Hey all, welcome to my third, seriously third, Year End Review. It seems like just yesterday I was playing through Shadow Madness, thinking to myself "I need to keep up my writing skills, I should do a review of this butt-ugly, totally weird RPG and post it on the internet." Now I have more than 200 followers on Facebook. I know that's a drop in the bucket, but as someone with limited time to promote or market myself I will take it. I think next year I want to try and grow things a bit bigger while branching out to more kinds of content, but who knows what will happen. I know I've said that before, but I mean it this time.
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - 9.5/10
Star Fox 64 - 9.5/10
Mega Man X4 - 9.25/10
2064: Read Only Memories - 9/10
What Remains of Edith Finch - 9/10
Super Mario Bros. 2 - 9/10
Shining Force II - 8.75/10
Hollow Knight - 8.75/10
Onimusha: Warlords - 8.5/10
Eternal Champions - 8.25/10
The Guardian Legend - 8.25/10
Twisted Metal - 8/10
Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie - 8/10
Super Dodgeball - 8/10
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors - 8/10
World Heroes Perfect - 8/10
Bulletstorm - 8/10
Chocobo Racing - 7.75/10
99 Vidas - 7.5/10
Front Mission 3 - 7.25/10
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - 7.25/10
NFL Street - 7.25/10
Mega Man 2: Power Fighters - 7.25/10
Vampyr - 7/10
Mega Man: Power Battle - 7/10
Animaniacs - 7/10
Dead or Alive 2 - 6.75/10
All-Star Baseball 2003 - 6.75/10
EA Sports NASCAR '99 - 6.75/10
Sonic Spinball - 6.5/10
Dynamite Headdy - 6.25/10
Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion - 6/10
Sonic 3D Blast - 5/10
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 - 5/10
The Simpsons: Road Rage - 4.75/10
Jet Li: Rise to Honor - 4/10
Jet Grind Radio - 4/10
Altered Beast - 4/10
Star Wars Demolition - 3.75/10
The Bouncer - 3.75/10
Honestly, this is a little bit more like what I thought I would see when I started GOTBP. The scores are mostly grouped in the middle with a few on the high and low end. I don't think I would adjust anything, so here we go.
Best game sees two titles tied at the top, with Star Fox 64 and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance tied with 9.5 scores. It would kind of feel weird to give the award to Star Fox, as I don't really think of it as a forgotten title or underappreciated title. The series as a whole may fit into those categories, but I think SF64 usually gets the praise it deserves. I think everyone knows it's a solid title and worth a playthrough. Sure, my past two winners, Sonic Mania and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, aren't exactly the most obscure of titles either. But I feel like they needed to be called out for their greatness more so than SF 64, as many players might have skipped Sonic Mania after being repulsed by more recent Sonic titles and SMT always feels like its a hit with hardcore RPG fans and not many others. Deadly Alliance fits the mold a little better, but at the end of the day I'm going to have to pick what I believe is the better game, and I think despite the equal scores, Star Fox 64 is just ever so slightly better. It's fun, engaging, unique and addicting and it offers a little something for everyone. MKDA is awesome, but it's for a much more niche audience and it's gameplay just wasn't as conistently interesting as Star Fox 64's.
Worst game sees another tie, this time with Star Wars: Demolition and The Bouncer earning identical (lousy) marks. But Demolition was never going to be anything but what it was: a shameless cash grab trying to capitalize on a market trend. The Bouncer was supposed to be the next big thing. This was a system seller, a killer app, a revolutionary new title...or at least it was supposed to be. Instead, it was a truncated, boring, generic 3D beat-em-up with a nonsensical story about robot girls and shirtless dudes with inexplicable tribal tattoos on their faces. Demolition aimed low and hit low. The Bouncer shot for the stars and crash landed in a sceptic tank. It sucked in 2000, and it still sucks now.
Most surprising was probably the hardest winner to pick. The two adventure style games, 2064: Read Only Memories and What Remains of Edith Finch were both in consideration, I did not expect to like either of these as much as I did. Despite its middling score, I thought I was absolutely going to hate NASCAR '99, but I had quite a bit of fun with it. I was surprised by Super Dodgeball, almost as much by its existence in general as its interesting and fun gameplay. Finally, we have Onimusha, a title that delivered a completely different experience than what I had expected. I think I'm going to have to stick with What Remains of Edith Finch, with Onimusha coming in a close second. I was expecting another random hack and slash action game and was pleasantly surprised when I instead got the bastard child of Devil May Cry and Resident Evil set in Japan. But WROEF....I can't really put into words how it made me feel or what it made me think. I played it early in the year and I still can't shake it completely, every so often it still creeps into my mind and for that I have to give the game its due. I caution it's not for everyone and it's very, very depressing. I put it in the "most fun I never want to have again" category. But was very impactful and if you can handle it, a must play.
Most disappointing, should, in theory, be The Bouncer. It's one of the single most disappointing video games of all time. But unlike 20 years ago when it came out, I pretty much knew what to expect this time around and as such tempered my expectations. I actually debated giving this to Shining Force II, despite its very good score. Obviously I liked the game, but the way it was hyped up to me I found myself a bit underwhelmed. However, that was likely due to the chatter surrounding the game more than the game itself. As such, I have to give most disappointing to Jet Li: Rise to Honor. Everything about this title was set up to be great. Except the controls. The controls single handedly ruined this game for me and I hate that they did. It could have been a masterpiece, but instead it was borderline unplayable, at least for me.
Most deserving of a modern upgrade or remake...would have to go to the two Mega Man fighting games, Power Battles and Power Fighters. I know these were never really intended to hit home consoles, but it would have been cool to see something beyond just a boss rush game. I alluded to it in the reviews, but I've always believed a Mega Man tournament fighter would be an awesome idea and I think it's something Capcom would absolutely nail. So why not give it a try? You have a franchise with a huge fanbase with a roster of fighters that builds itself. These kinds of games were dime a dozen in the 90's, but they stand out far more in the modern environment.
Before I go, it's time for a quick update on the 10's list:
Borderlands 2
Breath of Fire 2
Civilization 2
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy
Doom
Earthbound
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 8
Goldeneye: 007
Half Life 2
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
The Last of Us
Legend of Legia
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Lunar II: Eternal Blue
Madden 04, 08, 09
Mega Man 3
Mega Man X
Metal Gear Solid
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven
Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow
Resident Evil (REmake)
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil: Code: Veronica
Soul Caliber
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Street Fighter II Turbo/Champion Edition
Super Mario 64
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the 7 Stars
Super Mario World
Twisted Metal 2
Valkyria Chronicles
WCW Vs. NWO: World Tour
I'm a little more than a quarter of the way through the list. Going to have to start picking it up with these, but there are so, so many RPGs it's hard to do too many at once. Not a complaint, just and observation. I'm looking forward to playing more of my 10's and tons of other great games in 2022.
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