warning: I'm kind of biased towards 2d games
 
 25. Naughty Bear
System: PS3, 360
Developer: Artificial Mind and Movement
Release Date: June 2010
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/snap-happy-naughty-bear/65095

I'm not usually one for mindless violence, but there's something about Naughty Bear's cutesy presentation that makes it even more messed up than usual.

Naughty Bear is an open-world killing simulator. The main character isn't invited to a birthday party and the other bears laugh at him, so he decides to kill them all. There are hundreds of ways that you can kill people and the trick is to do it in fun ways. Breaking their necks, Choking them, setting them on fire, even pissing them off so much that they'll kill themselves. The point of the game is to build up as many Naughty points as possible. It sounds a lot like Madworld, actually, only instead of blood squirting everywhere, you're killing cute bears that are begging for their lives.

I don't think I could convince myself to pay the $50 for this game, but it's a perfect rental. All the mindless violence will eventually get old, but until then it'll be fun setting traps for clueless bears and murdering them senselessly. 
 
 24. Trine 2
System: XBLA, PSN, PC
Developer: Frozenbyte
Release Date: Spring 2011
Trailer:: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-trine-2/700641

Trine was one of my big disappointments last year. The game got delayed endlessly with no updates, came out at a horrible price point and ended up just not being as good as I was hoping it would be. It was designed with a mouse in mind so the PS3 version never worked the way that I wanted it to, and I just don't like playing games with a mouse.

But the main problem with Trine was that there was no online co-op. The game was decent enough single-player, but playing with a friend would make it a ton better. Trine 2 was just announced yesterday and it's now coming to XBLA as well as PSN/PC, with, according to publisher Atlus, a "more reasonable price". The characters are also getting new abilities. If they tweak a few things, this game could be really good. I should be more excited about this game, but after the disappointment of Trine 1, I'm keeping my hopes low. If it surprises me, great.

For those who don't know Trine, it's a gorgeous, 2d puzzle platformer where you can freely switch between three different classes - a Knight, a Thief and a Wizard - on the fly. You can solve puzzles any number of ways - you can use the wizard to conjure a box and float across a gap or you can use the Thief and swing across using your grappling hook. It's got great atmospheric music and interesting puzzles. The gameplay isn't always great, but the overall presentation makes it a game well worth playing, especially if you've got online co-op. I might end up loving this game because of that. 
 
 23. Comic Jumper
System: XBLA
Developer: Twisted Pixel
Release Date: q4 2010
Trailer: http://www.giantbomb.com/comic-jumper-first-look/17-2190/

This game is nuts.

Twisted Pixel is one messed up developer. After making the completely insane Splosion Man, they've turned their eyes to comic books. The story is completely ridiculous and told as if it were an actual comic book, filled with panels and comic book cliches and everything. Comic Jumper takes it as far as to have four different comic book 'ages' -- Modern Age, Fantasy Age, Silver Age and even Manga. Each "age" has a totally different design and different kinds of objectives.

Comic Jumper's gameplay is nothing special, really. It's a sidescrolling beat-em-up that rotates between using your fists and using your guns. There are vehicle segments and minigames to break up the action, but for the most part you're sidescrolling.

It's the story and style of the game that makes Comic Jumper awesome. This game is just hilarious. The main villain, Brad, is the best thing ever. The talking star on Captain Smiley's chest is awesome too. There's a part in the first level where you punch a woman, jump on her and use her as a surfboard down the side of a building. Everything about this game is just hilarious.

http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/30712/tba-twisted-pixel-project/videos/comicjumper_gmp_twistedpix_61110.html -- what

I'm sure it would lose its luster after you beat it once or twice, but that first time should be a pretty awesome experience. Just watch the video, it's really unlike anything else out there. What a stupid game. 
 
 22. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
System: XBLA/PSN
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: Summer 2010
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-lara-croft/700045

I've never played a Tomb Raider. I can't tell you if they're good or not, and quite honestly, I don't care. Tomb Raider came during that early 3d era where everything just looked miserable, and from the outside the only thing going for it were the size of Lara Croft's boobs. That's a good way to get me not to care about your game.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is not a Tomb Raider game. Lara Croft herself shouldn't even be in this game. It has next to nothing to do with Tomb Raider besides collecting treasures. It's not a 3d game. It doesn't seem to have a story.

