Every Game I Played In 2024, Ranked

Wow wow wow what a YEAR I've had with Video Games!! A smorgasbord of new and old alike! I'll drop the chart first, then break it down for ya, from bottom to the top! Please know that each and every opinion has been certified fact by an objective, independent third party - my own subjective opinion!

So if you disagree, perfectly valid. I'd love to hear your thoughts too! Also, I tried to keep them alphabetical in each tier but there are some mistakes in the chart, which is what I'm following, so sorry about that.

Anyhoo, here we go!





DEMOS

Tiny Book Shop - This one breaks my heart because man what a perfect little game idea. I always loved bookmobiles as a kid and the idea of getting to run one sounds so fun! Sadly I just couldn't get it to run for some reason. Still, I'm sure the full release will fix any issues, as the devs are very involved with the community. Even though it's at the bottom, it still deserves so much love!

ILA: A Frosty Glide and Wizard of Legend II - unfortunately really bad controls ruined what would have been really cool games. I hope they get fixed but until then these are gonna be a no for me going forward.

Into the Emberlands - felt more like a mobile game, though it had a charming aesthetic and premise.

Mario Strikers: Battle League - Pretty fun but ultimately just a football game.

Dungeon Clawler - Genuinely the most addicting game - I got HOURS out of the demo it was THAT GOOD

Fruitbus - An adorable and really enjoyable game about running a food truck. Surprisingly in depth for a game that started so simply.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land - it's amazing that everything in the trailer was playable in the demo, really makes me wonder what else is in the game. Still, damn good Kirby game.

Pikmin 4 - Never played a Pikmin game in my life, this was fun!

Wax Heads - You get to run a vinyl shop and solve stranger's life dilemmas and music tastes. Sign me up!



FULL GAMES


Couldn't Run

Planet Zoo & Sonic Generations - dunno why, but I couldn't get these games to run. Unfortunate but hope I find a fix for them!


Dismal

Altered Beast - Look. I know it's considered a god-tier classic. I won't take that from you. I just personally found the gameplay really unappealing compared to the visuals. Shame because that transformation is badass. If that ruins my Sega gamer cred so be it.

Gothic - I could run it, but that's about it. Opened a chest over and over again trying to get the stuff from it, literally no button worked and I couldn't find a keymap for it. No idea how to actually play this one.

NFS Most Wanted (WHAT) 2012 (Oh okay carry on) - I really wanted to give this one a chance, I did. But the handling and physics are so...so...so sluggish. It has more in common with Snowrunners than Need For Speed, or Criterion's Burnout. No idea what they were thinking making it more simlike.

RYSE: Son Of Rome - Rome cool. Game lame. You can't even call it poor man's God of War. It's a silly, clunky, goofy mess that takes itself very seriously despite being so goofy.

Session: Skate Sim - Tony Hawk this is not. This isn't skateboarding. It's depression on wheels. A slight bump just makes your skater fall over. Not even fall, just ragdoll limply. The graphics are also very broken, extreme garish orange and white for some reason. Maybe that was a bug I dunno. All I know is that this is the video game equivalent of letting out a small fart while dying. Totally bogus.

Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery Of The Mummy - even after patching it, the mouse movement was not in sync in a very weird way, making controlling the game feel less like a point and click mystery and more like I was very drunk despite being perfectly sober.


Could Be Better

100 Asian/Dino/March/Ninja/Robo Cats / Cats Hidden In Paris / Jingle Jam - As far as hidden object games go, they did what they said on the tin. There were cats and they were hidden and there were 100 of them. I blazed through them all in like an hour. It was a nice hour but it didn't impact me much.

Alex Kidd In Miracle World - While it was pretty fun, I found it very repetitive, even right up to the end. It didn't have a lot in it, but it stretched what little it had over a much longer game than it should have been. I guess that's of the era though.

Arkanoid: Eternal Battle - This was cool. Does it beat Vortex on the iPod? Lmao, lol even. Not one bit. This is just basic Arkanoid with better graphics and an interesting looking nebulous "boss".

