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Gamasutra: Top 5 console downloadable games

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vermadas

Member
Gamasutra has posted their top five console downloadable games for 2009.

5. Defense Grid: The Awakening
4. Peggle and Peggle Nights
3. 'Splosion Man
2. Shadow Complex
1. Trials HD (Redlynx, Xbox Live Arcade)

Before Trials HD came out, I was tester at a video game company. I had access to pre-release games on Xbox Live Arcade via a test system, and one of those games was Trials HD. When we stayed back late to test a build, we would bide our time by playing Trials. When our game was basically finished, the artists had a brief quiet period, so they started playing Trials HD. All day.

RedLynx has created one of the most addicting, fun and frustrating games ever, and you don’t get bored of it. You may press that restart button 300 times, but that’s not going to stop you from beating that level.

The Leaderboards integration is fantastic, showing off everyone in your friends list in the corner so you can make sure you’re that little bit ahead of them. It’s addicting to try and beat your own score as well as your friends'. And with the level editor and downloadable content coming, RedLynx is able to pile on the replayability over time -- even more reason to vote it our top console downloadable game of the year.
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Pretty good list. They also have several honorable mentions for the games that didn't quite make the cut.
 
Nice :) My list would be vastly different, but that just proves there was a lot of great downloadable games this year.
 
Can people please stop using the word 'addicting'. I don't want that shit being forced into the dictionary by default.


Also, "Gamasutra: Top 5 Xbox 360 downloadable games", Fix'd
 
Nice list.
Never got to play Defense Grid unfortunately. My personal number one would be Shatter, closely followed by Flower. Just goes to show how awesome downloadables can be.
 
Pretty good list and one that shows off why Live is so good right now...by itself, almost the best platform this generation, IMO. Trials HD is indeed awesome...the other night, I spent 260 retries on the second Extreme track and almost the half-hour limit trying to get up a stupid three-foot high section of a ten-foot 'hill'...and I'm still looking forward to doing it all again soon.
 
As much fun as Trials is, that ~30% of the game is essentially locked off to only the most masochistic of gamers makes it a poor choice.
 
Is this a 360 only list? Because I clearly do not see mention of Shatter. I own/love the 5 games on the list, but I'd have to rank Shatter, PixelJunk Shooter and possibly Flower above 'Splosion Man
 
jett said:
I though this was a sales list. What a shit list, really.
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How so? Played any of them? Pretty much everything there is well deserved (expect I don't really care for Shadow Complex especially when you can download SOTN from the same service).

And people who say Megaman 9. It was a 2008 game.
 
bryehn said:
Is this a 360 only list? Because I clearly do not see mention of Shatter. I own/love the 5 games on the list, but I'd have to rank Shatter, PixelJunk Shooter and possibly Flower above 'Splosion Man
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They're on the honorable mention list at the link.
 
nskinnear said:
Where is Flower?
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px2yw.jpg


Seriously, though, I felt that Ryan's list gave PSN games short shrift. Then again, I don't play XBLA games and I'm a regular in the PS Store threads, so...
 
Wow, seems like WiiWare and PSN evaporated in 2009. Or it's just that Lost Winds, Trine, Flower and NyxQuest can't compare to masterpieces as Defense Grid.
Nice to see the Summer of Arcade taking the top 3.

I kid
 
Torgo said:
Shatter?
Gravity Crash?
Critter Crunch?
Flower?
Pixeljunk Shooter?
ZEN Pinball?

Just Sayin'
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2iuc7iq.gif


:lol

Flower and Shatter got Honorable mentions at least.

Oh yeah, totally forgot about WiiWare gems like Excitebike, My Life as a Darklord and NyxQuest.
 
I probably favor the PS3 a bit more than my other consoles, but seriously, the PSN selection this year was heads and shoulders above the competition. Gamasutra's top 5 list woudn't make my top 20.
 
I beat Splosion Man and really liked it.

Not top 5 for 2009. What an odd list.
Definitely a lot of PSN games that should have made it.
 
PSN should really start offering mandatory demos for every game. Maybe I would by more stuff if I could try them beforehand. It's hard to gamble with ten dollars when game media is hyping up crap like Flower.
 
RedNumberFive said:
the PSN selection this year was heads and shoulders above the competition. Gamasutra's top 5 list woudn't make my top 20.
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You don't think Shadow Complex is one of the top 20 downloadable games this year? Okay.
 
Misterinenja said:
PSN should really start offering mandatory demos for every game. Maybe I would by more stuff if I could try them beforehand. It's hard to gamble with ten dollars when game media is hyping up crap like Flower.
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Flower is one of those games I found more interesting than "fun" in the traditional sense. It's something I think people who are interested in video games should play, but not really a mainstream game I'd recommend to people who aren't used to video games.
 
Shadow Complex and Defense Grid are two digital downloads that caused me to forsake my premium store bought games, which increased my backlog.

Both rewarded me with a solid gaming experience and I want to see what comes next.
 
see5harp said:
You don't think Shadow Complex is one of the top 20 downloadable games this year? Okay.
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Fair enough, I probably should have chosen my words more carefully in regards to that game, but Trials HD?!? COME ON!
 
Misterinenja said:
PSN should really start offering mandatory demos for every game. Maybe I would by more stuff if I could try them beforehand. It's hard to gamble with ten dollars when game media is hyping up crap like Flower.
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Wow.

I'm no super-fan of Flower -- it's a really unique experience that's basically ineffable (and so I won't try). But calling it crap makes me wonder how much you've played it. Unlike most games, it has a payoff that you must complete the game to appreciate (IMO).
 
RedNumberFive said:
I probably favor the PS3 a bit more than my other consoles, but seriously, the PSN selection this year was heads and shoulders above the competition. Gamasutra's top 5 list woudn't make my top 20.
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I wouldn't say head and shoulders above, live had some big games come out, but I would definitely put Flower in there, its up there with my GOTYs. Im not done PJ Shooter but its sooo good so far, so maybe that too. If these games are all better then the games I played this year, than they must be extraordinary.
 
Critter Crunch should be at #5 but I agree with the rest of the list. I personally bought the top 4.

jvm said:
Wow.

I'm no super-fan of Flower -- it's a really unique experience that's basically ineffable (and so I won't try). But calling it crap makes me wonder how much you've played it. Unlike most games, it has a payoff that you must complete the game to appreciate (IMO).
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I would like to give it a chance but no demo = no buy.

Chromax said:
Also..Fat Princess?
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Fat Princess had a ton of potential but fell on it's face at release and now is pretty much dead online. Just check the official thread on it. It's sad too cause I bought it and now never play it. One of my few downloadable regrets.
 
Torgo said:
Shatter?
Gravity Crash?
Critter Crunch?
Flower?
Pixeljunk Shooter?
ZEN Pinball?

Just Sayin'
Click to expand...

all good games...I'd probably give a nod to Flower but that's about it. Shatter isn't that great...Shatter over Peggle with Multiplayer. Hell no.
 
Uhhh... Flower? I'm totally surprised at the lack of support this game is getting this time of year. Journalists and gamers are all about 'games as art', but then it comes to GOTY, Flower has really been criminally overlooked.

It's my PS3 GOTY - I'm not even limiting to just 'download games', I think Flower is better than KZ2, MW2, etc.
 
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