Anyway, I'm underway, having finished KAMI 2

And before I get slagged off / the MMG chat starts, I refer you to http://thebearandbadger.co.uk/discussion/comment/1550697#Comment_1550697.

acemuzzy wrote:

Anyway, I'm underway, having finished KAMI 2 And before I get slagged off / the MMG chat starts, I refer you to http://thebearandbadger.co.uk/discussion/comment/1550697#Comment_1550697.

Right?

Fwiw I've stuck with stuff I'm not keen on for the sake of numbers on rare occasions (*cough* Dead Nation), but I've never started anything I didn't genuinely want to play (one or two Vita games notwithstanding, I did move into a grey area to clear the PS+ backlog). The vast majority of M&Ms I play are things I've waited for in a sale that I've had my eye on for months.

Andy wrote:

I’d rather be picking games based on what I’d enjoy and want to play for playing’s sake than what will help me reach an arbitrary goal.

Fair enough

Andy wrote:

there are clearly insufficient good or challenging ones for that to be an enjoyable prospect

Nonsense (particularly the "clearly" bit). Just cos you're not looking for them doesn't meant they don't exist. Unless your average gaming week is sub-one-hour I suppose.

acemuzzy wrote:

Nonsense (particularly the "clearly" bit). Just cos you're not looking for them doesn't meant they don't exist. Unless your average gaming week is sub-one-hour I suppose.

You’ve not seen Moot’s lists, then.

I'm not sure either of us is the prime exemplar...

o/

2. Assassins Creed Odyssey 9/10

My opinion didn't really change much from my thoughts from 2/3 through the game.  

Wariospeedwagon wrote:

I've been playing Odyssey over the last couple of weeks - My first Assassin's Creed!  (well, I've tried a couple before, but immediately bounced off them, so they don't really count) It's one of those games where I could do a grocery list of bits I don't like or don't think work all that well, but then there's just as big a list of things I love!  It's only been the last couple of days that it's really dragged me in, with an abundance of side tasks that I absolutely have to see through to the end (I'm level 35).  Seem to now have a good idea of which tasks I don't interest me too and can curate those out of my game.  Not sure what to make of the story - in that it seems like perfectly good adventure game fare with an excellent and fun main character (and a mostly fun cast), but it's a bit poorly told - like some bits seem to peter out into an anticlimax, there's some of that video game 'kill 100 blokes and I'll give you some information that's vaguely helpful' stuff, and a lot of the Assassins Creed lore goes over my head.  Not sold on the dialogue trees either; they seem a bit stilted. But yeah, it says a lot that I planned on mostly just bashing through the main quest within a week or two, but it's gonna take a month to see everything I want now.  Impressive stuff on the whole and I'll check out more Assassins Creed over the coming months.

Feel it's a great story away from being a classic.  Another of my narrative whinges about the game, think it's because you need to kill so many people from either side of the conflict while working with them that i found it hard to care about anyone.  Still, fantastic fun in spite of that.

And I'm off!

1. Light Fall - Switch.

Checkpoint platformer with an emphasis on speed.  Manages to stand out thanks to the manual platforms twist - you have four to place in mid air, but your feet must touch terra firma to reset the counter.  On paper it sounds like it might slow the game down, but it's quite well handled and means that you can really race through stages with a bit of practice - place a platform while careering forward in mid air and you can jump again without breaking stride, which means you can dip down or jump up, adjusting for oncoming obstacles at a fair clip.  Some sections are weaker than others, one of the block mechanics should've gone in the bin really (manual manoeuvring) and it's not up there with the greats, but as a speed runner it's got chops.  It's also pretty enough, in a sort of budget amalgamation of Ori/Limbo way.  I enjoyed this, but it would've been overpriced without the 50% off.  A definite Moot recommends at half price though, off to a good start [7].

2. Astro Bot - Playstation VR

Easily one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had, and to think I was secretly mocking VR up to a few weeks ago.  Phenomenally inventive, beautifully presented corridor platformer (think Sly Racoon or Super Magnetic Neo for better examples than Crash Bandicoot) with a massive twist.  'Be the camera' isn't going to shift units, but don't knock it until you've tried it.  Great visuals, quality sound design and music, terrific stage layouts, inventive item mechanics, old-school screen-filling pattern bosses, well spaced checkpoints, replayability, post credits longevity (challenge mode), perfect movement controls (which sounds simple, but think how many games have got this wrong over the years), buckets of charm and bundles of character - it doesn't put a foot wrong for my money.  The best exclusive on PS4, it's mere inches away from a ten.  Exquisite craftsmanship, sequel please.  [9]

3. Until Dawn: A Rush of Blood to the Head

The VR train rattles onwards.  I miss lightgun games, to the point where OMG LIGHTGUN GAMES was close to my first thought when I strapped on the headset for the first time.  I played with a pad, which worked well for the most part (with plenty of on the fly recalibration) but I'd imagine the Move controllers improve things substantially.  With the screen strapped to your face and headphones in the horror aspect is well done; the jump scares shit me up pretty much every time and it has no problem switching from creepy/eerie (child ghosties singing, natch) to massively OTT (screaming screen sized pig heads swinging from ceiling hooks dripping blood).  Plus you've got stomach churning corkscrews to deal with as your minecart rumbles on, occasionally leaning and ducking to avoid obstacles - great fun.  Final boss aside, one section of which was just the wrong side of irritating with a pad, this was superb.  Branching paths, collectibles, stage secrets and tons of hanging targets to improve your score mean it's replayable too.  As good as some of the better lightgun games on Wii, better than any since and another truly excellent example of The VR Experience. [8]

4. Mr. Shifty - Switch

A very pleasant surprise.  Picture a close quarters combat Hotline Miami where you control Nightcrawler.  Enemies have range weapons, but they can't 'shift', which is forward motion short teleport from a depleting/recharging bank of 5.  Any variety is mostly provided by a gradually increasing roster of speciality fodder, so you'll be learning how to deal with new types every couple of stages (shotgun guy, rocket launcher guy etc).  It's all very simplistic, which is why it works so well.  Quick shifts get you in and out of trouble and you'll be pinging around the screen in - depending on skill - total control of the chaos.  Or in my case not quite total control of the chaos, which might be the sweet spot for maximising the enjoyment.  I'm surprised this didn't receive more critical acclaim, a few bugs and hiccups aside it runs well undocked and makes for terrific handheld gaming imo.  I did have to reboot it once though, as it started to lose maybe 10fps per stage before gradually grinding to a halt.  

The whole experience is extremely focused and even the screens with shift blockers in them don't manage to ruin the fun.  Building a game around an ability then taking it away doesn't usually goes well, but there's no real harm done anyway.  Unlike Hotline Miami it's not hugely difficult - unless this one really clicked with me (I struggled with certain stages of both HM games on occasion) - more 'tricky but doable'.  Most stages can be seen off in a matter of minutes once you're in The Zone.  Genuinely good stuff, critics and naysayers be damned.  [8]

5. Splatoon 2: Octo Epansion - Switch

A brilliant, full game sized add-on to Splat2, and almost certainly better than the already excellent single player mode to that.  Combined, they're genuinely one of the best 3D single player experiences in the Nintendo hall of fame.  The layout is refreshingly old school and the requirements for progression are harsh.  Most stages are tricky but some are fiendish.  I had to cheat on one to progress, for shame.  I'll go back to it.  My only complaint would be that the bosses are rehashes of the original guardians.  No big deal, but everything else is so polished it still came as a slight surprise that they weren't all new.  Highlights?  Hard to narrow it down, but the rolling ball stages were particularly great and the final stretch was a joy. 

There's plenty more to do (only hit 42 mem cakes to get four thangs), but I'm done for now as it's a pretty intense experience.  The multiplayer is supposedly pretty nifty too, and even though I still don't fancy that it's fair to say this is easily one of the games of the generation.  [9]

6. Moss - Playstation VR

A lovely 3D puzzle platformer that benefits from VR, but unlike Astro Bot could feasibly exist without.  It adds to the experience but it doesn't define it.  Quill is exceptionally well animated, to the point where it's a surprise this controls as well as it does (it almost seems over animated, but the interactions remain smooth).  The rest of the visuals are similarly excellent throughout; it's a gorgeous game.  Nice soundtrack too.  When the credits roll the quest is referred to as 'book 1', and I really hope Polyarc get to continue the story as there's a lot of potential to be tapped.  In fact, the game is so short - lovely as it is - that it feels like it ends just as it's warming up.  The in-game clock said 5hrs for me, but that's nonsense.  It jumped from 3.03 to 4.28 a session that lasted just under an hour (I timed it as I had a hunch the clock was acting weird), so I'm not quite sure what's up with it.  Perhaps the devs thought they could pull a fast one?  I'd peg it at maybe 3hrs long, which is why I'm only giving it a [7].  I would've been more generous if I'd played this before Astro Bot, it really is cracking game with some great puzzles but there's just not enough of it, it feels like a game that could've had a hell of a lot more to give with a bit more time in development

7. New Super Mario Bros Switch U Wii Deluxe - Switch

Pretty good Mario game.  I don't go deep with them, so purists would say I'm doing it wrong, but this was enjoyable to plod through in co-op.  Nabbit and Toadette are good additions for younger children (Nabbit - very easy - doesn't take damage and Toadette - easy - can become a floaty superboost Peach).  Bosses are still laughable but the level design is on point.  The coin hunt is an excellent addition to Mario games, really adds to it in two player.  Good but I didn't see enough to call it great  (which it supposedly is for proper fans).  [7]

8. VR Worlds - PS4

Right, so I'm starting to notice a pattern developing with a few of these VR titles - they're overpriced.  I paid £10 for this, which is more than fine, but I believe the original RRP was £25, and for a glorified demo disc that's a wee bit rich.  The games, from bottom to top:

Ocean Descent

Fairly enjoyable one-and-done VR experience.  It's the sort of thing you'd use to showcase Playstation VR to mates who've never played it, but only in a world where Star Wars Rogue One VR, The London Heist (spoilers, that one's good) and Rush of Blood to the Head didn't exist.   

VR Luge

Didn't really do it for me.  It's passable, but there's no reason why this couldn't have been a lot better.  It works, it's fun for a while, but the devs hardly reached for the stars here.  

Scavengers Odyssey 

Now we're in pretty good territory, this was a decent FPSVR experience.  Controls are solid and it looks nifty, but be warned - it chucked me around so much I needed to suck boiled sweets to avoid a visit from Uncle Dick.  Definitely the poster child for 'queasy' from the VR experiences I've had so far.  Good though, and of a passable length for a multi-game package.

Danger Ball

Genuinely good VR pong game, all controlled with head flicks/leans/swipes but criminally lacking in a multiplayer online mode.  I'd probably buy a fleshed out full game based on the basics here.  Good stuff.

The London Heist

Wow.  Even both barrels of mock stock didn't take the shine off; a top tier cockney caper that's surprisingly well acted throughout.  Ya fackin' two-Bob mugglewump.  It's all over bar the shouting within half an hour and there are only really two (traditionally) playable sections, but while it lasts this is probably the best thing not starring Astro Bot on PSVR.  Even the shooting galleries are good, I just want more.

[7] overall for the package, less at full price.

9. Into the Breach - Switch

Not done with it but ready to review after 8hrs or so, credits have rolled.  Yet another case of me really liking something I assumed I wouldn't but hoped I would.  This one's probably even better than Dead Cells (haven't had a successful DC run yet).  Enough has been said about this elsewhere by people who went far deeper than I have or will, but this is an exceptionally good videogame that can be accurately described as 'genius' at times.  Will be in my final top 5 for the year when I finally stop fretting over the order*. [9]

*AKAGOTY2015

10. Horizon Chase Turbo - Switch

Lovely looking bright 'n chunky retro inspired racer.  Very old fashioned in the way it plays, but that's clearly the point.  Simplistic pedal to the metal twists and turns, rubber banding as front and centre as the rubber burning and passable HERE WE GO race choons.  You'll need to brake occasionally but it's mostly gunning the gas, letting up a smidge for corners and looking for straights to bust out the finite nitros.  It's not without faults, notably the campaign length (10hrs for me - far too long) and the need to mostly finish 1st or 2nd in every sodding race in order to progress at the final stages, but overall I enjoyed this.  Not exceptional by any means, just a solid mission accomplished/medium-firm back pats for the designers.  Also has pretty good split screen multiplayer performance and two players can tackle the world tour together, which is always welcome.  [7]

11. The Gardens Between - Switch

I really liked this.  Delightful, delicate puzzler that nails the charm offensive from the opening moments to the credits.  You're in charge of two characters at once in meticulously designed dreamstate islands.  The view sweeps and rotates around the duo as you push the stick forwards or backwards to control the flow of time - intrinsic to all solutions.  They'll stay the necessary distance apart for you to solve the puzzles correctly.  It's gentle rather than brain busting, with set-ups often being clever rather than ingenious, but as mentioned it ticked tons of boxes for me.  I don't like to be puzzled by puzzlers for too long, I tend to get fed up, and it'd be fair to say this one's on the easy side.  There's not much to it in terms of ways and means with the brain-teasing - you're mostly trying to light a lantern and progress to the correct section while holding it, which requires fiddling with the forwards/backwards mechanic by freezing certain items in time and so on.  It doesn't take long to find your feet, and therein lies the rub as the whole shebang only lasts two hours anyway.  This is something that should be known by any badgers tempted to go in as that'd be a deal breaker for many.  I paid £8.99 at 50% off and it's one of the best gaming experiences I've had this year, but it's absolutely not worth £17.99 until the world's officially gone mad.  Once again though: I loved it. [8]

12. A Hole New World - Switch

Could well be the turdliest Moot/Muzzy game of the generation.  Not only has it been given possibly the worst videogame title of all time, it's also one of the least fun 8-bit indie bandwagon platformers I've ever encountered.  Ninja Senki EX pisses on this.  The Messenger and Shovel Knight do unspeakable things to it.  Rotten.  I'm actually offended by it, and the fact that it's received some fairly decent reviews.  Nope, this is not how you do it - you don't make an 8-bit game in 2018 with all the problems that might plague an average 8-bit game in 1988 and just add kinder checkpointing.  It even has performance issues on Switch, and the last boss is one of the most hideous I've ever encountered.  Turgid filth, and the worst game I've finished in three years of doing these lists.  Even the core conceit of normal/upside down screens is shit - build a game around something interesting morans, and if you can't do that at least do interesting things with the idea you had. [2]

13. Super Inefficient Golf - Switch

Another blind purchase in a sale.  The idea is solid - place detonators on a golf ball and guide it around 18 holes using impact explosions - but the execution is lacking.  It's the spin on the ball that ruins it, you can't really set up your shots with multiple detonations in a controlled way.  Inefficient, geddit? It's a shame, but what you get is still quite entertaining.  I mostly played it with straight ahead propulsion.  I suppose there's replayability in there with perfecting the holes, getting angles right for hole in ones etc, but it's not really skill based (although I suppose that's the sub-genre, if we're putting this alongside the likes of Zany Golf).  The closest thing I can compare it to is Monkey Golf in SMB; definitely fun while it lasts but a bit of a one-and-done.  [5]