Helldivers - This is the FIRST GAME don't get mad at me I played the FIRST GAME. It's a lot more arcadey than I remembered it being tbh, plus it's a live service game and I rarely enjoy those. It's not necessarily a bad thing but I thought there was an actual plot to the game, rather than just multiplayer conquest. Still, I did my duty for Super Earth and that is all one can do.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole - Coming off the heels of playing Stick of Truth, I wanted more of that amazing goodness I had just experienced. This one just didn't feel as if it was made with the same love and affection. It's been said Stick of Truth feels like a South Park episode while this game feels more like a South Park theme park tour and yeah, yeah that's an accurate statement. Everything was there, but done in a way that was less "you exist in the world of South Park" and more "hey wow cool it's South Park things!". Plus, it just wasn't as funny and that's the worst thing a South Park game can be.


Bretty Gud

Alien Soldier - Okay this one was just awesome. It looked cool, sounded cool and had amazing gameplay. Loved every second playing it. Do I get my Sega gamer cred back?

Assassin's Creed Rogue - I really haven't played any Assassin's Creed games after Black Flag, and this was more of that Black Flag goodness. It had some moments I really enjoyed, mostly the native american shrine segments where it was just you and the wilderness and figuring out how to get up to where you needed to go. More of that, less of the 10 trillion things to check off an area please.

Donkey Kong Jr. - I came, I saw, I saved the monke.

Fallout - I know it's heresy to not put it higher, I do. But despite being the first Fallout and therefore setting the tone and thematic elements for the series, there was never that wow moment for me. I really liked the Cathedral and the Thieves Guild, those were great. Jim Cummings and Ron Perlman were always a pleasure as well.

For The King II - Played this one with friends not knowing a single thing about the story or the world or why I was doing anything. It was fun hanging out with them but I didn't get to get invested. Hopefully I can revisit the game again and give it a better shake.

Kid Icarus - On one hand, I really enjoyed it and a bunch of other Nintendo games this year. Nintendo is awesome and I love their games and their universes so much. My only hangup is that I wasn't very good at it so I didn't get to see much of it. But if Arino-san can see it to the end, I should too.

Lethal Company - Again, played this one with friends, and it's a good thing I did. Holy. Shit. They had some kind of skinwalker mod I think, and that was the first time I ever encountered an intelligence that acted exactly like a human player. I'm not joking. I'm terrified to play it again. That motherfucker is NOT HUMAN even if it acted like a human. NPCs are scripted. They follow certain programmed in logic. This thing, it hunted us. Stalked us. Followed us. Used our faces. Used our voices. It blended in. It stood there, watching us. Not moving towards us. Not trying to attack until it decided it wanted to. It took us out one by one. It followed us to our ship and tried to convince us to let it in. I can't play that game any more, that kind of intelligence is unlike any video game character I've ever seen before.

MX vs. ATV Unleashed - Bullets and Octane lives rent free in my head. So much fun, and I love that era's graphics so much. Really had fun but MX Superfly will still always be my favorite one in the series.

Magic the Gathering: Arena - A friend got me and my partner into Magic, and this was good practice. Pay to win tho so didn't play much.

Meow Moments: Celebrating Together - another hidden object game, but elevates it by being more akin to a Where's Waldo/Wally than just "find all the cats". This one gives you three cats and three people or things to find at any given time, and a surprisingly jam-packed map in which to try and spot them. Spent several hours on this one. Also comes with community remixed maps for further fun!

Plate Up - aka My Partner is angry at me, the game. Look, the floor is DIRTY and I can't SERVE the CUSTOMERS in this FILTH I'm SORRY. 11/10 would rage again

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team - The premise was really cute, but the gameplay wasn't scratching that Poke-itch for me. Reminded me a lot of Dragon Crystal for the Game Gear actually.

Project Zomboid - Jeb died as he lived, just wanting to fish dagnabbit. Played with friends, we all had an absolute blast. I was awful at it lmao. Really cool to see Kentucky finally get a game based in it.

Rivals of Aether - Furry Smash Bros. Furry. Smash. Bros. It was really fun with friends!

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - ironically, the game that turned me into a Sega fan years ago. Playing it again was fun, though the simplicity definitely shows compared to Transformed. Samba and Tokyo-To for life!

Speedrunners - I ran. My friends ran. I outran them. They outran me. It was a lot of fun, very Newgrounds in feel.

Street Fighter II - The GOAT fighter game. I suck at it, but had fun regardless.

