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The Great Girlfriend Grab

Posted by Bob Mackey

While doing research for yesterday's post about Alex Kidd, I noticed something interesting: the intro to Alex Kidd in Shinobi World features Alex's girlfriend being whisked away by a villain who literally appears out of nowhere. Of course, savvy (and old) gamers will remember this little vignette as one of old-school gaming's bigger stereotypes; similar scenes even appeared in the intros to the throwback Haggleman series on Retro Game Challenge. I chuckled when I first saw Haggleman's parody, but after seeing it portrayed sincerely in Shinobi World, I started wondering to myself how many games I could find that actually opened with a girlfriend-abducting scene.

What follows are my results.

In case you haven't seen it, here's the Haggleman version of the famous scene (skip to 2:10):



Here's Donkey Kong, which possibly started the trend:



Here's the aforementioned Shinobi World intro:



Here's Super Ghouls and Ghosts:



Up next is Double Dragon:



And finally, we have Super Mario RPG:



Which ones have I neglected to mention and/or remember? I'm wondering just how long this list can be.

Related Links:

The 61FPS Review: Retro Game Challenge
Old Man, Take a Look At My Life
Pole’s Big Adventure: Sega Rides the Retro Train, Takes Advantage of You


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Comments

TideGear said:

Haggle Man 1 and 2 are basically inspired by Ninja Jajamaru-kun which features the GF grab as well!...

en.wikipedia.org/.../Ninja_Jajamaru_Kun

March 10, 2009 1:55 PM

Joe Keiser said:

The Legend of Kage begins with, you guessed it, evil girlfriend-kidnapping ninjas:

www.youtube.com/watch

If you're looking for something more recent, check six minutes into this video from Stranglehold:

www.youtube.com/watch

March 10, 2009 5:06 PM

raridco said:

There's a BUNCH.  Castle of Illusions: Starring Mickey Mouse,

Splatterhouse, Vay....that's all I can think of right now, but the girlfriend grab is as much a staple to videogames as the double jump.  So the list could be quite substantial.

March 10, 2009 7:52 PM

Vael said:

Ever tried out 'New Super Mario Bros.' for the DS?  Upon starting a new file, you get an excellent cutscene, with Mario, Peach, and Bowser!  Needless to say, Bowser makes off with Peach when Mario is distracted, starting the game off with the age-old girlfriend grab.

March 11, 2009 2:18 AM

Nate said:

How about Bubble Bobble? In the beginning both their girlfriends are abducted.

March 16, 2009 7:57 PM

jenn said:

Don't forget EVERY Splatterhouse, but most of all, Wanpaku Graffiti. You play as Rick, and you must rescue your girlfriend Jennifer! I wish I didn't know that.

March 17, 2009 4:09 PM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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