Someasy

Brief overview:

This particular hybrid genre is quite rare to find and very enjoyable for me. I think it can largely be credited to Ratchet & Clank for trendsetting and inspiring all the rest (even Jak 2 had used some of Ratchet's code after Jak and Daxter [1]: The Precursor Legacy didnt have any weapons). There are some older games that might have inspired Ratchet & Clank, such as Blasto, which will also be listed here. But mostly I'm focusing on games that replicate a similar style as the Ratchet and Jak series, sometimes on purpose. Please let me know if you have any additions to the list.

The List (main):

▪︎ Ratchet & Clank (series) ▪︎ Jak and Daxter (series) ▪︎ Protodroid DeLTA ▪︎ Akimbot and Pumpkin Jack (same dev as each other) ▪︎ Tamarin ▪︎ Automaton Lung (& sequel Automaton Heart demo) ▪︎ GearGrit (and the devs' other game Fadeout kind of) ▪︎ Cloudbuilt ▪︎ Onirism ▪︎ Metal Arms : Glitch in the System ▪︎ Ruff Trigger : The Vanocore Conspiracy ▪︎ Donald Duck PK (AKA PK : Out of the Shadows) ▪︎ SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge (yes, this is really a 3rd person shooter) ▪︎ Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath ▪︎ Shadow the Hedgehog ▪︎ Spy vs Spy ▪︎ Blasto

I've heard recommended but can't verify if they fit the bill or not:

▪︎ Jet Force Gemini ▪︎ Stitch: Experiment 626 ▪︎ Smarties: Meltdown ▪︎ Insecticide ▪︎ Dr. Muto ▪︎ Destroy All Humans! (series) ▪︎ Robots ▪︎ One ▪︎ MDK (series) ▪︎ Earthworm Jim 3D ▪︎ Buzz Lightyear of Star Command ▪︎ Blinx : The Time Sweeper ▪︎ Cryght ▪︎ Mega Man Legends ▪︎ Fur Fighters

Similar gameplay elements either continuously or occasionally:

▪︎ Sly Cooper (series) ▪︎ Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (series) ▪︎ Rayman (the 3D games) ▪︎ Skylar & Plux ▪︎ Spyro the Dragon (series) ▪︎ Super Mario (series) ▪︎ Crash Bandicoot (series) ▪︎ Astro Bot (series) ▪︎ *Psychonauts (series) ▪︎ Futurama ▪︎ Family Guy Video Game! ▪︎ Jumping Flash ▪︎ The Gunk ▪︎ Splatoon (series) ▪︎ Sunset Overdrive ▪︎ Returnal ▪︎ ReCore ▪︎ Lost Planet (series)

A recent example is related to the news that Bluepoint Games were pitching a Jak and Daxter (and Bloodborne) remake, but Sony shut them down (and the studio). Many people expressed disappointment in particular with the fact that Sony were actively passing on remaking or reviving the classic Jak and Daxter games that are beloved by many, but others made their views known that they would have no interest in any new games in the series and are content with the originals or the recent upscaled PC ports. That's all fair, but others take it further by saying "Because I'm not interested in this idea, it shouldn't happen and I hope they don't make it". Now I should be clear that there are reasons to not want something to be made, such as if you think it would ruin the franchise somehow and tarnish its image, or because it would take up resources and time that could be devoted to something else you'd rather that particular studio be making, or because of political or moral reasons (which some people cited as opposition to any Harry Potter games, like Hogwarts Legacy, due to the associations with J.K. Rowling's "political expressions" - or rather, calling a spade a spade, transphobia). You can hold any reason or belief you like for wishing something not to happen. But this particular reason just doesn't make any sense to me. Because YOU wouldn't derive any benefit or utility from a product or phenomenon of some kind, therefore it shouldn't exist - why, simply because you think there would be no purpose to it and anything without a purpose ought not exist? If that's really the rationale, it seems selfish to me when other people actually would benefit from it and therefore it has a purpose to individuals beyond yourself. But I could be misunderstanding or misrepresenting/strawmanning the reasoning there, so I'm more curious to understand it.

One Woman in the Justice League

Just one woman, maybe two, in a team or group of men.

Also watch Jimmy Kimmel's "Muscle Man' superhero skit - "I'm the girly one"

The Avengers:

In Marvel Comics:

"Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes," the original Avengers consisted of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Thor and the Wasp. Captain America was discovered trapped in ice in The Avengers issue #4, and joined the group after they revived him."

5 / 6 original members are male. Only one is female.

Modern films (MCU):

The original 6 Avengers were Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow.

Again, 5 / 6 original members are male. Only one is female.

Justice League

In DC comics:

"The Justice League originally consisted of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman"

6 / 7 original members are male. Only one is female.

In modern films (DCEU):

The members were/are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg. (+ introducing Martian Manhunter (in Zack Snyder's Justice League director's cut))

5 / 6 main members in both versions of the Justice League film are male, with appearances by a 7th member in the director's cut who is also male. Only one member is female.

The Umbrella Academy (comics and show)

7 members:

1. Luther (Number One / Spaceboy)
2. Diego (Number Two / The Kraken)
3. Allison (Number Three / The Rumor)
4. Klaus (Number Four / The Séance)
5. Five (Number Five / The Boy)
6. Ben (Number Six / The Horror)
7. Vanya (Number Seven / The White Violin) Later becomes known as Viktor and nonbinary in the television adaptation after Elliot Page's transition but that's not really relevant to this.

Here, 5 / 7 original members are male. Only two are female. Only slightly better than the other more famous superhero teams, and they had to add another member (compared to Avengers' 6 members) to improve the ratio (maybe executives still demanded to have 5 males).

Now let's look at some sitcoms and other stories.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia:

4 males, and 1 female slightly less prominent character who is abused constantly. The show claims to be politically aware and satirical but gets away with a lot of misogynistic comedy, tbh, that I'm willing to bet a lot of people are finding funny for the wrong reasons.

Community:

Jeff, Britta, Abed, Troy, Annie, Pierce, Shirley. This one is a little better, 3/7 are female. Notice it's always more males though, they never let it become more than 50% female, or else then it's a "chick flick" or a "female team up" or "gender flipped" story. And of course the main character, and the leading few characters, are almost always male or mostly male.

Stranger Things:

Main original group of kids consisted of: Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and El (Eleven). 1 original female member, who is comparable to an alien and even plays the role of E.T. in direct homage. When they added Max, I saw people complaining that although they liked her, there should be only one female member. 🤦

Why is it 'iconic' to have only one female in a group of males? Does that just mean it's the tradition, the way it's always been? Can't we change that? Is it so that all the men can have a chance with the one girl, or so the males can always dominate the discussion with their use of force and manliness? Or so that whenever the team saves the day, it's mostly a bunch of men doing it, but with 'a little help' from a female/a few females (at most), too!

It's so fucked up and disgusting to me I've realised. And men don't seem to care. I'm a male and this is really disturbing to me now that I've woken up to it. How do women feel about this? Am I overreacting?