So it's like my LTTP games of the year, in fact I do remember this thread from last year and i've got another barrage of titles at my disposal so here goes.
Kirby's Adventure Wii/Return to Dreamland
Bog standard Kirby games have a pretty basic formula, one that I consider fun enough but not that engrossing.
Adventure Wii doesn't look to reinvent the gameplay nor does it look to make it something else like Epic Yarn, Mass Attack or Power Paintbrush/Canvas Curse.
Instead Adventure Wii returns to the classic style that isn't exactly ignored within the series but what it does is go and deliver quite possibly the best game styled in the traditional Kirby format.
It's the longest game with easily the best level design, partly due to the implementation of gear collectables which is smartly done ensuring you keep switching up the copy abilities as you go through each stage and experiment with them in "puzzle" rooms.
All the old abilities are refined and have much more variety in attacks giving you more options as well as bringing new ones in, you've got 4 Player co-op, an extra difficulty mode which ramps up bosses making encounters an actual *gasp* challenge as well as knocking down your overall health.
Visuals may look basic at first but upon closer inspection these are some of the best visuals on Wii, backgrounds in particular are wonderfully colourful but don't override the visibility of the actual stage design so you always know what's part of the foreground, it's a small point but one worth noting.
No doubt about it in my mind, this is the magnum opus of the Kirby series, at least in its standard form, Super Star, Adventure and others can pack their bags because they've been thoroughly dethroned, this is pretty much everything a sequel/revival should be.
Only one negative point, the music is noticeably weaker than the rest of the series, especially with Epic Yarn right next to it.
Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
I was slightly dubious about how good this game actually was coming off of the clusterfuck known as MGS4, with the HD release I finally got around to tackling this fan favourite entry with an air of scepticism.
While still suffering from the tidal wave of dialogue that makes the series very stop and start at times I think I can conclude that it's the strongest in the series if I put aside my MGS1/TS nostalgia goggles. While it took me longer than i'd like to admit getting used to the new approach to stealth (where's my damn vision cones?!) when I finally had that click everything went swimmingly, the bosses in particular were a real treat, mostly a group of memorable oddballs with battles to match, I think the fury left the biggest impact on me which is funny because it's not one i've seen spoken highly of too often.
Like with all MGS games I wish there was more to it on the gameplay front but oh well, what's here is very impressive.
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse
I actually made a
LTTP thread for this one, but to summarize age hasn't dulled this game much at all. The limited control over certain actions make you commit much more heavily to decisions and make this a pretty thoughtful take on the action platformer, while i'd played the following entries like SC4 and RoB beforehand there's something about CV3 that feels more satisfying overall, it's tough but rarely unfair, the whip and subweapons have just the right amount of power to them so that when you get into the flow of things you don't often get slowed down by an overly durable enemy. This other characters outside of Trevor add some alternative options to tackling stages as well proving different pathways to Dracula's Castle making for some extra replay value. All in all it's a very solid example of the traditional CV style.
Vanquish
Third Person Shooters have a nice track record of to be blunt, boring the shit out of me this gen, but Vanquish manages to bypass many of the pitfalls that give me the boredom blues. Vanquish is a game that gives you the option of sitting behind walls playing bullet based peek a boo with enemies but it's the wrong option, what Vanquish actually wants you to do it blast yourself into the combat zone and make use of your speed and slow motion antics to deal with things much more effectively. It has a much more arcade like flavour to most games in the genre and feels much more exhilarating for it. It's a pretty short experience that could get more out of its gameplay with more interesting stage design but the shooting is satisfying enough on its own to be compelling. It's not perfect but it feels like a very solid blueprint to build a stronger sequel from. The plots weak, the environments often drab and samey but for this one the gameplay comes first.
Final Fantasy 6
The FF series is one that i've tried a few times in various forms other the years and each game just felt like entering an unwelcome land, one that I personally did not belong in, it never clicked and I pretty much just assumed the series wasn't for me regardless of how different most entries actually are.
It took Theatrhythm of all things to finally get me to take one more swing at the JRPG behemoth and what better entry to tackle than one that's considered an absolute classic, FF6.
Age be damned because I managed to settle in here rather quickly, I don't know what FF6 has that other entries i've tried don't but whatever it is I want more of it. It's got its share of frustrations sure, many of which are ones present in plenty of JRPG games that i've never been fond of yet the strength of the overall package makes this the FF game I finally enjoyed from start to finish, well actually it's the only one i've ever seen the finish in.
