1.
Gears of War 3 ;
For me this was 2011's best game. Gears 3 has so much to offer the player: Horde, Beast, Deathmatch, Campaign, DLC and unlockables for eons. The deep multi-player of Horde mode was the high point in my opinion, in which you duke it out with waves of enemies which peak at every 10 waves (with boss encounters) and climax at 50. However this time around Epic added a progression mechanic in fortifications which bring a tower defense element to keeping the horde in check. It's brilliant and addictive, and kept me glued to my monitor all the way through the Horde expansion pack.
Perhaps the most fun I had in Gears 3 was earning all the unlocks in the game as you make your way through the various modes: character skins, weapon skins, mutators which make the game easier to get through, ribbons, medals. This was taken to a bit of an extreme with the nigh-unlockable "Seriously 3.0" achievement unfortunately, but I'll leave that one for the die-hards.
When this game came out I had over 20 friends playing it and this added a lot to the whole experience. It was so easy to drop in and out of games compared to other MP-oriented shooters. The MP servers were solid from day 1 and have only had some minor lag issues compared to some other games. Epic also spent a lot of time listening to players who criticized the early lethality of the Sawed-off shotgun and created a multiplayer mode for hardcore players called Alpha, in which the SOS is not available in your initial load-out. I was also a big fan of the "Capture the Leader" game mode.
Anyways, huge game and a must-play for this gen IMO.
2.
Akai Katana Shin ;
Akai Katana Shin has the distinction of being possibly the last CAVE shooter for the Xbox 360 and quite possibly one of their greatest achievements. Although Famitsu recognized it with solid marks, the state of the 360 in Japan ensured that it remained a quiet hit among the hardcore.
The CAVE 360 team's reworking of the original arcade game let them do not only what they wanted to do with the original arcade release (but couldn't due to memory restrictions) in "Zetsu Mode", they've also reinvented the game in "Akai Katana Shin" with a totally different play method from the arcade release. "Shin Mode" takes out the invincibility mechanic from the original arcade version of Akai Katana in favor of a screen-crossing katana attack that "catches" on mid-sized and large enemies, causing them to shed masses of score items.
"Zetsu Mode" on the other hand maximizes the scoring intensity of the arcade game by lifting the on-screen item limit, creating clouds of rotating orange point items. Both modes include an extra stage and boss.
I love both of these modes, as well as the soundtrack and UI presentation. Definitely one of CAVE's most beautiful shooters, with a challenging (but realistic) set of achievements. Something for EU folks to look forward to in 2012.
3.
Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets Double Pack ;
Muchi Muchi Pork is possibly one of the best arcade shooters ever, despite a bit of a panning in Japan based mainly on the fact that the piggy protagonists are chubby. With this release, not only did we get a remixed version of the original arcade game called "1.01", which removes some of the ridiculous 2nd loop requirements and makes the game vastly more fun with extremely subtle changes, we also get Pink Sweets, the notoriously difficult Yagawa-designed shooter from 2006. (Oh and the game was released region-free btw!)
For most of us, Pink Sweets was the unknown quantity. Given that its prequel, Ibara, was more of a miss than a hit due to endless boss-milking techniques, Pink Sweets flamed out in arcades rather quickly and the amount of people who have actually played the game was quite few. Lucky for those up for the challenge, a "1.01" version of the game which fixed some of the broken game mechanics was included, as well as Pink Sweets Arrange Mode, a remixed version which is just tons of fun to play.
My breakdown of the Arrange Mode here:
A combination of systems from Ibara Black Label and Battle Bakraid. Build the multiplier up to x16 by chaining enemies and figure out how to preserve it as you plow forward. There are several options for doing so: launching a Hadou gun into enemies or enemy fire and grabbing the ensuing medals or suiciding (which preserves your multiplier) by ramming into something. Optimal play is chaotic and suicidal. The best realization of the Yagawa aesthetic, despite not being programmed by him. I love grinding enemies with destructable bullets in this mode with a x16 bonus. There is a certain amount of "milking" involved, but the pace is perfect since enemies will time out in generally reasonable time frames.
Even the original Pink Sweets, when you spend some time with it, slowly reveals its odd charms, though it is more of a curiosity than anything. The game's one stumbling point is simply horrendous UI which you have to learn your way around. Other than that, gold.
4.
Mamoru-kun wa Norowarette Shimatta ; PS3
The first 2-d shooter release on the PS3 unfortunately looks like it's going to be lost in the shuffle, but this was an excellent game that shouldn't be. The original 4:3 orientation of the arcade game is expanded here to 16:9 and the levels gain new enemies and hidden tricks. Gameplay is simple: shoot or curse. You can curse an enemy and slowly drain its life, or you can charge up your curse and blast through it, turning all the bullets that enemy fired into star items. This score mechanic reaches an absurd apex at times with the PS3 release where there are simply so many stars on screen that the game can't handle it, bringing the framerate down to 2 or 3. When the game was initially released, this even led to the game crashing but a patch fixed that. However these are rare moments, most of the game is just a solid chaining-based shooter.
