We kick off our Game of the Year awards with some special staff-selected categories: Best Original Soundtrack, Best Licensed Game and Best Retro Re-Release.
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2014 Best
10. Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse
2014 was a great year for WayForward, continuing its tradition of releasing uncharacteristically good licensed titles, and having a highly successful Kickstarter for a full HD console game in its own Shantae series. In the midst of all this, it quietly released one of the best Metroidvanias in a great while. Pirate’s Curse polished the exploration mechanics and added interesting new uses for transformations using the extra horsepower of the 3DS, all while sticking to the creative puzzles, clear progression and memorable characterization that makes the series great. READ MORE
This wasn’t gaming’s best year for many reasons, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t have plenty of worthwhile titles. Honestly, some of this year’s best could easily stand up against the best from stronger years. It was also full of surprises, with plenty of games that would often be overlooked during more crowded years. While my list was easier to put together than 2013’s, I still wanted to take the time to focus on both: smaller titles that might have been overlooked and also games that deserve all of the praise in the world.
We’re human. We don’t always get to every game before the end of its year of release. This is our way of making amends: the best games we missed out on until 2014. Because we can’t go back in time and honor them in a more timely fashion. READ MORE
December’s when we celebrate the best that 2014 has to offer, and it’s a great time — especially around the holidays — to play some games with friends, so why not combine the two? I’m here to share the top local multiplayer experiences of the year, and I couldn’t do it alone; after all, these games are only great if everyone‘s having fun. So I turned to the experts on how much fun my friends had playing the year’s releases: my friends. READ MORE
