Yarrrrrrr! It be international Talk Like A Pirate Day today - and to celebrate we be puttin' together a list of games so yee can play like a pirate would on this finest of days (minus the grog as we be a family establishment an don't want to condone drinkin' or nothin'). Our list be in pieces of eight, plus thar be an extra two for good luck, me hearties, and ye'll be swashbucklin', plunderin' some booty, and singin' yer sea shanties like the true pirate ye know ye can be. So get to it, or we'll keelhaul ya!:
*WARNING: Some of the following links may be quite tenuous.*
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
Formats: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, DS, 3DS, PSP
There be plenty of plunderin' and stacks of swashbucklin' to be done in this game, as the popular Pirates of the Caribbean films get a Lego makeover, resulting in one of the best Lego games in recent years. Playing as over seventy characters from all four films, you get to smash, build and whack your way through the levels, solving basic puzzles as you go - like finding and destroying a certain number of something, rebuilding bricks into something more useful, or pulling two switches at the same time. Each character has their own abilities, such as Jack Sparrow, who's the only one who can find things with his compass, while the pyromaniacal Jacoby can blow anything metal up with his never-ending stash of bombs. And the best part is you can do it all with the help of yer first mate in co-op!
For more, why not check out our LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Review.
£24.99 at GAME for the 360 version, £19.99 on DS
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Format: Wii
Featuring pirates, puzzles and chocolate - as well as a monkey who can transform into a bell, Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is a criminally overlooked game from the Wii's early days. Using the Wii Remote, you point and click your way around the puzzle-based levels to try and reach the treasure at the end - and ultimately reach Barbaros' Treasure before the evil Captain Rose can. Throughout the levels, you'll need to solve head-scratching puzzles, making use of the items you find in the levels, getting more points by solving the puzzles as imaginatively as you can. Items can be combined, transformed with a shake of your monkey-bell-friend or used by acting out the gestures with the Wii remote - like turning the Wii Remote to turn a key in a lock, or miming sawing down a tree.
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is a bargain worth £6.49 from GAME
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Format: XBLA, PSN, PC
A remake of one of the best (and funniest) point and click adventures of the nineties, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition follows the story of wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood - who needs to prove his pirate-ness to the pirate leaders by stealing a statue from the Governor's mansion, finding some buried treasure and beating the Swordmaster at insult sword-fighting. But when Governor Marley gets captured by the evil ghost pirate LeChuck, Guybrush must gather a crew, sail to Monkey Island and save the love of his life. Throughout the game, you'll be chatting to various people, and picking up any items that aren't nailed down - like a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle - and using them to solve puzzles, to ultimately rescue Elaine Marley and defeat LeChuck. For now.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, and Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge can be bought for 800 Microsoft Points (~£6.80) each from the Xbox Live Arcade, or are available on a disk together for £14.85 from Zavvi on Xbox 360 and PS3.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Format: DS
The little green elf Link is back - and take a good hard look cos he's sailing on a boat. Sailing the seas with his pirate friend Tetra, the duo soon come across a ghost ship - which Tetra boards and soon starts screaming for help. As Link rushes to her rescue, he falls into the sea and wakes much later, swept up on a beach somewhere, with little memory of what happened. Exploring the island, he meets up with a Captain Linebeck, who lets Link borrow his ship, the S.S Linebeck, and so begins another great adventure. You'll need to explore a wide, colourful world, help various people out and search for clues - defeating enemies along the way, and traversing through plenty of dungeons on your quest to find Tetra, in this entirely stylus controlled adventure. It works better than it sounds
The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is available for £23.85 from Zavvi
Banjo-Kazooie
Format: XBLA
The bear and bird's first outing sees Banjo's sister Tooty captured by the evil witch Gruntilda, as an integral part of her dastardly plan to make herself more beautiful. As always, the older sibling has to do everything - so off Banjo, and his bird-in-a-backpack Kazooie, trot to rescue Tooty. In order to reach her, they'll have to jump platforms, solve puzzles and lamp enemies to collect Jigsaw pieces (Jiggies) to piece together the pictures in Gruntilda's lair - which open up new worlds to explore. The second world is where all the piratey action happens - Treasure Trove Cove features a beached pirate ship, vicious treasure chests and a shark for you to explore in your quest track down the elusive Jiggies - along with some great music.