The sections where you use multiple teams can suck a lemon though, sucks for someone like me who sticks to one core team, those filthy underlevelled other fellows led to frustration that's for sure. Also the soundtrack is top notch, it's pretty much what drove me here in the first place.
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Holy balls, this game is relentless, a game that will have you curse the respawning enemies, have you develop a seething hatred of eagles and ingrain the life lost jingle into your brain. Yet it's pretty damn fun, it's got frequent enough checkpoints and unlimited continues so even after failing over and over again it can sink its claws into you to keep at it. Not really much else to say here, I couldn't beat it, 6-2 is the death of me and I cannot overcome its crazy odds but I enjoyed my journey to that point, especially the spinning kick guys who just take off into the sky itself, it's quite a hilarious sight.
Mega Man X/X2
I was actually pretty disappointed by these games on the whole, I thought "dash jumps, air dashes, wall jumps, increased 16 bit power, who knows what crazy platforming Capcom must be delivering with this one?"
The answer, well not very much, MMX takes many cues from the classic series and is in fact a lot more similar to it than I expected, unfortunately for me it pushes the emphasis on action and a slight dash of exploration (for power ups and what not) over the tight platforming of the older series leaving a game that while good and enjoyable left me feeling "that's it?".
The stage design of X toys with interesting concepts, most notably beating certain stages before another will cause drastic changes to other stages like the icing over of Flame Mammoths stage by beating Chill Penguin first. But from an actual content standpoint the stages felt a bit weak, too straightforward and little in the way of challenge from the platforming itself, instead the enemies take a bigger role.
Oh but there's challenge though, the bosses can bring the pain that's for sure yet I just don't like them at all often feeling more like a slog to me, the fact that the Sigma Stages felt like a boss rush stringed together by a few ho-hum corridors was like the cruellest blow of all. The music though? fan-flippping-tastic, did not disappoint at all.
Still I went ahead to X2 and to my surprise found a game that was much more interesting with its level design (except Overdrive Ostritch's stage, so very bland), the soundtrack stepped down a bit but it's an acceptable loss for what I feel was a stronger game on the whole. Bosses still break my balls, I can tackle the worst of Dark Souls, Ninja Gaiden (the Hack and slash ones this time) and other infamous crushing boss encounters but Violen, FUCKING VIOLEN AND HIS NEAR RANDOM ASS SPIKE BALL, yeah, it BROKE me. Funnily enough Sigma ended up being a doddle by comparison to the previous game.
While i'll no doubt tackle more of this series at some point i'm not exactly holding my breath, it hasn't done anything wrong but it moved off in a direction I find far less appealing.
Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time
I typed up a fair amount about this game earlier this year, if you really feel compelled to take a look,
here it is.
A shorter summary of all this is that i'd like to enjoy the series more but it doesn't mesh with me that well at all, Ratchet's shooting shenanigans tend to become an emptying of ammunition against waves of enemies that overstay their welcome and don't feel particularly satisfying either, outside of enemy encounters Ratchet's jumping around, grappling and grinding is solidly enjoyable in a way reminiscent of the old collectathon platformers of old.
Clank is the real star here with a puzzle platformer approach to his sections that I found much more enjoyable, speaking of enjoyable Nefarious makes for a really fun villain.
To conclude this entry a jack of all trades, master of none feeling is what I got here but there's no denying that it's an incredibly well put together and polished game, just not my cup of tea.
There's other games i've played but these are the main ones I fully dug into and there's still plenty more i've got to tackle.
Edit: I forgot about these two on account of having actually first played them a few years ago.
Shinobi 3
This year was the first time I properly dove in to Shinobi 3, a very enjoyable sidescroller with a few control quirks that take a while to get used to but when you do the game goes from feeling a bit janky to being smooth. It's got some tricky moments but nothing overwhelming, the difficulty curve is well done and there's some pretty spiffy tunes as well.
Ristar
Great concept, flawed execution, the game quickly becomes aggravating as you progress, the core mechanic based around Ristar's stretchy arms can be fiddly and when the game demands more of the player the controls just can't quite back it up.
Ristar is also oddly placed on the right side of the screen making the mere act of heading forwards more trouble than it should be, especially in water sections. The visuals, music and ideas are all pretty good but the whole game was let down by the issues above.
I've been constantly lagging behind new game releases ever since I started university studies, so I usually play only a few games every year that have also been released that year. I'd say my top ones would be:
