellow ones turn out to be bad news, controlling the people of Rapadagna City, the blue one that accompanies Asha, Pepe, is as loyal a friend as they come.

Pepe can be used to help Asha glide, perform a double jump and because of his initial size, it can reach areas that are otherwise inaccessible to her. Pepe also has an insane resistance to lava, making the help it provides in the Handera Volcano invaluable. Pepe cares deeply for Asha and would go to great lengths to protect her, even at the cost of it's own life.

Enguarde - Donkey Kong Country Series

Say it with me everyone one: water levels suck! You are at the mercy of countless H2O, which means sluggish movement and usually bad swimming controls. Things are a bit worse for the Kong clan. They can't jump on the heads of the sea life like they would the land dwelling Kremlings nor can they chuck barrels at them, meaning conflict has to be avoided entirely. This is where Enguarde comes in.

This aquatic companion makes water levels far more tolerable for DK and company with better movement and a dash attack that dismantles most underwater foes on contact. Whenever you're in a water level, finding Enguarde should be your number one priority. Along with being incredibly useful, Enguarde is as cute as a button.