Back at it again for my faithful reader! I built a house this year, and that took me basically working full time at my day job, and then heading out to the house to finish construction after work, so there wasn't a lot of gaming time. I've caught up a bit in the latter half of 2023, but there were definitely fewer games that I finished this year. The following is a list of the games I completed this year, in alphabetical order.
- Armored Police Batrider
- Batman: The TellTale Games
- Captain Commando
- Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
- Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2
- Crimson Shroud
- DuckTales 2
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Knights of the Round
- Luck Be a Landlord
- Middle Earth: Shadow of War
- NBA 2K23
- Ni No Kuni II
- Pocket Card Jockey
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
- Secret of Mana
- Spider-Man 2
- SteamWorld Dig
- SteamWorld Dig 2
- Streets of Rage
- Streets of Rage 2
- Warriors of Fate
Twenty-two seems poor, given that last year was an all-time (at least since I started this blog) low for me with 29. But there were a couple of absolutely massive games that I played, and I also have two of the biggest games that I haven't quite finished yet lingering on (you'll see them on the top games of 2023 list despite their unfinished state). Given that I didn't complete a single game between January and April with my house getting finished, I feel ok about twenty-two.
I definitely saw a shift back towards handheld gaming, as I've been trying to steal time here or there were I can get a few minutes in, as opposed to needing to dedicate an hour or two to gaming on the Big TV. I've also been enjoying beat 'em ups quite a bit, and those are nice quick clears for me (and can do them together with my family). Looking back through this list, I've experienced some incredible games this year! Getting a top ten together this year was tough - I enjoyed basically everything I completed, with one exception. So, here are some honorable mentions for those games that didn't quite make the cut:
Warriors of Fate/Captain Commando/Knights of the Round
At some point last year, I bought the beat 'em up collection from Capcom, and played through a bunch of the games. This year, I finished the rest with my kids, and I just have say that 90's Capcom absolutely ruled. The art style, controls, and personality of these beat 'em ups reflect the A-tier work they were doing in the 2D space from the late '80s to mid 90's. You can't go wrong with any of the games in this collection, although Final Fight is definitely the best of the bunch. Next to Nintendo and Square, Capcom is among the best developers of the era.
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers & the sequel
People who lived through the trash years of horrible TV and movie tie-in games might see these games and assume that they're typical cash-in nonsense. They would be incorrect. These games aren't DuckTales, but they're high quality, fun, classic platformers. Capcom strikes again!
Crimson Shroud
Many thanks to the Retronauts, and Chris Kohler in particular, for the recommendation. I went back and listened to their podcast regarding the end of the 3DS/Wii U eShops and grabbed this game before judgment day. I was incredibly impressed! This is the kind of experimental, half-baked game that really thrives on the eShop, and while it's not an all-time classic, it's extremely creative and brings the pen and paper D&D experience to life in ways that not many games have successfully done. Not that I'd recommend pirating video games or anything, but you should definitely check this out if you're into the genre! They certainly won't let you buy it legally...
Now, onto the 2023 reTROview top 10!
10. Armored Police Batrider
This is perhaps teasing some of this list, but the big gaming improvement that's occurred for me this year is that I bought an Analogue Pocket! I've been loving it for playing my physical GB/GBC/GBA carts, but in truth, the bulk of my time has been spent on the incredible Open FPGA playground. I've been exposed to so many games that I never would have had the chance to play otherwise, and one of the first and most impactful of these has been Batrider. When I booted the game up, I had no idea what to expect. But what it delivered was the pure Aerofighters or Gunbird style vertical shooter experience that I've been desperately craving. Developed by Raizing, this game is a visual, audio, and gameplay delight. I've enjoyed all of the Raizing shooters I've played (they produced a bunch of them before being tasked with producing anime fighters (boo!) for the last twenty years, but this was my first and favorite so far. I'm going to try to get really good at this one and 1 credit clear it at some point, as well as dig in more to other Raizing shooters. If you like this kind of game, check it out!
9. Luck be a Landlord
While this game doesn't necessarily speak my political language, I'm absolutely here for the gameplay. Drawing inspiration from roguelikes such as Slay the Spire and tacking on a compelling slot machine-style of gameplay, this game delivers an addicting and enjoyable experience once you figure out what's going on. I wish it was balanced a bit more skillfully like Spire, but it was well worth the five bucks I spent.
8. NBA 2K23
I love 2K, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that this is the best 2K game of all-time. They fixed so many bizarre things that would happen in prior games, and overhauled the AI defense to make it much less predictable. You'll feel like it's a real basketball game, even if the guards still shoot WAY too many full-speed leaning threes to feel correct. Hopefully 2K24 is even better! And free through PS Plus, like this one was.