14.  Pixel Ripped 1989 - PSVR

*New genre alert!*  Batshit nu retro VR tower defence/lightgun game hybrid oddity.  I've never playing anything remotely similar to this.  Your character is mostly playing a handheld games console which you're holding and looking at in an attempt to progress through the simplistic 8-bit inspired platform shooter stages, whilst simultaneously creating diversions in a classroom so the teacher doesn't spot you playing a videogame.  To do this you need to fire projectiles at various parts of the scenery which sets up distractions so you can return to the game - kinda like playing a hillbilly moonshine shooting gallery (albeit controlled with your head) while playing a Gameboy.  Other stages have you using the handheld unit as a retro overlay for a shooting range (protecting students from being taken, like a weird lightgun game within a lightgun game Defender thing).  Plus the whole thing is littered with retro nods/wiks/homages - Alex Kidd helicopter stage! - and has a very British sense of humour running through it.  I could go on, but it's all just as mental and I've already 'ruined' half the surprises.  Genuinely not sure what to make of it.  Absolutely not worth the full £22, but at the current price of £10.99 it's worth it for the insanity.  BARMY.  [7] 

15. Escape Doodland - Switch

Autorunner with lenient gated progression - collect squidgy things within the stages to unlock levels and buy characters/minor perks.  There's a jump button, which also works for double jump, and timed/limited fart propulsion (wait, come back!) dependent on where you point the right stick and how many matchboxes you've picked up.  That's it.  A big beastie is chasing you and if you're snagged by too many sticking points it eats you and you're dead.  If you fall down holes or get blown up you're dead.  Otherwise it's business as usual for these types - get through the stages with a mixture of skill and perfection through repetition, grabbing the fiendishly placed squidgy things en route if you're feeling brave.  Levels have three or four checkpoints, reaching the next one replenishes one of your three lives. I think this usually sells for £9.99, which is a bit much, but at the current price of 89p it's an absolute bargain.  Believe it or not, not only does it play well but it looks great and sounds fantastic. [8] for a quid, a solid [7] at full RRP.  I like this genre and it's definitely of the better efforts I've played.  Unlke Runner3 it runs well and doesn't over-egg it with new inputs every 5 minutes.

16. Wulverblade - Switch

Bold and beefy scrolling beat 'em up that looks incredible and sounds even better.  Excellent voicework - both characters and narration - and a quality rousing score combine to make one of the best sounding games I've played for ages; it's an absolute treat through headphones.  Gameplay is nothing new, refreshingly (it just pushes the envelope away - fuck you, envelope.  Or maybe it grabs it and stuffs a love letter to the 1990s inside) but the core brawling is good enough for immensely satisfying 'in the zone' mongol roman horde obliteration.  There's a block that doubles as a parry with correct timing plus a dodge and a limited number of attacks (light, heavy with a pick-up, jumping attacks, energy depleting special, grapple throws and grapple hits), which you'll be repeating ad infinitum against various enemy types.  You know the drill - plod through a level and beat the boss using one of the three available characters in either single player or co-op.  Love it or hate it, that's the genre.  It's precisely as deep as it should be, exactly as long as it need to be, just as tricky as you'd expect - i.e more so than it would've been in 1994 but with the added concession of checkpoints - and far more enjoyable in this day and age than it has any right to be.  Absolutely bloody superb.  Along with Mother Russia Bleeds this gen has treated us to two of the top 5 scrolling beat 'em ups for all time.  [9].

17. Headmaster - PSVR

Channel your inner Steve Bruce as a student at The Football Improvement Centre.  Coming off the back of a poor season, your aerial prowess will be put through its paces in a series of hands free tests designed to improve your ability to get your nut on the end of it.  Balls are launches into the air and you head them at the bits of the scenery that add to your score - that's basically it.  Part VR coconut shy, part Aperture Science facility, this is a bona fide PSVR gem and one of the best experiences I've had with the unit.  The script is strong and everything is just about accurate enough for you to deal with the stringent testing.  Even when tests feel like they're asking too much given the not quite perfect mechanics, practice will make you closer to perfect fairly quickly.  It's easy enough to get two or three stars on everything and the gating for the exams isn't strict.  It might look like a wonky Kinect cast off from screenshots but there's a surprising level finesse to the whole thing considering what you're being asked to do and how you're required to do it.  I only paid £3.99 but with the party mode taken into consideration I'd say this is absolutely worth the full £15.99.  I'm torn between an 8 and a 9, it really is that good, so since it doesn't matter in the slightest I'll given this one the coveted [8.5] High five for @Diluted_Dante

18. Captain Toad Treasure Tracker Special Episode DLC - Switch

A joy, as expected.  Light on content but it's hard to grumble for £5, the new courses are mostly pretty good.  It's nice to have a purpose to the recently added co-op mode too, where planning and character placement is key to picking up crowns.  Will happily buy more, and like many Nintendo games these days I don't see the need for a direct sequel if the dlc keeps coming. 

19. Statik - Playstation VR

In the puzzle thread I wrote:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Obviously it's Baba time in here, and rightly so it seems, but the main reason I popped in is to praise the pants off Statik on PSVR.  I'm not sure how many of you have or could have access to the VR stuff (specifically Playstation in this case), but it's wowed me with the way it perfectly executes its core idea.  I don't know how long I've got left of the main game, but if it maintains the current quality we're talking near Portal levels of aplomb.  For each puzzle your character is seated, with both hands inside a contraption that's key to success.  As you twist the dual shock pad the one-of-a-kind box that contains your hands moves with it, buttons/stick clicks/directions and so on perform different actions on different areas of the box.  The room that you're in may also contain clues or areas to interact with.  Your task is to gradually work out what you need to do to solve the metallic muff conundrum.  There's no direction, no assistance - you're just left to get on with it until the solution starts to click.  Once you succeed the device prints out a ticket that's scanned by a robot and you're gassed to sleep.  It's like having the Crystal Maze in your hands, brilliant stuff.  

...and it really was as good as I'd hoped from start to finish.  Easily one of the best puzzle games I've ever played, and I also enjoyed watching the Statik riddle being solved on YouTube.  Numptymortals like myself would have no chance solving it, but it was all very well done and the extra ending was good.  One of the best games on PS4 and probably the second best VR game I've played (despite not being as deeply dependent on VR as you might think, it's still a great fit).   [9]  

20. Donut County - Switch

*Review pending* (will be typing out my daughter's thoughts for this one) [8]

21. Severed - Switch

Just seeing the name annoys me, because it's one of two games I forgot to download on PS+ for Vita ages ago and it ended up costing me £6.  Anyway, it's a touch-screen maze based RPG type with an interesting battle system from the creators of Guacamelee.  Part Shining in the Darkness, part Fruit Ninja (maybe, I haven't played that) and, in the way the battles work, part Panzer Dragoon Saga.  It's a pretty interesting concept fairly well executed, but it runs out of steam two thirds of the way through.  You have to swipe the screen in various directions to attack, while managing which point on the compass the next attack is coming from.  Enemies need to be suppressed, frozen or polished off early, for example, depending on type.  The checkpointing is extremely generous, so even the trickiest battles are usually done within five to ten minutes.  Even so, I was glad when it was over in all honesty. I did enjoy some of my time with it but it wasn't really my sort of thing.  Lovely visuals though, and I'll doff my cap to the devs for trying something different.  [6]

22. Adventure Pals - Switch

At first this was okay, with the simplistic hack 'n slash platforming providing serviceable co-op fun.  Then the relentless monotony started to creep in, and pretty soon I found myself wading through one of the most tedious and least rewarding games I've played for many years.  I was tempted to write about this in depth but I put close to ten hours into it before the credits rolled and I don't want to waste any more of my life on it.  It's not a terrible game when you break it down, but it's got no business being any longer than 3hrs from start to finish.  It's like a windy Amiga game that keeps dishing out extra levels that feel like they've all been designed as cover mounted freebies.  No class, just content.  [4]

