It figures Pac-Man would win GOTY for you lol. This was a great year! I'll be posting about the games I beat this year and my personal GOTY later in the month. It was a good year for Turtles fans! And Pokemon too. And Sonic fans are pretty happy with Frontiers. I really enjoyed Splatoon 3, I was shocked (but very happy) that it won Best Multiplayer at the Game Awards.
Cary's Best Games of 2022 Awards Show!
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 On 12/12/2022 at 08:48 AM by Cary Woodham See More From This User » |
It’s the end of the year so you know what that means? It’s time for my “Best Games of 2022 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
BEST 3-D ADVENTURE
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)
This one’s a big deal because this is Kirby’s first full 3-D game! And even though it’s probably still not my favorite Kirby game, and didn’t even get my best of 2022 award, HAL Laboratory really blew it out of the park with this one. If anything, the quality of this first 3-D outing makes Kirby’s future in this genre VERY promising! I also love how most Kirby games, including this one, start out all cute and colorful, but by the end of the game they get pretty dark! Not to spoil this game too much, but by the end you get into some Half Life territory! But you can still put this one in the pile of great Kirby games the whole family can enjoy. Is there really such a thing as a bad Kirby game? Not yet!
Runners Up:
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (PS4)
It’s your typical LEGO game. A friend of mine once said that LEGO games aren’t very good, but they are very fun.
One of the reasons why the Nintendo GameCube was one of my top favorite consoles was all the 3-D adventures I could sink my teeth into. I really miss those days. Fast forward to today where I mostly review indie titles that are average at best. Sure every once in a while I might play one that’s mildly amusing, but it’s getting rarer and rarer. Which is why Tinykin is such a surprise! It reminds me of a cross between two quirky GameCube 3-D adventures: Pikmin and Chibi-Robo. And I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t want to stop playing it!
Splatoon 3 (Switch)
As of this writing, I haven’t really had much time to play a whole lot of Splatoon 3. I don’t really think it was necessary, but it’s still a fun multiplayer game and there’s still a decent single player story mode here. But it’s just not GOTY material like the first one was for me back in 2015.
BEST ARCADE CLASSIC UPDATE/COLLECTION
Probably not a big surprise to anyone. Were there better games this year? Yeah, probably. But you know what? I really like Pac-Man and this collection has pretty much all my favorites. I love how you can build your own arcade and I have the PS4 physical version so no input lag problems for me! This was my GOTY SO FAR back in July, so what could’ve beaten it?
Runners Up:
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (PS4)
When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out in the late 80s, I was a little too old by then to get into it fully. I didn’t get any of the toys, and I only watched the cartoon casually, and in secret, or else I wouldn’t look cool in front of the other guys. Of course I still probably wasn’t cool so it wouldn’t have mattered. Glad those days are over. But there was one aspect of TMNT that I could really get into and not have to hide it. And that was the video games, especially the four player arcade ones. EVERYONE was playing them, and aside from Pac-Man, I probably put more quarters into the TMNT arcade game than anything else. Years later when my little brothers were born, they got into the TMNT games, too. In fact, my brother Ben owns one of those TMNT Arcade1up cabinets. And my brother Jeff and I still joke about how when he was little and would whine to our mom every time I accidentally got the pizza in Turtles in Time. That story is also how we named our podcast. So with all those great memories of the TMNT games with me, I was super excited to have the opportunity to review TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. Over the years, many have tried to emulate the feel of the classic arcade games and failed. But does Shredder’s Revenge do it right? SPOILER ALERT: HECK YEAH IT DOES!!!
“Cotton” is a series of 2-D horizontally scrolling shooters that were very popular in the 90’s during the 16- and 32-bit eras. They star a candy-obsessed witch girl named Cotton who flies on her broom as she shoots down foes in spooky yet silly settings. It’s an example of the “Cute ‘Em Up” subgenre of shooters similar to titles like Twinbee, Parodius, Fantasy Zone, or Ordyne. Last year was Cotton’s 30th Anniversary and we got a few games and re-releases out of that. There was a reboot of the original game, which I reviewed here, as well as re-releases of some of the 16-bit titles, which I also reviewed. And now Cotton is in a brand new 2-D shooter named Cotton Fantasy!
River City Girls Zero (Switch)
In Japan there is a popular series of games starring Kunio-kun. Kunio is a hot-blooded high school student who sometimes gets into fights and trouble, but he always stands up for his friends and against bullies. And when he’s not doing that, he competes in sports. Some of these games were brought to the US under name and graphical changes, so if you’ve ever played Renegade, River City Ransom, or Super Dodge Ball, you’ve played a Kunio game and may not have even known it! A few years ago, game maker WayForward came out with River City Girls, a game that played like River City Ransom, but starred Kunio’s and his pal Riki’s girlfriends as they fought to save their guys! And now they’ve ported over a River City Ransom sequel that came out on the Super Famicom but never in the US. In the game, Kunio and Riki have been framed and sent to prison, but they break out and team up with their girlfriends to fight the gang that caused all this. Supposedly this was the game that inspired WayForward to make River City Girls. Huh, that’s interesting, I didn’t even know that! Anyway, WayForward added an intro, cutscenes, and an English translation to the Super Famicom game and called it River City Girls Zero. It’ll be available on more consoles later, but as of this writing, it’s only available on Switch.
Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (Switch)
One of the Super Nintendo’s many hidden gems was Pocky and Rocky. It was a two player co—operative 2-D shooter with a unique theme. The game had a Japanese myths and folklore motif. Player one was Pocky, a Japanese shrine maiden who threw cards, and player two was Rocky, a leaf throwing tanuki. It’s actually a sequel to a Japan only arcade game from Taito called Kiki Kaikai, and has spawned a couple of sequels and many cameos over the years. And now they’re back in a whole new game!
Capcom Fighting Collection (PS4)
Video game maker Capcom is recognized for a lot of their titles. But one thing they are known best for is their one-on-one fighting games. Sure there’s Street Fighter, but there’s a lot more they’ve made, too. So here’s a collection of some of Capcom’s other one-on-one fighters they’ve created over the years. And yeah, there’s some Street Fighter stuff in here, too.
Snow Bros. Special (Switch)
This is a single screen action game similar to Bubble Bobble. I like those kinds of games, so I enjoyed this remake a bit. I like that they let you play as the monsters here, even the really useless ones!
Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium (PS4)
Capcom is one of my top favorite video game companies. In fact, I think they’re my number three pick, right under Namco and Nintendo. Part of the reason why I enjoy Capcom so much is all their memorable arcade games, since I grew up during the 80s and 90s when arcades were at their prime. So I was really happy to be able to review Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, another collection of Capcom’s various arcade hits over the years (I wish I could’ve reviewed the first one, but oh well).
Klonoa Reverie Fantasy Series (PS4)
Can you believe Klonoa has been around for 25 years? That makes me feel REALLY old! I remember when I first played that game in college and reviewed it for The Dallas Morning News. If you don’t know (and shame on you if you don’t), Klonoa is a series of (mostly) 2D platformers by Namco. And they’re really good, too! The quality of these games really had an impact on me and they’re some of my favorite titles on the PSOne and PS2. For the 25th Anniversary, Namco released a collection of the PSOne and PS2 main games, and when I played them I re-realized how much I liked these games!
TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection (PS4)
Konami recently came out with a collection of their licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games they released back in the late 80s and early 90s, during the first round of the Turtles’ heyday. Since a lot of people grew up with and enjoyed these titles, this collection is a pretty big deal. Especially since for a long time, it would’ve been hard to get the rights to all these games again! But I guess since Nickelodeon has all the rights to TMNT stuff now, maybe that part was easier to do? With this and Shredder’s Revenge, TMNT fans are eating pretty good this past year!