Guardian of Light is an arcade game. It's an isometric action game similar to Gauntlet or Diablo. It's much more combat-heavy than the Tomb Raider series. This game doesn't focus on atmosphere or set pieces or anything like that, it's just a game where you shoot stuff and collect treasure.

The thing that sells me on this game is the co-op. Yeah, there's a lot of combat in this game, but there's also a lot of platforming and exploration. The second player can be this Mayan warrior dude named Toltec and both characters have unique abilities. You can see them in this trailer a bit - Toltec uses his shield to boost Lara up, Lara uses her rope to drag Toltec up after her, etc. There's lots of co-op elements in this game and I always loved the Gauntlet formula. I still don't know why we haven't gotten a proper Gauntlet Legends-type game on XBLA because it'd be a massive hit.

I don't think this game will be worth much single-player, but if somebody else buys it and I can play with them, I'm pretty sure I can have a lot of fun with this. 
 
 21. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
System: XBLA
Developer: Konami
Release Date: Summer 2010
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-castlevania-harmony/700130

When I first heard about this game a couple months ago, I was really excited. 2d Castlevania coming back to consoles? A co-op Metroidvania? After Order of Ecclesia I felt that the DSvania thing was getting a little stale, so hearing that they were trying to mix it up was a great thing. They had just put out too many of the same game over the last five years, and they weren't even making new assets for them anymore. The same enemies you saw in Symphony and Dawn of Sorrow were the ones you saw in OOE. If you're not going to make new material, why not take a different approach? It sounds good.

That's until you sit down and really think about it. First of all, this game is reusing PS1 and DS sprites on a next-gen console. That's almost offensive. Second of all, there's no experience points - it's basically a loot game where you do a dungeon, get some treasure and increase your stats up that way. Third of all, in order to balance the game, you'd have to remove powerups. Everyone's got a double jump and their own unique weapons, but you won't be seeing bat form in this. You won't be seeing the "L jump" of later games. That powerup-based exploration is what makes Castlevania so good and it sounds like there will be very little progression in this game besides collecting better gear.

But the biggest problem is the speed of the game. My main complaint about Castlevania games is how slow you move. I always make jokes about how Alucard looks bored as hell while slowly plodding around the castle. You've got this huge sprawling castle that goes everywhere and you don't move quickly through it. It's a slow-paced affair.

That works okay in single player, but what about multiplayer? What about a time attack, since that's all this game really is? You're racing against the clock while walking slow as hell. I think this is going to drive me nuts.

And yet I have to play this game. It's a new Castlevania and Koji Igarashi has made some of my favourite games of the last 10 years. Sure, it's a quick cash grab and yeah, they'll probably try to charge 15 bucks for it. But it's Castlevania. And I love me some 2d Castlevania.
 
20. Dust: An Elysian Tail
System: XBLA
Developer: Humble Hearts
Release Date: TBA
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmSAQwbbig8

This game is made by one guy. Look at it. That's all the work of one guy, Dean Dodrill, an animator turned game designer on a whim.

Dust is reminiscent of recent Japanese action RPGs like Muramasa or Odin Sphere. It's got a deep combo system and gorgeous 2d visuals. Dust started its life out as an indie game until it won Microsoft's indie games competition at PAX last year. Now he has a full budget and the game has upgraded from a cheap $2 thing to a pretty spectacular XBLA game.

If there's a downside to Dust, it's the "furriness" of it - it's 100% not intentional, but our warped internet minds are so prone to see any anthropomorphic animal and react with disgust. If the wrong people get ahold of this game there will be some really awful fanfiction and fanart.

Game looks great and I want to support it because it's one guy and he seems like a super nice dude.  
 
