{"id":25314,"date":"2025-01-17T00:01:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T00:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=25314"},"modified":"2025-01-10T05:35:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T05:35:28","slug":"carys-best-games-of-2024-awards-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/17\/carys-best-games-of-2024-awards-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Cary’s Best Games of 2024 Awards Show!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s time for my \u201cBest Video Games of 2024 Awards Show!\u201d\u00a0 Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed.\u00a0 And if a game isn\u2019t on this list, it either just didn\u2019t appeal to me as much or I haven\u2019t had a chance to play it yet.\u00a0 Ok with that out of the way, let\u2019s begin!<\/p>\n

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

Freedom Planet 2 \u00a0(PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

When I first started playing Freedom Planet 2 for my review, the first thing I thought of was how much things have changed since then, as it\u2019s been nearly ten years since!\u00a0 Gaming-wise, I reviewed the first game on a totally different console generation.\u00a0 Also, Freedom Planet was meant to play like a classic 2-D Sonic style game, at a time when there wasn\u2019t a whole lot of good 2-D Sonic titles around.\u00a0 But since then we\u2019ve got Sonic Mania and Sonic Superstars, both of which are fairly decent (although I still like Freedom Planet 2 more).\u00a0 My life has also changed a lot since then, as I have a different job and live in a different place than I did back then.\u00a0 Even the world has changed, thanks to the COVID pandemic and whatnot.\u00a0 And now we finally have a sequel to Freedom Planet, and it\u2019s vastly improved over the original game.\u00a0 Also I\u2019d like to add that I\u2019m so thankful for XSEED, the publishers of this game, as they\u2019ve always been supportive of me and this site since they\u2019ve been around.<\/p>\n

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

Yars Rising (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

As you all may know, I love retro gaming.\u00a0 Heck, I grew up during the Atari and NES days, so it\u2019s part of my childhood.\u00a0 But I do have one retro game that\u2019s on my \u2018wall of shame\u2019 because up until now, I never figured out how to play it.\u00a0 And that game is Yars\u2019 Revenge.\u00a0 Oh sure I\u2019ve tried many times to figure it out, especially when I would get a new Atari collection that it was on.\u00a0 And I understand the significance of the game, as it was the best selling game on the Atari 2600 that WASN\u2019T an arcade game first.\u00a0 And the reason why it is called \u201cYars\u201d is because that\u2019s the name of Atari\u2019s CEO at the time spelled backwards (way to butter up your boss, Howard Scott Warshaw)! But yeah, I\u2019ve never figured out how to really play the game.\u00a0 That is until now, thanks to a new game in the series called Yars Rising.\u00a0 Strangely enough, Yars Rising is actually a \u201cMetroidvania\u201d title mixed with blocky, Atari 2600 style mini-games based on the original Yars.\u00a0 And it was made by WayForward, which really tells you all you need to know about the quality (yeah it\u2019s good).<\/p>\n

The Plucky Squire (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Jot is the Plucky Squire and the titular hero of a series of children\u2019s books in the game.\u00a0 In the books, he goes on all sorts of adventures with his two best friends: an artist wizard named Violet and the rock n roll mountain troll Thrash.\u00a0 With guidance from the wise wizard Moonbeard, the trio are able to defeat the evil Humgrump every time.\u00a0 But one day, Humgrump figures out how to break the fourth wall and take over the book, sending things in from the real world and kicking things out.\u00a0 So now it\u2019s up to the Plucky Squire to hop in and out of the book, manipulating the pages himself while solving puzzles and defeating enemies.\u00a0 The Plucky Squire is a (mostly) 2D action adventure game similar to Zelda.<\/p>\n

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

Ys X: Nordics (PS4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was really hard to decide which game to give this award to, as there were a lot of good ones this year.\u00a0 But Ys X wins out for the grand scope of the adventure.\u00a0 Join Adol as he fights bad guys yet again in a Viking pirate themed adventure.<\/p>\n

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

Bakeru (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bakeru is set in an alternate version of Japan, where fairy tale heroes are real.\u00a0 You play as Bakeru, a shape-shifting tanuki who attacks enemies with taiko drumsticks in his human form.\u00a0 You\u2019ll travel around this cartoony version of Japan in a 3D platformer style adventure. The Japanese themes remind me a lot of games like Okami and the Goemon games (Mystical Ninja in the US).\u00a0 In fact, Good Feel made Bakeru, and one of the guys who founded that company used to work for Konami and made a lot of the Goemon games.\u00a0 So many people say that Bakeru is like a spiritual successor to those.\u00a0 Good Feel also made many games for Nintendo, some of which include Wario Land: Shake it, Kirby\u2019s Epic Yarn, and Yoshi\u2019s Woolly World.\u00a0 And Bakeru is just as good as anything Nintendo has produced this year so far.\u00a0 I almost wanted to give this game the top award, too!<\/p>\n

