{"id":20316,"date":"2020-07-24T00:01:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T00:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=20316"},"modified":"2020-07-22T00:34:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T00:34:11","slug":"carys-best-games-of-2020-so-far-awards-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/24\/carys-best-games-of-2020-so-far-awards-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Cary’s Best Games of 2020 SO FAR Awards Show!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>WORST.\u00a0 YEAR.\u00a0\u00a0 EVER.\u00a0 I think we can all agree that 2020 has been one of the worst years in our lifetime, what with the Coronavirus, quarantines, riots and looting, and much more.\u00a0 Some days I wonder if we\u2019ll EVER get through this.\u00a0 But there is one good thing about this year so far.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had quite a lot of really good games come out the first half of this year!\u00a0 Normally I like to write a blog this time of year with my favorite games of the year so far, because the holiday titles and E3 announcements usually take precedence by the end of the year.\u00a0 Of course, because of the Coronavirus there was no E3 this year, and as of this writing we still don\u2019t know what big games will be out for Christmas.\u00a0 Just another reason why this year sucks.\u00a0 So I don\u2019t know how much different my list will be by the end of the year.\u00a0 But keep in mind that this is my list and my picks only, no outside opinions and whatnot.\u00a0 And if a game isn\u2019t on my list, it either just didn\u2019t appeal to me or I haven\u2019t played it yet.\u00a0 Can\u2019t play \u2018em all, you know!\u00a0 But with that out of the way, let\u2019s take a look at my picks.<\/p>\n

BEST RPG<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I was a child of the 80\u2019s, and Jim Henson stuff was a big part of my childhood.\u00a0 I watched TV shows like Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock.\u00a0 I saw films like The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and heck, the very first movie I ever remember seeing in a theater was the first Muppet Movie.\u00a0 So I was very interested in seeing the new Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.\u00a0 And I LOVED it!\u00a0 I don\u2019t normally binge watch things, but one day when I was off work, I watched two episodes of it in the morning and two more in the evening.\u00a0 It was so good.\u00a0 I\u2019d watch it again if I had time.\u00a0 So I was excited when I heard they were making a video game out of it, but I was disappointed that it was a tactics strategy RPG game.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like those.\u00a0 Could my love of the series and Jim Henson stuff in general save this game for me?\u00a0 In short, yeah it did!\u00a0 It also helps that they kept the game pretty simple and added an easy difficulty mode.\u00a0 It was also the only RPG I played this year so far so it wins by default anyway.\u00a0 But by the time you read this, Paper Mario: The Origami King will be out and I should be playing it, so we\u2019ll see if it can beat out The Dark Crystal by the end of the year!<\/p>\n

BEST ARCADE COLLECTION\/REMAKE<\/strong><\/p>\n

There were TONS of games in this category so far this year!\u00a0 Lots of classic arcade collections and remakes of old games!\u00a0 And most of them were pretty good.\u00a0 But only one could win, and here it is:<\/p>\n

Streets of Rage 4 (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In the 16-bit era when I was a kid (well, a teen), I only had a Super Nintendo.\u00a0 Back then, kids didn\u2019t usually have both a SNES and a SEGA Genesis, you had one or the other.\u00a0 So there were a lot of Genesis games I missed out on.\u00a0 Most of the time I was OK with that, as the SNES offered more games for my tastes.\u00a0 But there were a few times when a Genesis game caught my eye, and ones I didn\u2019t even know about altogether!\u00a0 The Streets of Rage series was one of those games.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t discover them until I played the second one on one of those early SEGA Genesis classic collections.\u00a0 But once I did play it, I was blown away by the graphics, gameplay, and especially the music.\u00a0 The secret to its success was that it was developed from the ground up to be best on a console, not like the other beat \u2018em ups out there that were originally arcade quarter munchers.\u00a0 After three games, the Streets of Rage series only stayed on the Genesis, until now.\u00a0 FINALLY we get a sequel with Streets of Rage 4.\u00a0 Is it as good as the others?\u00a0 Well, maybe not as good as Streets of Rage 2, but I still think it\u2019s pretty darn fun.\u00a0 I love the graphics, smooth and quick controls, and cool characters like Blaze and Estel Aguirre.\u00a0 Only thing that disappointed me was the music.\u00a0 Even with Yuzo Koshiro on board, it wasn\u2019t as good.\u00a0 But when I did play this with my brother Jeff, we were laughing and hooting and hollering the whole time because it was so fun, and that\u2019s why this game wins the award.<\/p>\n

