Koei had some very humble roots in simulation and strategy games. Some of my all time favorite games of the SNES era were by Koei: Aerobiz Supersonic, Pacific Theater of Operations 2 and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire. After not playing their games for a while, they blasted their way back into my life when Dynasty Warriors 2 was released on the PlayStation 2. Their somewhat surprising merge with Tecmo meant they no longer only concentrate on strategy/simulations games but they continue to release solid titles to this day.
While the family's first console was the NES, I think it was the Super Nintendo that really solidified my love of video games. Everything was so much more colorful and detailed, the lineup I played was much more diverse and exposed me to a lot of genres I never would have played. The sound chip was also significantly upgraded and allowed some truly impressive soundtracks (something that I found even the Nintendo 64 could not compare to).
Back in this era, rental stores were common and the weekly trip to rent another game based on a cover and a back of the box summary was all that stood between a weekend of disappointment or excitement. Some personal favorites of mine included: MegaMan X, Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Aerobiz Supersonic, Super Mario Kart, Top Gear 2 and so many more.
Here's to you Super Nintendo, one of my greatest consoles of all time.
A year unlike any other, 2020 was one of the strangest years on record. With a global pandemic raging, new consoles seemed like the thing furthest from what we needed but launch they did. While video games were not spared the impact of the pandemic the fact that there were so many good games released this year helped to pass the time. Both Microsoft and Sony released their new consoles: Xbox Series (X or S) and PlayStation 5. But that happened late into the year and the first part of the year saw the release of several big games and sequels.
Not everything went to plan, Cyberpunk 2077 (on paper) was probably the most anticipated release but failed to run on the first generation PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles (not to mention had numerous bugs). Other games like Halo Infinite were straight up delayed out of 2020.
Best Games of 2020
1. Ghost of Tsushima For years people have been asking why there hasn't been an Assassin's Creed game set in Japan. While not exactly Assassin's Creed, Ghost of Tsushima feels pretty darn close. Set during a Mongol Invasion of Japan, Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of a samurai who betrays the samurai ideal to essentially become a ninja in order to help win the war. The story itself is relatively straightforward but the game itself nails the look and feel of an open world game set in Japan. The sweeping vistas and use of regional colors really help this game stand out. The gameplay is also good, between the head on action when playing as a samurai or sneaking and using tools while playing as the ghost (ninja).
2. Final Fantasy VII Remake A seemingly impossible task, Final Fantasy VII remake honors both the legacy of Final Fantasy VII and then adds to it. Expanding events and characters from the Midgar part of the game the remake absolutely met my expectations for how remaking a part of Final Fantasy VII should be. While the Sephiroth changes felt unneeded, I'm very interested to see how much the future games will stick with what happened before and continue to expand the legacy set by Final Fantasy VII and the subsequent spin off projects.
3. Crusader Kings III The premiere medieval role playing game on the market. If you've ever wanted to live your Game of Thrones fantasy of ruling a house in a world filled with politics, treachery and warfare then Crusader Kings III is definitely worth a look.
4. Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection Did they remaster one of the greatest PC games of all time Command and Conquer Red Alert? And they didn't mess it up? Much like Final Fantasy VII remake, the Command and Conquer: Remastered Collection absolutely nailed what I wanted from a remaster of some of my favorite PC games.
5. Star Wars: Squadrons Star Wars: Squadrons is a smaller scale Star Wars game from Electronic Arts but finally achieves what I've wanted for years: a new space based flight game set in the Star Wars universe. Squadrons features both an Imperial remnant and New Republic plotline in the campaign and a fair amount of ships to fly. The game absolutely nails recreating the old X-Wing and Tie Fighter games look but modernizing it with the more advanced graphics of today.
6. Resident Evil 3 While not as good as the Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 3 remake is still a fun return to Racoon City. A little rougher around the ages compared to the RE2 Remake, the changes made for RE3 make sense given the slightly more open nature of RE3 and its action focus.
7. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Miles Morales doesn't reinvent the wheel but it takes the 2018 Spider-Man game and distills it down to it's best form. A web slinging adventure with some awesome set pieces Miles Morales still plays great, mixes up the combo system with the venom powers and doesn't overstay its welcome.
8. The Last of Us Part II I have mixed feelings on The Last of Us Part II. While I did enjoy the return to the Last of Us well violence fueled universe, the game felt too long for the story it was trying to tell. Trying to tell a story from multiple points of view is tricky and is probably the main reason I felt the game was too long. But at the same time, Naughty Dog took risks to not just do Last of Us 1 but slightly different.
9. Bugsnax Bugsnax was a breath of fresh air this year. On an island full of creatures shaped like various foods, the player has to photograph and catch them all... to feed them to the islands' other inhabitants to get them to rebuild their destroyed town. Bugsnax is weird, funny, colorful, surprisingly deals with some adult themes (or at any rate, stuff that I would never expect for an E rated game) and most of all fun.
10. Assassin's Creed Valhalla Another year, another Assassin's Creed. But Valhalla leans into its Viking aesthetic quite well, any game that lets you raid the coastline of England for riches while riding in your longship has my vote.
