Topic: I need suggestions on good games for a 7 year old to play.

My girlfriend has been looking after a friends 7 year old boy and she's trying to keep him occupied. All she has gaming wise right now is her old gamecube and a DS. I thought maybe a zelda game might be a good choice so i suggested Ocarina of time but then i remembered at that age i wasn't even playing Zelda. I think that might be a little too complicated for him. He tried it and seems to enjoy it but he basically just runs around in circles not knowing what he's supposed to do. I thought maybe mario sunshine but again the same would happen.

I was pretty much into platformers of any kind then. It's all i really understood. What kinda games did you guys play at that age? Any advice?

If it's a DS lite that supports GBA games I would definitely recommend Rayman Hoodlum's revenge, spent countless hours playing that as a child. If it's just a regular DS then Mario Kart DS is a great option, or New Super Mario Bros. is also nice. If it's a 3ds, then literally any Mario Game will be perfect especially 3d land.

Didn't have a GCN for very long, so I can't make any recommendations on that front, but when it comes to DS I'd say New Super Mario Bros & Kirby Superstar Ultra would be good picks. I doubt platformers (particularly sidescrollers) would be too hard to grasp at that age, and those are a couple good ones.

LEGO Star Wars... if he likes Star Wars.

Yeah he does like star wars. He's also into superheroes and all that stuff. As was probably every boy that age i would imagine. Kirby sounds like it could work too. I just recall getting really frustrated with anything like shooters or RPGs at that age. I wasn't skilled enough for contra and didn't quite understand Zelda just yet. Mario would be good at any age i bet. At least the 2-D ones.

My son is about that age so I’m thinking about games in my collection that he likes (he’s currently playing mainly NES Mario games at the moment).

GameCube:
Super Mario Sunshine - bright, fun and accessible enough for a youngster to have fun with.
Mario Kart Double Dash!! - it’s Mario Kart; you cant go wrong.
Luigi’s Mansion - slower paced but he may like exploring the haunted mansion (my son loves the ghosts).
Disney’s Cars (there is a large free roam section to explore aside from the races. My kids liked the identical Wii version)
Sonic Mega Collection - all the old Genesis/mega drive games on one disc.
Lego Star Wars/ Lego Star Wars the Original Trilogy- both are good but the second is better.
Super Monkey Ball/ Super Monkey Ball 2 - simple controls, bright and interesting with some fun multiplayer.

DS
New Super Mario bros - great game but my kids love the included mini games even more!
Super Mario 64 DS - great main game and a load of addictive mini games too.
Mario Kart DS - great fun.
Sonic Classic Collection - again, the four main Genesis/Mega Drive sonic games on one collection
Tetris DS - best version of Tetris since the original (in my opinion) with excellent extras and Nintendo polish.
Wario Ware DIY - mini games galore and the chance to make your own.

Hope that helps!

@Zeldafan79 If your kid gets a little older, my nieces love, Simpsons Hit & Run (teen rated for language). Small open world racer. There are about 5 or 6 town areas(worlds). As a simpsons fan & racing game liker, I liked the game. Some skill is needed to win the races, but my nieces love roaming around taking cars, hearing characters react, most of it is charming/amusing. Has decent classic simpsons era voice acting. We played it every thanksgiving for the past 5 years.

@Zeldafan79
Does he like games with repeated chores?

Gamecube
1. Harvest Moon Magical Melody (Strategy Simulation)
2. Kao the Kangaroo Round 2 (3D platformer)
3. Bomberman Generations (3D Action)

NDS
1. Bomberman 2 PAL (2D Action)
2. My Sims Party (Party game)
3. My Sims Agents (Adventure, Puzzle)
4. Starfy (2D platformer)
5. Super Princess Peach (2D platformer)

3DS
1. Animal Crossing New Leaf Welcome Amiibo (Life Simulation)
2. Disney Magical World 2 (Action, Life Sim)
3. Mario Kart 7 (Racing)
4. Nintendogs (Pet Simulation)
5. Tomodachi Life (Quirky Life Sim)

Definitely try and track down a copy of Mario Sunshine. Not my personal favorite, but I understand it to be one of the best platformers on GCN. There's also more than a few Sonic games if Mario's too tame for him on both DS and GCN - happy gaming!

Incidentally, that was rated G in Australia.

Considering how stupidly strict the Australian Classification Board is now, it would most likely receive a PG today for "Mild violence and coarse language", but I didn't have any problem with my (at the time) little brother playing the game in the mid to late 2000s. I think the game is perfectly fine for a 7 year old. Any violence in the game is very cartoon-like (and no-one can be killed no matter how many times you run over them ) and while there is some coarse language in the game, it is only very mild and infrequent.

My little girl when she at that age, she play Lego game. She also like Pokemon which I think should be fun for a 7YO if not doing the badge challenge ( idk, my girl don't dare to fight the Gym Leader. Everything else on the game she enjoy )