The Five Fine NES Series Reminder: The following choices are in no particular order, and do not reflect a “best of” list, but merely a summarized list of examples per category on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In this case, Five Fine NES Sidekicks.
“Sidekick.” The term brings a frown to some, outright winces to others. Often, these second-rate not-quite-heroes are regarded as unimportant, or even unnecessary. After all, Batman might be a better and more compelling character without Robin, and plenty of our heroes have done just fine without having some sort of assistant.
On the Nintendo Entertainment System, there were plenty of examples of protagonists that fared well without any true help. However, in other cases, there was definitely a sidekick at work who not only contributed to the gameplay experience but genuinely held their own as a full-fledged character.
Rush from Mega Man 3
A robot dog helpin’ out a blaster-armed Blue Bomber overthrow an evil dictator-type character and his evil automaton overlords? Sure, and he was a big help too, like when he was providing a spring for higher jumps to make more areas accessible, or returning in later Mega Man videos games to provide more robo-canine assistance.
Cutrus from 8 Eyes
You may not think “falconer” when you try to imagine a fantasy-type hero, but in the 8 Eyes game Orin, the mightiest of the King’s guardsmen, sets out to penetrate the eight Duke’s castles in order to retrieve the titular “eyes”; or, rather, jewels. His falcon, Cutrus, is the definitive sidekick: He does not seek the spotlight or get in the way, and is not as powerful as Orin, but certainly pitches in and helps kill some bad guys. As an added bonus, a second player could control Cutrus more freely, further improving his stature as an effective tyrant-thrashing teammate.
Bo Jackson from Tecmo Super Bowl
Anyone who has ever played at least a few games of Tecmo Super Bowl on the Nintendo Entertainment System knows that the sports game essentially boils down to a variant of Paper, Rock, Scissors. Not only are you trying to guess a pass/run defense to match the offensive play chosen, but there were only three real choices as teams: The 49ers, who had the nearly unstoppable passing tandem of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice; the Giants, who had linebacker Lawrence Taylor, the only hope of getting to Montana and sacking him so that he could not complete a pass; and the Raiders, whose running back Bo Jackson was the fastest, most elusive character in the game, and arguably of all video games in the sports genre ever. Typically, especially in modern 21st-century football, the running back is second fiddle to the superstar quarterback; however, Tecmo Super Bowl showed that Bo knows stardom himself, and could take over the game, even from what many would still consider not to be the most important position in the field.
Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon II: The Revenge
A true friend helps you beat the living stuff out of every human being in sight in order to help get your kidnapped girlfriend back. Jimmy Lee is that friend to Billy, his brother, and even though Billy is always the marquee main character who gets his girlfriend kidnapped, goes up against the shadow warrior, etc., Jimmy is right there with him doling out the same sort of punishment on any punk who gets in their way.
Toad from Super Mario Bros. 2
In the video game sequel Super Mario Bros. 2, the player is offered a character selection screen. Mario is the incredibly popular legend who runs the fastest and, arguably, is the most well-rounded; Luigi is slow but has mad awesome jumping skills, making him the favorite of some; Princess Toadstool, who has her unique floating trick; and then, there is Toad. Toad is quick, but cannot jump as high as the other characters, and his slightly short stature makes him seem diminutive and unimposing. His Mushroom Kingdom job is just as some sort of imperial consort as royal assistant to Toadstool, and his biggest strength is the ability to pull objects out of the ground quicker than anyone else. Although he may usually be relegated to the nuances of castle work and royal to-do, in SMB2 he is actually let out of the gates and allowed to help the cause on his own. Since this particular video game, Toad still has yet to emerge as anything but a sidekick; however, with some action on New Super Mario Brothers Wii, he has shown versatility that can span several console generations, even as a sidekick.
Do not let the “sidekick” label fool you: Some characters may not be as large, as powerful, or as connected as the main protagonist, but they sure are helpful in a pinch and should be expected to provide an integral role in countless video games to come, partially thanks to the legacy that these NES examples helped to carve.
When Eric “Nintendo Legend” Bailey is not busy defending the merits of a video game’s supporting cast or using Super Mario Bros. 2 as an example in multiple articles in a short timespan, he is running his Nintendo Legend website where he is in the midst of an epic quest to play and post a review for every single Nintendo Entertainment System video game that ever had a North American release, along with occasionally posting other NES-related content.