What better way to commemorate three decades of Super Mario Bros. than to put the tools for creating Mario games in the hands of fans?
This may be an entry in a highly specialized and generally unfriendly genre, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better example of the type. Heartless, demanding, infuriating, yet seemingly boundless in the depth of its content and mechanics, the latest Shiren the Wanderer adventure wraps taxing game design in just-one-more replay appeal. Think of it as the Wolverine of console roguelikes: It's the best there is at what it does, and what it does isn't very nice.
While it has a few rough patches and may prove too slow and drawn-out for some players, Isolation does an amazing job of capturing the essence of a classic film and recasting it as a video game. It can be a little too easy to see the man behind the curtain at times, but this is nevertheless one of the finest film-to-game adaptations ever... and a fantastic stealth adventure in its own right.
There's not really enough distance between the PS3 version of The Last of Us and this new Remaster to make it worth double-dipping, unless you're simply that fixated on counting lines of resolution. If you missed out the first time around, though, you really shouldn't let it slip past again. While it often works better as a movie than a game, it still stands at the state of the art. And the writing is good enough to enjoy even if you hate zombie genre fiction (like I do). The Last of Us is about refinement, not innovation, and this version takes the art of refinement another step forward.
As fun in this beefed-up incarnation as in its original release, Guacamelee Super Turbo Champion Edition offers one of the best-designed and most original takes on the well-worn metroidvania phenomenon you'll ever find. The new material may not quite bring enough to the table to warrant a second purchase, and the game doesn't exactly push PS4 or Xbox One to the ragged edge of their capabilities, but once again excellent game design has less to do with technical specs and more to do with creativity and thoughtfulness: Features Guacamelee possesses in spades.
Great combat mechanics and excellent writing help Transistor transcend the familiarity of its individual components. A gorgeous, intriguing, and ultimately moving tale, Supergiant's sophomore effort builds on the strengths that made Bastion so memorable without feeling like a mere retread.
Resogun may not break any new ground with all the newfangled technology at its command, but it offers a level of entertainment that tends to be in short supply in the early days of a new platform. It comes highly recommended.
Treasure Tracker may be relatively budget-priced, but it doesn't feel like a cheap, throwaway creation. Every inch of its nearly 100 stages and bonus levels has been buffed to a spit-shine finish, and the Nintendo content factory has produced dozens of one-of-a-kind stage concepts to explore here. Alternately a test of observation, reflex, planning, and deduction, Captain Toad's first standalone title (of assuredly many) demonstrates that spinoffs don't have to feel phoned in... and that there's room in gaming to give top-class love and attention to family-friendly creations, too. A perfect video game sorbet to finish up 2014.
A spot-on exploration of what Nintendo really does best: Create varied and surprising twists on concepts and ingredients you thought you knew inside-out. The fact that 3D World remains lively and interesting despite calling back to so many well-loved classics serves as a succinct reminder as to why Mario remains successful after so many years and so many games: At its heart, the series is ultimately just about having simple, unpretentious fun.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection clearly sets out to be one of the videogame tributes ever assembled; and in doing so, its hard not to be impressed by the scope and ambition of its efforts. This is the definitive collection of Halo: Combat Evolved through Halo 4, effectively presenting both classic and remixed content in a way that makes it feel like more than a simple trip down memory lane. Assuming it avoids issues with multiplayer stability, it's possible that it will end up being relevant as a shooter for a long time to come.
Simple, addictive, and incredibly replayable, NES Remix is one of the smartest games Nintendo has made in ages. No one in gaming (save perhaps Sega) owns as rich a back catalog as Nintendo, and this is a great way to rework all those musty black-box NES games into a form that feel palatable to a contemporary audience. It even manages to make Urban Champion kind of fun; truly, a Christmas miracle.
By far the best and most impressive Mega Man compilation ever assembled, what Legacy Collection sacrifices in reach it more than makes up for with refinement. It presents six games almost (though not quite) flawlessly, while providing enough display options to satisfy the obsessive and casual fan alike. Add to six beautifully preserved classics a massive database and dozens of addictive custom challenges and you have an excellent package that treats the classics with the respect they deserve — something that's traditionally been absent in the U.S. market. A must-have for any Mega Man fan.
The latest, and greatest, refinement of Atlus' Etrian Odyssey series, Untold 2 really manages to weave a ridiculous number of options into and around the basics of the franchise. All its best trademark elements — F.O.E.s, great tunes, map-making — remain intact, while elements that tend to be more a matter of taste (its difficulty level, its minimal story) can be tweaked to the player's preferences. A huge, thoughtful, and all-around well-made addition to the series that belongs in every RPG fanatic's collection.
While it offers enough familiar touchstones to appeal to fans of both Etrian Odyssey and Mystery Dungeon, EMD manages to establish its own distinct style... enough so that it should appeal to players who couldn't quite get into either of those franchises on their own. With tons of content and a similarly expansive level of challenge, it quite impressively sidesteps the tendency of Mystery Dungeon spinoffs to feel slight and insubstantial. Admittedly, there's no shortage of either Etrian or Mystery Dungeon games these days, but this combination of the two deserves a look on its own merits.
Majora's Mask remains one of the most daring sequels ever. Who would follow up a blockbuster, medium-defining hit by wrapping the familiar in such strange and unearthly trappings these days? Majora's Mask 3D feels at home among today's indie games, but it also serves as a reminder that there used to be room for the offbeat at all levels of the games industry. And with the tweaks and improvements this version enjoys over the original release, it remains quite playable despite its age.
Persona Q represents a bit of a risk, bringing together two RPG series that, despite their common parentage, focus on entirely different facets of the genre. But it works, with the Persona elements livening up the dungeon-crawling and the Etrian Odyssey components bringing some merciless old-school discipline to the unruly Persona sub-universe. Though admittedly fans of the two series will get the most from the crossover, this lively, complex adventure works as a great RPG by any standard.
Pokémon Sun and Moon's trek through Alola is the most engaging campaign the series has offered in a long time. Not everything on Sun and Moon's plate is perfect – Z-Moves feel underwhelming, and you're still going to commit the overwhelming majority of the Pokémon you catch to PC Box Hell – but this is one tropical getaway that's worth every penny.
Striking an almost perfect balance between RPG and construction game, Dragon Quest: Builders manages to hold fast to the best parts of the series whose name it bears while creating a guided, structured format for the Minecraft concept. The end result works brilliantly, with top-notch visuals, music, and writing that help drive home the appeal. There's room for improvement here... but not much.
A novel exploration of the underpinnings of game graphics, Fez at once pays tribute to classic 2D platformers while revealing the shenanigans that went into their design. Borderline inscrutable at times, Fez is a puzzle on many levels. Yet its mysteries, clever as they are, deserve to be unravelled.
Essentially the same game as last year's Xbox 360 rendition, Spelunky takes on a new and better life on Vita. Its tragically brief play sessions fit perfectly in a portable format. Just don't throw your system in anger, OK?