Arkanoid: Eternal Battle (PS4)
Arkanoid is a classic arcade game that came out in the mid 80s by Taito, makers of Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble. It’s a Breakout clone, meaning you move a paddle on the bottom of the screen as you bounce a ball to break blocks at the top. Except Arkanoid features improved graphics, power-ups, and enemies, so it’s really a better game. Arkanoid is a special game to me for many reasons. It was a mainstay arcade machine at the local Pizza Inn when I was a kid, and it was one of the few arcade games I could get my dad to play. Because of that, Arkanoid was also one of the first games I got for my NES (I also thought the included paddle controller was cool). Over the years I’ve enjoyed other Arkanoid games, like Arkanoid: Tournament Edition and Revenge of Doh in arcades, Doh it Again on SNES, and Arkanoid R. I also really liked Arkanoid DS because the music in it is freaking awesome. So I was excited to review Arkanoid: Eternal Battle, the newest in the series. I don’t like it as much as other titles in the series, but I still felt it was worth a mention here.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (PS4)
As of this writing, I don’t have this game yet, but I did ask for it for Christmas so I should have it by then or I’ll buy it later after that. But I do know what’s on this collection so I know I’d like it regardless so it’s going on here anyway.
BEST FIGHTING GAME
The King of Fighters XV (PS4)
The thing I liked about this game is that usually in KOF games, the last boss (or bosses) are super cheap and I can’t defeat them. But in this one I could! At least on the easy difficulty selection anyway. And as an SNK fan, this one has a lot of characters I like. Leona, Shermie, Vanessa, the Ikari Warriors, etc. And the cool thing is that the Ikari Warriors team stage has Metal Slug stuff in the background!
There’s another fighting game that I wanted to play this year and that was Multiversus. It’s a Smash clone with characters from WB and DC Comics franchises. Batman, Superman, Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, Wonder Woman, Adventure Time, Scooby Doo, etc. But it’s also one of those free-to-play kinds of games and I’m not a big fan of the nature of those kinds of games. That’s also why I didn’t play a Disney kart racer that came out this year as well.
BEST RPG
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Switch)
I don’t really play the mainline Pokémon games anymore because they’re kind of all the same. That’s not a bad thing, because why fix what isn’t broken. But they’ve just gotten a bit stale for me. I wanted a Pokémon game with a bit more action, like a Tales game. And while Pokémon Legends isn’t quite that, it’s definitely a step in the right direction as far as what kind of Pokémon game I’d like to play. If Kirby and the Forgotten Land would win second place in my Best Game of the Year SO FAR, then this would definitely be third place. Anyway, a lot of people have described this game as Pokémon meets Breath of the Wild, and that’s a pretty good description. The game is set in the past, when people were still afraid of Pokémon (hey I’d be afraid too if a mouse could electrocute me). So instead of Pokémon hiding in the tall grass, YOU’RE the one hiding in the grass, trying to sneak up on Pokémon to catch them. This is where the more action oriented gameplay comes in, and it’s a lot of fun. If you have to battle Pokémon, that’s when it’s more like a traditional Pokémon game with turn based actions and such. So that’s why I’m classifying it as an RPG. If you like Pokémon but want something different to tide you over until you get Scarlet and Violet, then I definitely recommend this one.
Runner Up:
Live A Live (Switch)
I was a big fan of RPGs back in the SNES days, and was really disappointed that this one never came to the US. So I’m really glad the remake did! The only reason why this one didn’t win is because it has too many quibbles related to 16-bit RPGs. Stuff I would’ve been OK with back then, but not now. There were just a few instances where I had to start chapters over when I messed up, which gets annoying to me nowadays as I’m not as patient of a gamer like I used to be.
BEST RACER
Kirby’s Dream Buffet (Switch)
Kirby wins two awards! In this one, Kirby rolls around giant food levels eating as much as he can, and the player who eats the most at the end, wins. Try replacing that description with any other video game character and it just sounds disgusting. It’s such a simple game, but so much fun. And the food graphics look so good!