Princess Peach Showtime! (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A lot of reviewers have complained about this game, saying it\u2019s too easy and made just for kids.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t see anything wrong with that.\u00a0 Kids deserve good games, too!\u00a0 And I still had fun with it.\u00a0 Is it Game of the Year material?\u00a0 No, but not every game has to be.\u00a0 It kind of reminded me of some of the GameCube\u2019s more experimental titles like Luigi\u2019s Mansion or Wario World, and I thought that was pretty cool.\u00a0 Despite the sales numbers, I thought that era was a great time for Nintendo.<\/p>\n

Little Kitty, Big City (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In this unique game you play as a regular old house cat.\u00a0 You are lying on your favorite windowsill when you accidentally roll over and fall out.\u00a0 You land safely via a string of comical incidents, but now you must figure out how to get back up to your owner\u2019s apartment.\u00a0 So you must explore the big city below, helping out other animals and causing cat-like mischief as well.\u00a0 This game reminds me of a mix of Untitled Goose Game, as well as a PS2 game I played a long time ago called A Dog\u2019s Life, which was kind of the same premise except you were a dog doing dog things.\u00a0 The game also has a bit of a Katamari Damacy vibe with the simple graphics and the Japanese style city setting.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit short, so it only gets runner up status, but it\u2019s still a fun time.<\/p>\n

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a big fan of the Super Monkey Ball games ever since the GameCube ones and the original arcade game (which was called just Monkey Ball and the joystick was a banana you had to hold\u2026kind of embarrassing).\u00a0 The series is still going strong today and SEGA recently released Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble on Switch.<\/p>\n

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

Picross S Namco Legendary Edition (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a couple of Picross games for this category.\u00a0 Ultimately, this one won out mainly for the theme.\u00a0 Because you know how much I like my Namco characters!<\/p>\n

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

Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Even though this one didn\u2019t win, it\u2019s still pretty good.\u00a0 In fact, the presentation might even be better here than in the Namco one.\u00a0 But yeah, both are great Picross games!<\/p>\n

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

Pac-Man: Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course this one\u2019s going to win, it\u2019s Pac-Man!\u00a0 Have you ever heard of the Google Stadia?\u00a0 It\u2019s OK if you haven\u2019t.\u00a0 It was a cloud based game console that came out a few years ago and bombed.\u00a0 Well, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle was one of the exclusive games for it.\u00a0 I really wanted to play it, but I wasn\u2019t worried because I knew the Stadia would fail and we\u2019d probably get this game after that.\u00a0 And I was right!\u00a0 It\u2019s not the best Pac-Man game in the world, but it\u2019s a neat take on the battle royale format as you can use warp tunnels to go to other players\u2019 mazes.\u00a0 Plus you can play as Pac-Man wearing a Klonoa hat while chomping dots in a Mr. Driller maze.\u00a0 So yeah, Namco knows how to push my buttons.<\/p>\n

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

Nintendo World Championship NES Edition (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s more or less very similar to the NES Remix games on the Wii U and 3DS, except with more of a focus on speedrunning.<\/p>\n

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a set of two games starring Phoenix Wright\u2019s rival Miles Edgeworth.\u00a0 The sequel hadn\u2019t even been released in the US until now!\u00a0 I remember at Capcom\u2019s booth at PAX or E3 many, many years ago talking with an employee and asking them if there was ever a chance we\u2019d get that sequel and she said probably not.\u00a0 But now we got it!<\/p>\n

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection (PS4)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Capcom released a collection of their Marvel licensed arcade games.\u00a0 It was pretty surprising that they did this, seeing how Marvel is owned by Disney now and all.\u00a0 But they made it happen!<\/p>\n

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was originally a 3DS game and a really fun one at that.\u00a0 It was later ported to Apple Arcade and the Switch version is based off of that.\u00a0 The game combines solitaire with\u2026horse racing?\u00a0 Yeah it\u2019s a weird one, but incredibly fun.\u00a0 Even weirder is it was made by Game Freak.\u00a0 They made another little game series you might\u2019ve heard of before called Pok\u00e9mon.\u00a0 You know how in horse races, sometimes the horses have funny names?\u00a0 Well in this game, some of the names of the horses you compete against make references to Pok\u00e9mon, like \u201cBulba Soarer\u201d or \u201cVolt Tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of a sequel to the Game Boy Donkey Kong game, which was one of the best arcade updates to this day.\u00a0 This sequel isn\u2019t quite as good, but still fun.<\/p>\n