Stories Untold - I didn't get to finish this one sadly. It actually spooked me, which is surprising for a text game. I kinda wanna give it another go.

Super Mario RPG - this was the og SNES version. I'd never played it before, but the one thing that surprised me the most was just how small each area was, compared to the average epic sprawling vistas Square Enix is known for. The Mushroom Kingdom was like four buildings in a blue void? Still, the characters were really fun, still need to finish it though.

Supermarket Together - Say it with me, played with friends. Had so much fun doing Broom-Fu and beating up customers.

Tabletop Simulator - many a game of Magic was played. It's fun!

Thank Goodness You're Here! - the most aggressively british game I've ever played. I've lived in the UK for almost a whole year now and even I didn't get all the jokes, even if I could tell that they were there. It's less "oi bruv got a loicense" stereotypical british humour and more humour aimed at british people for british people. You really have to be british to fully enjoy it I spose.

The Coin Game - even if it didn't personally blow me away, it's still damn impressive that an open world GTA-clone arcade sim was made by one guy.

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion - Just as good as I remembered it. By Azura, By Azura, By Azura, I can't believe it's YOU, standing HERE, next to ME!

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 - Had a blast playing the College level again for old time's sake. Wanna play the rest again soon.

Void Wizard - So I watched this video:


And followed the project since then. When it came out, I bought it and gave it a shot. And yeah, it's damn fun actually. Really good roguelike boomer shooter.

VR Chat - It's VR, and you chat in it. I hang out with my furry friends here sometimes. Love exploring neat worlds.

Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide - Many a Skaven has fallen by my hands. Many a more shall again, by Sigmar. Really good Left 4 Dead clone.

WWE 2K23 - Played with friends and maybe kind of sort of got back into wrestling because of this game??? RKO fan for LIFE!

Zombie Army Trilogy - It's fun, but I was wayyy underpowered playing it solo lmao. Very arcadey Left 4 Deadlike.


Amazing

An Arcade Full of Cats - Further elevating the hidden cat game genre, this saw you revisiting an arcade again and again throughout the decades with a pair of time traveling cats, seeing the space evolve over time. Lots of extra secrets and interactives and an actually killer soundtrack??? Like, just LISTEN to this:



Crazy Taxi - it's CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZY! Crazy good omg. I used to actually look down on Sega games for their arcadey nature. What a fool I was, this game was a blast! I got S-rank so pretty proud of myself, here's hoping Sega releases the game for sale again since it sadly just got delisted.

Baldur's Gate - I never go into CRPGs expecting a long game. I have no idea why, because I was in for a very, very lengthy adventure. And even if some things were a little frustrating, I loved every bit. Rasaad and Jaheira are the GOATs.

Darkest Dungeon - screenshots do not do this game justice. "It's just a mobile app looking game" SHUT THE UP YOUR FACE. When you see the game in motion, when you play it for yourself, you will understand just how incredible it is.

Deep Rock Galactic - ROCK AND STONE, BROTHA! While it's a lot of fun with friends, I ironically prefer it solo. It's actually oddly relaxing? Great for listening to youtube while playing. Best part? It's a live service with exactly zero FOMO. That's right. Nothing is time gated. All updates are free, and DLC is just there to support the devs if you want. God tier game in the current gaming landscape.

Donkey Kong - okay so I kind of became fascinated with Pauline after playing Super Mario Odyssey. Like, hello girl, what have you been up to between Donkey Kong and now? How are you the mayor? Why do you S L A Y? Sadly, Nintendo is sparing with lore but I still played the OG DK again and had an absolute blast. Genuinely great game.

Donkey Kong Country - David Wise, heaven. Those pre-rendered jungles, heaven. It's happiness personified in a game.

Fallout 3 - didn't get far with this replay (I have 100%ed it before dw) but I still love Fallout 3. I know New Vegas is better, but it doesn't remove my personal love of Fallout 3. Maybe cause it was my first Fallout, maybe I just really love the world and characters in it, like Moira and Lucas Simms and Lug-Nut and Dave and Fawkes.

Fallout 2 - mixed these up on the chart my bad. So this one fixed a lot of my issues with the first Fallout game by actually doing something wildly different. You aren't a vault dweller, you're a tribal member of a group of people that worship the vault dweller from the first game. That's fucking awesome. Fresh new character arc, fresh new take on the franchise as far as I'm concerned.

