5 Fun Multiplayer Experiences on the N64

Pokémon Stadium – Clefairy Says

As amusing as it is to watch Peach float away in a barrel and pretend she was never heard from again, Pokémon Stadium trumps Mario Party in the way of entertaining Simon Says mini-games with Clefairy Says. Like Kirby 64, Pokémon Stadium‘s mini-games were strictly diversionary and not intended to be the selling attraction. Yet it’s a similar case of a single mini-game compelling you to load your cartridge just for this purpose.

The game follows a different format than Shy Guy Says, where it’s less about quick response time and more about memorization. The teacher writes a sequence of arrows on the blackboard with no distinguishing colours. Then you’re given a few seconds to repeat it back to her, proportionate to the number of arrows, which is followed by a group musical performance. Calling it a “performance” might be giving it too much dignity for something rudimentary, but it’s an appropriate term when the feedback is bound to incite laughter.

The hilarity is three-pronged: the kitschy song (players constantly singing “Fair-y”), the robotic motions during the playback, as well as the teacher’s choice of punishment — rubber mallets à la Whack-a-Mole. Honestly, it has no right to be so funny, but it is, especially seeing that one player get error after error and go in opposite directions to everyone else.

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