They say sometimes less is more. In the time when personal computers were too expensive (and new) for most people, Mario Paint was probably the first introduction to a graphical art application for many of the Super Nintendo generation. I remember the first time we had Mario Paint we had difficulty getting the mouse working but once we did it was probably the most creative game I've seen until LittleBigPlanet almost 3 console generations later.
Gaming Historian recently did a video covering the history of Mario Paint. Its impact and even some of its competitors and direct (but unseen in North America) sequels.
2019 was a strange year, it started off very strong with the January releases of Resident Evil 2 (Capcom was smart to skip the Christmas rush) and Ace Combat 7. As the year went along though, a few big games did come out (mostly expected sequels). Nothing really stood out from the pack. Respawn and EA managed to surprise with a good Star Wars games release, Nintendo released a nice steady stream of games and PlayStation entirely skipped the major press events of the year (most likely preparing for PlayStation 5).
In theory, the last year with this generation of consoles was a little bit subdued and the list reflects that. I'm surprised nothing really grabbed my attention the 2nd half of the year but most companies decided to play it safe. Still here's to you to 2019, a safe but still fun year.
Best Games of 2019
1. Resident Evil 2For years Capcom avoided remaking/updating Resident Evil 2. There were a lot of things that could have went wrong with updating one of the greatest Resident Evil games but Capcom managed to hit it out of the park. They absolutely nailed keeping the atmosphere of the original while updating the gameplay to almost modern standards (limited inventory slots still remain). The story remains mostly the same with a few updates to the secondary characters which was a nice change of pace. The star is the updated Mr. X who will relentlessly chase the player throughout the police station and loud footsteps make the player no longer feel safe anywhere. I can only hope that after such a strong follow up Capcom is able to do the same for Resident Evil 3.
2. Ace Combat 7: Skies UnknownAlmost 12 years after Ace Combat 6 we finally got a proper follow up to the a mainline Ace Combat series game. Despite the gap, the Project Aces team hasn't lost their touch and absolutely delivered a great action game. Set in the world where drones change the face of aerial combat and how warfare changes as a result. Oh yeah, Keiki Kobayashi nailed the soundtrack and it is one of my favorites of the year.
4. Call of Duty: Modern WarfareIt took a long time since the last entry but Modern Warfare is back. A soft reboot of the series, Modern Warfare maintains the series current day setting while revisiting characters from the original series (although a lot are hinting as coming in the sequel). Everything else remains classic Call of Duty, from the gunplay to the movement systems. One thing that was greatly improved are the sounds effects for the guns and explosions. A great return for the Modern Warfare series, I'm hoping they approve a sequel to re-integrate the rest of the characters.
5. Anno 1800Anno 1800 is an absolute gem of a city building strategy game. There's something about managing a city in the Victorian themed area that feels refreshing. From the towering cities to the coal belching dirty factory districts, the game captures the look and feel of the era.
6. Total War: Three KingdomsIt took forever but the Total War series has finally covered Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Three Kingdoms refines the Total War formula that match the source material. Learning from the Warhammer series, they offer both a historical (more classic Total War experience) and romance option (hero based experience) on the battlefield. Another stand out are the advanced diplomacy options that allow loose alliances and even triggering proxy wars. Add in a period appropriate art style (the water color menus are lovely) and musical score that help lock in the era that maybe hasn't seen this much interest from game developers since Dynasty Warriors.
7. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderA Star Wars games in recent memory that wasn't too bad. Glitchy in places but was still pretty good. Set shortly after the Empire has taken over from the Republic, Fallen Order covers a lot of expanded universe stuff from the Inquistors, Night Witches of Dathomir and how some of the remaining Jedi live following Order 66. After EA's last 2 Battlefront games it's nice to play a Star Wars game that has good single player content and mostly works.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Link's AwakeningJust like Resident Evil 2, Link's Awakening was a remake that was long overdue. It includes the updates from the DX color version but maintains the classic overhead Zelda view. Outside a few performance issues, Link's Awakening is still a fun romp through a strange land.
9. Hypnospace OutlawHypnospace Outlaw is a strange game. One of the strangest released last year. But behind its alternate 1990s internet are the stories of the users of hypnospace and near the end a big story that ties the events together. A must play for those who miss the early era of the internet or those who like a good mystery.
10. Death StrandingHideo Kojima made a package delivery simulator with bad combat. But man, the package delivery part is great. Hiking through the countryside is a nice relaxing experience and in the second half of the game there is something satisfying about mass loading goods and using the highway networks to deliver in bulk. The story in intriguing but in the end wasn't the draw for me.
12. Super Mario Maker 2Super Mario Maker 2 still keeps the charm of Super Mario Maker but lacks the updates that helped keep Mario Maker fresh and interesting after release.
Super Mario Bros. 3 was probably the greatest sequel of its age. Topping the legacy set by the original Super Mario Bros. Gaming Historian has a great look at Super Mario Bros. 3, it's creation, impact and legacy for those involved.
Log in to comment