The Mario Party series

Way on the other side of the spectrum is the Mario Party franchise. Instead of monster-raping bosses, we get candy-coated minigames for everyone to enjoy. Thing is, the Party games don't stay fun for very long. As far as we're concerned, this series flamed out five years ago. But, if you're playing right, you can extend the life of these games indefinitely.

Above: Nintendo freely admits what Mario Party is for

And by "right," we mean "with alcohol." The game's nothing more than a virtual board game sprinkled with multiplayer showdowns, so take a drink every time you're forced into one. If you lose, drink twice. If you win, just keep handing the controller off to someone else, keep drinking, and before you know it, Mario Party 5 is suddenly a lot of fun. It's easy to pass the controller off, too - the shouting, cussing and throwing of things easily makes the game look like a blast, but if you stick around too long, you'll learn the truth. Just keep rotating and everything's rosy.

Think connecting Mario and his clean-livin' pals to a drinking game is a bit much? Just check out the huge screen up there - even Nintendo acknowledges what the series is: an excuse to grab a ton of friends and drink until the sun comes up. Oh, and maybe play some Mario Party 7.