Banjo Kazooie is available on the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points (~£10.20)
Mario Party 2
Format: Wii (Virtual Console)
What better way to celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day than with a party - and what party's better than a Mario Party (maybe an S-Club one? - Ed)? Effectively a giant board game bursting with minigames, the idea is to buy as many stars as you can, using the coins you win for winning minigames - which sounds simple enough, until you take into account the snaking paths of the board, and spaces that whittle down your coins, swap players around or incur Bowser's wrath, and roads where you'll need to pay to pass. Mario Party 2 is the first, and only, Mario Party game in which the characters all don themed outfits - so for Pirate Land, each person's 'Captain' is wearing a pirate hat, and wondering round a beach board decorated with sharks, pirate ships and cannons.
Mario Party 2 is available on the Wii Virtual Console for 1000 Nintendo Points (~£7.00)
Lego Rock Band
Format: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, DS
Lego Rock Band lets you build a band and rock the universe - and seeing as the universe contains everything by default, then there's obviously a pirate-themed level, set onboard a ship called the Jolly Rocker, which sees you playing a selection of tenuously linked songs including Sum-41's 'In Too Deep'. Lego Rock Band lets you and up to three friends rock out on guitar, bass, vocals and drums as part of a virtual band, by pressing coloured buttons in time with what's shown on the screen. And as it's a Lego game, it has their trademarked humour - including a Rock Challenge where you need to out-play an octopus, who's a bit offended at your lack of enthusiasm for his eight-tentacled drumming abilities that meant he didn't make it into the band.
LEGO Rock Band is available for £15.99 on the 360, or an incredibly cheap £4.99 on the Wii and PS3
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Format: Wii, PC, Xbox 360 (Xbox Originals)
Ever wondered what life's like as a Pirate? Sid Meier's Pirates! takes you through the main aspects of pirateering - from sailing your ship, naval warfare and swordfighting to trading, sneaking past guards and dancing with the governor's daughter. Back when your pirate was a boy, an evil Spanish nobleman, the Marquis de Montalban, enslaved your family because they owed him money when the fleet of ships they were controlling were lost at sea. Your pirate somehow managed to evade capture, and ten years later joins a crew on a ship, becoming the captain after a mutiny - and from here, it's up to you what pirates do best, as you sail around the Caribbean Islands, looking for pirate-y things to do, and ultimately trying to locate your lost family members.
Sid Meier's Pirates is available for £9.85 on the Wii from Zavvi, or £12.95 on the PSP
The Munchanbles
Format: Wii
The planet of Star Ving, home to the greedy creatures known as the Munchables, has been invaded by a load of Space Pirate (aha - there's the link!) Tabeman monsters (who look a lot like fruit and vegetables), and they've stolen the planet's Legendary Orbs. It's up to you as one of the Munchables to get them back - by doing what you do best, and eating everything in sight; especially those tasty-looking Tabeman monsters. But you can only eat monsters that are smaller than you, and as you eat more and more you'll increase in size - meaning you can eat bigger things, eventually building up to the massive boss monster who's stolen one of the Orbs. Eat him, and once the orb makes it's way out the other end, you're on your way to saving the planet Star Ving.
The Munchables is available for £8.95 from Zavvi
Rayman 2: The Great Escape/Rayman DS/Rayman 3D
Formats: PSN/DS/3DS
The Glade of Dreams has been invaded by pirates from outer space, led by Captain Razorbeard, who destroy the Heart of the World, shattering it into a thousand pieces - and capturing Rayman in the process. Once he escapes, the limb-lacking Rayman needs to collect all the pieces of the world's core (called Lums), and reunite four magical masks to awaken Polokus, the world's spirit to fix the damage the pirates have caused, and free his friend Globox, who seems to keep being re-captured by the space pirates. As a platform game, you control Rayman jumping from platform to platform, collecting Lums, avoiding obstacles and fighting the enemy pirates, making use of various items as you go, like using explosive barrels to blow up walls to continue, or riding rockets to new parts of the levels.
Rayman 2 is available as Rayman 3D on the 3DS for £12.99 from Zavvi, on the DS as Raymn DS for £9.78, or on the Playstation Network as a digital download
Aye, and that be it for yer pirate-themed games fer this year. So yer lily-livered landlubbers better git out there and git playin' 'fore you end up in Davy Jones' Locker. This year, International Talk Like A Pirate day is in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care, and lets yee let out yer inner pirate for a day, without gittin' a load of weird looks. Yarrrrr!