Runner Up:
Back during the PSOne days, Square released a mascot kart racing game featuring cute versions of their Final Fantasy staple characters. You know, chocobo, moogle, white and black mages, etc. It was called Chocobo Racing. I wanted to get this game when it came out, but I was poor college student at the time and couldn’t afford to get it at full price. Plus I heard it was getting a lot of bad reviews, so I decided to wait for a while. Shortly after I graduated college, I found a new copy of Chocobo Racing at a flea market and it was only 20 bucks. And since I had a bit more disposable income by then, I decided to get it. And you know what? Despite it having such bad reviews, I really liked it! Sure it was no where near as good as Mario Kart or other mascot racers at the time such as Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing. But I really liked how they implemented Final Fantasy themes and tropes into the gameplay and presentation. So when Square-Enix showed a sequel of sorts last year coming to the Switch called Chocobo GP, I was really excited and wanted to get it. The new game isn’t quite as good as the first, and I can understand why people wouldn’t like it. But I still enjoyed it somewhat and you can play as Terra from FF6 in her Esper form riding Magitek Armor, so that won me over right there.
BEST SPORTS GAME
Nintendo Switch Sports (Switch)
Wii Sports is my number one favorite sports video game of all time, and while Nintendo Switch Sports is nowhere near as good, it’s still fun. This time you play sports in a giant rec center complex called Spocco Square (kind of reminds me of those touristy sporting good stores that have been cropping up around where I live lately, like Scheel’s). I do wish there wasn’t such a focus on online play this time, but at the end of the day, you can’t go wrong with motion control bowling.
Runner Up:
Mario Strikers: Battle League (Switch)
This one is a bit more online centric than I would’ve liked, but the angry Mario characters gets a laugh out of me every time!
WEIRDEST GAME
Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness (Switch)
One of the reasons why I really liked the Xbox 360 was it was one of the first consoles to really support little indie titles. One of those was Protect Me Knight, a fun NES styled tower defense game for four players. It had awesome music, too, which is understandable since it was made by Ancient, a company headed by Yuzo Koshiro, one of my favorite music composers. That game later got a sequel on the 3DS called Gotta Protectors, which added some Gauntlet style gameplay to the mix. And this new one, Cart of Darkness, is on the Switch! This one brings back some of the simplicity of the original game, but adds a castle that runs on a cart, so you have to protect it and the princess on board until the end of the track. I don’t know if it’s any better than the other titles in the series, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Runners Up:
Yacht Club Games has really seen success with their indie title Shovel Knight. The original game seamlessly blended challenging NES style gameplay with one of the best 8-bit soundtracks since Mega Man. And there have been lots of fun spin-offs, too, like a Smash style fighter and a puzzle game. And now they’re dabbling into roguelikes with Shovel Knight Dig. In the game, the evil Drill Knight has stolen Shovel Knight’s loot bag and escaped underground, and now his tunnels are causing earthquakes up above. So as Shovel Knight, you must dig down to face him! Shovel Knight Dig blends elements from the original game along with some from classics like Dig Dug and Mr. Driller, and presents them in a randomly generated level format where each run is different every time!
Get ready for one of the weirdest pinball games I’ve ever played! In Car Mechanic Pinball, you play pinball to fix up cars. But instead of tossing balls around with the flippers, here you toss a CAR around! This crazy pinball game is on Nintendo Switch, but I think I’ve seen an arcade version of it, too.
BEST MUSIC/RHYTHM GAME
Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival (Switch)
I love these Taiko drum games. I think some of the other Taiko games on Switch were better than this one, as the newest one employs a Just Dance-like subscription service. But it’s still fun.
And now it’s time for my Best Game of the Year 2022! Taiko drum roll please…
BEST GAME OF THE YEAR 2022
Earlier this year, when I did my “Best Games of the Year SO FAR Awards,” Pac-Man Museum+ won the overall award. So what could’ve beaten it? How about another Pac-Man game? Pac-Man World: Re-Pac may not really be the best game of the year, but after I played it, I forgot how much I really did like it the first time. And it brought back so many good memories of following this game from start to finish as a reviewer for The Dallas Morning News and getting to know the development team and such. I wrote a blog about it all earlier, so I hope you get a chance to click the link above and read it, as I really poured my heart into it. So this is one of those years where the memories associated with the game wins the award, not necessarily the game itself. That happens sometimes.
Anyway, thanks for reading my Game of the Year Awards! Let me know in the comments section what you think of my picks, and tell me YOUR favorite games of the year. Later! --Cary
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