Ranking everything I played in 2021

Only shit I either played for the first time (preferably a significant amount) or finished for the first time after playing a bit ages back. In general I've been avoiding playing garbage and games that don't appeal to my interests out of peer pressure lately which is nice

Umihara Kawase
Umihara Kawase
My absolute favourite discovery last year. The physics system is extremely complex due to how the mc moves in a constant velocity yet her fishing hook has a momentum system of sorts. I love experimenting with all the different doors for new routes but practicing the speedrun route is my personal favourite. The sheer quality of the pre-rendered images, the pixel precision for stage manuevers at times, and of course the ability to record and play back the player's best runs through stages is mind boggling for an indie game on the SNES which was much harder to program for than the Sega Genesis. Absolute masterpiece of a game

1

The Silver Case
The Silver Case
Went through the entirety of this with a friend and our shitty voice acting really helped this playthrough stand out in my memory. A great atmosphere and story, Silver Case is my new favourite visual novel for sure

2

Blazing Lazers
Blazing Lazers
Found out about this game through Kanye West, ended up getting so addicted I spent 15 hours straight 1ccing it. Later found out it was based on a tokusatsu I watched in the Japanese version which is funny cus even in that version there are zero (0) connections to the original toku lol

3

Super Puyo Puyo 2
Super Puyo Puyo 2
It's fucking Puyo on SNES

4

Drakengard
Drakengard
Worst game ever made I loved every second of it. My favourite part was how Angelus' ultimate attack had a vine boom sound effect. Who could ever forget her iconic line "We're going to be talking about the HUMANS" VOOM

5

Ghost Chaser Densei
Ghost Chaser Densei
This came preloaded on my Retroid Pocket 2 and it was labelled "Electro Sperm" lmfao. I was not expecting one of the deepest beat em up systems of all time. This really walked so Guardian Heroes could run

6

Star Parodier
Star Parodier
Giant mecha Bomberman shoots down an idol. hella based. Another addictive 1cc

7

Cotton 100%
Cotton 100%
Another shmup I got oddly addicted to. The hidden 1ups, revised magic system in terms of loadout and stock, and remixed boss fights to be more manageable overall while making sweet work of the SNES' hardware make it my favourite Cotton game hands down. A fun 1cc for sure

8

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Finally completed every Metal Gear game hell yeah

9

Otogirisou
Otogirisou
I will fan translate this game soon, promise

10

True Love
True Love
I heard this was one of the first VNs with a gay route so naturally i was curious about it and hey, the male love interest is actually super likable which is surprising since these options usually feel pretty tacked on to me. The PC-98 aesthetic hits different as well; Meet N Fuck Games OST been real quiet since True Love title theme dropped

11

Boogie Wings
Boogie Wings
Holy fuck

12

Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Why is this shit actually pretty creepy

13

On the Ball
On the Ball
First saw this game while watching Hi Score Girl but finally happened upon the SNES rom this year. Shocked at how avant garde this weird puzzle game is. Very hard mode was a sick clear due to the sheer luck I got on my first successful run

14

Rent-A-Hero
Rent-A-Hero
One of the earliest JRPGs to take place in modern times. Sega knocked it out of the park with this tokusatsu-styled classic

15

Mechanical Violator Hakaider: Last Judgement
Mechanical Violator Hakaider: Last Judgement
Nice seeing so many more homages to classic Kikaider characters as well as an epilogue for what Hakaider has been doing after the events of the movie. It's really strange seeing a lightgun game try to be a dungeon crawler simultaneously but it kinda works and the story fucking slaps

16

Puzzle Bobble Pocket
Puzzle Bobble Pocket
Best single player in the franchise for the sheer amount of varied levels imo

17

Nightmare Busters
Nightmare Busters
Tough ass game that doesn't hold your hand at all. glad it was finally finished and rereleased, I needed something to fill that 3 Wonders itch

18

Gamera 2000
Gamera 2000
Panzer Dragoon but it's a tokusatsu game with really shitty Engrish LOVE IT

19

Violent Storm
Violent Storm
HOLY SHIT THAT SOUNDTRACK

20

The Firemen
The Firemen
PAL players really have the audacity to complain they got nothing and only NA got good exclusive localizations, huh?