F-Zero - Racing bliss. Difficult, but racing bliss. It doesn't get said often, but what a gorgeous game. Realizing that all those lines to the sides of the track aren't circuit boards, but city streets miles below you was a huge holy shit moment that made me immersed in the world in a way I didn't expect. Love love love this game.

GTA San Andreas - "Aw shit, here we go again" will only get funnier each time I replay this masterpiece. San Fierro is the GOAT GTA city (outside of Carcer City), and there's a lot of stuff in this game that's still missing in newer GTAs. I can only hope GTA 6 is a complete GTA experience that lets you do all the stuff you could in the older games as well as the newer ones.

I Commissioned Some Cats 0 - Holy shit, the amount of detailed, gorgeous artwork in this hidden cat game is unreal. Talk about elevating the genre, there's some actual artistic masterpieces in here. And good god is this game surprisingly lengthy for a hidden cat game! Tons of levels, tons of beautiful art, all for free!

CHALLENGER APPROACHING!!! I Commissioned Some Bees 0 - I completely forgot to add this to the chart, but I loved this one too for all the same reasons. When you get to the map with the flying fish, you'll understand what I mean. Totally free too, so go get it!

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - I still need to finish this, I do. My problem is that I can only play it on my partner's computer due to system requirements which limits my ability to play it. But man, what a really cool game.

Need For Speed 2015 - A lot of people did not like this game. A lot of people are wrong and have wrong opinions. This game is fucking INCREDIBLE. I'd rank it as being on par with Carbon or Underground 2. It's GOOD Need for Speed. Like, the GOOD ERA kind of GOOD. I wanna play it again, oh god, I WANNA PLAY IT AGAIN!

Need For Speed: Undercover - Again, I do not understand the hate for this game. I love the world, I love the cars, I love the music, I love the racing, I love the handling and the mechanics and the race types. FMVs are cringe but in a fun way, and ultimately represent like 1% of the actual game. The game that made me a fan of Ladytron and Pendulum, I cannot ever hate it. Giant inflatable ape on the car lot/10.

No Man's Sky - I'm happy to say I never hated on this game. Even when everyone was dogging on it, I saw the potential and knew it could be a great game. I had no idea that it would continue development THIS FAR. I'm so happy people love the game now, it's so good. Perfect loneliness simulator.

Othercide - Holy fuck, you are not prepared for this game. It's an XCOM-like, and it is BRUTAL, even on the easiest difficulty you are guaranteed to fail. And god, what gorgeous, nightmarish visuals. You owe it to yourself to experience this exquisite agony.

Red Faction - Acting straight out of a porno? Check. Plot straight out of a bad 80s sci fi? Check. Fucking awesome multi-path FPS that's kickass from beginning to end? Oh buddy, check. Loved it, go play it right now.

Shenmue - Have you seen a Chinese? Well, Ryo hasn't apparently. My favorite ask people questions simulator, and Hang On was really fun too. I say this with complete sincerity, this is perfect autistic representation in gaming.

Slasher's Keep - A roguelike dungeon crawling FPS that's honestly on par with Legend of Grimrock. The storage sacrifice mechanic is so unique, and I genuinely got excited to see the outside world from a cloister window, I was THAT invested. It's really really good, you shouldn't sleep on it if you like dungeon crawlers.

Sonic All Stars Racing: Transformed - What an absolute love letter to everything SEGA! If the earlier entry in the series was a great introduction to loving Sega, this game cements every single aspect of what makes them AWESOME! Really loved the Nights into Dreams and Panzer Dragoon tracks, so awesome!

Sonic The Hedgehog/2/3D Blast/Mania - Classic Sonic goodness. Fave track is Marble Zone, loved the puzzle aspects of 3D Blast and the remixing in Mania!

South Park: The Stick of Truth - Holy fucking balls Kyle. This game? Feckin bitchin. Like Lego Marvel Super Heroes, it is more epic and has more love and attention to detail and fun poured into it than it has any right to have. And it's no wonder, being made by the legendary Tim Cain and Obsidian Entertainment. Plus, it's fucking hilarious. Offensive and shocking, yes, but hilarious.

Stardew Valley - Elliott my beloved! I wish I had more time to devote to this game, I really wanna finish it someday. Love the small town close-knit vibes everyone had.

