#7 Johnny's Payday Panic - 3DS
(Review here)
It's no secret that I love minigame games; Johnny's Payday Panic sees a young man taking on various food-making roles, each involving a different type of minigame and demanding customers. As players do better and better, upgrades are available at each job to make things easier. These unlock the ability to make even more money and so the cycle continues. The overall goal of the game is to buy cool stuff so that Johnny can be sure he isn't a loser.
While it's a pretty simple game, the great execution and humour makes Johnny's Payday Panic a quality experience which is as fun as it is frenzied. It's a great game to pick up every now and then and help Johnny to earn that motorbike or whatever's next on his list of awesome material possessions to buy.
#6 - Need for Speed: The Run - PS3
(Review here)
With a great and self-contained premise, beautiful locations and a real sense of urgency in its racing Need for Speed: The Run was the game which the NFS series needed to inject new life into the stagnating action. While I've yet to check out NFS: Shift 1 and 2, The Run is more in keeping with the previous street racing instalments of the game and earlier road racing games. The cutscenes and QTE segments, directed by Michael Bay are somewhat over-exaggerated but they're few and far between so it doesn't impact the game too much.
With a standalone game like this, it'll be interesting to see where the NFS series went after, as most avenues have been explored at some point in time. It's a tough series to keep from stagnation ideas-wise but the instalments which really work well do so in the best possible way.
#5 - Japanese Rail Sim 3D: Journey to Kyoto - 3DS
(Review here)
I wasn't sure what to expect when downloading Japanese Rail Sim 3D: Journey to Kyoto. It looked incredibly detailed in its depiction of a real life Japanese rail route, and was on sale for just £1. With elements of Densha de Go! incorporated into the game (having to arrive at stations on time, and at the right part of the platform) and mixed with the beautiful views of the route, and trivia about the stations and their surrounding area, I found the game to be a very deep experience as a simulator should aim to be.
That the game was on sale is a real example of how to pick up repeat custom as a games developer; despite getting this instalment for a bargain price, any future or past instalments which are put on the 3DS eshop will surely provide as good an experience and so I'd definitely be willing to purchase them and support the developer.
#4 Injustice: Gods Among Us - WiiU
(Review here)
Licensed games tend not only to be somewhat lacklustre, they often end up doing a disservice to the franchises they feature. Injustice: Gods Among Us is an exception to this rule, featuring various heroes and villains from the DC universe, a perfectly concise but deep story mode allowing players to take control of many of the characters featured in the game to give a varied and exciting experience, offering far more than conventional arcade modes in a fighting game.
The amount of content featured in the game was also impressive with 2 other modes to complete alongside the story mode. The fighting itself was impressive and fitting for the characters featured, and would be just as fun with a friend. The option to use environmental elements as weapons and the wager system were innovative additions too.
#3 OlliOlli - 3DS
(Review here)
As a fan of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, I'm used to doing my skating in 3 dimensions but OlliOlli for the 3DS managed to challenge my thinking and prove that it's possible to make a tightly controlled, fun and exciting skating game with only 2 dimensions. With daily challenges and 2 sets of challenges for each of its 25 levels, there's no shortage of stuff to do, and I had tons of fun stringing together combos and attempting to finish levels in just one.
Another recent game which went for pixel graphics instead of HD realism, it's clear that tapping into nostalgia is just as valid of a graphical choice as any. With chilled locations and music in which to skate, the game challenges the angry punk skating stereotype with more of a relaxed vibe. At a bargain price, the game is a steal on the 3DS.
#2 - Turtles in Time - SNES
(Review here)
Sometimes its best to look to the past for example of great games within a genre; we don't tend to get a huge amount of Beat 'em Ups released thesedays, and those that are tend to be half-hearted button mashing contests. TNMT: Turtles in Time managed to give players are wonderful sense of control and choice of attacks whilst providing interesting stages, and staying true to a well loved franchise. It's even more fun with a friend, and just as challenging.
It's a shame that we don't really see games like this anymore, the vibe is very much that of an older game but it's also nostalgic in this way. The mega drive counterpart to this SNES game is almost as good, but there's slightly more control and interesting stages featured on the Super Nintendo!
#1 - Undertale - PC
(Review here)
Although perhaps a rather popular choice for game of the year across all of video games media, it's undeniable that Undertale brought something new and innovative to the table, with it's mix of RPG, bullet hell and storytelling. The characters were vividly brought to life with excellent music, retro visuals and the two disparate main routes, showing players the difference between running through the game without killing anything, or being as violent as possible. It's certainly an interesting thought with regard to the RPG genre where the idea tends to be to kill every enemy you encounter.
For such a game to manage to feel fresh after taking a lot of inspiration from Earthbound, and the release of many similarly styled indie games such as Off and Yume Nikki. Undertale is a testament to the fact you don't need a triple a studio to create a universally acclaimed and loved video game. Hopefully Toby Fox, the game's main developer will be able to provide fans with new and interesting experiences in the future also.
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