I had a description here, but the site ate it.<br/><br/>

Sonic Colors is pretty rad.<br/><br/>

Man, I hate it when sites eat shit I entered MONTHS ago.

Though this game gets quite a bit of flak from Sonic fans and non-Sonic fans alike, Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is still a pretty fun little platformer in my opinion, even if a bit of that Genesis-era Sonic charm (which the entire game is supposed to invoke) is missing, and the whole thing is a pretty lazy rehash on the whole. <br/><br/>

Despite the sometimes lazy level design (featuring a few too many speed boosters and Bubble Homing Attack chains) I still found myself having a good time finding my way through each act trying to get the fastest time by finding the fastest routes.<br/><br/>

The lack of momentum can be an issue (but is easily remedied by Air Dashing), but again, it's a pretty solid platformer that I'd say you couldn't go wrong with if you happen to catch it on a decent discount on Steam or one of the consoles.

PROGRESS:<br/>

Sonic's Story: 100%<br/>

Silver's Story: 80%<br/>

Shadow's Story: 100%*<br/>

Final Story: 0%<br/>

*the game glitched out and just gave me the completion about 50% through...<br/><br/>

Well, I will complete this game sometime this year, I'm assuming. Since I've already seen the ending to Sonic's story I thought I'd throw it in here for now.

Anyway, though the game is an incomplete and sometimes buggy mess, I somehow strangely found myself having fun with it. Not "Greatest Game Ever" kind of fun, but at the time I simply wasn't in much of a mood to play anything else, and I'd imagine that's how this game will get 100% completed someday. <br/><br/>

I'll have a more definitive synopsis of my time with the game here once it's 100%'d.

Definitely the best in the series. Refined to damn near perfection gameplay-wise and was an absolute blast playing through it the whole way with some close interbutts friends. <br/><br/>

I've still yet to dive into Horde or Beast mode, but the fact that those modes are there to keep me coming back with friends for some more solid ass shooty action means this one won't be leaving the vicinity of my XBORX for quite some time.

The story? Well, I guess I'll just quote Alex Navarro and say, that it "sure is a thing."

Though I bought this quirky rhythm game AFTER Giant Bomb's Quick Look first sold me on Rhythm Heaven Fever, I ended up completing the DS version before it because:<br/><br/>

1. Remix 10 in Rhythm Heaven Fever is a BITCH.<br/>

and<br>

2. Because I was able to take it to work with me.<br/><br/>

My DS rarely left my hands while I was playing this game, and I still pop it in from time to time to play a few of the games I particularly enjoyed, Rhythm Rally 2 and all of the remixes being the most outstanding and fun games for me. <br/><br/>

You can get this thing for dirt damn cheap now (as little as $8.50 on Amazon last I checked), so there's no reason not to have it and have a taste of quirky fun away from home and learn a thing or two about music in the process.

The Quick Look sold me in mere minutes. I went out and bought the game on my way back to work, skipping eating my lunch altogether.<br/><br/>

Worth every damn penny.<br/><br/>

This was my first Rhythm Heaven game, though I ended up completing it second. The entire game is charm on a disc. The visuals and music come together in ways that all other rhythm-based games wish they could, and the simple controls make it easy to pick up for just about anybody if they're willing to get into the groove.<br/><br/>

I imagine if I'd played the DS or GBA games before this one, I'd have been let down, because compared to the content packed in the two games prior to this one, Fever simply falls a bit flat, and doesn't have quite as many reasons to keep coming back other than Perfects and the charming visuals and music. <br/><br/>

I have hated 3D Mario games since the first time I laid my hands on Super Mario 64. I hated them even more with Super Mario Buttshine, and I skipped the first Galaxy altogether because I just had no faith in 3D Mario.<br/><br/>

A friend of mine ended up getting me this one for Christmas 2010 anyway, and over the past year I started nibbling my way through it. When I booted the game up last week, I had 23 Stars, and seven days later I'd played it enough to amass the 70 Stars required to finish the game normally.<br/><br/>

This is what I'd always wanted from a 3D Mario game. Decently sized stages that are more focused and less playgrounds. Galaxy definitely feels more like the next logical step from Super Mario World to me than Super Mario 64 did. <br/><br/>

The camera also doesn't suck butt, so *Alex Navarro* that's a thing.