Runners Up:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psikyo Shooting Stars: Alpha & Bravo (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Back in the 90\u2019s and seeping a bit into the 2000\u2019s, one of the kings of arcade 2-D shooters was Psikyo.\u00a0 Now NIS America has compiled a couple of collections of Psikyo\u2019s games on the Switch.\u00a0 Just simple arcade fun and I like Jun Tsukasa\u2019s character designs on some of the games.<\/p>\n

Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hey kids!\u00a0 Are you ready for a video game history lesson?\u00a0 Sure you are!\u00a0 Anyway, back in the mid-80s, game maker Technos created one of the first brawlers featuring a character named Kunio.\u00a0 He\u2019s a hot-blooded high school student who sometimes gets into fights, but always stands up for his friends and against bullies.\u00a0 His first arcade game was a hit in Japan, and they brought it to the US under the name Renegade.\u00a0 A few graphical and name changes were made.\u00a0 The character now sported a sleeveless leather jacket instead of a Japanese school uniform, and instead of locations like an outdoor train stop, you fought in places like an underground subway station.\u00a0 It was a modest hit in the US and got a version on the NES, but it was nowhere near as big as the original game in Japan.\u00a0 The bosses at Technos wanted to recreate that success in the US, so they tasked the team to make another brawler that would really appeal to overseas audiences.\u00a0 So they created Double Dragon.\u00a0 Needless to say, that was a huge hit with countless arcade sequels and ports, a cartoon, and even a live action movie (it was famously bad, but fun in a B-movie sort of way).\u00a0 And now you can play almost every NES and Famicom version of the Double Dragon and Kunio-Kun series in a collection on the PS4 and Switch.\u00a0 It even includes Renegade\u2019s \u2018sequel\u2019 River City Ransom, as well as sports spin off titles like Super Dodge Ball!\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Super Dodge Ball was my favorite sports video game until Wii Sports came along!<\/p>\n

Boulder Dash 30th<\/sup> Anniversary (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m such a staunch console gamer now that you might be surprised to learn that when I was a kid, I started out playing home games on computer.\u00a0 Our first PC was an Apple ][+, and outside of arcades, that\u2019s where I played most of my games until I got an Atari 5200.\u00a0 One of the games I remember playing on that old computer was Boulder Dash.\u00a0 It was an action puzzle game that was kind of like Dig Dug in that you dug through the earth, collecting gems while trying not to get squished by falling boulders.\u00a0 And now you can celebrate its revival with Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary.\u00a0 At first I was like, \u201cIsn\u2019t Boulder Dash more than 30 years old?\u201d\u00a0 And yes, it is.\u00a0 This Switch version (reviewed here) is just a port of an older version that was released a few years ago on PC and mobile when it really was Boulder Dash\u2019s 30th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2026freaking\u2026love\u2026Bubble Bobble.\u00a0 I don\u2019t really remember seeing it in arcades, but boy I sure rented the HECK out of the NES version.\u00a0 Many years later, when my little brothers were old enough to play games, Bubble Bobble was one of the first games I introduced them to, and they loved it as well.\u00a0 And the main spin-off game, Puzzle Bobble\/Bust-A-Move, is one of my top three favorite puzzle games of all time.\u00a0 So I was super excited to find out about a new Bubble Bobble game for Nintendo Switch.\u00a0 Is it as good as previous titles?\u00a0 No, not really, but I still had some fun with it.\u00a0 Enough to give it a mention here anyway.<\/p>\n