Star Wars: Battlefront I & II - The OG editions, just in case if you were wondering. Getting to relive the Clone Wars battles was so, so, so cool! I always wanted to experience those parts of Star Wars in a more interactive way, and I finally got to on huge, epic battlefields. And not a single lootbox to be seen, my pride in the accomplishment of completing both is complete.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past - Jade, why is this not in S-tier??? Well, kinda for the same reason why Fallout 1 wasn't rated higher. I know it was the first to set the formula in stone, but because of that, coming into the game after experiencing other Zelda games made it unfortunately feel by the numbers. I know that that's completely based on my own subjective experience, I know. BUT I still really loved it! Was it my favorite in the series? No. But I still really loved it, especially the Dark World parts.

CHALLENGER APPROACHING!!! The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - Again, I forgot to put this on the chart I'm SORRY. Still need to finish this one but really loved this one. It may be heresy but Capcom makes some of the best Zelda games I've ever played (subtle foreshadowing)

The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind - While I grew up with Oblivion, Morrowind has a beauty that Oblivion simply does not. The music, the landscape, the cries of the silt striders echoing through the air, I loved every single second of this game (when it didn't crash - I was playing the Morrowblivion port tbh). Probably my second favorite Elder Scrolls (subtle foreshadowing)

Vampire Survivors -

Yooka-Laylee - On this Replaying (not Replaylee), I just vibed with how beautiful the game was. Ironically, the most gorgeous area was the swamp. Kartos' Kart Race music - made by the music god David Wise himself is so, so beautiful.




S RANK

Here we are, the best of the best. The hallowed halls of gaming's finest. Remember that these are just my opinions based on what I personally loved the most - if you think a game is trash that's valid. I just personally got so much out of these that I couldn't rate them any lower than top tier.

Beat Saber - So this year was my first introduction to VR gaming, and man what a fun game! Custom tracks especially, it's an incredible workout that makes you feel like either the world's biggest dork if you suck or the world's greatest badass if you get good. I don't wanna brag but I did pretty solid if I say so myself.

Blood: Fresh Supply - Holy shit. I slept on this game. I fucking slept, honk shoo honk shoo mimimimimimi on this god tier boomer shooter. So gothic, so fun, that interactive BUILD engine goodness from beginning to end. I want Jojo! I Want JOJO! New fave boomer shooter n g l.

Bonanza Brothers - First game I ever played, still holds up amazingly well. Can't believe I ever hated SEGA, they're the GOAT, genuinely. Maybe the first stealth game ever? I'm not sure, someone fact check me on that.

Caravan SandWitch - Woah. If you love Assassin's Creed, Mad Max, Journey and A Story About My Uncle, and you love relaxing games, you will love this game. There's no combat, no fall damage, just you and the wastes. Gorgeous game, gorgeous soundtrack, really fun open world puzzle platform gameplay that evolves over time.

Betrayer - The Elder Scrolls meets Thief meets Silent Hill??? Made by the devs behind the FEAR series, it's free to play on Steam. Genuinely incredible stealth game - you literally have to move with the wind so you aren't heard, that's such a unique mechanic. But yes I am not joking it is literally Elder Scrolls meets Thief meets Silent Hill with a unique and unsettling atmosphere. Go download it right now!

Final Fantasy IX -



Burmecia made me cry. Black Mage Village made me cry. Cleyra made me cry. This game. It made me cry. Gorgeous music. Gorgeous, dreamlike art. Gut-wrenching story. Unforgettable characters. A world unlike any other. Without a doubt the greatest Final Fantasy game, ever.

F-Zero 99 - This is the only Battle Royale game I will ever respect. I got top ranking for the week once. O n c e. Racing bliss, but turned into a racing frenzy. The chaos, the carnage, the speed, the desperation. It's a thing of beauty.

Halo: Combat Evolved - Can't replace the GOAT. Played with OG graphics, of course. I still wanna live on the Silent Cartographer island for the rest of my life. And I don't think that feeling will ever go away. The greatest game I ever grew up playing.