Admittedly, I had to go about some rather dubious methods in order to play the original Rhythm Tengoku game on my DS (emulators + bad sync issues + rhythm games = FRUSTRATION POLLY!) I bought a piece of hardware I may not even get much more use out of just because I didn't want my time in Rhythm Heaven to be over!<br/><br/>

The minute I booted the game up, again my DS did not leave my hands until almost exactly one day later when I'd achieved Medals on all of the mini-games and played through most of the extra content like the drum lessons. I WANT A FULL GAME OF THE DRUM LESSONS MINIGAME!<br/><br/>

Anyway, quirky presentation, easy to understand gameplay, and great music are what makes this series, and that's clear from the series' origin right here. You can tell there's still a little more refining to be done (which would happen in the DS sequel), but it's by all means a really damn fun and challenging game, and I hope future installments take a bit more from the GBA and DS games rather than the Wii game.

I've had this game since a shortly after it was originally released, but never quite finished it...if you can really call this a game you're ever really finished with. <br/><br/>

Needless to say, as my time in Rhythm Heaven sadly drew to a close, I went back and slapped this into Slot 2 of my DS and spent the last couple of weeks going for all the high score challenges, clearing out all the games as high as humanly possible and finishing up the "campaign." <br/><br/>

Such a bizarre and quirky series that I'm kinda bummed I never kept up with given all the gimmicks they've thrown at it over the years. Most titles in the franchise are out of print and going for prices I'd rather not pay, so Mega Microgame$ may end up being my only real experience with the series for quite some time unless I can find others for a bit cheaper.<br/><br/>

Fans of the series seem to dislike this game quite a bit for being "easy." I say, those people are morons and really just don't like the idea of a game that's a tad bit more accessible than the abuse they've had to suffer since Mountain of Faith. <br/><br/>

To me, with Ten Desires, Touhou just feels right again. While they're not as pretty or tightly choreographed as say Perfect Cherry Blossom and Imperishable Night, the bullet patterns in Ten Desires actually feel like readable patterns, and don't often feel like survival comes down to sphincter clenching luck. <br/><br/>

I'll be playing this one a bit more to master a few more Spell Cards, try the other characters, and go for higher scores for sure.

I never really liked this game much when it came out, and it's really the point where the series started to lose me. Something about it just never felt right, and I only really started digging deeper into it recently, where I finally 1cc'd it on Normal with a score of 230 million'ish points. <br/><br/>

Having seen it all the way through now (though I may run Extra at some point) I guess it's not as bad as I'd originally thought. The visuals are fantastic and the soundtrack is one of the best in the series. I also really like the simple no-bs scoring system. <br/><br/>

All in all, a better show than I originally thought and I intend to try and better my score at some point.

Was FINALLY able to snag the 1cc finish on this one. What a fantastic game. It comes damn close to trumping my favorite of the series (Imperishable Night) and given time, it just might. <br/><br/>

This is probably the hardest I've had to work at getting a single credit clear of a Touhou game on Normal difficulty, but the game's pacing, enemy formations, bosses, and a feeling that I was always getting closer and closer to something absolutely crazy toward the end made it all worthwhile. Even more so since Utsuho is the best final boss in the series, hands down. <br/><br/>

Don't really care much about the scoring system in this one, as it's entirely based on Graze and more about playing super dangerously in a game that's already pretty damn rough, and since Normal wrecked me for as long as it did, I'm not sure I have what it takes for Extra. <br/><br/>

Regardless, Suberranean Animism really surprised the hell out of me and is a damn fine, tough as nails shmup.

Honestly didn't expect to enjoy this game as much as I have, given that I haven't much cared for the previous two games in the series, nor the genre as a whole. Having completed the game on Normal though, I can see myself coming back to this one over and over again, now with tougher difficulties to faceplant in and more loot to grab.<br/><br/>

Playing this game with friends is a must, however. Singleplayer is alright, but I found myself having the most fun with a full party and absolute chaos filling my screen. <br/><br/>

Highly recommended if you can get past Blizzard's annoying ass "always online" DRM nonsense.

No, I didn't defeat Ordrak, but the very fact that he's a ridiculously stupid boss with absurd amounts of health, hundreds of minions he can instantly leech health from all the way back to full health, and has a fair share of bullshit unfair attacks means that I didn't have to! <br/><br/>

If the developers didn't have it in them to craft a boss fight that could be challenging in a way that wasn't near complete BS or didn't require some absurd amount of grinding (for gear that never seems to drop or levels), then I don't think I have to actually beat him to say I completed their game. <br/><br/>

Torchlight is alright, I guess.

Limbo sure is....Limbo. <br/><br/>

It's a game that started out with great atmosphere and gave off strong horror vibes of being lost and alone in an unknown world struggling for survival. The first 1/3 of the game is one of the most satisfying horror-esque experiences I've probably had in videogames, and was very reminiscent of titles such as Out of this World and Flashback. <br/><br/>

The final 2/3 of Limbo lose all of those qualities almost on a dime, instead shifting its focus to puzzle platforming, which is still enjoyable and contains lots of unique and fun ideas (and still very reminiscent of the games already mentioned), but the game gave me what I wanted more of out of the gate and the rest of it felt like a chore to get through.