Missile Command: Recharged (iPad)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Missile Command was one of Atari\u2019s biggest arcade hits in the 80s, so to celebrate the game\u2019s 40th anniversary, now you can play a new iteration on mobile devices.\u00a0 This free-to-play version features updated neo-retro graphics, power-ups, and more modern features.\u00a0 It kind of has a Pac-Man Championship Edition motif, and I like how the AR mode puts a virtual arcade cabinet right in front of you!<\/p>\n

Mega Man Zero\/ZX Legacy Collection (PS4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a super big fan of the Zero games, but for only 30 bucks, this is a pretty good deal for what you get.<\/p>\n

PONG Quest (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For the longest time I thought the first video game I ever played was Pac-Man.\u00a0 But it was actually PONG, I just didn\u2019t realize it at the time.\u00a0 You see, when I was very little, my dad built our very first TV.\u00a0 He ordered parts and instructions through a place called Heathkit.\u00a0 This was in the late 70\u2019s, so it was a great big old wooden monster that looked like a piece of furniture.\u00a0 But that TV also lasted well until I was in high school!\u00a0 He also built a metronome with Heathkit, and one of the other extra things he added to the TV was a home PONG clone that you could pull out at any time and play if you changed it to channel 3.\u00a0 I was so young at the time, though, that I didn\u2019t realize this was a video game, just something you could do if there wasn\u2019t anything on TV.\u00a0 Anyway, that\u2019s my PONG story.\u00a0 Never would I have imagined that someone would combine PONG with a dungeon crawling RPG, but now you have PONG Quest.\u00a0 I love the references to other Atari games in this title, too.<\/p>\n

Darius Cozmic Collection: Arcade & Console (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a huge fan of the Darius 2-D shooter series from Taito.\u00a0 But what is Darius?\u00a0 While it may look like a generic classic space shooter at first, it has some elements that helped split it apart from others in the arcade.\u00a0 One, a lot of the spaceships you battle are designed to look like robot fish.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why that is, but it gives the game a weirder tinge to it that I like.\u00a0 Two, the original arcade game was three screens long!\u00a0 This was advantageous because you could see far ahead of you and could plan accordingly.\u00a0 It also gave you a bit of elbow room since the game was also two player simultaneous.\u00a0 And three, the music was really good!\u00a0 The stage one theme, \u201cCaptain NEO\u201d is one of my all time favorite pieces of video game music.\u00a0 Taito has an in-house band named Zuntata that does most of their game music, which is cool.\u00a0 Anyway, I was super excited to find out that now there are two collection of Darius titles for Switch and PS4.\u00a0 There\u2019s an arcade collection and a console collection, and I reviewed the console collection for Switch.\u00a0 While I think they should\u2019ve combined both collections into one, and it still doesn\u2019t have all the games it should, I enjoyed this series enough to give it a mention here.<\/p>\n

Namco Museum Archives vols. 1 & 2 (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Namco has just opened up a new wing in their museum, with two volumes of archives including a bunch of 8-bit NES and Famicom games!\u00a0 These two new downloadable collections contain almost a dozen games each.\u00a0 While I think they should\u2019ve put them both together, there are still some nice surprises on here.<\/p>\n

