9. Conker’s Bad Fur Day (2001) (N64) (Developer: Rare)
Genuinely one of the most bizarre games ever made (well, except for these), Conker’s Bad Fur Day put players in the shoes of foul-mouthed squirrel Conker, who (after a night binge-drinking with his friends) attempts to get home to his girlfriend, the unfairly sexy Berri (why make a squirrel so sexy?). Conker’s Bad Fur Day is a genuine obscurity: a video game that can actually lay a claim to being funny. How exactly it got made in the first place is anybody’s guess, but Bad Fur Day is a highly accomplished game, too, with a whole lot of variety to be had and some seriously great level design – not to mention jokes that you’d be surprised ever found their way it into a game about a freakin’ squirrel. And an alcoholic one, at that.
10. Ōkami (2006) (Playstation 2) (Developer: Clover Studio)
Underrated and still relatively unknown amongst mainstream gamers, Ōkami is an astounding achievement in gaming and a fully-formed argument for the whole “games as art” debacle. Taking place at some point in classical Japanese history, the game combines Japanese myths and folklore to tell the story of how a white wolf saved the world from a coming darkness – that’s you. Featuring beautiful cel-shaded visuals, Ōkami took its inspiration from The Legend Of Zelda series, though the game is a complete original in every sense. A joy from start to finish, this also happens to be the one entry on this list that every dedicated gamer must experience at least once. It’s that good.
Agree with our choices for this list? What other games with animal protagonists should we have included? Let us know in the comments section below.