I'll admit it. I was there. I was one of those people screaming loudly and proudly for this game to get a release stateside. Be it the demand from fans (psshhh yeah, right) or just clever marketing (abusing your fans is clever marketing!), we finally got the game...<br/><br/>

...and I really don't want it. It starts with an amazing amount of promise. An endearing cast of mercenaries, a small-scale story seeming like it wants to fly in the face of every other JRPG "SAVE THE WORLD" entry, and at first glance, interesting ideas. <br/><br/>

Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the game and story quickly began decaying around the five-hour mark, and by hour ten I was actively loathing my experience. <br/><br/>

While the story remains decently strong, my strongest criticism of The Last Story is that it's just an utter mess of nonsensical combat and systems. For a game that prides itself so much on tactics, you'd think your AI teammates would have half a clue on how to keep themselves alive more than 30 seconds or stay the hell out of each others' and my way while I'm trying to make use of the game's Gathering mechanic and accomplish tasks. There's nothing tactical about me using Gathering and leading enemies around a room while five teammates flail around doing the killing for me. This is a tactic that carried me through my entire time with The Last Story, and it's by design. It's how they wanted me to play it. To have a minimal role in combat. There are interesting ideas at work here, but they all feel half-baked due to teammates' and enemies' ridiculous AI.<br/><br/>

I can admit this game very well may work for some, but I honestly haven't played and completed a worse game this year.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Swordhas the distinction of being the very first 3D Zelda game I have ever completed. I skipped out of Ocarina and Majora early because I didn't like the controls, Wind Waker wasn't doing much for me, and Twilight Princess' Sumo Wrestling mini-game was impossible for me for some reason.

So, maybe I'm not as jaded on the whole Zelda song and dance that's persisted since Ocarina of Time because I've managed to skip damn near most of it. <br/><br/>

Skyward Sword kept me entertained for a good long while. The characters were incredibly fun (especially the rendition of Zelda), the combat was satisfying, and the motion controls <i>mostly</i> worked. I was ready to glow about this game to my friends...until the final 1/4...<br/><br/>

The game wrecks its pacing entirely in the last quarter, padding itself with a nonsensical back-and-forth quest in areas you've already explored. Had they cut this part of the game entirely, it'd have been PERFECTLY paced, heading into the ending.<br/><br/>

Another sticking point is just how dumb Nintendo thinks its fans are. Fi had the chance to be a great character, but ended up being nothing but a squawk box for the obvious, repeating information over and over that anybody who'd been paying attention would already know. <br/><br/>

It really is a shame the ass end of this game turned out the way it did. I can certainly see it being enough to ruin the experience for even the most hardcore Zelda fan.

So...uhhh...I guess I'm 17 years late to this one... But that's only because I couldn't stand the controls and camera when it was released and am somehow actually able to play the game somewhat decently now due to my familiarity with the Galaxy series.<br/><br/>

I can appreciate Mario 64's place in videogame history, but it's still not what I want from a Mario game like the Galaxy games are. I never really liked the "playground with objectives" aspect of the game and I feel the controls and camera are still too clunky, but I understand that a lot of that is 3D gaming still working out how it needed to be.

*main game has been completed and I'm 4 worlds into the Special worlds, so since I've seen credits, I'm calling it "completed." <br/><br/>

Talk about a surprise. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this game as much as I have. It's the perfect bridge between the Super Mario 3/World play style and what the series would become with games like Super Mario 64 and Galaxy, leaning a bit more toward the latter. <br/><br/>

Super fun level designs and tight controls keep this game from ever being a snoozer. While the main 8 worlds can be a bit on the easy side, the second half of the game becomes very satisfying in the challenge department, and collecting each stage's Star Medals keeps replayability high, pushing your skills and making use of the game's mechanics in oftentimes clever ways. <br/><br/>

It's a "romp" plain and simple, but it's a very well executed and fun one that hits all the right notes. Far better than the "safe" offerings coming from the "New" Super Mario Bros. series.

From the first moment I saw this game in action, I knew it was right up my alley, and I wasn't wrong at all. An absolutely satisfying experience, top to bottom with fantastic stealth, fun gadgets and ninja tools, and an amazing art style. <br/><br/>

If there's a game that shouldn't be missed this year on this list, this is definitely it.

