Well, I guess this is an annual blog now. It's good for everyone except for my faithful reader, I guess. I love making lists, setting goals, and looking back on my year's accomplishments, so this always rises to the level I need to motivate me to get back out there and write something. Without further ado, here are the games I completed this year, in alphabetical order:
- Aero Fighters 3
- Armored Warriors
- Astro's Playroom
- Axiom Verge
- Batman: The Video Game
- Battle Arena Toshinden
- Chrono Cross
- Crash Bandicoot 4
- Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Dragon Quest XI
- Gunstar Heroes
- Mario Party Superstars
- Metroid Dread
- Mickey Mousecapade
- MLB Power Pros
- Pokemon Legends: Arceus
- Pokemon Scarlet
- Pop 'n TwinBee
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
- Slay the Spire
- Star Fox 64
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Streets of Rage 4
- Superhot
- TMNT (Arcade)
- TMNT Hyperstone Heist
- TMNT Turtles in Time (Arcade)
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
- Vampire Survivors
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 +2
A lovingly done remake, but it's still a remake so it feels hard to put in the top 10. The levels from 1 feel fantastic with full manual and revert support.
TMNT/TMNT Turtles in Time
I got the Cowabunga Collection once it dropped to $20, and had a blast of a few days playing through all of the old Turtles games. The two arcade games were super fun, but it did feel like they relied too heavily on flashy, quarter munching bosses with little strategy to them other than smash, bash, and pay up.
TMNT: Hyperstone Heist
I have never played this Genesis gem before, and found it absolutely fantastic. It has the signature Genesis sound, great visuals and gameplay, and the bosses are tremendously crafted for balance, although the end boss is a bit dull. I'd give the edge to the SNES Turtles in Time as it's a bit longer and has that incredible last fight that surpasses even the arcade version, but this is a really good game. It's just a crowded field!
Superhot
Super inventive concept, memorable visuals, and wonderful execution. Highly recommended.
Astro's Playroom
What was a glorified tech demo for the new PS5 controllers ended up being a nicely crafted and quick 3D platformer that delivered some value for PS5 owners starved for content.
Batman: The Video Game
Superb visuals and sound, along with excellent wall jumping, combine to make this a standout budget title for anyone looking to get into NES collecting on the cheap.
Pop 'n Twinbee
I've been flirting a bit with vertical shooters this year, and Pop 'n Twinbee was the one I enjoyed most. The visuals were fantastic, and the powerup mechanic immediately gives this game a much different, and more frenetic, feel than most vertical shooters.
And now, the top 10!
10. Streets of Rage 4
We moved this year into much smaller, temporary housing while we are in the process of building a new house. All of that translated to me having to make some difficult decisions about which games to bring with me, and which to leave in storage. I chose a ton of longer RPGs, hoping to keep myself occupied with a limited number of actual discs. I finally got to this one a few months ago, and found myself enjoying it tremendously! It doesn't quite rise to the level of BioWare's magnificent Mass Effect, as I felt it aped a bit too much from other collect-a-thon AAA games designed to wring 80 hours of gameplay out of 20 hours of content. With that said, it had BioWare's typical, excellent writing and character development, and the combat was super fun. Check it out!
8. Crash Bandicoot 4
It's been a while since a good Crash game, and Toys for Bob totally delivered year. They perfectly captured the spirit of the PS1 games, and brought back to life a franchise that desperately needed it.
7. Gunstar Heroes
This is the kind of game that if I had played it upon release in 1993, would begrudgingly have racked up another point in the "Genesis" column in my mental console wars spreadsheet (Team SNES, btw). This game is absolutely superb, with great visuals, sound, spectacle, and game play. The powerups weren't particularly balanced, but that's ok. This is a fantastic retro experience that everyone should enjoy.
6. Pokemon Legends: Arceus
When it comes down to it, I've always been part of the gang of crotchety old folks incredibly satisfied with getting a predictable, enjoyable Pokemon game every 3-4 years. I've never wanted Pokemon to push far past its familiar boundaries, precisely because I enjoyed the traditional experience so very much. My least favorite Pokemon games have come in the last few years when they seem to have been playing around with the formula the most. And yet, Arceus was an absolute masterpiece. The graphics are total garbage, there are frustrating things about it, but it absolutely delivered on the promise of iterating on the classic Pokemon formula to build a compelling world and novel exprerience. Scarlet, on the other hand...
5. Chrono Cross
This is a game I underappreciated for decades thanks to one little word. Chrono. In my opinion, Chrono Trigger is the greatest RPG of all time, and perhaps the greatest video game of all time. In an all-time run for Squaresoft, it stands alone. However, it's on me not to bring my own baggage to my conception of a video game, and after playing this game from beginning to end, I have to say that this is one of the finest RPGs of the era. Change it's name to anything else, and this is a game that would be discussed in the hallowed spaces of the PS1 Final Fantasy games, Suikodens, Xenogears, etc. It feels like it never gets that credit, however.
4. Dragon Quest XI
Crotchety old men like me can fall into a nostalgia trap of believing that the past was always better than the present. The golden age of whatever we like is gone, replaced with an amalgam of garbage poisoned by Commercialism and the bad taste of the next generation. I absolutely began to believe that in regards to JRPGs, missing the era in which I grew up, and decrying the newest era of games, despite the fact that I'd tried almost none of them. They just didn't look like something I'd be interested in playing. So, in surprise to no one, the last few years have been filled with several reminders that the JRPG is not, in fact, dead, and that the last decade have been filled with several standouts that would have thrilled and delighted me at any age. Included here are games like Xenoblade Chronicles, Bravely Default, Ni No Kuni, and now Dragon Quest XI. The last game in that list absolutely delighted me with its retro stylings, stunning visuals, and deep and interesting systems. It's always cheap, so if you find yourself jaded with the current state of JRPGs, go try one of these four. I'd bet you'll find something to like, and I'm also sure that the last few years are also chock full of games that I've never had the chance to play yet.
