 |
 |
 |
it’s a new year, so it’s that time again: time to take a look back at all the games i played in 2014. 2014 was different from 2013 in several ways. i ended up playing many more games on a console than a handheld, and i also ended up playing more older games than last year. in 2013 i played the most games on 3DS, 3DS downloads, and the original game boy, but this past year i ended up playing the most games on NES, wiiware, and wii u. perhaps part of the reason i ended up playing more NES games (and thus more console games) is that they were ideal for when i was looking for a short game to play, in order to keep up my usual one-post-a-week pace. not sure that i ended up cutting back on game time overall, though, what with pouring insane amounts of time into certain games, in particular pokemon Y (i also need to give a shout-out to the streetpass mii plaza games, which i’ve played regularly throughout the year–i finally got all the hats in find mii, and made it to the end of the mansion game. whoo! although the last four flowers in the flower game continue to elude me…).
speaking of which, as with the last couple of years, i ended up with only a handful of the games i played making it into my “greatest games of all time” list. what was noteworthy this year, though, is that two of the games i inducted were ones i had played (and blogged about) before: the solid and now classic gameplay of wii sports became more apparent to me the second time around (and i found the boxing modes to be much more enjoyable than i’d originally thought), and its significance continues to be felt today; and the way that the barrier to EV training became lowered in pokemon X and Y to such an extent that even i could get interested (and hooked) makes it apparent to me that this was one of the most significant “evolutions” in the series’ long history (as a side note i also caught my first shinies this year: 4 of them actually! w00t!).
this past year i played about as many sequels as in 2013 (about half of the games i finished), and didn’t spend much effort forcing myself to play games that were outside of my comfort zone (i.e. nintendo series and nintendo classics). reading back through last year’s year in review post, i did finally sit down and finish (on an original NES!) what is probably the hardest zelda game, zelda II: the adventure of link, and thus could finally post my ranking of the legend of zelda series. i also did get caught up with the mario series and finished both new super mario bros. U and new super luigi U, and also finished shin megami tensei: devil summoner: soul hackers, my first shin megami tensei game. (i also posted an overview of the shin megami tensei series, which was the result of my own effort to make sense of its entire sprawling and somewhat confusing history.)
other noteworthy “achievements” included finally getting over the hump of warioware D.I.Y., which meant i could then wrap up and post my ranking of the warioware series. and although i did play a ton of sequels, i did finally play through a game on my thoroughly neglected PS3, the unfinished swan, which was highly enjoyable. i also dusted off an old TV in order to play the original duck hunt with an original NES zapper. the game has recently been re-released on wii u’s virtual console, but it was wholly satisfying to play it in all its original light-gun glory.
here’s the summary of what my 2014 looked like gaming-wise (games listed in approximate descending order) with links to each game’s corresponding blog review:
HIGHEST
– wii sports (wii) (2009 post here)
– pokemon Y (3DS) (2013 post here)
– art style: aquia (DSiware)
MIDDLE
– duck hunt (NES)
– captain toad (wii u)
– wii fit plus (wii)
– the unfinished swan (PS3 DL)
– super smash bros. for nintendo 3DS (3DS)
– sin and punishment: star successor (wii)
– new super luigi u (wii u ware)
– warioware D.I.Y. (DS)
– rusty’s real deal baseball (3DSware)
– paper mario (N64)
– flipnote studio (DSiware) (8 i guess)
– art style: rotozoa (wiiware)
– art style: base 10 (DSiware)
– mighty flip champs (DSiware)
– steamworld dig (3DSware)
– tokyo crash mobs (3DSware)
– new super mario bros. U (wii u)
– donkey kong jr. (NES)
– wario’s woods (NES)
– dr. luigi (wii u ware)
– the legend of zelda: four swords anniversary edition (DSiware)
– street fighter alpha (arcade)
– shin megami tensei: devil summoner: soul hackers (3DS)
– zelda II: the adventure of link (NES)
– pipe dream (GB)
– mario kart 8 (wii u)
– wrecking crew (NES)
– maboshi’s arcade (wiiware)
– smash TV (arc)
– attack of the friday monsters! a tokyo tale (3DSware)
– warioware: D.I.Y. showcase (wiiware)
– mario paint (SNES)
– donkey kong 3 (NES)
– michael jackson: the experience (wii)
– resident evil: director’s cut (PS)
– bit.trip runner (wiiware)
– game & wario (wii u)
– nintendo land (wii u)
– donkey kong jr. math (NES)
– super pac-man (arcade)
– 2048 (PC flash)
– fluidity (wiiware)
– system shock 2 (PC)
– cookie clicker (PC flash)
– my pokemon ranch (wiiware)
– sudoku gridmaster (DS)
LOWEST
– yumi’s odd odyssey (3DS)
– flow (PC flash)
in terms of looking forward to this year, i didn’t finish playing games in series i’ve completely neglected, such as the phoenix wright and professor layton series, but i’ve made some definite progress and will have more to report on that soon. i’m hoping to be a little better about staying up to date with current releases, and to be better about finishing games that i’m halfway through (and not continually adding to the mountain of games i have to play). my most anticipated game of 2015 is still SMT x FE, although i’m concerned about its future since it hasn’t been mentioned at all since its initial reveal almost two years ago, and i’m still holding out hope we’ll get a new metroid this year.
that about wraps it up. as always, thanks as always to anyone who’s stumbled across my little patch of cyberspace and found it even mildly diverting, and welcome to another full year of rockin’ video games at video games rock!
video games rock 