Top 5 Wackiest Games of the Last Decade

Maniacal rabbits, an oddly shaped prince, a vengeance-fueled beast. On the surface these things may not have much in common, but when you look deep into their odd little lives, you’ll find one major similarity – they are a major part of some of the industry’s oddest creations. While more realistic or serious titles like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Halo, and Resident Evil take up the spotlight, deep within the shadows of the general gaming library are titles that, if described to any unknowing individual, would sound like a bad acid trip. They’re quirky, they’re strange – they are the top 5 Wackiest Games of the past decade.

5) LittleBigPlanet

(PS3 – 2008)
Taking control of a jolly entity known only as Sack Boy, gamer’s traverse a land that is riddled with oddities ranging anywhere from rocket-propelled sharks to dangerous ghosts. The customizable universe of LittleBig Planet is a strange one indeed, made all the more odd by the ability to do almost anything and dress up in a variety of costumes. Player created levels can be just about anything like Olympic races and extensive displays of severe film / video game fandom, but what really tacks on the craziness of LittleBig Planet is one simple thing – Sack Boy’s sudden bouts anger. With just two buttons, gamer’s can engage in an unending slapping match, creating one of the most violent E-rated games to date. Entertaining? Absolutely. Extremely strange? Undeniably.

4) Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath

(Xbox – 2005)

Gamer’s play as Stranger, a bounty hunter in the realm of Oddworld taking on different bounties to collect enough moolah (in-game money) to undergo an unknown operation. Sounds sane enough, right? It’s not the story that earns Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath the title of the 4th wackiest title of the decade, but rather how the grizzled bounty hunter takes down his target. Equipped with a standard crossbow, Stranger utilizes the worlds wildlife as his ammunition. From the cannon ball-esque Thudslugs to a swarm of Bees that act akin to an automatic rifle, the live ammunition stares at the gamer from their cocked position, almost begging to be let loose to wreak havoc. While ammunition can be purchased at general stores, they can also be found and collected within the wild. Stranger’s Wrath broke away from the Oddworld series‘ staple slower paced gameplay to bring to life the tale of the disgruntled hunter on his trek for mo‘ moolah.  

3) Raze’s Hell

(Xbox – 2005)

Rounding off the top of this list is a game that Xbox owners may remember rooting for before proving to be a commercial flop. Pit in the shoes of a humanoid beast known as Raze, gamer’s were thrown into a deranged world filled with malicious Teletubby-esque enemies, live ammunition, and an overly colorful display of gore. The story was simple – the Kewletts, a race of cutesy beings that lived within the perfect world, act on the order of their princess to rid the lands beyond their borders of all things “ugly”. Their murderous journey to wipe out civilizations near and far brings them to Raze’s colony, which they wipe out shortly before the initially harmless protagonist comes into contact with an ancient artifact that turns him into a vicious killing machine – fairly standard stuff, right? Raze’s arsenal is fueled by Squibs, tiny insects within the world that take the blunt of the Kewlett wrath, and takes on the form of anything from a high powered machine-gun to a device that inflates Kewletts like balloons. If not for broken controls, miserable multiplayer, and a lack of substance, this weird title may have been a fresh addition to the realm of the third person shooter.

2) Rayman: Raving Rabbids

(Wii, PS2, Xbox 360, GBA, PC / DS, Xbox 360 – 2006 / 2007)
Back in 1995, a disjointed individual named Rayman stole the attention of platform gamers world round. With 3 canon titles under his belt by 2003, Rayman hung up his hat for three years before being pulled back into the gaming world by a horde of bug-eyed lunatics known as Rabbids. Put on this world to initially wreak havoc in Rayman’s universe, a variation of these insane creatures were first featured in trailers for Rayman 4 before finding themselves as the main “antagonists” in the mini-game fueled Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Raving Rabbids pits players in a mash-up of mini-gums ranging anywhere from a shooting range where plungers are the ammunition to music segments that rely on the gamer’s ability to keep rhythm to an inhumane game where various noises are used to direct a Rabbid who’s been blinded by a plunger into various traps and cacti. To go into detail with every min-game would take quite a while as Raving Rabbids is chock full of indescribable sections featuring the inhumanly stupid, albeit somewhat adorable,Rabbids.

1) Katamari Damacy

(PS2 – 2004)

Hidden deep within the insane universe of Katamari Damacy is an anti-alcohol add as the game’s events unfold after the King of All Cosmos’ goes on a binge drinking spree and wipes out the universe. The King sends his miniature sized son (the Prince) to Earth with the other-worldly katamari to pick up and collect materials to rebuild the universe. The katamari ball is an intriguing creation that picks up anything smaller than itself – literally anything. As the katamari grows in size, the Prince is able to pick up animals, vehicles, people, and even full sized buildings as the game’s levels progress. While the concept may sound wacky, it’s actually the King’s and Prince’s oddly shaped heads, the games background music, and its title (which translates to rough soul) that land Katamari Damacy its place on this list.