2011 is coming to a close - and that means it's time to remember what great times we had playing video games in the past twelve months. Now, every other gaming website out there is going with the logical choice of choosing the best games that were released in this, our two thousand eleventh year. In contrast, I'll be picking from games I played this year - regardless of whether or not they came out in the last period of 52 weeks.
These are all the games I played in 2011.
Shadow Complex
Doom
Kingdom Hearts 2
Bit.Trip Beat
Batman Arkham
Asylum
Star Fox 64
Super Castlevania IV
Portal 2
Burnout 3
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Super Mario 64
Ratchet & Clank 3
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Bioshock 2
Kirby's Adventure
Ico
Mario Kart 64
Seventeen games to choose from doesn't leave a whole lot of room for traditional categories (best shooter, best RPG, etc.) So here's how everything breaks down:
Most Rage Inducing: The award for most thrown controllers.
Super Mario 64
Mario 64 made me so furious that it was the first time in the adventure I had outright given up on a game entirely. Upon announcing my forfeit, my facebook buddies berated me into finishing it. I'm glad I did because once I stopped being a baby about it, I eneded up absolutely loving it. Busted controllers not withstanding.
Biggest Disappointment: The biggest - "What the hell? This?!" moment.
StarFox 64
Starfox 64 is pretty legendary. It always is held in high regard on message boards and often seen as a benchmark of quality space shooters. So why did I hate it? Because I beat it in an hour. One hour. On my first try.
"But there's secret paths!"
Shut up!
Hardest Game to Finish: The game that kept me up for hours, not out of enjoyment, but out of vengeance.
Ninja Gaiden
I almost gave this one to Mario 64 but Ninja Gaiden slightly edged out the hunt for 120 stars. Why? Because of Level 6-3. Likely the hardest section of programming ever put to pixels, this hallway of doom and cheap deaths sent me into a fury - when it wasn't sending me back to the BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL!
Oh I'm getting angry just thinking about it. Glad this one's crossed off.
Honorable Mention: MegaMan 2
Stupidest Game Ever: I wouldn't call it anger. More like Boredom. The game I had to force myself through because I just needed to cross it off the list.
Kingdom Hearts II
Ughhhh...I'm bored just LOOKING at it. This atrocious mess of a game couldn't manage to get a single hook under my skin. Nothing about it was compelling. From it's button mashing battle system to its idiotic dialogue, I spent most of the 20+ hours staring at the ceiling mindlessly pressing the X button.
Best Game Ever, Ever. Twenty years down the line, I won't remember most of these games, but there is one that I doubt I'll ever forget:
Portal 2
I played this game front to back three times already. And I'm already jonesing for another playthrough. Aside from the developer commentary which becomes available on your second time through, there really isn't anything new to discover. The third playthrough was exactly the same as the first. No goofy costumes or difficulty changes - same from front to back, and yet I got more enjoyment out of it with each subsequent attempt. That is the mark of a fantastic game.
It's ironic that my game of the year is actually the only game I played this year that actually came out this year. But that's the way it is, doggy.
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