Metroid Dread - So, I have a confession. I played Metroid Fusion, and I wasn't a fan. The controls were too frustrating with the ledge jumping. This game fixed that. It fixed that but it didn't stop being hard or requiring control mastery. Unironically the hardest game I have ever 100%ed, the Souls games have NOTHING on this. But...I love Metroid now? I genuinely deeply love Metroid now, and I wanna go back and give Fusion a fair shot now??? I wanna play all the games and eagerly await more for years like the rest of the fanbase now??? Wha??? I blame Arlo for this. I do. He got me to buy this game on the hype of its release, and because I wanted to support a struggling series that a lot of people loved I bought it new when it came out. Didn't play it until this year, but damn...I love this game. I love it, I love it, I love it. Damn you, blue puppet man, I love Metroid now.

Monopoly 1995 - Jade why the hell is fucking Monopoly on S-tier, I hear you ask. Because the 1995 version made by the same studio that developed Command & Conquer is still the best version of the game. It has the best music of any version, the FMVs for every space and move are classic 90s in every way, the pieces don't just move they have unique personalities and reactions to different spaces, you can change the background to any number of strange and alien worldspaces (as long as that background is in BMP), it still works just fine on Windows 10/11 without needing patching, and did I mention the FMVs? Each one giving you a glimpse into the world of each space, and changing with each house or hotel in very weirdcore ways. You really gotta see this game to believe it. It's still S-tier I'm sorry.

Old School RuneScape - The only MMO I'll respect. Why? Because it respects me. It respects every player and gives the community complete control over the game. Its monetization is extremely fair, it has thousands of hours of free content, the community is still bustling even in free-to-play servers, it's funny, it has great music, and it's just relaxing. And yes, I find its graphics unironically beautiful. They are potato, but it's an ethereal vibe that could have only come about from being a web browser game.

PlaneScape Torment - What can change the nature of a man? This is probably the most philosophically complex and nuanced game I have ever played. If you haven't, I am begging you to play this game. It will change you. It will speak to you in ways very few games can. The only other game that has ever been compared to it is Disco Elysium, and that's because Disco Elysium was heavily inspired by it. That should tell you everything you need to know. Expect the best writing you've ever experienced in your life.

Pokemon Fire Red - Can't beat the best Pokemon game. Doesn't need an explanation why, it's just simply the best Pokemon game.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords - Ironically, the first time I tried to play this back on my Xbox 360, it ran at like 5 frames a second and took 5 minutes to load. Fallout New Vegas did the same. No other games did that, I just thought that Obsidian was shit. Apparently it was just my 360, because I've never had those problems with their games anywhere else. All that to say I finally gave this game the second chance it deserved. And I really, truly loved it. It's a different beast than its BioWare predecessor, a different spirit, a different tone altogether. But it's so incredibly good. I love both, but for dramatically different reasons, like the difference between chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a burrito.

Super Mario Odyssey - What the hell Nintendo I was dealing with recovery from surgery, you can't just give me peak Mario as a comfort game while I recover. But give me peak Mario they did. What an absolute love letter to all things Mario. As a diehard Sunshine and SM64DS fan, it's hard to admit but...this...this is the best Mario game. It just is. It's so inventive and full of fun from beginning to end, and it's as expansive as it is packed to the gills with stuff to do.

Saints Row (2022) - Jade. Jade. What. What are you doing no. No. That game. That game is trash, garbage, stinky broken messy doodoo. I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT I REALLY ACTUALLY LOVED IT I'M SORRY. I was asked by a friend to play it to get video footage for a youtube video essay they were making (still hasn't come out yet) and while the game threw them further and further into depression, I found myself loving it more and more and more??? I grew up on Saints Row 2, 3 4, Gat Out Of Hell. I know what good Saints Row is. And yet, despite some bugs and some cringey dialogue...I...I really loved it? People didn't take the time to appreciate it, but Volition really pulled all the stops in creating a world with care and love. Santo Ileso isn't some poorly cobbled together, slapdash copy paste worldspace. Every bit of the world is just as lovingly handcrafted as Fallout New Vegas and I do not say this lightly. I bet you didn't know about the historical lore about werewolves, or about the tour guide that you can visit around the city until they eventually get fired, expose government corruption only to get replaced with someone else? I bet you didn't see the LARP sidequests, or take the time to look at the gorgeous art all throughout the city? Did you see the secrets in the badlands, or go shopping at the barbecue joint? No, nobody did. Nobody gave this game the fair shake it deserved. I did, because it was my job. Well, it was my job to hate the game, but in playing every inch of it I discovered that at its heart it truly was a Saints Row game. I don't care how many waffle makers Kev talks about. I loved this game and I will not recant or back down. If Saints Row 2022 has a million fans I am one of them. If Saints Row 2022 has one fan, I am that fan. If Saints Row 2022 has no fans, I am dead or have been brainwashed by someone who did not play the game but has mind control powers.