 19. Portal 2
System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Developer: Valve
Release Date: 2011
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-portal-2/700586

I'll be honest: I don't think there needs to be another Portal. The original Portal was refreshingly unique and unusual, two traits that will lose some luster when it gets sequelized. I thought Portal 1 was the right length: it introduced its ideas, told a charming narrative and then got out of your way before it bogged you down in all the details.

Portal 2 is doing the same thing that most sequels would do: it's adding new weapons (a laser that you can redirect through cubes to kill turrets), new methods of travel (gels that let you jump higher and slide faster) and probably a bunch more before the game is finished. Playing with these items via portals makes them unique enough, but I really like the ultra-simplicity of the original game: you've got your portals, you've got your physics and that's all. You get a cube that you can manipulate in various ways, but that's it. You don't need fancy weaponry. It's just not what Portal's about. These gameplay videos look insane, and while they have a lot of potential, I think the charm of the original gets lost a little bit when you start doing this stuff.

But then I hear Glados's voice.

"We're a lot alike, you and I. You tested me, I tested you. You killed me, I... oh no wait, I guess I haven't killed you... yet. Well, food for thought."
"Oh, it's you. It's been a looooong time. How have you been? I've been pretty busy being dead. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."

And I realize, "wait. Glados is still here and her quotes are better than ever. Valve is making this game, meaning that it'll have loads of polish, snappy writing and some incredibly smart design. maybe the idea isn't as novel as before, but it's still going to be fun, yeah?" 
 
18. Shank
System: XBLA, PSN
Developer: Klei
Release Date: Winter 2010
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SNnlvjWuYo

It's Devil May Cry in 2d. It's got a really compelling visual style. It looks like a graphic novel and it's bloody as hell. Every hit looks satisfying. You can knock someone down by taking a chainsaw to a guy's face and then jump on top of them and shoot them in the face with a shotgun. Watching Shank, I kind of feel bad for the bad guys. It's that brutal.

One concern I have for Shank is that there's no Z axis - it's all side-scrolling. It's not a classic beam-em-up in that sense, it's kind of on rails. You'll have to use guns for crowd control because you can't walk up and down. The weapons look really fun though and juggling a guy in the air with your guns a la Devil May Cry looks like a good time. I've been looking forward to this one for a while now and it's coming along pretty nicely. 
 
17. The Last Guardian
System: PS3
Developer: Sony
Release Date: TBA
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-the-last/50352

The complete lack of information regarding this game over the past year has caused my anticipation to slip. Once we get some new information I'll probably knock this back up to the top 5 again. This not being at e3 really hurt Sony's press conference, I thought, as this is the one exclusive they have that I *really* want to see more of.

All I know about Last Guardian is that the creature in this trailer is going to be super endearing and knowing Fumito Ueda, he's going to put this thing in harm's way early and often. And it is going to suck to watch this awesome creature suffer. 
 
16. HardCorps: Uprising
System: XBLA, PSN
Developer: Arc System Works
Release Date: q4 2010
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-hardcorps-uprising/700568

Okay, let me paint a picture here. Take Contra. Give it to the company that's made Guilty Gear and Blazblue, two games with incredible art direction. Add a life bar, a dash button, double jumps and air dashes. Give it online multiplayer.

That would be an awesome game, right? The best Contra game ever, perhaps?

Uprising is, without a doubt, a Contra game. It's got every Contra staple: the same weapons, the same level 1 boss, vehicles, everything. Arc System Works dares to change up the somewhat stale Contra formula by giving it all the things a modern-day 2d action game would have, and it looks to be much deeper and more awesome because of it. Contra purists will probably decry the life bar and say that they're making the game a whole lot easier, but if you kick it up in difficulty you can take less hits. I imagine that there will be an expert mode where you get the same old one hit kills.

I'm a big fan of this. It should really be a lot higher but I find it hard to get too pumped up over Contra. I bet I'll like it a lot when I play it but I'm not anticipating it like crazy like others are. I expect good things from this game. 
 
