Gaming off the Beaten Path

Last week saw a few fun, if uneventful, matchups in the prelims. There were no surprises, there usually aren't, so it's time to move on to the quarters, the elite 8, whatever you want to call it. Let's get right  into this. Quarterfinals Matchup 1 (4) Sonic Mania vs. (5) Sweet Home We will get started with the two games we haven't seen yet, my first and most recent GOTY winners. I reviewed Sonic Mania way back in 2019 and it ended up narrowly edging The Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for GOTY that year. Anyone that has any familiarity with Sonic the Hedgehog will know exactly what to expect from Sonic Mania. You run fast through big levels with multiple paths while dodging enemies and occasionally doing some platforming. There's tons of variety in each level, with the various paths each presenting a different challenge. To me, speed, variety and level design are what separates the good Sonic Games from the great ones,  and you know what? I think Sonic Mania might be...

  All the formalities are over and it's time to get down to business. Let's kick off the GOTBP Five Year Anniversary tournament with round one. We have three matchups this week, all between great games. But I am looking for the best of the best, my favorite game that I've played over the last five years. So, it's time to get this thing kicked off. Preliminary Round Matchup One (6) F-Zero GX vs. (11) Grim Fandango We start with the lowest seed in the bracket, a PC style adventure/point and click title that I reviewed earlier this year. I have to qualify something here, as it is the only game in the bracket with a 9.25 score and one of many titles with that score. I went backed and looked at all the games I had given that score and decided that GF was the best of them, even if only by a small margin. Mega Man X4 and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon were also in consideration. But honestly, I don't think any of them would have stood a chance in this round. Because F-Zer...

  Wait, already? Yeah we are doing the year-end  review early. I am going to call it a year on reviews  in the first week of December because I have something planned for the next few weeks. Why? Well, this is my five-year  anniversary and I want to do something to honor all of the great games I've reviewed since I started writing GOTBP as a New-Year's Resolution in 2019. What? Well, stick around to find out. In the meantime, there's the matter of handing out my awards for this year. Remember, we do best game, worst game, most surprising, most disappointing and most deserving of a modern update/remake. So, here's a reminder of the games we've looked at this year and their scores. As is customary, 10's games are not considered for these. Sweet Home - 9.25/10 Grim Fandango - 9.25/10 Street Fighter III: New Generation 9.25/10 Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 9/10 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance - 9/10 Banjo-Kazooie - 9/10 Super Double Dragon - 9/10 Virtua Fighter 2 - 8.75/...

 It's time to close out another year with our 4th annual GOTBP Year-End Review. Still can't believe it's another year down filled with good games, bad games and everything in between.  By now I think both of you guys know the drill. I hand out totally meaningful awards that totally aren't just my random opinion for best game, worst game, most surprising, most disappointing and most deserving of a modern update/remake. So, without further ado, lets recap this year's games (all scores out of 10). Remember, 10's games and non-gaming related reviews are ineligible. Suikoden II - 9.75 Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - 9.25 NFL 2K2 - 9.25 Doom II - 9.25 Twisted Metal: Head-On - 9 Fatal Fury Special - 9 Pokemon Trading Card Game - 9 Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - 9 Saiyuki: Journey West - 8.5 Team Sonic Racing - 8.5 Kirby's Return to Dreamland - 8.5 Ristar - 8.5 Twisted Metal: Black - 8.25 Knights of the Round - 8 Mega Man - 8 Mortal Kombat - 8 Killer Ins...

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. Anyway, the end of the year means it's time for the 3rd Annual GOTBP awards, where I award my best game, worst game, most surprising and most disappointing. This year, I'm going to add a 5th category for game I'd most like to see receive a modern upgrade or remake. As usual, 10's games aren't eligible, nor are any other non-video...

It's time once again for my year end review. I can't believe I'm doing this again, or that I've been doing this for two years. Not going to lie, I didn't anticipate this going longer than a few posts. What started as a new years resolution two years ago has become something I look forward to doing each week (and also my de facto excuse to play more video games).  But enough about that, it's time for the year end review. As I did last year, I will be calling out best game, worst game, most surprising and most disappointing. It goes without saying, but 10's games are ineligible and will not be factored into the scores. I will also not be counting my review of the "High Score" series, since comparing a video game to a documentary makes zero sense. Speaking of scores, here's a reminder of what I gave each game: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - 9.75/10 F-Zero GX - 9.75/10 Final Fantasy VII Remake - 9.5/10 Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium - 9.5/...