Mamoru-kun PS3 takes everything that was fun about the 360 version, removes the annoying load times, gives you the bonus costumes and characters for free up front and includes an awesome art book with the LE. The mission-based structure of the 16:9 mode takes the emphasis away from scoring, which was always this game's weakpoint, and puts you through a hellacious gauntlet of boss and stage rushes. Still, the difficulty is conquerable and that's ultimately why the game is so satisfying.
I platinumed this baby and loved it the whole time. Slightly tempering my appreciation for it however was the recent release of bonus "mission" DLC which is absurdly difficult and costs about $5 each for minimal content. Despite that, this is the definitive version of the sadly overlooked Mamoru-kun from Grev and Gulti.
5.
Modern Warfare 3 ;
I hated the campaign, and am not huge on multiplayer for this game due to its 1 or 2 hit death balance leading to conservative play, i.e. camping. This is especially bad in Japan, where most games seem to be above 100ms for me, which means I can visibly confirm lag after getting iced in the resultant kill cam.
However, Special Ops was just awesome this time around. It's like a whole other campaign included on the disc and playing these missions on Veteran is a real test of your gaming abilities. If you haven't cleared it with a friend, go do it now. Both Mission and Survival were tons of fun.
6.
Whale Trail ;
Whale Trail was my favorite game on iOS this year and is an absolute delight to play with its colorful graphics and simple dip, climb and loop-de-loop mechanics. Follow the trail of colored dots to build your multiplier, and collect stars on the way. Get enough stars and you enter fever mode which allows you to destroy clouds and sucks in nearby dots. As you get better at the game, your multiplier grows higher and higher. The satisfying score challenge here was at least as good as a quality arcade game for me, and it only costs $.99!
The recent addition of the challenge mode is also a lot of fun though I have to say that many of the achievements are just too tough in general.
7.
Sonic Generations ;
Bought this on a whim and was surprised how high the quality was. Both 3D and 2D levels are fun, with the 3D versions being the most kinetic and enjoyable in my opinion. Lots of collectibles in-game to unlock, but this may border on the "pain in the ass" for some people. There are also some control quirks as well as the abysmally executed last boss that hold it back from being higher on my list, but the game is definitely worth checking out. There are some classic stages in here IMO, both Rooftop Run and Seaside Hill were very memorable.
8.
Jamestown ;
I only managed to clear this one right after Christmas so I'm still exploring it, but it's definitely a great first outing for Final Form Games. The simplicity of the scoring system and finely tuned balance are commendable, and the local co-op was apparently very popular although it's alien to how I play shooters. I liked a lot of the subtle additions to the UI over the standard shooter interfaces on the 360, aka making scores very easy to upload, and immediately notifying you of your worldwide rank after you've done so.
Hope to eventually clear on Judgment, and get through the game on Gauntlet as well.
9.
Strania the Stella Machina ;
This tough shooter from Grev was a lot of fun, and gives you an arsenal of weapons to use to get through it. Pump the laser and rockets on straight-ahead bosses, the Reflect and Side on tricky areas where enemies come in from the side, and the Bomb...ok well there's nowhere to use the Bomb. But this weapon-switching mechanic is critical to getting further and in fact key to scoring well in the game, although you only figure this out at the very end. For every weapon level, you gain about a million points meaning that the more you vary and level up your weapons, the higher your score will be.
This is unfortunately where the game lost almost all the beginner and intermediate players. While it seems to have an attractive scoring mechanic in the O/D system, which turns you invincible and builds your multiplier up to x2.0, it takes forever to charge and barely makes a dent in the overall score once weapon levels are taken into account at the end of the game. This is classic Grev unfortunately, a somewhat broken scoring system in a game that otherwise should have been a lot of fun.
Strania does make it on my list for the awesome "Side Vower" DLC included in the game, which lets you play through the game as the enemy you were fighting, starting from Stage 6 and ending in Stage 1. Great concept. Game is also very reasonably priced at 800 MSP.
10.
Child of Eden ;
Breath-taking graphics and amazing music, Child of Eden was one of this year's "Wow" games. Just a gorgeous experience that you want to immediately share with friends.
A bit frustrating on Kinect in my opinion, I had a much better time after switching to the standard controller and completing the game. Still have not gotten through Passion, and have a bunch of achievements are waiting to be unlocked so I'll still be playing this one in 2012.
x.
Instant Brain ;
Makoto Asada's first Adventure game for CAVE, and something I admit I was very skeptical of. However, Instant Brain delivered a compelling plot, good characters and simple gameplay. This game unfortunately has no chance of localization in the west due to its Japan-specific setting, massive volume of text and minimal player interaction. It really is a visual novel. As you follow along the story of the protagonist, each chapter offers clues to the dark conspiracy behind the conclusion. The voice actors really come through here and delivered some great performances.
There's lots of unlocks as well: sexy scenes with the lady characters,
Muchi Muchi porn and playable versions of Dodonpachi and a semi-sequel to Nin2Jump. A solid package if you speak enough Japanese to get through it.
It's not enough to make the top 10, especially given some of the absurd gameplay issues with some of mid-game chapters (where you're literally forced to pick choices at random), but I enjoyed my time with the game.
. Either way Shogun 2 set the new bar for the entire RTS genre as far as I am concerned.