BEST 3-D ADVENTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trials of Mana (PS4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, technically this could be considered in the classic remake category, but there was just SO many of those that I decided to put this one in the 3-D adventure area.\u00a0 Hey it\u2019s my list, I can do what I want.\u00a0 All right, you all ready for one of my unpopular opinions?\u00a0 I think Secret of Mana is a better game than Trials of Mana.\u00a0 There, I said it.\u00a0 I also support Square\u2019s decision to release Chrono Trigger and Secret of Evermore instead of Trials back on the SNES, if they had to limit what they could release over here.\u00a0 I hear those pitchforks and torches coming out now.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m glad that Square put the original Trials of Mana on the Collection of Mana last year and I\u2019m really happy I got to play it.\u00a0 But I think the battle system is a hot mess.\u00a0 Also, the original Trials came out when people still depended on good instruction manuals and strategy guides to get them through a game.\u00a0 It was just part of the experience back then.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the case now, so goals and objectives in SNES Trials of Mana were incredibly unclear.\u00a0 And the last boss uses a cheap trick to keep you from attacking it effectively, so after a week of grinding and still not being able to beat it, I said \u2018screw it\u2019 and watched the ending on YouTube (not very impressed) and shelved the game to start on the 3-D remake.\u00a0 And boy did they improve so much! \u00a0A lot of the fat is trimmed off and unclear goals are no longer a problem.\u00a0 Now, the new remake isn\u2019t perfect.\u00a0 If you thought the ring menu system in the original game was confusing, boy wait\u2019ll you see what they did to it here!\u00a0 And if you want a good battle system in a 3-D hack and slash fantasy game, you\u2019re better off with Ys 8.\u00a0 But I\u2019m still enjoying the Trials of Mana remake.\u00a0 I just hope I can beat the last boss!\u00a0 Can you guess who my favorite Trials character is?<\/p>\n

BEST 2-D ADVENTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shantae and the Seven Sirens (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a HUGE fan of the Shantae game series.\u00a0 I even still have the original game on Game Boy Color, box and all!\u00a0 But who is Shantae?\u00a0 She\u2019s a half-human, half-genie dancer who can magically transform into different animals to help her get past obstacles in her 2-D platforming adventures.\u00a0 In her newest escapade, Shantae and her friends travel to a tropical island for a much needed vacation.\u00a0 Other Half-Genies will be there, too, so Shantae is especially excited to meet more of her kind.\u00a0 But shortly after she arrives, the other Half-Genies disappear.\u00a0 Risky Boots, the nefarious she-pirate and Shantae\u2019s arch-nemesis, has been snooping about the island as well.\u00a0 Could she be behind all of this?\u00a0 It\u2019s up to you to find out in Shantae and the Seven Sirens.\u00a0 Granted this game wins by default, but it\u2019s still a fun \u201cMetroidvania\u201d kind of game.<\/p>\n

WEIRDEST GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pac-Man Tamagotchi<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Some may say this isn\u2019t technically a game, but I don\u2019t care.\u00a0 It\u2019s still weird!\u00a0 Two big game crazes, one from the 80s and one from the 90s, have come together in one weird combo!\u00a0 Pac-Man Tamagotchi!\u00a0 Yeah you heard that right.\u00a0 Only because Pac-Man maker Namco and Tamagotchi creator Bandai have merged is this whole thing possible!\u00a0 Of course you all know I\u2019m a huge Pac-Man fan, but I also have an interest in the virtual pet key chain Tamagotchi, too.\u00a0 So you know I had to get this!\u00a0 I wonder if Namco will do more for Pac-Man\u2019s 40th<\/sup> Anniversary besides this and some overpriced apparel?\u00a0 I sure hope so!<\/p>\n

Runners Up:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vitamin Connection (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Meet the Sable family.\u00a0 Mom, Dad, an elementary school kid, a baby, and a dog.\u00a0 When they get sick, it\u2019s up to Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl to pilot a vitamin capsule inside their bodies to stop a bacterial infection\u2026and maybe even save the world in the process.\u00a0 Vitamin Connection is a Switch exclusive for one or two players.\u00a0 You\u2019ll use your Switch JoyCon controllers in unique ways as you steer the vitamin capsule through microscopic mazes while avoiding obstacles and defeating bacteria with your Vita-Blaster!\u00a0 It kind of reminds me of a cross between Life Force and Irritating Stick, with some WarioWare style mini-games for good measure.\u00a0 Great music and presentation, but yeah, it\u2019s weird!<\/p>\n