 15. Ghost Trick
System: DS
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: q4 2010
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDprOzmmGOg

Ghost Trick is the new game from the guy who created the Phoenix Wright series. In some ways, the content is very similar: a murder has happened and it's up to you to put the pieces together. A large cast of kooky characters come along and turn a regular murder into the most convoluted crime scene possible, complete with lots of lighthearted jokes along the way. That basic premise hasn't changed much.

The mechanics of the game are light and day though. In Ghost Trick, you are the one murdered and you have the power to possess inanimate objects in order to solve the crime. It looks like you rewind time from the moment of the murder backwards to find out why things happened. I'm not entirely sure how the game works and I kind of like it that way. The pedigree is here and I trust the guys making it. Phoenix Wright had kind of hit a wall and something new needed to happen, so it's good to see a game like Ghost Trick pop up and change the formula up completely. The characters animate really well and it looks like it could be a pretty comical game. I'm looking forward to seeing more when it comes out at the end of the year. 
 
 14. Limbo
System: XBLA
Developer: Playdead
Release Date: Summer 2010
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0qI3dLapy8

Braid.

That's the game everyone compares Limbo to. It's got a striking visual style and a somber feeling. It's said to have really inventive design similar to Braid. Limbo doesn't have a really crazy mechanic like Braid's time mechanic, but it does have an art style that's just wild. Everything is black and overbearing. It's atmospheric and all that good stuff.

Limbo is about a boy trying to find his sister. I don't know much more than that and I don't think I want to - I get the feeling that this game has some story twists on the same level as Braid does. Gameplay-wise, it reminds me of WayForward's A Boy and His Blob a lot - a regular old boy without any special abilities. You walk and you can do a little hop, but nothing compared to the superheroes of the video game world like Mario or Mega Man. The environment and how you interact with it is what drives the gameplay of Limbo.

I think the most striking thing about Limbo is the death animations. Most games turn death animations into hilarious blood splatters or have wild sound effects, but with Limbo it's just depressing. This poor kid shrouded in darkness just kind of collapses and the screen fades to black. That's the kind of oppressive atmosphere that Limbo sets up, and it's that atmosphere that's going to bring people to play Limbo.

I think this game is probably going to be excellent, and in a month we're going to hear people championing it and claiming it's the most refreshing, inventive game in a long time. You know, just like they said about Portal. And Braid. I expect some really high review scores and people talking about how it's "high art" and all that. It's tough to get too excited about a game with such simple mechanics, but I have faith that this game is really going to be excellent. 
 
 13. Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
System: DS
Developer: Square
Release Date: Fall 2010
Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-final-fantasy/700280

Final Fantasy 4 DS is a fantastic game. It's the best RPG remake around and probably the best thing Square's done since FF10. The developer in charge of the remake, Matrix, went on to make their own Final Fantasy with the same concept: a decidedly oldschool adventure in line with the original Final Fantasies. It's a game where you control four generics and go on a quest to save the world. It's a game where story is minimal and the addicting gameplay is more important.

It's a game with a job system.

4WL is a funny game. Based on that description, you'd think it was emulating the original Final Fantasy, but it's actually more in line with Dragon Quest. It's got limited inventory space. it's got a battle system that's very Dragon Quest-y. All impressions that I've read are that regular FF fans come off disappointed but the DQ fans rather enjoy it - and I'm a fairly decent DQ fan, so I think I'll like this game.

That doesn't mean that I like everything about it though. 4WL has some rather peculiar gameplay decisions. The main one is the battle system: you don't actually target characters or enemies. (Again, something reminiscent of Dragon Quest games.) You pick a basic idea like 'heal' and then the game does the rest for you. It'll auto-heal the character that needs it the most, but not necessarily the guy that you want to heal. That's just bizarre. On top of that, the game is called 4 Heroes of Light but you spend much of the game having only 2 or 3 characters at a time. That's not what I would expect from a game of that title.

But still, I have a soft spot for gameplay-heavy RPGs that are high on charm. 4WL isn't the prettiest game, but it doesn't need to be and it does seem to have a good amount of personality. I wouldn't expect too many people to be crazy about this game, but for me -- somebody who thinks the Final Fantasy series hit its peak over 20 years ago -- this could be the perfect game.