One of Snackbar Games’ traditions is to have staffers pick their top ten games of the year. We’re so all over the map in our tastes that our lists are never similar. Today, we have staff writer Mike Clark. His list indicates his favorite game series. Also his insanity.
10. Poker Night at the Inventory: The Texas Hold ‘Em within this game is rather basic and very prone to cheating. If you don’t mind this, or can look past it, Poker Night is a great game. The characters were animated well, interact great and without incessant repetition the lines they spout are gold. I look forward to more characters or sequels in the future.
9. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair: Had this game had more substance I would have ranked it higher. As it stands it is up here more for the fun I had in multiplayer than the game’s worth as a whole. Too little substance for too much cost, but with three to five friends one could overlook this as they ran around the various maps kickin’ some serious tail.
8. Ys: The Oath in Felghana: Also being my top PSP choice for the year, Ys: The Oath in Felghana was another great example of how to do a remake. Fast-paced action combat with an RPG system and a good plot overpowered the frustration I had dealing with the tough bosses. A great challenge and a great game.
7. Costume Quest: Short, simple, yet filled with sweet substance. Costume Quest was one of my favorite RPGs of 2010 that kept me immersed where other RPGs would leave me bored. Plus, it’s a Double Fine game. How can you lose?
6. Pokemon HeartGold: A remake of the 2nd generation of Pokemon games, this tugged at both my nostalgia and my modern-day love of Pokemon. While I can’t approve of the grindfest trying to 100% these games turns out to be, or the useless fluff Nintendo throws into every successive game, being able to visit my childhood in a modern construct was an addictive joy that left me beating the game in the first week.
5. Chime: An incredible music puzzle game for a low cost that the money go to charity? You cannot go wrong with Chime. I’d get so absorbed in both the music and placing the Tetris-like pieces on the board that hours would slip by before I awoke from my zombie-like reverie. Definitely a great game from this year.
4. Muscle March: Campy, wacky, nonsensical and just plain fun. Muscle March won me over from the first moment and continued to charm me throughout the entirety of its fun gameplay. My only regret is that this pose-matching rail game doesn’t have too much longevity from it, but the replayability is high so I can’t complain too much.
3. Donkey Kong Country Returns: It may not be the exact cookie-cutter sequel that fans of the original Rareware trio were hoping for, but DKCR is an incredible game and a great example of how to take an old series and create a new game that is both based on and inspired by it. If nothing else, I’ve taken DKCR as an apology for Donkey Kong 64.
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2: A game that took an already incredible game and made the formula and execution better. After playing the original I wasn’t sure if Galaxy 2 could do better, but Nintendo assured me that they could improve on past games yet again with this one.
1. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: A reboot of the franchise with an incredible audio/visual experience and the first 3D Castlevania to be a great game in all aspects. Some reboots don’t work out so well. Others shine, and this is definitely one of them. In contrast to the prior 3D titles, I fell head-over-heels for Lords of Shadow.