Edna & Harvey: The Breakout wishes SO BADLY that it could still be the early to mid 90's and that games like Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle were still some of the best stuff in PC gaming. It's just as mind-bending, hilarious, and unfortunately just as esoteric if not more than older point and clicky games used to be. <br/><br/>

There's an enjoyable story here and a lot of fun characters and development. The writing and voice acting for the localization are also highly entertaining. Unfortunately, the solutions to advancing the game require such unreal leaps in logic that a guide is almost a necessity in some areas. <br/><br/>

It's great that the creators have such a fondness for the genre when it was at its peak, but they had a real chance to tidy up the problems a lot of those games had and instead emulated them to frustrating perfection.

Though Harvey's New Eyes is technically a much better experience than the first game in terms of its visual and audio presentation and lessened focus on obtuse inventory combining and amazing leaps in logic, this sequel fails in the most important area of story.<br/><br/>

The game's story is split into three expansive chapters that, even though they're part of the same rough narrative, feel in no way related or connected to one another. The tonal shift between chapters is jarring and even more frustrating is the number of fairly important details that the narrative as a whole glosses over and never even tries to explain. Things just keep happening haphazardly to poor Lilli and well...shit happens I guess, cause fuck if this game's gonna explain it! <br/><br/>

None of the game's three endings provide much impact or explanation to anything that's happened along the way. Had this installment had the focus and smaller scope of the original game, it'd have been damn near perfect.

Cherry Tree High Comedy Club isn't so much about a girl wanting to start a comedy club at her high school as it is a bullying and con-artist simulation. <br/><br/>

The game features about 5 hours of gameplay depending on how thorough you wish to be in recruiting members for Miley's comedy club and only one joke. <br/><br/>

I won't spoil the joke for you.

Mighty Switch Force is a puzzle platformer that will test the hell out of your reflexes, dexterity, problem solving, and memorization. A game like this lives and dies on the strength of its level design and mechanics, and the stages on display here are some of the best the genre has to offer, and the switching mechanics are simple enough grasp, but require a lot of thinking and twitch reflexes to master.<br/><br/>

Simply completing the default stages of Mighty Switch Force will prove a fun and challenging endeavor for most. But for the insane folk such as myself, the game doesn't truly open up until its time attacking element sinks its hooks in and you're fighting to finish each stage under Par Time, and then trying to shave those times even more. Driving yourself to execute stages flawlessly and for the best time possible is a maddening, yet wholly satisfying experience.

The people that mindlessly heave praise upon this game have either:<br/>

1. At the VERY least never read a decent visual novel.<br/>

or<br/>

2. Never read a good book, period.<br/><br/>

9-9-9 is a tale of nonsense, weak characters, and amazingly ass-pull plot points that would barely hold up in a low-budget late night Japanese Cartoon setting. The endings are garbage and the explanations and revelations so wildly plucked from the heavens that it's all one giant ass-pull mess while the game leads you around for hours on end, jamming through the same text and solving the same puzzles for hopefully two or three new words of text or information.<br/><br/>

9-9-9 pads itself out like any other throwaway visual novel by forcing you into bad endings and making you replay the entire thing from the beginning. Subsequent trips are made even worse by the fact that there's so few differences between each route and that the game's weak "puzzles" must be repeated. Obtaining the "True" ending involves making a lot of deliberately obtuse and random choices while hammering through 90% of already-read scenes and puzzles, and even then, the ending itself is so ass-pull bullshit that it's not worth it.<br/><br/>

What a complete waste of time.

I just...uhh...err....well...y...

Hmmm....

Not gonna complain too much for a game I picked up for $10, but I honestly can't say I really get why, of all the games released this year, Jeff holds this one in such high regard. After the first couple of hours, the magic begins to wear off with powers not really being as fun as they may seem, gunplay that never really feels as solid as it needs to, and really crummy enemy design and AI. <br/><br/>

Still. $10. Not gonna go so far as to say it's anything worse than mediocre and an interesting curiosity at best.

An improvement over the original game in almost every way. <br/><br/>

Mechanically, the gameplay elements improved and added to this game make playing through the various routes a non issue as every route has unique puzzle rooms and is chock full of new developments and entirely different outcomes.<br/><br/>

Story-wise, Virtue's Last Reward works better than 9-9-9 simply because it establishes all of its crazy nonsense out of the gate, rather than popping it up in the last hours. It manages to be nonsensical in an intriguing way throughout most of the journey, and when it finally starts explaining itself, though a bit ham-fisted with said explanations, the points tie together nicely and are believable and entertaining enough that the story doesn't fall apart. <br/><br/>

Unfortunately, a lot of elements of this game make 9-9-9 required viewing, either from reading detailed synopses of its endings or playing the game yourself, but the journey Virtue's Last Reward can take you on may just be worth that headache.