23. Megaman 11

I'm not too familiar with the Megaman series, having only played no.2 and X to completion - the former with save state spamming and the latter closer to 'properly' with retroking (we did use save states iirc, but nothing silly).  I opted for casual difficulty on this, which was the second of four difficulties, described as 'for those who love Megaman but haven't played in a while!'.  Five lives rather than three, slightly less damage taken apparently.  It seemed to be the right choice all told, as the stages flitted between cakewalk and tricky.  It certainly wasn't a breeze at any rate.  There's a step up in difficulty when you get past the initial boss selection area, and some of the fiddlier jumps are the reason this dipped from an 8 to a 7 - Megaman just isn't quite manoeuvrable enough for some of the late game cog jumping not to feel hit and miss.  This is the way it's always been, so fair play for the fan service, but it's just a touch on the clunky side for a modern continuation.  I'm unsure if bullets pass through scenery in all MM games, but it struck me as unusual here - it works though, and it's fun to switch between weapons for different situations as you start to amass a bigger arsenal.  Perhaps as a result of playing it on a lower difficulty I thought the double gear stuff was mostly redundant, and as Jon mentions elsewhere you can buy your way to victory quite easily.  Still, I had a decent time with it.  It's got a nice visual style, the 3D geometry 2D plane thing works well in this instance.  Overall it's a good platform shooter but I think you'd need to be armed with a bit more nostalgia to describe it as great.  The boss run at the end though - now that was great.  [7]

24. Black Bird - Switch 

I've been intrigued by this for a while.  It's basically a snazzy looking Fantasy Zone minus shops and extra lives.  Even if you think that's up your alley you have to factor in the brevity, simplicity and ease of it all - I'm no shmup head, but I got to the final form of the final boss on my first go.  I didn't save enough bombs for the same boss second go, but the credits rolled on my third. Okay, so it's a score chaser, but even after rearranging expectations having the whole thing roll over and show its belly after four stages (yes, four) is ridiculous. It's 50% off at the time of writing but this is supposed to sell for £15.  Nope.  Having said that, it's a terrific experience. It plays really well, has a striking visual style and a lovely score.  I've unlocked 'true mode', but the internet suggests that's basically the same deal with slightly tougher enemy waves. A reluctant [5] from me. If I was reviewing a retro run through I hadn't paid for I'd be shouting about the quality, but as it stands it's an odd little super stylish glossy budget feeling title that should sell for £5.99ish.  I wish it had so I could give it a higher score.

25. Red Dead Redemption 2 - PS4

I did it, despite tending to dislike games that require this much undivided attention.  It's Rockstar encapsulated; part monstrosity and part monumental achievement.  It's an exhilarating, sprawling cowboy epic, yet it's also a padded out dime novel that mistakes itself for Lonesome Dove.  

Starting with how it plays, there's a distinct lack of finesse to the mechanics.  I'd describe it as an above average last gen 3rd person cover shooter that's had one of the most breathtaking game worlds ever envisioned built around it.  Arthur ambles around during gunfights, transitioning from rock to rock like a sack of spuds that never feels like it's fully touching the ground.  Buttery smooth it's most certainly not, the shooting is merely functional, and if you're looking for faint praise, adequate.  I found that staying put was often the best route to success, popping up with snap-to aiming while laying waste to varmints that all felt a touch autopilot.  I've said it before, but the actual gameplay in the much maligned The Order: 1886 is marginally superior, despite being set thirteen years earlier.  Both have good old fashioned shooting gallery trigger satisfaction, but one can be vanquished in 7hrs, to use a word that brings to mind a smoother experience altogether, and one has to sustain an experience that could last somewhere in the region of 70 hours.  Do I tend to like slightly clunky bolt action rifle shooters?  Yes, as a rule, but the action isn't good enough to do much heavy lifting here, and the whole experience would've been vastly improved with slightly more enjoyable shoot outs.  You roll up at a destination, you shoot some baddies, then you tear off on horses, mopping up any idiots who dare to chase you.  There are other mission types, but in terms of action this sums up well over 50% of the standard missions.  

I'm led to believe that the phrase 'greater than the sum of its parts' and Rockstar go hand in hand, but this often made for tiresome sessions if I only had 30-45 minutes to spare.  This is a game to immerse yourself in, rather than hop from yellow spot to yellow spot on the map, which was always something I was going to struggle with, especially with the checkpointing being overly harsh for my tastes.  If you don't play this with a view to losing yourself in the experience you'll only be able to get so much from it, hence the fact that all my opinions here need to be taken with a pinch of salt.  If you like to go deep with your games there's an obscene amount of satisfaction to be had I'm sure.  With combat being a bit of a chore though, I found myself getting instantly annoyed pretty much every time my character died.  I have further grievances - the occasionally unfathomable forced walking (no running in camp, fuck off but okay, but no speeding up for 100 metres on the way out?), the glitches, NPCs getting ironed out because they Leroyed into a skirmish ahead of me, necessitating a restart (and more loading, and a further 5 minutes replaying the same section) - but it's time to get positive!

The positive bits.  

Attention to detail is astonishing.  The environments are breathtaking at times, real 'look how far we've come' stuff (in gaming history terms, not 'Christ it took me ages to get here'...wait, positivity).  The score does its job, sometimes rather well.  It's a decent stab at Morricone meets Ry Cooder that mostly plays at trigger points and it's a yes from me.  

When it all clicks, and if you play it for long enough it will, there's nothing quite like it.  I'll liken it to Shadow of the Colossus here, as it contains some of the very best moments in gaming, but it's all held together by slightly ropy padding.  For every session that had me grinning like a loon there was one that had me double facepalming over a mid-level inconvenience.  

---

Um...I didn't do too well with the positive bits, so this is bound to read like a [6] when it's not.  The story aims for grandiose, but really we're just - spoiler alert - following a gang of outlaws who gradually fall apart, despite the sweeping vistas and wolf fever dreams it's still a bit Quick Draw McGraw Paints His Wagon By Numbers.  Duck, I says.  It has its moments, but there's nothing masterful in the way the plot is pushed forward or in the way the story is presented.  It's admittedly still a cut above most games, but it all plods along as you'd expect for the most part.  I thought the Native American reservation father/son conflict was particularly ham-fisted, but there are some quality characters in the crew, plenty of neat set-pieces and some successfully deft touches (hello Willie Nelson, and props to the entirety of the epilogue).  

I've tried (and clearly failed) not to be overly harsh because I liked this enough to finish it, which feels like enough praise as western setting aside it's the antithesis of my usual stuff.  It's too much game, good as it is, and therefore not particularly gamelike at all in my eyes.  The tastes of the masses have changed, and I don't need to keep up as I'm catered for and then some with indie games - it's literally the best ever era for me to play my sort of thing (oh God here comes Elf...) - but my take away hot take on the hot mess is that huge chunks of the package are...unnecessary.  When at its best it's exceptional, but it's also proof that you can have too much of a good thing and far too much of an above average thing.  [7]

26. Katana Zero - Switch 

I waffled on about this a fair bit in the Switch thread as I was playing it.  It's got the makings of an all-timer, but the less-is-more approach to playable sections hauls it down a rung or two.  Visuals are exceptional (this is a stunning looking game, and precisely what something called Katana Zero should look like, imo) and the Hotline Miami B-side choons are solid, but the real star is the cut, thrust, hack and slash of the gameplay.  They've executed the 2D close-quarters room clearance thing perfectly - no section drags, no mechanic is over-used, and whenever you're controlling the character it's an absolute joy.  The story segments are also decent, and I wouldn't say there are too many of them per se, rather that there are too few playable sections around them.  Instead of force feeding the player the incredibly accomplished mechanics over and over again until they lose their lustre, the developers seem to have opted for the little bites approach to the fruits of their labour.  It's a poor decision for me; it's overly concise and the whole thing left me in a bit of a sulk tbh.  It's absolutely outstanding from start to finish, mind.  Due to the numerous problems with the front-end on the new Trials it's also my GotY as it stands.  [8]