21

Ninja Warriors
Ninja Warriors
why dat ending so sad doe for fr

22

Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas
Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas
why dat ending so sad doe for fr

23

Silent Hill: The Arcade
Silent Hill: The Arcade
The Pyramid Head boss fight is funny as fuck. I really thought his weak point would be his fleshy torso instead of the giant metal helmet but ok game lmao

24

The Punisher
The Punisher
This game is not real

25

Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage
Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage
Overhated as hell by people who never played it. This can actually be emulated pretty well in MAME by setting frameskip to around 5. Love how visceral Hanzo's specials are

26

Disney's Goof Troop
Disney's Goof Troop
Super fun with 2 players tbh

27

Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack
Not much of a Tetris game and not much of an Attack game but holy shit that Bowser fight had me on edge

28

Metal Slug X
Metal Slug X
More Metal Slug 2, but that's not a bad thing I suppose lol

29

Time Gal
Time Gal
I miss FMV games like this :(

30

Glover
Glover
Gotta love the glove

31

Buck Bumble
Buck Bumble
Right about now, it's time to rock with the biggity Buck Bumble
Right about now, it's time to rock with the biggity Buck Bumble
Bump to the bump to the bump to the bass
bump to the bump to the Bumble
Bump to the bump to the bump to the bass
bump to the bump to the Bumble

32

Metal Warriors
Metal Warriors
Multiplayer is funny as hell

33

Die Hard Arcade
Die Hard Arcade
I burst into uncontrollable laughter when John McClane kicked a random woman in the face and the camera angles went full dramatic anime battle

34

The Legend of Kage
The Legend of Kage
Ranked this low because I failed miserably in a speedrun race

35

Metamorphic Force
Metamorphic Force
Altered Beast meets Konami X-Men meets all my lunch money cus damn this game is tough

36

Night Slashers
Night Slashers
kinda stylish ngl

37

Daze Before Christmas
Daze Before Christmas
Got a real newgrounds flash game vibe from this silly eurojank classic

38

Shadow Force
Shadow Force
It was dece

39

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
It kinda felt like playing out an episode of the show I guess. Not a Power Rangers fan (Super Sentai or bust) but the mecha levels made it worth the playthrough for the finishers alone. The last game on this list I would consider unambiguously good to at least a degree

40

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
This and everything below it (except the very bottom pick) is where I would consider games I played this year to be notably flawed but still have plenty of positive qualities too. Moonwalker is extremely repetitive but it has a funny style to it, I just wish Thriller played in the Graveyard level (yes I'm still pissed)

41

Osman
Osman
Apparently this game was made by Strider 1's director as a giant middle finger to Capcom and the allegorical story really says it all in some places. I like to believe the false god is meant to be Inafune. Oh yeah, this is like Strider 2 for me; intense action but the level design leaves a lot to be desired

42

Run Saber
Run Saber
The 2nd Strider clone on this list damn. In terms of combat options it surpasses Strider but it's simply not balanced well which results in one of the easiest games on the SNES and the aesthetic doesn't measure up either

43

Gunforce
Gunforce
Really slow paced but it was an interesting cross of Contra and Turrican in several ways. Fun but only with a friend to shoot the shit with, single player is kinda dreadful

44

Ghoul Patrol
Ghoul Patrol
In some ways the gameplay is more refined than Zombies Ate My Neighbours but in other ways it's more of a chore to play and the aesthetic is vastly less charming

45

Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
A bit slow paced for me to consider it a Turtles in Time killer but it's alright ig lol

46

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
ok this game is technically better designed than MMPR but it really needed to have mechs

47

Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu
Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu
The only game I played last year I would consider outright bad. The level design has one of the few instances where I would declare outright fake difficulty due to enemies spawning where the player cannot dodge them no matter what. Even then I like some ideas this game presents such as the ability to henshin whenever, or the ability to alter stats whenever the player feels like it

48

3 Comments


2 years ago

great first pick

2 years ago

8)

2 years ago

ok nerd


Last updated: