Best Pack-in Game?

[VideoGameCritic]

Recently I read a review of Wii Sports in a popular game magazine that hailed it as the "best pack-in game ever".  This led me to ask, "how long has this guy be playing games?"  (I ask that a lot when I read other reviews, by the way).  It's a dumb statement considering outstanding pack-ins like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Ridge Racer. 

That got me to thinking: what was the greatest pack-in game ever?  I think it's an interesting topic, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[Conn]

Super Mario World!

[Edward M]

Easily Super Mario World.  Its the greatest Mario sidescroller and no other packins come anywhere close.   OK,   Maybe the Super Mario Allstars + World cartridge that came packed in with some of the later Snes's.  

[Leo Ames]

I agree, easily Super Mario World.

[Atarifever1]

Combat. Play two player with cover and bouncing shots and know true fun.  I only finally got to experience this for the first time yesterday when I got my Flashback 2.  Until then, I had not truely gamed. 

[Leo Ames]

Have you even played it right yet with a second player?

[snakeboy1]

Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.  God, Duck Hunt was amazing...Oh, and Super Mario wasn't bad either.

[JustLikeHeaven1]

My vote is going with Super Mario World as well.  Its easily my favorite Mario game and I love going back to play it even today.

I can understand why the guy hailed Wii Sports as the "best pack in game", because it gets people excited to try out the Wii. You simply cannot stand around and watch people playing Wii Sports without trying yourself...no matter what age or gender you are   It is basically a tech demo...but it works.  I have let about 20 people try it and everyone walks away pleased with it.   Everyone has a favorite sport to play (I love Baseball and Tennis), and even creating a Mii (which look like South Park characters!) is fun for those sitting around watching.  Wii Sports is a solid effort from Nintendo, but its certainly not the greatest pack in game ever.

[bbruzzes]

The writer thought that Wii Sports was the best pack in ever? Good game but would choose this over the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet cartridge for the NES, Tetris for the Gameboy, or the XBOX Halo Bundle? 

 

Nintendo in 1994 included Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario World combo cartridge as a pack-in for the SNES. This, in my opinion, that was the best pack-in ever.

[feilong801]

Well, I don't think you can count some of the later bundles as true pack ins, at least I tend to think of a true pack in game as the games that came with the system originally.

 

That said, Super Mario Brothers for the NES absolutely has to be the king here. I mean, the freakin' game absolutely invented a new genre and was one of the first non-computer games to actually take advantage of the differences between home hardware and the arcade (even though SMB was a coin-op first).

 

Up until that point, most home video games were still designed with the "one quarter per play" gameplay rules, which meant short bursts of gaming followed by frequent "Game Over" screens. There were not many games that made you want to just mess around and EXPLORE the game world. Truly, SMB had some of the first "sandbox" elements and "open world" aspects that games like Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto are celebrated for.

 

My wife is now basically a non-gamer but she can still remember where the warp pipes are, and the secret passages and Easter Eggs... to try to draw a comparison here, if SMB were a guitarist, he would be Jimi Hendrix.

 

-Rob