3. Metroid Dread
Those other games were excellent, but now we're talking all time classic levels. Because human society demands that we form into ultimately self-destructive tribes, when it comes to Metroidvania, you can count me on team Vania. Symphony of the Night is one of my all-time favorite games. I'm getting dangerously close to an annual playthrough for it, joining Super Mario World and Link to the Past. The Metroid games have never quite sat right with me. I enjoy most of them, but it feels like the jumps in progression are too small and unnoticeable and that the level design is never quite as intuitive in Metroid as in the modern Castlevania games. However, Metroid Dread completely exceeded all of my expectations with the most genius level design in any Metroidvania, ever. There are obviously always side paths you can take to explore, but the bread crumbs are laid so magnificently in this game so that you will rarely be lost, and always be finding something productive to do. The boss fights are razor sharp, the visuals are fine, music is excellent, and the EMMI sections are among the most heart-pounding, well designed challenges in gaming to date. This is a must play!
2. Vampire Survivors
The surprise game of the year! I only picked up this game because of Twitter, and found that dollar for dollar, this may be the deal of the century. Super cheap, insanely addicting, and conceptually brilliant, Vampire Survivors will absolutely be the best few dollars that you spend. It's hard to even explain what this game is like without playing it, but basically it's a game in which you only move your character, while your weapons automatically fire. You'll need to traverse the dangers posed in each level, and as you kill more enemies, you'll level up, allowing access to new weapons, level up old weapons, and even combine multiple weapons and items together into brand new, extremely powerful weapons. What's more, each level gives you a random selection of weapons and items, which, coupled with limited slots at your disposal, makes every level up choice critical as you strive to survive the hordes of enemies coming your way. My only slight disappointment with this game was that there are few enough weapons/items, and enough ways to skip options in your random rolls, that each run can get a little too similar with a skilled player at the helm. My final build was probably 90% similar to my ideal build every time, and having more options would increase the randomness and thus, the fun of having to be creative about handling different challenges. I spent dozens of hours on this game, and it will almost certainly be something that I circle back around too regularly as new content launches and as I get the desire.
1. Slay the Spire
Wow, I love this game! It takes a dungeon crawling approach to traversal, a roguelike approach to fresh games regularly, a deck-building card-based combat, and meshes them into one magnificent cocktail of addiction. In contrast to our number 2 games on the list, Slay the Spire features a dizzying array of choices for cards, artifacts that will permanently power your character up, and pathways to make each and every run through the Spire totally and completely unique. If you try to make each run the same, the Spire will thoroughly punish you. The skilled player learns that each class archetype has many paths to victory, and that skillfully building your deck and artifacts in keeping with your very limited options will yield much better results than slavish devotion to one singular approach. This is a masterclass in game design, and I will absolutely spend regular time in the Spire for years to come.
And that's the top 10! Now, as usual, I'll review my 2022 goals to see which ones I completed:
2022 Goal #1: Complete Chrono Cross
Check
2022 Goal #2: Complete 25 games I've never finished before
Check
2022 Goal #3: Complete Secret of Mana
Gulp. This has been a goal for several years and I never seem to get around to it.
2022 Goal #4: Abandon games that aren't fun or that I'm not enjoying
I gave up quite a bit this year! If I didn't like it, I just didn't play it. My life is too short to play bad games. I did play a few that weren't the best games, but I still found some enjoyment in them, like Mickey Mousecapade, Battle Arena Toshinden, and Pokemon Scarlet.
2022 Goal #5: Buy some pricey new physical games for my collection
I actually did this! I bought several games that were north of 50 dollars, which is very pricey for me. I was also more open to buying some new games at full price if I was excited about them, and I didn't really regret it much.
Four out of five is pretty good. Here are some goals for 2023.
2023 Goal #1: Complete Secret of Mana
This is the year.
2023 Goal #2: Complete 25 games I've never finished before
I got 29 last year, and my gaming time is ticking back up very slightly, but who knows what the future will bring?
2023 Goal #3: Fix up my hardware
My stuff is going downhill fast. I've got broken controllers and systems, scratched discs, etc. 2023 is the year to fix all of that stuff up or replace it, and get my gaming life back on track.
2023 Goal #4: Get a MiSTer
I had a Raspberry Pi that I enjoyed setting up, so I think I'd really enjoy getting a MiSTer for higher quality output and emulation. This goal goes along with my goal #5...
2023 Goal #5: Downsize my collection
We are moving homes at the moment, and I just don't have the space for all of the stuff that I have in storage right now. What's more, the market's high and I honestly don't use a ton of my gaming stuff regularly at the moment. I probably game on my PS5 80% of the time, the Switch 10% of the time, and everything else about 10%. I'm fine with having old stuff that isn't in play regularly, but what I need to get rid of is the stuff that I don't like, I know I'll never play again, or is high priced. I found myself buying Turbografx-16 stuff, and honestly didn't even know why I was doing it. It's not that the games are bad or I'm not interested in playing them, but they're so expensive, and a MiSTer will do the trick for all of the stuff that I'm curious about. I don't even have a system to play them on! I was preparing for the Analogue Turbo clone, but that seems like a huge waste of money, given Turbo prices. I'm starting with that Turbo stuff and moving on from there. I'd like to trim my collection down by about 25% this year. I sold a bit when we moved and I really didn't miss any of it. I know that if I want it in the future, I can get it back, and it will probably be cheaper then, too.
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