Cooking Mama: Cookstar (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess since there are so many Cooking Mama games now, it may not be considered weird.\u00a0 But I still think it is!\u00a0 But that\u2019s not why this particular version is weird.\u00a0 What makes this one weird is all the controversy surrounding it!\u00a0 You got everything from real life drama about who was going to publish it, so rumored stuff like in-game bit-coin farming (huh?).\u00a0 This game also added vegetarian options for every recipe to make PETA happy.\u00a0 And the first thing you make in the game is a rainbow grilled cheese sandwich, so that\u2019s weird, too.<\/p>\n

BEST RACER<\/strong><\/p>\n

80\u2019s Overdrive (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This racer tries to imitate OutRun, and of course it\u2019s not near as good, but I still liked it.\u00a0 It has a neat 80\u2019s vibe, and you can kind of design your own tracks, too.\u00a0 I think I just enjoyed it more than I should have.<\/p>\n

BEST SPORTS GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking, \u201cThis isn\u2019t a sports game!\u00a0 Just a collection of a bunch of board and card games!\u201d\u00a0 Well, there are simple \u2018toy\u2019 themed versions of sports games like golf, baseball, soccer, and much more.\u00a0 And some people do consider board and card games sports.\u00a0 So I\u2019m giving it the award.\u00a0 So there.<\/p>\n

BEST PUZZLE GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Driller: Drill Land (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s really more of an action game than a puzzler, it\u2019s enough to win this award.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always been a huge fan of the Mr. Driller series, and Drill Land was a Japan only GameCube title that I\u2019ve been wanting to come over here for nearly 20 years!\u00a0 So I\u2019m really glad it\u2019s on the Switch now!\u00a0 It may sound cheesy, but another special thing about the game is that it was announced for a US release right around the time the Coronavirus quarantines first started.\u00a0 So it gave me a bit of hope and something to look forward to at a time when I was pretty bummed out.\u00a0 A light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.<\/p>\n

And now it\u2019s time to reveal my Best Game of 2020 SO FAR.\u00a0 Taiko drum roll please\u2026<\/p>\n

BEST GAME OF 2020 SO FAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m such a huge Animal Crossing fan that this game getting the award doesn\u2019t seem like much of a surprise.\u00a0 But I\u2019m also giving it the award because it came out right about the time of the first Coronavirus quarantines, and it really helped me cope with all the anxiety going on.\u00a0 Through the game I\u2019ve been able to stay connected with friends and even celebrate holidays like Easter while staying indoors.\u00a0 Of course I probably would\u2019ve given this game the award even if we didn\u2019t have to deal with the Coronavirus, but now I can connect the game with helping me cope with things as well.<\/p>\n

With that said, New Horizons isn\u2019t a perfect game, and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the best Animal Crossing game either.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well first off, I think a lot of the changes don\u2019t feel like improvements.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, being able to edit and decorate your whole island is significant, and the new museum is amazing.\u00a0 But having your tools break every other day is ANNOYING!\u00a0 And the game relies heavily on updates, so it feels like you just paid 60 bucks for a beta test game.\u00a0 They\u2019ve drip fed us features that were already there from the get-go in New Leaf.\u00a0 But otherwise, it still deserves the award.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s my list! \u00a0Let me know what you think of my picks, and tell me YOUR favorite games of 2020 SO FAR!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WORST.\u00a0 YEAR.\u00a0\u00a0 EVER.\u00a0 I think we can all agree that 2020 has been one of the worst years in our lifetime, what with the Coronavirus, quarantines, riots and looting, and much more.\u00a0 Some days I wonder if we\u2019ll EVER get through this.\u00a0 But there is one good thing about this year so far.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20316"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20319,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20316\/revisions\/20319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}