The Kidd’s Top 50 Games of This Generation: Part 1

With the arrival of the final batch of next gen consoles looming I thought id list my favourite games of the past generation. I have a lot to say so We’ll get right into it.

50. Angry Birds

Platforms: Multiplatform
Year: 2010
Studio: Rovio Studios
Well yeah Angry Birds, we all played it, had fun with it, some got addicted others didn’t. The impact this game has had is not something we can ignore it brought a lot of casual gamers in and continues to do so.

Rating: 7

49. Dance Central 2

Platforms: XBOX 360

Year: 2011

Studio: Harmonix

The Kinect had problems, yes it didn’t work half the time but when it did it was magnificent. I’ll be honest I’m not very good at Dance Central but it’s a lot of fun with friends and one of the only ways to get a bunch of drunk dude to embarrass themselves on camera.

Rating: 7

48. Rock Band 3

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2010

Studio: Harmonix

One of these had to be on here, how could they possibly be ignored? I remember having my mind blown the first time I strapped on my plastic bass guitar and stroked away. It was like magic, my lifelong dream coming true; I was the Bass Guitarist of a Rock Band!

This is still one of the best party games ever made, it’s a shame they over saturated the market with themselves and ended up committing marketing suicide. We will miss you forever Rock Band.

Rating: 7

47. Plants Vs Zombies

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2009

Studio: PopCap Studios

Im not much of a mobile gamer so I ended up playing this time sinker on my PC. I was astonished at how easily I got addicted to this game that had zombies in it, and we all know how I feel about Zombie games.

PvZ is one of those rare causal games that hits that sweet spot between accessibility and depth that any type of gamer can easily enjoy the many hours they spend with it. Its probably my favourite Tower defence game, ill even go out on a limb and say its the reason tower defence became such a big hit this generation.

Rating: 7.5

46. Wii Sports

Platforms: Nintendo Wii

Year: 2006

Studio: Nintendo

My very first encounter with motion control, I still recall it clearly after all these years. Holding that WiiMote and swinging at the virtual golf ball on the screen. It was such a mind blowing thing at the time and little did we know then that this little whit machine we were playing it on would win this console generation.

Rating: 7.5

45. Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2011

Studio: Capcom

This is the game responsible for the renaissance of 2D fighters. We had waited years for the return of a proper Street Fighter and Yoshinoro Ono finally delivered.

Its Street Fighter, with all the perks and quirks.

Rating: 7.5

44. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

Platforms: Playstation3, XBOX 360

Year: 2011

Studio: Capcom

The very first time I tried out MVC3, I managed to glitch the game in an infinite combo with Storm, maybe I was playing someone who didn’t know the game or I was just lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) but that kinda made me chuckle and reminded me of playing its predecessors. A few months down the line Capcom released a retail version all patched up.

I love Marvel, I’m not very good at it but it’s still so much fun to play, it’s a great party game and also a fantastic tournament fighter, which is why it’s one of my favourite games to see at EVO. When’s Mahvel yo!?

Rating: 7.5

43. Team Fortress 2

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2009

Studio: Valve

Oh Boy here come the Valve games amiryt? Well I bought the Orange box for a steal about $10 and found this crazy wacky online game. I played it and next thing I know I was trading hats.

TF2 is a fun spin on the online squad based FPS genre, I am surprisingly really good at it which is probably why I love it so much.

Rating: 7.5

42. Spec Ops: The Line

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2012

Studio: Yager

The military shooter has come full circle in gaming. Once a novel thing, the sudden flood of World War 2 FPS games saturated the market and thus the demand for them dwindled. Then came the saviour, Modern Warfare which then brought another wave of derivative modern shooters to the sub genre. Spec Ops: The Line served as a commentary on the state of modern military shooters, from exploding red barrels to waves upon waves of endless enemies and many more.

But that wasn’t my favourite thing about Spec Ops, I particularly loved the fact that it handled the subject of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a way that I could understand and experience for myself.  Spec Ops: The Line gave me hope that the AA industry can still make thought provoking and intellectual military shooters for the masses and not some made just for cash.

Rating: 7.5

41. Catherine

Platforms: Playstation 3, XBOX 360

Year: 2011

Studio: ATLUS

There are a lot of reasons why I love Catherine and I’ve written about it on so many occasions that if I said any more id just end up sounding like a broken record.

So yeah just go read those.