27. Owlboy - Switch 

Lovely looking 2D Metroidvania* action platformer with some decent ideas, held together by a tedious story, occasionally frustrating controls and terrible signposting.  It's partly my fault I was seemingly lost all the fucking time as I bored of the dialogue pretty early on and took to hammering the A button during exchanges.  This approach doesn't help if A) one of the NPC characters says something like 'I think I saw that guy you may or may not know you're looking for head east at Tropos!', and B ) you don't know where Tropos is anyway because, inexplicably and inexcusably, the game has no map, no hint button and no handy pointy arrow.  Poor design can be far worse than hand holding.  It's not a terrible game, but it is a very odd one, even down to the complete mish-mash of its audio.  Meaty explosions and 8-bit bloops coexist in a world where sweeping orchestral scores and cheap chiptunes drop in and out depending on nothing in particular.  It's undoubtedly a conscious decision, but it doesn't work.  Most of the actual dungeons (or whatever you'd care to call them) are solid enough, so the [5] I considered would've been overly harsh, but the high Metacritic score for this one smacks of bandwagon jumping for me.  I play some weird games, granted, but tons of the no-name Moot_Muzzy offerings are better than this (and cheaper too - thankfully I bought it on cart as I half heeded the numerous badger warnings).  [6]       

*Seriously?  I do think people are a bit too precious with not pigeonholing genres at times (even for the purposes of a loose definition) but I saw this referred to as a Metroidvania in numerous reviews and it's nothing of the sort for me.

28. Crossing Souls - Switch

Bit of a slog in the end, this one.  Partly because it's one of the glitchiest games I've played for years, at least in undocked play.  One boss was almost unplayable due to huge frame drops (we're not talking stuttering, was more like buffering) and I had to watch a few of the animated story sections online as I was presented with a blank screen while the audio played - even when docked.  Same deal with the end credits, they just didn't display.  Unacceptable really, it clearly needed a patch that didn't arrive.

On to the game itself though, it's enjoyable enough (with the caveat of 'I suppose') and just about succeeds with all the unabashed borrowing from retro games and film tropes.  I'd had my eye on this for ages, way before launch, but unfortunately it's pretty run of the mill if you strip it down to the 90s gameplay at the heart of the I heart the 80s window dressing.  Part Zombies at my Neighbours, part Lost Vikings, but with tons of Goonies/Stranger Things vibes.  It has the standard posters for things like 'Ghost Boshers'; you'll meet characters in time travelling cars called 'Martin McFlye', or a bloke in a wife beater crawling around an air duct who says he's not having a good Christmas this year (not actual examples, afaik).  THE SHNNING!  It's lazy reference chumming, which got old many years ago, but it's all so lightweight it ends up being enjoyable.  Oddly enough the plot, silly as it is, goes to some interesting places.  Look away now, the sum total of none of you ever likely to play this:
Otherwise it's fairly standard stuff, and not particularly well executed either.  Yet for some reason I knew I had a soft spot for it even at the height of the annoyances.  It's not a good game, but it is a good 1990s style experience, even down to the irritating manual save points.  I'm not sure I could really give it kudos points for that though, it'd be far better with standard modern checkpointing.  Yep, you will occasionally have to replay an entire 15 minute section.  Also, if you die on a boss - which you will - you'll have to sit through all the preamble dialogue again each time.  Even the moveset for various gang members are under utilised. The tom-boyish (natch) female character can propel herself across chasms if she stands next to the obvious double stump visual clue, but you have to do this what, twice in total, maybe?  The whole thing feels half baked.  I've gone on for far too long here so I'll put a sock in it.  Why did I quite like it anyway?  Fuck knows.  [6]

29. I Am the Hero - Vita

Dusted the trusty Vita off for a final final farewell.  Had my eye on this on Switch for a while, very nearly bought it on release but thought better of it, ended up grabbing it for £3.29 in a PSN sale.  Turns out it wasn't worth the wait, so I'm not sure who won that particular stand off.  It's a functional side scrolling juggle-heavy beat 'em up where you're usually battling between one and three enemies, somewhere between Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and The Dishwasher (and published by a fake Devolver).  The view is noteworthy in that I don't think I've ever played a skewed side scroller where the characters get closer as they move to the right of the screen, but it's a gimmick that adds nothing whatsoever to the experience (and ends up makes a couple of the bosses slightly more annoying - well played guys).  Not a *bad* game per se, had it been released in 1996 I might've said there was depth to the combat compared to something like Die Hard Arcade, but even as a Saturn release it'd only be an 81% jobbie.  Which means in 2019 it's more of a jobbie jobbie. [4]  Would've scraped a 5 if it had managed to maintain a constant framerate, there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours (as I've proven over the past few years).

30. The Bridge - Vita

This was fine a while but by the fourth chapter the puzzles made my head hurt.  Your character and the balls you have to roll around seem to be operating on different rules of gravity, which means many of the solutions never felt right for me.  Happy to admit I'm a div here, this and The Swapper are the prime examples of puzzlers with final stretches I had trouble solving.  Not a terrible game but definitely a slog; you'd have to pay me handsomely to play through the bonus stages.  [5]

31. Valiant Hearts - PS4

In this day and age the discerning gamesplayer need two piles of shame - one for games purchased, and one for games attained via subscription services.  The 'freebies' tend to get sorted into three categories - nope, maybe at some point if I'm hard up for something to play (which is the same as nope), and yep.  Valiant Hearts has been on my yep pile for PS+ since before I picked up a PS4 (see? There was a point to this intro).  Even on the yes pile, there's a rough order to proceedings, and as this always stayed somewhere near the middle it never got played.  I've bored myself now, IGNORE THIS PARAGRAPH.

I thought I'd give this a go this weekend and ended up getting sucked in completely.  Aside from the few screens I played when I first got it I did the lot in one day.  I wasn't sure how they'd handle the WWI setting, because it seems ripe to be left the fuck alone for videogames in case you end up with a guns 'n ammo war is hell Get Some! mawkish mess.  Thankfully this is deftly handled and I think the devs deserve far more credit than they got.  The graphic novel style works a treat, with stylish comic panels appearing at key points to assist your actions, which tied with the weighty knockabout approach places it in some sort of miraculous sweet spot.  I remember this being considered quite good, but it's closer to excellent imo.  I've never been one to inject history into my veins, yet I do dabble with The Great War from time to time.  I've read things like Forgotten Voices and Letters From the Somme, and at one point a younger me thought Birdsong was a perfect novel.  Two of the four times I've been abroad were to visit battlefields in Belgium.  I tried to watch They Shall Not Grow Old but pulled the plug when it switched to colour as I was hungover, much like I am now, and the shift punched me in the fuck.  I'm more delicate the morning after, see?  So in a very David Brent way it's my favourite war, to use a phrase that should be avoided, and the historical info throughout the game is neatly presented to temper the occasionally playful vibe of the main game.  

The gameplay consists of the sort of puzzles that can be easily enjoyed despite the fact that they rarely break the stride of progression.  It's all fairly simple and over-reliant of cranks and pulleys, but remains enjoyable throughout.  The use of the canine companion is well handled, as are the majority of the off piste sections like stealth missions, double character areas and the frankly masterful into-the-screen rhythmic car chases.

It can only be an [8], because if you boil it down to the core puzzling it's merely functional, but with all the bells and whistles attached it really is a beautiful game.

32. FutureGrind - Switch

A Thursday punt pays off at last.  £1.52 this cost me, and as it came out in January, according to Google, it's game of the sodding year.  It's a course based auto runner where you grind on (or on the underside of) rails , only touching them with a wheel of the corresponding colour.  You can double or triple jump, depending on your grind mech (?), and spin the craft forwards and backwards.  That's it, the rest is just built around the near perfect basics.  At first you have to try to get through the track unscathed, then additional paramaters are added (don't touch the purple rails, for example).  The progression system doesn't give you much leeway, you'll mostly need to complete all three challenges per stage to move on.  This would be annoying in most games but I was up for doing that anyway - because it's fun - so it gets a pass.  Combine Unirally, Trials, Colour Guardians, Bit.Trip.Runner, Thumper and Olli Olli and you've got a game better than most of the other ones mentioned in this sentence.  It's constantly tricky but the tasks are always doable, even when it feels overwhelming practice will see you through as although it's mostly skill based, and can be played as such, memorisation can give you an edge eventually.  I can't recommend this highly enough, would've happily paid full whack for it. [8]*

* I changed this from a 9 to an 8.  F.Y.I

33. Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom - Switch

AKA Ultimate form Wonderboy III.  The more I played the more absolutely everything grew on me - at first the visuals were merely fine, but by the end I'd decided they were quite stunning; parallax scrolling has a new champion and some of the late game locales are spiffing.  The main switch up from The Dragon's Trap is the ability to change characters instantly, meaning the puzzle possibilities for any given screen are far deeper than just 'mouse dungeon' and so on.  The controls are still old school, so it lacks the ultra precision of many modern games.  As an updated homage though, this works perfectly.  If you want a meticulously designed Wonderboy III sequel with controls you're already familiar with - and I assume you do if you've read this far - this may be one of the highlights of your gaming year.  I finished on 14hrs52mins, and I'm heading straight back in tonight (honest guv, I know I often say this) because I've got maybe an hour's worth of things to mop up.  Is it worth £35?  Yes, if you fall in the target audience.  Should it be £35 though, considering what's available elsewhere for less (*Hollow Night coughs from stage left*)?  No, it's a moronic decision.  Back to the game though - some of the dungeons towards the end, crikey.  I've never seen anything quite like it, they're absolutely epic.  I'm sure one of them took me well over two hours to chip away at.  

I have a few complaints, but they're minor.  Ball rolling physics are odd, the potion/death/savepoint system sort of works, but an ability you get midway takes a lot of the sting out of the difficulty if you can be bothered to use it regularly (plus it can be used to farm gazundles of cash at a very obvious point, which of course I did).  Pressing Y to read signs or talk to people should've been patched, as the prompt disappears regularly and you have to shuffle away and back again to highlight them.  Minor, but annoying.  That's about it.  

The Master System port of Wonderboy in Monsterland is in the top half of my top 100 in The Stu's Top 100 thread, and this is better than that.  I got fully addicted in a way that I haven't since Hollow Knight and probably averaged an hour a day on it since I started.  One of the best games this gen. [9]

34. Ape Out - Switch

This is currently receiving some well deserved forum love.  It's hard to fault really, the main game is all over in a couple of hours but the arcade mode adds longevity.  The close quarters Hotline Miami/jazz fusion is immensely satisfying to the eyes and ears (and err thumbs) and it's definitely a 'play how you like' type.  In fairness your choices are limited to careering through stages vs the slow and steady or a mixture of both, but it rarely feels like it's strong arming you into a particular approach.  The random level generation didn't bother me at all, in fact it probably added to the experience as the route remains the same even if the layouts chop and change.  Presentation is faultless and it absolutely deserves to be played at either slightly too loud volume or with headphones thanks to the way the audio apes your actions.  Another absolute win for Devolver Digital.  [8]

35. Wandersong - Switch

Sing your way through a magical quest to save the world from inevitable destruction.  Light puzzling and even lighter rhythm action combine with gentle platforming to form a very Western feeling side scrolling walk & talk abdridged roleplaying game with a heart the size of a bus.  Sounds like a lot?  Also sounds good though, right? 

Such a beautiful game.  Played the whole thing with my daughter and it's definitely her GotY, I loved reading it all out and she was genuinely into the story.  The feels, crikey.  Constantly amusing, occasionally very funny and not far off touching when it tries to be, I'd say it's almost perfect at what it does in terms of narrative.  Good dialogue throughout doesn't hurt - traditional RPGs take note.  The only things that let it down slightly are the more standard gamelike sections that are often shoehorned in towards the end of a chapter; some are fine, a couple are poor, but none ruin the overall package.  It really is an absolutely delightful little game bursting with a lightness of touch and littered with incidental window dressing that elevates almost every area into the niceness stratosphere.  Buy if you liked A Night in the Woods, but settle in for a better experience overall.  A gem. [8]

36. BroForce

Pixel art run and gun with low level level randomisation and a colossal smorgasbord of 80s/90s action hero characters.  Gameplay is simple - you can only fire straight ahead - and the environments are destructible (occasionally to the point of no-win situations).  The forced character switching is a neat idea - rescue another member of the Broforce and you'll gain an extra life while switching avatar to whoever you rescued, meaning you could lose Brobocop for Bronan, which is a nooooo, and there's a randomiser on your replacement character upon death too.  So you could lose Brobrocop for Bronan and then, to add insult to injury, have him replaced with Indiana Brones.  

Most of the time you'll just grab the extra credit and hope for the best, but occasionally tactics come into play.  Crumby characters are beneficial to the overall fun in the long run, and their names will probably make you chuckle even if you're the sort that'd be desperate for them not to.  Checkpoints are generous and the whole thing is set to hard but doable, with the optional single life missions providing the real tests.  Good fun, probably would've been a strong [7] but the co-op element pushes it over the line to an [8].  More Devolver goodness.

37. Gato Roboto - Switch

Decent Metroid-lite with a pleasing visual style.  Not quite the cracker I was hoping for - strip away the sweet style and mechanically it's no better than half the stuff I play that the snobberati turn their noses up at - but certainly enjoyable.  If you fancy a quaint exploration shooter that doesn't require much head scratching, doesn't last long (3hrs 17 minutes for me, 75% of items found) but is priced accordingly, you can't go far wrong.  Difficulty is a bit random - a couple of early bosses are tricky/fiddly, one in particular, but I dispatched the last three or four at the first attempt.  Good but not great; a fun [6].

38. Golf Peaks - Switch

Grid/turn-based isometric golf puzzle game.  Sink the ball within a certain number of strokes using the shot types set out for each hole.  Move three square, jump two square and roll one etc.  108 holes in total, each world presents a new hazard - mud (SINK), ice (SLIDE) and so on.  Quite simplistic but a rewarding little head scratcher for a couple of hours.  Holes take a fair amount of planning towards the end, but the way you can retract single turns or restart from scratch at the touch of a button help stave off any real frustration.  It's cheap at the mo, £3ish, and it's well worth that if you fancy a quick and easy to learn puzzle fix [7]

39. Hyper Sentinel - Switch

Stylish 80s inspired arcade shooter - It's basically Uridium, apparently, which I haven't played myself.  It's a great template.  You're constantly moving towards the right or left of the stage (hitting the far edges spins you back in), switching direction puts you in an invulnerable state for a split second, with a rechargeable speed boost and a rapid fire blaster at your disposal.  Along with an occasional item pick-up (usually attack based), that's it.  You've got to destroy all ground targets in a stage, usually between 20 and 50, which triggers the level guardian.  The bosses are actually quite good, which is unusual for a game whose inspiration stretches so far back, and each requires individual tactics that you can just about work out during the battle, but will occasionally requite a couple of attempts.  It's simplistic, which of course is the point of these homages, and it'll surprise no-one to hear that it's absolutely ripe for score chasing.  

It's not a tough game, thanks to the generous (and rechargeable) shield, but it always manages to feel tricky as you vanquish a stage by the skin of your teeth.  It's seriously legit at what it does, and really shows up Black Bird imo, which I played earlier in the year.  I paid £1.99 but it's been under a quid since.  Quality. [8]

2: Onimusha Warlords Xbox One - 8/10
Awesome game, so simple and linear but just good early naughties fun! Simple story with some hilarious characters! Was aces going back in time to enjoy a game I first went through 18 years ago. Really enjoyed that.

3: Resi 6 Xbox One - 5/10
Finally finished this. Have tried so many times and just fallen away. God awful. Gets a 5 merely because it’s Resi. Finished every other Resi multiple times but this?! Unlocked the ADA campaign, tried that and literally could not put any more time in. Cannot wait for Resi 2 to erase this.

77. Forza Horizon 4 - Xbox One 

Drawing attention to the fine print in the OP regarding completion here as there doesn't seem to be a credit roll to add a full stop to the campaign (other than mopping up every single icon on the map and declaring yourself done, and no sir I am not doing that).  So yeah, after 11.5hrs on the tarmac, mud, snow, sand & gravel I consider myself a seasoned racer and we're parting ways.  I've completed something like 60 of 70 exhibition races come rain or shine, raced planes, trains, hovercraft & automobiles, filmed stunt set-pieces, acted as a taxi driver and racked up the air miles doing Big Jumps.  I've seen most of what the solo experience has to offer and I'm happy to leave it there as I've got a feeling more would be less for me.    The good bits.  Firstly, the visuals are astonishing.  Every single time I booted the game up there was a moment where I caught myself gawping at the gorgeous car/scenery porn.  How the hell does it look this good?  Sloshing through puddles never got old, nor did fucking around with the view as I launched my motor of choice from the top of a hill.  Twinned with the correct tunes on Spotify it's pretty much impossible not to have a cracking time most of the time; the audiovisual wallop is too strong to resist.  The giant playing field is brilliant, but the sp mode is clearly just the icing/cherry on top of a cake designed to be gobbled up by as many players as possible.      The bad bits.  I never quite clicked with the handling.  I rarely play real world racers (4hrs of Driveclub and 2hrs of FH3 is about it for me this gen, unless Trackmania Turbo counts), so the halfway house between sim and arcade was a wee bit off for my tastes.  I spent a lot of time slowly skidding into barriers as the car refused to turn.  Clearly this was me being a spanner-handed numpty bonce, but finding cars that suited my style of play tended to leave me pootling around in the solid & reliable types, rather than anything that earned its go-faster stripes.  Also, as alluded to earlier, the campaign mode is merely an undercard for the meat & potatoes of the online experience - which I choose not to experience.  The checkpoints thing also grated at times, but it's a small price to pay for the way it's all set out.  These aren't racetracks after all.  I also found it a bit dull making my way to the destination each time and would've preferred a more consistent fast travel option.  You do have to pay credits for the privilege, after all. The good outweights the bad though, despite the relative length of the paragraphs above.  In a nutshell it's a glorious package that's not quite my sort of game, with a single player mode that eventually veers towards samey.  Despite valiant efforts to mix things up it's still mostly a checkpoint racer, and after a while that tends to become rote if you tackle it alone.  So a harsh [7] for the game as I played it, but I'd wager it's a straight [9] for anyone interested in online gaming.  I haven't played a 'realistic' racing game properly since Forza Motorsport 2, so it was clearly doing plenty of things right. 

78. Biolab Wars - Switch 

Another heavy-breathing phonecall to the 8-bit era, and this time thighs are being rubbed at Cobra and it's ilk.  Believe it or not this one is pretty good, with the only complaints worth levelling at a game that launched for £1.57 (act fast for a 10% discount this week) being 'it's a bit of a doddle' and 'there's no two player mode'.  You'll know at a glance whether this would appeal to you, and if you're fine with fixed horizontal shot running & gunning in the Let's Attack Aggressively mould I don't see how this could disappoint.  Seven levels, eight bosses and some very amusing 1-UP placements.  A Mean Machines 83%, praised for its gameplay throughout the review, marked down on lastability. 

79. Videokid - Switch 

Had my eye on this since it appeared in the coming soon section.  It dropped to 89p this week, not that it was expensive to start with (£4ish).  It's a three lane Paperboy clone with a hefty 80s memberberry makeover.  It's a touch roguey at a glance, as each restart seems to present a new build, but after a while I started to wonder if it was just a randomised set of pre-set layouts.  Either way it doesn't matter - a successful run takes around four minutes from start to finish, and the gist of the route remains similar regardless of which build it gives you (randomised streets, two sewer sections - always identical - and a couple of other unchanged sections en route to the final straight).  The more money you make the more cosmetic changes you can make to your Marty McMinecraft character while you learn to gradually inch closer to the end of the map.  An acquired taste for sure - it's very similar to Paperboy itself - but I loved this.  Each run ends with a progression percentage, and it really is as simple as reaching the end for 100% and credits.  It probably took me just over an hour of practice to rescue Jessica, but for the price I can't knock it, so I'll praise it with an [8].  It may not have half the style offensive of Sayonara Wild Hearts but strip them both to the core - which is why most people play these Lidl indie games - and this is far more playable.

80. Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide Edition - Switch

Spruced up rerelease of an XBLA game that passed me by.  I have quite specific tastes in grid tactics types - I like them to be fairly straightforward, with enough systems in play to make them feel deep without ever straying into overwhelming territory.  So we're talking Shining Force II, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, Fire Emblem Awakening (alright, that dips a blocky foot into overwhelming) and Mario + Rabbids as my ultimate genre heroes.  This sits proudly alongside my favourites, I thought it was fantastic from start to finish.  I'll attempt to sum up the rules and systems quickly: Movement area is dictated by a sphere rather than a grid.  Units can be knocked over edges for an instant kill.  Infantry have limited movement but the highest knockbackability.  Cavalry can cover large distances but don't hit hard.  Archers are fucking deadly.  Archers counter attack ranged attacks but not close combat strikes, everything else can counter close contact hits but not ranged attacks.  Form a 'spirit wall' by placing two or more units together and a) they can't be knocked back, and b) archers firing through them can't be counter attacked. Defeated enemies leave skulls behind which can be eaten to replenish health or increase maximum HP.  Eat three and your unit becomes a demon, granting them two moves per round.  Enemies can also eat your skulls to earn the same benefits.  Haunt rice paddies to harvest rice, haunt shrines to create troops by spending rice.  Total rice available per map is finite so it never becomes an RTS troop churn thing, but extra units can be key to victory.  HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.  Your general is your tank, he automatically gets two actions per round, but if he dies you lose instantly.  Same deal for the enemy general.  The more rounds you leave them to meditate without waking them up the more HP they gain.  A general that's eaten three skulls can attack three times, so they're absolutely deadly, but must be guarded at all costs. A general's HP can rise to 18, standard units can't go past 12.  That's most of it.  It sounds like a lot in a wall of text, but anyone au fait with the genre will know that it's really not - try summing up the XCom2 systems in one paragraph.  So I've spent most of this review explaining how it works for some reason.  The main thing is, it works!  The campaign lasts around 7-8hrs and I've been thoroughly addicted for a week.  Brilliant game.  I bet multiplayer is an absolute riot too.  [9]

81. My Friend Pedro - Xbox One 

Cracking balletic bullet time romp that somehow manages to hit most of its targets.  Ever fancied playing a 2D version of John Woo's Stranglehold?  Watch a trailer and you could be forgiven for assuming it's trying too much, but after a few minutes it's obvious that the player is in complete control of the action.  The dual wield and the dodge work well, and although the slowmo could perhaps be viewed as window dressing it still adds to the experience by giving you something else that's fun to mess around with.  Fun is the key here - the campaign is a blast, there's plenty of scope for score chasing/improvement with practice and every single one of he weapons is legit.  Levels are mostly well designed and it laughs in the face of repetition by making the basics so enjoyable.  I'm only marking it down because there's a touch too much float to the controls, which gives the whole thing a breezy, lightweight feel that absolutely works, but also lends it a slight whiff of imprecision that prevents it from being a truly outstanding game.  Perhaps more finesse would detract from the enjoyment overall, so it's quite possible that the game occupies the sweet spot already.  A handful of stages are pure shite, but most of them sit somewhere between fine and excellent, and almost all of the devices it uses to mix things up work well without taking any wind out of its sails.  Very very close to an 8, but I'll go for a tip top [7] instead.  Good stuff.