Luigi\u2019s Mansion 2 HD (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just got this one for Christmas and haven\u2019t even played it yet.\u00a0 But I have played the 3DS original and while it\u2019s the worst of the Luigi\u2019s Mansion series, it\u2019s still pretty good.\u00a0 I wish they would\u2019ve included the first Luigi\u2019s Mansion game on here as well, then you could play pretty much every game in the series on Switch!<\/p>\n

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

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This was easily one of the best games on the GameCube, and certainly the best GameCube RPG (sorry Tales of Symphonia fans).\u00a0 The battle system was so much fun, with a unique audience feature.\u00a0 Lots of great set pieces.\u00a0 My favorite is the third chapter\u2019s wrestling theme.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t even like wrestling!\u00a0 And the script text is just as lively and fun to read as it was back then.\u00a0 They touched up the graphics and sound, but if you don\u2019t like the new remixes, you can have the old GameCube songs, too.\u00a0 Really glad they remade this one so more people can play it.<\/p>\n

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

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mario dominated the RPG scene this year.\u00a0 It was hard to decide which one would win, but Paper Mario did in the end.\u00a0 But Brothership is still a great game.\u00a0 A lot of reviewers panned this game at first, but I\u2019m here to tell you that it\u2019s really not THAT bad.\u00a0 They changed up some of the controls, which took me a bit of getting used to.\u00a0 And some parts can be a bit annoying and tedious.\u00a0 But otherwise I\u2019m really enjoying it.\u00a0 Mario & Luigi are transported to a world where evil has disconnected a land into separate islands, and you must travel to them via a floating island that acts as a ship.\u00a0 The characters and themes have a sort of electrical plant vibe to them, and the game has an underlying theme about making connections and keeping them with friends and family, which is a good message that I like.\u00a0 In fact, one of the things I like about all the Mario & Luigi games is how the two brothers always work together and get along and care for each other.\u00a0 Which I think is a good message, too.<\/p>\n

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

Thank Goodness You\u2019re Here! (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Thank Goodness You\u2019re Here! is one of the weirdest games I\u2019ve played in a long time. It was published by the same folks who also published Untitled Goose Game and the PlayDate, if that gives you any indication of what this game might be like.\u00a0\u00a0 You are a little man, only reaching knee high to everyone else in the game.\u00a0 Your boss tasks you to meet with the mayor of another town to sell what your business provides.\u00a0 But the mayor is busy for a few hours, so you pass the time by helping out the townspeople.\u00a0 You do this by walking around, sometimes in an overhead perspective and sometimes in a 2D platforming fashion.\u00a0 You can jump with one button and slap with the other button.\u00a0 Yes that\u2019s how you interact with things and talk with people is by slapping them.\u00a0 The game is like playing an interactive cartoon and it\u2019s so chock full of British humor that I swear my Switch was going to start oozing bangers and mash.<\/p>\n

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

Fitness Boxing feat. HATSUNE MIKU (Switch)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

There is a music synthesizer called Vocaloid that can replicate singing voices, and in Japan, they\u2019ve created characters to go along with those voices.\u00a0 Probably the most popular of those characters is Hatsune Miku, an anime styled girl character with long blue pigtails.\u00a0 She\u2019s been in a lot of other video games as well, and I\u2019ve even reviewed a couple of them here and here.\u00a0 And now she\u2019s appearing in another video game, and this time strangely enough, it\u2019s the Fitness Boxing game series on Switch!<\/p>\n

And now it\u2019s time for my Game of the Year!\u00a0 Taiko drum roll please\u2026<\/p>\n

BEST GAME OF 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It really shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise to anyone since this is a 2-D top down Zelda game and I love those.\u00a0 And it uses the same art style as the Link\u2019s Awakening remake, and that\u2019s my number one favorite Zelda game of all time!\u00a0 But it\u2019s also cool because you get to finally play as Princess Zelda, and the game takes a different approach by letting you summon monsters and objects to defeat enemies and solve puzzles.\u00a0 Between this and Princess Peach Showtime, 2024 was the Year of the Princess!\u00a0 Now is this my favorite Zelda game?\u00a0 No, it probably wouldn\u2019t even make the top five.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still a heck of a lot of fun and not too short but not too long either.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all for now!\u00a0 In the comments section, let me know what you think of my list, and tell me what YOUR favorite games of 2024 are.\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time for my \u201cBest Video Games of 2024 Awards Show!\u201d\u00a0 Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed.\u00a0 And if a game isn\u2019t on this list, it either just didn\u2019t appeal to me as much or I haven\u2019t had a chance to play it yet.\u00a0 Ok with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25314","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\/25314","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=25314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25345,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25314\/revisions\/25345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}