Rating: 7.5

40. Gears of War

Platforms: XBOX 360, PC

Year: 2008

Studio: Epic Games

Ah yes the game that gave Cliffy B his Lamborghini’s. Gears of War may not have invented cover mechanics or pop and shoot as Cliffy called it at the time but its sure did refine the system. The addition of Horde mode in the sequels solidified this franchise as a flagship title of this generation in gaming.

I’ve had some pretty epic moments while playing Multiplayer LAN with Gears, it’s such a fun game.

Rating: 8

39. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Platforms: PSP, XBOX 360, Playsation 3

Year: 2010

Studio: Konami

It took Kojima and a Metal Gear prequel to get me to actually play a PSP game to completion. Peace Walker is a full fledged Metal Gear game complete with 30 minute+ cut scenes and dialogue.

It even added some new features like capturing soldiers and adding them tour your MSF army. The visuals on this game definitely pushed the PSP to its limits, sasuga Kojima san.

Rating: 8

38. NBA 2K13

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2012

Studio: Visual Concepts

I wanted to pick out a sports game that best defined this generation and which franchise did better than 2K’s own NBA series? No that’s a real question I want answered, if you could find any other sports game this generation that grew year by year adding more and better features, refining controls and its UI for a greater experience each year please do tell.

You can tell there is a lot of love poured into this game, from the unmatched commentary, to the faithful depictions of jumpshots and various animation of each and every NBA superstar. This is a game that even someone who isn’t into, sports, the NBA or even video games can appreciate.

Rating: 8

37. Limbo

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2010

Studio: Playdead

A puzzle platformer like none other, I remember being stuck on some puzzles for days on end not knowing what to do but urging on until I finally figured it out. Even though the game never really had any dialogue or text its narrative was clear and it has one of my favourite video game endings.

Limbo is one of the go-to indie games for anyone new to indie games, I even got my mom to play it and she enjoyed it.

Rating: 8

36. FEZ

Platforms: XBOX 360, PC, PS Vita

Year: 2011

Studio: Polytron Studios

FEZ is a game that blew my mind and then some. Phil Fish is a genius, he’s a genius because he managed to create a game that captures the nostalgia of playing old 2D platformers by making a game that revolves around tinkering around with 3D mechanics (see what I did there) The true beauty of this game does not lie in its impeccable level design, pixelated art or pin point controls. No, the true greatness of the game is only discovered once you beat the game once and realise there’s more puzzles to be solved. Most of them are simply impossible to figure out but once you get them you feel like the brightest human being alive.

Rating: 8

35. LA Noire

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2011

Studio: Team Bondi

Ever wondered what it’d be like to be a cop in the 40’s, well Rockstar’s got you covered with LA Noire! I love how the investigation sequences worked out, the game managed to make me feel like a real detective and the interrogation scenes were the best part of the game. Kind of playing out like a Visual Novel.

I remember mentioning when the game came out that this would be the natural evolution of the point and click adventure games and boy oh boy was I right.

Rating: 8

34. Super Meat Boy

Platforms: XBOX 360, PC

Year: 2010

Studio: Team Meat

One of the most gruelling yet satisfying games around. Super Meat Boy excelled at one thing and one thing alone, super tight controls. There is no point in the game where I felt like the game was cheating its way to get me killed, no matter how many times I failed (and I failed a lot) I knew it was my fault for just not executing right.

Super Meat boy is still one of the best indie games out there and is a great call-back to the platformers of old.

Rating: 8

33. Halo 3

Platforms: XBOX 360

Year: 2007

Studio: Bungie Studios

I had a fierce debate with myself with whether to have Reach or ODST on this slot and I settled with Halo 3 because it felt more pure. All the cool kids know ODST is the best Halo game though; it’s just that it doesn’t have Master Chief.

Halo: Combat evolved, revolutionised the single player FPS genre, Halo 3 didn’t have that much of an impact but it came close, especially in the multiplayer aspect. Both the offline and online Multiplayer were impeccably fun, the Bungie servers were rarely buggy, this made for some sweet 60 fps online action.

Rating: 8

32. Mario Kart Wii

Platforms: Nintendo Wii

Year: 2008

Studio: Nintendo

Playing this game was the first time I discovered the true potential of motion control, I was on my Bike as Luigi flicked up the WiiMote, tilted it and realised “this is way better than an thumb stick on a controller”

Oh the fun I had with my friends paying Mario Kart Wii, the heartbreaking blue shells, the unfairly well timed lightning blasts what a wonderfully made racing game.

Rating: 8

31. Alan Wake

Platforms: XBOX 360, PC

Year: 2009

Studio: Remedy Studios

The survival Horror genre has been dying a slow death, what with Resident Evil going all action on us. Which is why it was such a pleasant surprise when I played Remedy’s Alan Wake. Sam Lake really knows how to write a great video game story, one of the best in the business. Alan Wake really feels like an episodic HBO mystery miniseries.

I loved how Alan was just a normal writer dude and how helpless I felt as the player whenever I was tasked with incredible odds. I loved how the story all came together in the individual pieces of the script, it was such a clever way to tell the story in the context of the world. Genius pure genius.

Rating: 8

30. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2011

Studio: Eidos Montreal

I have waxed lyrical on so many occasions about this game. I love the cyberpunk world; I love the trans-humanism concept and theory, I love the choices in gameplay, I love the visuals, I love the hacking, I love the Adam Jensen.

And I never even asked for all that.

Rating: 8

29. FTL

Platforms: PC

Year: 2012

Studio: Subset Games

If I had an award for game I have replayed the most it would go to FTL. I love me some good sci fi and FTL gave me that old school sci fi space Opera fix I was longing for. Each play through is its own story, the bottom line is you have to get away from the federation and defeat the rebel flagship. Sometimes you get new crew mates, sometimes they die, and sometimes you have to sacrifice crew mates. Sometimes you have to steal, lie or cheat or even be a hero. It’s all upto you in FTL and there are dire consequences for each decision.

I never did manage to beat FTL and I hope I finally do beat the game sometime. Amazing soundtrack too I might add.

Rating: 8.5

28. Dragon Age Origins

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2009

Studio: Bioware

I loved Baldur’s Gate back in the day, its one of the very first PC games I bought with money I saved up myself, I’m still very proud of that fact. So when I heard that Bioware were making a spiritual successor to this beloved game I was filled with excitement.

My excitement did not go unwarranted, Dragon Age was basically Baldur’s Gate 3D, it almost had the same control scheme and themes. This is still one of the only games that has some of the most grey dialogue choices ever conceived. I can’t tell you how many times I thought I was making the “right choice” and have the consequence completely backfire on me. I loved that though, I also loved how unrelentingly difficult its combat was, it added a strategy element to the game it wasn’t just some dumb hack and slash game.

Here is to hoping Dragon Age Inquisition is just as good.

Rating: 8.5

27. XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2012

Studio: Firaxis Studios

I had a theme going for my XCOM squad, they were all named after my favourite game industry people. So when my elite Heavy I named after famed director David Jaffe died in the line of duty while trying to save some civilians I had to clench my teeth and move on. XCOM had perma-death you see and thats part of what made the game so compelling.

Sid Meier and his team managed to craft another turn based masterpiece in this sci-fi epic between aliens and man. The intensity of battle was tuned to the max with each encounter knowing that 1 wrong move could end the life of your well trained soldiers or land a massive critical hit. XCOM had that “just one more turn” addictive nature to it. It was both gruelling and fun to play.

Rating: 8.5

26. Borderlands 2

 Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2012

Studio: Gearbox Studios

Its about 2am, I decide to stretch out my arms and back after a good days work of shooting and looting, I decide its about time i go to bed when suddenly the smirky faced, snobby voice of Handsome Jack pops up and says something witty about my efforts. I chuckle and continue looting till 6am that morning. That pretty much sums up about everyone’s experience with Borderlands 2.

Borderlands pretty much invented a new sub genre and thanks to its tight controls, beautiful visuals, charismatic characters and millions of guns, yes MILLIONS!! Borderlands became one of the best FPS of this generation.

Rating: 8.5 

25. Saints Row: The 3^rd

Platforms: Multiplatform

Year: 2011

Studio: Volition

There are very few games that you can call a deconstruction of gaming systems and mechanics, Saints Row the 3^rd may seem like a GTA knock off at 1^st glance but once you actually take a closer look you see that it is something else entirely. The closest comparison I can make is that SR is the Scary Movie equivalent of the games industry, except its actually really good.

The Deckers Die mission is one of the best missions I’ve ever played in a video game. The game lets you play a text based adventure game, a top down tank game among other things. It feels like a fountain of creativity and fun.

Rating: 8.5

Click the link to go to part 2.

~ by kiddtic on October 22, 2013.