ALL OF 2022, RANKED
2022 was a good year and I spent way more than I needed to on games - most of which were mid! But there were still a lot of highlights and fun laughs over vc. My tastes didn't evolve much, but I felt my linguistics and understanding of old favorites maturing.
This is EVERYTHING ranked - plus blurbs for the Top 50.
(Set to 'List' view for best reading of the blurbs, or 'Grid' for best display of overall ranks.)
Excluded replays:
-Dynamite Headdy -Vectorman 1/2 -Star Allies -Time Crisis 3 -Sonic CD -Ninja Gaiden -Knuckles in Sonic 2 -Barney's Hide & Seek Game -Darius MD [Extra] -GG Aleste -Jurassic Park (Arcade) -Warlords -Sonic & Knuckles -Sonic Classic Heroes -Shinobi III
Excluded new plays:
-Super Cream 64 -Radar Mission -Top Pro Golf 2 -Answer These 10 Questions And I'll Tell You What Kind of Lover You Are -Death Crimson -Two Girls Punch Me Repeatedly -Prehistoric Isle 2 -Boxy & Prisma -New 3D Golf Simulation: Harukanaru Augusta -New 3D Golf Simulation: Waialae no Kiseki
This is EVERYTHING ranked - plus blurbs for the Top 50.
(Set to 'List' view for best reading of the blurbs, or 'Grid' for best display of overall ranks.)
Excluded replays:
-Dynamite Headdy -Vectorman 1/2 -Star Allies -Time Crisis 3 -Sonic CD -Ninja Gaiden -Knuckles in Sonic 2 -Barney's Hide & Seek Game -Darius MD [Extra] -GG Aleste -Jurassic Park (Arcade) -Warlords -Sonic & Knuckles -Sonic Classic Heroes -Shinobi III
Excluded new plays:
-Super Cream 64 -Radar Mission -Top Pro Golf 2 -Answer These 10 Questions And I'll Tell You What Kind of Lover You Are -Death Crimson -Two Girls Punch Me Repeatedly -Prehistoric Isle 2 -Boxy & Prisma -New 3D Golf Simulation: Harukanaru Augusta -New 3D Golf Simulation: Waialae no Kiseki
230 Games
Shmups as jazz: So much shit on-screen and so many weapon types all set against chill house beats. Masterful contrast and the total peak of the SNES' STG library.
(Arcade)
Joystick made me realize I like men (satire (not satire (who knows?)))
'UNLIKE MOST SHMUPS THIS ONE IS ABOUT THE CHARACTERS' but silly and quirky
Somehow turned out to be my favorite Compile shmup of what I've played so far. It's not their most distinct work but the merit of playing a meaty 8/10 on the fucking Game Gear is surreal.
Sunset Riders 2: More style, less substance.
A cool jetbiker girl rides through the endless sea, eliminating foes while jamming out to jazz-rock. An extremely solid yet overlooked Namco gem - and to me, a shining star of the early MD library.
The PS2 Hot Shots games would be the best golf of their entire generation if my american ass could play the version without the bad mighty beanz ass 'tude characters
This artform is truly about weird polygon creatures shooting each other with laser beams for fun. Just as a giggle. A hallway nerf gun fight.
One of my favorite indie plays! A marriage of the 'live for fun' design schemes of 2000's flash games into the system-psychotic quirks of Treasure games. Rare to find an indie throwback to 16/32-bit gigs that understands the same child-like wonders and humors those did.
Target Earth/ASL was the biggest 'I want to like this game but can't' crisis I had this year - powerfully-innovative but mindlessly-cruel in difficulty. The remake takes cues from classics like Armored Core and Ranger-X, adding improved control while respecting the sense of weight and agency a mech has. Peak OVA gaming.
Somehow more exploitative than divine sealing
The most appropriately-peanuts Peanuts game ever. What else would be more fitting to the meandering everyday of Snoopy than terrible point-and-click platforming, slide puzzles, and a 2 hour fetchquest minigame?
Ok, real talk? Cardfighters Clash kinda has a terrible structure when engaged as an RPG. The card drop randomization is awful and the late-game bosses cheat. But I didn't care man, I loved the main mechanics and I loved collecting the cards: That was enough to get me over the hump. I GET TO BUILD DECKS WITH THE POWER STONE GANG!
(Arcade)
(Game Gear)
The trojan horse meme but the horse is 'the worst shmup you've ever played', Troy is 'touhou fans' and the Greek soldiers are 'killer7 but about drawing fetish art of your crush'
