Time marches on, another year has passed and again I have found myself woefully behind the times. As of now I own no current generation consoles and only have access to the games and consoles of my friends. For me this has been the year of the DS, where I have caught up with all of the great and innovative games that have defined that console. The only AAA title that I was able to complete this year was Metal Gear 4, a game that I still have not drawn a conclusive opinion on. I appreciate the world, the scope and the grit of the story as well as its gameplay improvements but am still struggling to get past Kojima's excesses and inability to edit his work.
My DS has given me quite a few wonderful experiences this year but no game really stood out for me. Remakes of Final Fanatsy IV and Chrono Trigger were nice, but were also games I had played to death ten years ago. The new Castlevania was nice, but had no aspirations to really be better then Symphony of the Night. It was a interesting evolution of the ideas brought about in Simon's Quest, yet did not feel like game of the year material for me. I'd love to name Valkyria Chronical as my game of the year due to my abject love of Reiko Kodama, but alas, I have only played it for two hours and don't have access to indulge in this military tactical RPG shooter (a MTRPGS for those who love genres, acronyms and are massive tools).
My game of the year was thus a throw back. Mega Man 9 for me was the tightest and best-rounded game experience that I have had this year. The controls are near perfect, the challenge level was high and the weapons were very well thought out and incredibly useful. Mega Man 9 is a distillation of the elements that made Mega Man 2 great into a relevant, new and most importantly fun gaming experience. It was a master going back and looking at what made his game successful, what made Mega Man a definitive game series of the 8-bit era. It was a breath of fresh air, a game that went beyond my expeditions and made me fill like a kid playing a game on Christmas day.
Which I guess brings me to a question. Between Metal Gear 4 and Mega Man 9, which game interwove nostalgia best into its gameplay, presentation and overall design? Nostalgia was in play in both of these games and I would love to see what kind of reactions were instigated from particular moments, like lets say (for example purposes) first coming to Shadow Moses Island in Act 4 compared with the dastardly disappearing blocks on Plug Man's stage.
Just moved here from 1up so be gentle
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