Multiplayer consideration in game reviews.

[NintendoLegend]

I will try to ask this as simply as possible, though the issue at hand can be quite complex:

When reviewing a video game, how much should the multiplayer matter?

One example: Many people say Bubble Bobble is an awesome game, but frequently cite the two-player mode as the reason. Is that valid? Should the question "but what if I just want to play by myself?" be allowed? Is it a worse game when played one-player?

[gunsage]

Well, I think it boils down to how fun is the game solo. Bubble Bobble, Contra, and the Mario games CAN be played multiplayer...but it's not absolutely necessary and you don't necessarily have more or less fun with it. In some cases, like with Contra, you might have less fun because the other player wants to rush ahead and accidentally kills you by causing the screen to scroll to the point that you get swallowed up by an imaginary pit.

In respect to the NES library, I can't think of one game where playing with 2 players or more really enhances the experience...except for maybe Gauntlet 2. That game was great, especially if you had 4 people playing, but I don't know of many people who had the multi-tap.