82. Lonely Mountains Downhill - Xbox One 

A late surge for game of the year, in at #2.  In many ways it shares similarities with Supermarket Shriek, which it narrowly failed to dethrone from the top of my list.  It can be played as high concentration burst gaming, and it requires/expects the player to improve constantly.  For such a simple game - guide your bicycle to the bottom of a long descent without falling off it - there's a lot going on.  It's part part checkpoint progress/route learn frustrate 'em up, but it can also be a wonderfully serene and laid back affair. The way it incorporates non game breaking elements of DIY route finding push it over the line into extra special territory.  It's a fine game if you stick to the beaten track, but it becomes brilliant once you dare to venture off it.  Shortcuts are essential if you're chasing anyone's time, and they're of a far more free-form nature than in something as ultra designed as Trials.  In that you'd plot your precise route and look for ways to shave tenths of seconds off here and there (or 'cheat', by watching and mimicking top ghosts), but there's far more scope for improvisation in this.  Chuck your bike off a ledge in the right place and you might hit terra firma at an angle and speed that doesn't bounce you off, shaving 12 seconds off a run (see gif).  And if you miss it by inches, the likelihood is you'll want to try it again.  It's not as clinical as the 'this is the shortcut' feel of, say, Mario Kart 8.  I haven't checked to see if this has leaderboard ghosts yet, but I'd hope it doesn't; local seems enough to keep things interesting.      The pastel visuals and throwback flat shaded character models are great, and although it chugs in places on the busier mountains it's a mostly smooth experience.  It's tricky, but the requirements to unlock all areas aren't particularly tough.  I did like the way it absolutely required an off-piste approach to the speed runs towards the end though.  Super stuff. [9]

83. Shovel Knight: King of Cards - Switch 

The journey is over.  It's no secret that I love the original game (it's a straight [10] for me), and the first two DLC campaigns were a mixed bag well worth delving into.  The final freebie is easily the best of the additional quests; King's barge into twist move works far better than the core mechanics of either Plague or Spectre, and the levels built around these moves are superb.  It felt intuitive from the get go and it packs a ton of variety into its stages, plus almost all of the magic items are worth either using regularly or messing around with.  There's an emphasis on secret exits to the stages this time, most of which only contain a single restart point.  It's one of the easier campaigns, mainly thanks to the liberal dishing out of hearts and manual health boost perk, which allows bosses to be bruted a bit more than previous entries, but also because the bubble move is a bit of a get-out-of-jail card.  In addition to the platforming there's a pretty enjoyable card game chucked in the mix too.  Not my sort of thing as a rule, but it won me over as the campaign progressed and I ended up really enjoying the single move puzzles in particular.   The ending to this one is super stronk and as usual the post game challenge mode is great fun.  The quest is probably the longest too, roughly on par with Shovel Knight and weighing in close to 10hrs if you're not actively avoiding secrets.  A fitting swansong for my favourite platformer of all time.  I loved it.  [9]

84. Luigi's Mansion 3 - Switch 

Typical Nintendo box of delights that (unexpectedly) has its copybook blotted by numerous niggles and design flaws.  It's probably unfair on Next Level Games' achievements to say that if this were in-house it could've been spectacular, but knowing how Ninty's own AAA titles often turn out it's hard not to yearn for what could have been.  Perhaps it's fairer to say that this would've benefited greatly from Nintendo sending the boys round with some spit and polish in the final throws of development.  The game that did hit the shelves is positively brimming with genius, and the hotel is so well designed the likelihood is you'll forgive its transgressions on the whole, but the controls are alarmingly janky for a modern 3D title.  At times it's not a problem, but when it is - often to do with the Y axis aiming - with the best will in the world you are going to get pissed off with it.  The good vastly outweighs the bad (this may even be the best LM game), but this coulda been a (goty) contender.    It's quite a long game, but the tasks are varied despite the surprisingly limited number of fodder type ghosts throughout.  Bosses are mostly legit (not you, rubber dinghy rapidly-losing-patience-here guy), graphics are pretty much astonishing and the co-op mode is a more than valid way to play.  In fact, it's probably the best way to play.  This was flitting between a [7] and a [8] for most of the campaign, but the final boss fluffed its lines, chiefly thanks to the aiming (again).   Very, very good in places, but also very, very annoying overall, both for frustrations with the gameplay and with the nagging sensation of what might have been.  It probably deserves more praise than I've given it. [7]

85. Super Hydorah - Switch 

Back to the short ones.  I'm no expert on scrolling shmups, chiefly because I've always considered myself impressively shit at them so I don't play many, but I know what I like and this hit the spot.  It felt fair for a start, which wasn't often a word that sprung to mind when I tried playing this sort of thing in the early 90s or via emulation.  Example: I'm sure UN Squadron is a belter, but I struggled to get through the damn thing WITH SAVE STATES.  See also: Hellfire and a dozen others.  Hydorah takes inspiration from your R-Type/Gradius types, but managed to feel tricky without obliterating my resolve by the third stage.  Maybe I'm just awesome at games now and I should revisit the classics?  I went from three continues used to a final tally of fourteen on the last two stages, so it definitely wasn't a pushover, but I'm reasonably confident this would be on the easy side for skilled players.      Not only does it play well, replete with fully functioning two player mode, multiple weapons/sub-weapons and non miserly uggrade system/restart points, it also looks and sounds impressively close to what the devs were clearly aiming for, CRT scanlines and all.  Multiple routes and decent bosses all add up to make this a pretty much excellent attempt to Nu retro the 16-bit scrolling shooters.  I genuinely prefer a few of these heavy handed homage titles to the original games.  [8]

86. The Red Strings Club - Switch 

Hmm.  How to review this one when I'm more than a bit smashed?  It'd be tough without spoilers at the best of times.  Here goes: Very weird sci fi point 'n click choose your own adventure hybrid type with no fail state and what appears to be a very flexible plot when it comes to the impact of player choices.  It starts with one of the characters plunging from a skyscraper I've never played anything like it.  The narrative is very impressive, as is the dialogue and characterisation.  It's definitely a mature experience, and not in the 'MA16 they say fuck and have chainsaws' kind of way; I was genuinely impressed with it on numerous occasions.  The problem solving is neatly done and the mystic bartending inetrrogation aspect is successfully WTF and well executed.  That's about it from me, as I've had to look at my fingers very carefully while typing.  I'm becoming a Devolver completist (nope not playing the plague spreading strategy game though) and this is yet another string to their bow.  I really enjoyed it, and I think some of the science fiction fans on here should give it a proper look as the interactive story is unusually well executed for a videogame.  [8]

Next up with the Boy: Captain Toad. Another enjoyable game.

2. Astro Bot - Playstation VR

Easily one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had, and to think I was secretly mocking VR up to a few weeks ago.  Phenomenally inventive, beautifully presented corridor platformer (think Sly Racoon or Super Magnetic Neo for better examples than Crash Bandicoot) with a massive twist.  'Be the camera' isn't going to shift units, but don't knock it until you've tried it.  Great visuals, quality sound design and music, terrific stage layouts, inventive item mechanics, old-school screen-filling pattern bosses, well spaced checkpoints, replayability, post credits longevity (challenge mode), perfect movement controls (which sounds simple, but think how many games have got this wrong over the years), buckets of charm and bundles of character - it doesn't put a foot wrong for my money.  The best exclusive on PS4, it's mere inches away from a ten.  Exquisite craftsmanship, sequel please.  [9]

That last barrel level was pretty decent. The bosses were shit though. Too slow and a lot of the times just standing there waiting to jump over something and for the boss to get to it’s vulnerable state etc. Too long.

Agree with all of that. Shit was too harsh. Just nothing special.