Space Harrier II - Drugs the game. Drugs the very difficult game. Drugs the very difficult but oh so badass game. God what a good game. Proud to say I'm one of the 0.9% of players on Steam that got a score of 5,000,000 points in the game, and I have the Steam achievement to prove it:

Streets of Rage - God what a vibe. What an absolute vibe this game has. It's fun, yeah, but man, what a vibe. ACAB, but what a fucking vibe.



Super Metroid - Hot off the heels of playing Metroid Dread, I wanted more Metroid goodness. Were the wall jumps and disappearing block shaft infuriating? Oh ho ho ho you betcha. You bet your sweet bippy they were. But what a good fucking game. Upper Brinstar lives rent free in my head (and sounds similar in feel to Marathon and Halo 1's soundtrack in several ways on reflection) and Zebes is gorgeous from top to bottom. Amazing action, amazing puzzles, amazing bosses (holy shit Nintendo I thought you made games for children!), just absolutely amazing. I wanna play it again AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA damn you blue puppet man!!

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall - So I started playing this earlier this year. I am still playing it. I was gonna play it tonight but I sacrificed that time to write this all instead. I went into it deeper in the Elder Scrolls group forum, but holy fuck I love this game so much.

Here's the link if you were interested on a more in depth splurge on Daggerfall: Daggerfall Fan Thread

But hey it's free, the Unity port is free, the modding scene is on fire and it's such a good game Gooooooooooooooo play it!

The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap - How...how do you put the best Zelda game into words? How can you do that? I loved...I loved every bit of this. The Minish, oh the little Minish living among the Hylians...the Wind Tribe, even the swampy Castor Wilds. The fox bandits, the living armor, the cart rides, the Cane of Pacci, the Elemental Sanctuary, Hyrule Town in its best outing ever...oh my god. Nintendo. Nintendo. Let Capcom make every Zelda game. Please. This was - this IS the best Zelda game ever. I used to think it was Majora's Mask, but oh my god why did I never play this before??? Ironically, this game was my first introduction to the series wayyyyyyy back when I had teen magazines. I saw a review for the Minish Cap, and though the visual of Toon Link and the Gust Jar lived in my head all these years I never gave it a chance until now. What a fool I was to wait so long, and how happy I am to have experienced it.

Webfishing - I heart peeing. I also heart big fish, and chatting with friends. The only game I played with friends to make S tier, but that's just because this game is absolute zen. It's relaxation if relaxation let you fish while being relaxed. It's $5 on Steam and the dev is amazing and funny and cool. And if you don't have friends, there's always a public lobby open. Just, watch out for grincher. The lobotomites are all cool tho.

WarioWare, inc - This is what you get when you let your developers have fun (staring directly into your soul, SONY. Pointing vehemently at this game (and Astro Bot), SONY). Like, honestly. I've never played anything that was so dedicated to fun before.

Also, proto-vaporwave alert in the taxi cab???

Jade, you idiot, that's just City Pop! No, listen again - listen to the electronic distortion on the vocals, the hiccupping drumset. That's proto-vaporwave.

I remember playing this at a Walmart kiosk over a decade ago, and the game is still just as awesome as I remember, from beginning to end. 9-Volt's games are the best, love a good love letter to Nintendo.

CHALLENGER APPROACHING!!! Wrecking Crew - Couldn't wrap up this list without yet one last game I forgot to add to the chart. And yes, it's S-tier. It's Wrecking Crew for the NES. People are absolutely sleeping on this game. It's an extremely addictive puzzle platforming game. I got over a hundred levels in and I still wanted to keep going. Genuinely peak puzzle gaming. And it's on the NES. And it's a game nobody ever really talks about. Holy shit go play it.



Aaaaaaaaand that's a wrap! Let me know your thoughts below! Have you had a good year playing games? What were some of your faves this year? Here's hoping 2025 is just as awesome!