PixlBit

2018 was another year and of all the years I've had, 2018 was definitely one of them. Good and bad things happened and games were played. Sometimes I write words about them...like this today! First up are all the games I beat this year and then how many I bought or somehow acquired (don't worry, I don't list those specifically). Be sure to stick around for the Golden Hippo Awards after that!

Games Beaten

January—Avengers; Bionic Commando; Captain Commando; Final Fight; Forgotten Worlds; Last Duel; Magic Sword - all from Capcom Classics Collection Remixed (PSP)

February—Mega Twins; Quiz & Dragons; Side Arms: Hyper Dyne; Strider; Three Wonders - all from Capcom Classics Collection Remixed (PSP); Prey (PS4)

March—

April—Mega Man Legacy Collection: Mega Man 4 (3DS); NieR: Automata (PS4); Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition (Switch)

May—Metroid Prime Trilogy: Metroid Prime (Wii)

June—Titanfall 2 (PS4); Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch)

July—F-Zero (SNES Classic); Sega Genesis Collection: Alien Soldier (PS4)

August—

September—Castlevania (NES Classic)

October—Alan Wake (360)

November—

December—The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

Total Beaten: 24

24 seems like a decent decent number to me for the year. That's two games finished a month on the average, even if the actual distrution of games is much more clumpy. And while going through my old recaps I saw that I started Breath of the Wild in July. I was literally playing that game for the entire second half of the year 

Games Bought

or somehow acquired

Note: Click on a month to go to that month's recap and see what these games are. The PS+ games in parentheses are part of the total but I wanted to make special note of them since I didn't have to pay for them beyond the subscription fee.

January—5 (PS+: 5)

February—11 (PS+: 5)

March—10 (PS+: 3)

April—1 (PS+: 0)

May—4 (PS+: 1)

June—8 (PS+: 5)

July—8 (PS+: 2)

August—7 (PS+: 5)

September—8 (PS+: 5)

October—7 (PS+: 4)

November—11 (PS+: 3)

December—12 (PS+: 5)

Total Bought/Acquired: 92 (PS+: 43)

At 92 games in 2018, we stayed out of the triple digits! That's progress, my friends. And if you take away the PS+ games, that brings it down to 49. Now, this is complicated by—big asterisk—game collections like the Sega Genesis Collection and the SNES Classic. How to reckon those? I chose not to count all those games against myself because, really, that would be depressing and it was a single purchase to get those collections. So I guess if you're cynical you can double my amount of acquired games but I'm not going to do so.

Addendum of Sorrow: Games I spent time with in 2018 but didn't finish:

-Overcooked (PS4)

This outrageous game is a ton of fun and my wife and I had a blast playing it but it eventually got really difficult to precede because the star requirements to open new levels. We got pretty far though.

-Mega Man 11 (Switch)

I just didn't have time for this game when I got it. It's not, like, the Breath of the Wild for the Mega Man franchise but I think it is really solid and I've picked up playing it again in the new year.

 

The Golden Hippo Awards

*Drum rolllllll* It's time for the sixth annual Golden Hippo Awards! The game industry is on the edge of its collective seat, I am sure. Just remember, everybody, that these awards are based solely on the games I played in 2018 and my opinions about them. Many of these didn't even come out in 2018! But these are a lot of great games.

Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

I'm a year late on this seminal game but I am so glad I didn't sleep on it longer than I did. I'm generally not a fan of open world games but instead of giving the player a list of boxes to check off, BotW presents us with a vibrant world full of waiting discoveries big and small. That is its greatest strength. Sure, I wish there were bigger dungeons or that Zelda wasn't so whiny but the game accomplishes so completely and so well what it sets out to do that complaining about those things feels like nitpicking. Rarely can I spend 80+ hours on a game and it doesn't start to feel like a chore.

Runner Up: Prey (PS4) - I love pretty much everything about this game but it's a little too long and, unlike BotW, it did start to feel like a chore before I finished. Still, it's a great sci-fi adventure.

Best Music: Castlevania (NES Classic) - It's hard to beat those classic tunes!

Best Trip Down Memory Lane: Metroid Prime Trilogy: Metroid Prime (Wii) - Even with waggle controls, this game holds up so well.

Best Fake Trip Down Memory Lane: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch) - A great homage to Castlevania and NES action games. I like how the story and gameplay changes depending on the characters you collect or kill.

Most Intense Action, Avian or Otherwise: Sega Genesis Collection: Alien Soldier (PS4) - Treasure's Genesis magnum opus is a white-knuckled set piece romp that the years have not dulled.

Not Overstaying Its Welcome: Titanfall 2 (PS4) - The campaign in this game is not long but is so varied and intense that there is never a dull moment. Easily worth whatever they are asking for it these days.

Sexiest Blindfolds: NieR: Automata (PS4) - 'Nuff said, amirite? 

Honorary iOS Awards

I am generally very lax with myself when it comes to iOS games (no backlogging here!) and really didn't play much on my phone this year. But here is a quick shout out.

Paint It Back—This Picross-style game was not new to me this year but I got sucked back into it and finished out all the many puzzles. I haven't been sure what to do with my little moments of down time now that it's complete lol.

And that's it! Thanks for reading, everyone, and cheers to 2019!