7. SteamWorld Dig 2
If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I absolutely love Metroidvanias. Symphony of the Night is now part of my annual replay rotation along with Super Mario World and Link to the Past. This genre really scratches an itch for me, and SteamWorld Dig 2 is a really solid newer entry. Compared to its predecessor, it's significantly more refined and directed, with less aimless backtracking and more consistent, well-crafted level design. If you like the genre, I'd highly recommend it!
6. Middle Earth: Shadow of War
One of our family traditions every year is to watch through The Lord of the Rings trilogy, along with the documentaries that go along with the movies. Along with that comes an inescapable urge to play a Lord of the Rings video game. Some years it's been Lord of the Rings Online. Others, like this year, have featured a quick play through of the underrated GBA gem Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. But last year I picked a game I'd never played before, Shadow of War. This game absolutely stunned me. It's got the Batman style attack and counter combat I adore together with an ingenious system of hunting bosses, the Nemesis System. In this game, the bosses adapt to your tactics, successes, and failures. If you try the same strategy too many times on a boss, he may learn it and become resistant to it. Each boss also has distinct weaknesses that you can exploit to make your encounters easier. They can also be turned to your side to become a part of your army and be deployed on various missions in your goal to conquer the Dark Lord. The game relies too much on modern map design, with hundreds of mostly meaningless trinkets strewn across the wastes of Mordor, but at the heart of the game is a fantastic boss hunting mechanic that, on its own, easily earns the price of admission.
5. Pocket Card Jockey
This is another game I discovered thanks to the Retronauts, and purchased before the Eshop closed. It's a horse racing game for the 3DS, but uses a unique mechanic in which the speed of your horse depends on how skillfully you play solitaire-esque card games. I promise that there is an extremely credible in-universe explanation for this. From the creators of Pokemon, Jockey allows you to train, race, and breed your horses to try to win as many races as possible. With an endless gameplay loop that allows you to build a stable of generations of horses, this is an amazing deep dive as well as a great game to just turn on and play a few races for fun.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Thanks to the tyranny of high expectations, I felt slightly disappointed by this game. Its predecessor is one of my favorite video games of all-time, and this game absolutely delivers on a ton of what made the original great. It also improves some things on the margins. It just isn't a massive step forward for the franchise, and I think this team is talented enough to make that happen. With that being said, it's also my fourth favorite game of the year, and was tremendous.
3. Octopath Traveler
The last few years have seen me delight in discovering that the world of JRPGs is alive and well; chock full of developers who grew up loving Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon and wanting to put their own spin on the genre. And spin it they have. Dragon Quest XI, Ni No Kuni, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Bravely Default all take the JRPG in new directions while letting their love of the classics shine brightly. Octopath Traveler is the new JRPG I'm enamored with, combining really strong character-driven storylines together with a strategic and immersive battle system that never gets old. They also absolutely nailed the economy of a classic JRPG, with stretch goal gear accessible only to the dedicated grinders while being powerful enough to reward said effort. The game is gorgeous, too. Despite how beautiful it is, no, we don't need a Chrono Trigger remake in this style. Perfect games don't need to be remade, just re-released. Xenogears on the other hand...get on it Square/Acquire! I'm done with five of the eight stories here, and will finish it up once I'm done with my annual playthroughs that wait for no man.
2. Mother 3
I think some people would be surprised to learn that I never touched Mother 3 until 2023. Earthbound is an absolutely seminal game for me, after all. I've told this story here before, but I visited some family friends in the late 90s, and they still had a Super Nintendo with Earthbound. I played it up until the end of Onett, and was blown away by the cutesy charm and humor of the game. When I returned from my friends, I told my friends back home that they had to play this game because it was like Pokemon but with people instead. Forgive my naïve anachronism. After my friends down the street got Final Fantasy Chronicles and told me about emulators, the doors to my JRPG addiction were blown wide open. Earthbound was among the first games I ever emulated and completed, and I remain a huge fan to this day. So why no Mother 3? Firstly, the jaw-dropping fan translation didn't release until 2008, and at that point my gaming was at its nadir. I was totally locked into sports and my gaming time was split between the PS2, my GBA, and messing around with NES/SNES emulation. I was completely offline from gaming news and developments (I didn't really even know about the Xbox 360 or what an HDMI cable even was), and was unaware that GBA emulation even existed. Once I caught up a bit in 2012 or so, it just felt wrong to play Mother 3 on an emulator, particularly with the timing-based battle system. I know emulators have come a long way, but I wanted my experience with Mother 3 to be absolutely perfect. Enter the Analogue Pocket. I finally have a way to play Mother 3 in glorious perfection, and I am loving it. I'm in Chapter 7 of 8, and have found it to be an incredible follow-up to one of my favorite games of all time. I still prefer Earthbound slightly...the SNES game feels wackier and the chapter setup in 3 bounced me around a bit too much. But this game is among the most polished video games, ever, period. They drew a ton of the enemy sprites twice, once for back attacks and once for regular attacks. They have dozens of custom animations for situations that happen once or twice in the game. The dialogue is insanely great. The characters are charming and beautifully designed. This is a game that just has to be experienced, period.
1. Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 2 is the best beat 'em up of all time, period. The characters are wonderful. The soundtrack is mind-blowing. The enemy placement and difficulty balance is just perfect. The graphics are amazing. It's difficult to imagine a game in this genre sticking the landing more. Why did it take me so long to play this masterpiece? Go play it. Now!
2023 reTROview Stinker of the Year: Batman: The Telltale Series
This was so very disappointing to me. The button inputs you did basically didn't change the story at all. Your choices didn't change the story at all. The story was pretty milquetoast to begin with. In a universe chock-full of incredible characters, this one fell extremely flat. This is all even worse because I finished the whole thing. I've gotten better about walking away from games I don't enjoy, but still feel bad about abandoning movies/tv shows - I'm really not invested in most video game stories, but movies just feel different. This felt like a bad tv show I couldn't stop watching, but I won't be fooled again. This is the last Telltale game I ever play.
On to more pleasant things - let's revisit my 2023 goals and see how I did!
2023 Goal #1: Complete Secret of Mana
I did it! Secret of Mana was pretty good. I probably would have liked it more if I played it in the early '90s like everyone else, but the combat was just totally broken. Great graphics and music, though!
2023 Goal #2: Complete 25 games I've never finished before
Didn't quite make it. Since I missed a third of a year building a house, I still feel like 22 is pretty fantastic.
2023 Goal #3: Fix up my hardware
I fixed a few PS5 controllers, but other than that, didn't quite get there.
2023 Goal #4: Get a MiSTer
I didn't get a MiSTer, but I did get an Analogue Pocket! The portable nature of it just put it over the top compared to MiSTer. I know MiSTer has more cores and all, but there's a ton on Analogue Pocket, it plays real carts, and it has all of the console stuff I really want. I'll consider this one accomplished.
2023 Goal #5: Downsize my collection
I said I'd cut out 25% of my collection, and I don't think I did quite that much. But I did sell several consoles and probably 50 games or so, which is pretty good for me! I also have another 50 or so I'm planning on selling but just haven't had time to do so. I'm going to keep selling in the new year...the Analogue Pocket and my existing stuff give me 95% of what I want, and the other 5% is mostly new or nearly new releases. I also don't have a ton of money right now, so adding stuff is additionally foolish.
On to some new goals!
2024 Goal #1: Fix more hardware
There's so much of my stuff that just isn't working right now, and I have to get it fixed or replaced. I don't want to live in a world where I don't have a Gamecube (RIP my laser).
2024 Goal #2: Complete 30 new games
My gaming time has ticked up slightly the last few months, so I feel pretty good about my chances to complete 30 games. I already basically have two in the bag with Octopath and Mother 3, and my next playthrough of Super Mario Wonder will probably only take me a few days. I'd guess I can have three done by the end of January, and then I can turn my focus to some smaller experiences on my Pocket to fill in the gaps. 2.5 games per month seems about right.
2024 Goal #3: Complete Breath of Fire
One of my thirty games must be Breath of Fire. It's one of my favorite B-tier RPGs from the SNES...but I've never beaten it! It's time. I'm more than 2/3 through in some odd hours playing it on the Switch, so now's my chance.
2024 Goal #4: Complete Suikoden
I spent a lot of money on Suikoden and Suikoden II during that incredible year when I had two jobs and SO MUCH MONEY. But I've never really played them seriously. This is the year that I get around to it!
2024 Goal #5: 1 CC a vertical shooter
Maybe it'll be Batrider. Maybe it'll be a another Raizing shooter. Maybe it'll be Giga Wing. Who knows? But I'm going to try to dedicated myself to doing it in my spare time.
2024 Goal #6: 1CC Ghouls 'n Ghosts
I'm not a huge fan of Ghosts 'n Goblins, but I have to confess that Ghouls 'n Ghosts feels like the right mix of punishing difficulty and charm that I am attracted to. I'm going to give it a shot!
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