Games of 2010


New

The Little Mermaid - Magic In Two Kingdoms
by Gorilla Systems Corp. [GBA]
Eh, yes, based on the Disney movie. An easy game, obviously aimed at young girls. No, I won't try to defend this purchase. It was cheap.

Disney Princess - Royal Adventure by Human Soft Inc. [GBA]
Yes, my street credibility is non-existent.

Capcom Classics by Sensory Sweep Studios [GBA]
Three classic NES games, bundled on one GameBoy Advance cartridge. Great fun! The games in question are Strider, Mighty Final Fight and Bionic Commando.

Enchanted by Artificial Mind & Movement [GBA]
Laugh it up, fuzzballs, but this is one truly excellent licensed game! Based on the hit Amy Adams movie, you control a princess through a colourful forest with the added aid of a squirrel. Bright, colourful and cheerful, this is another exception to the "games based on movies tend to stink"-rule (other examples include GoldenEye and Tron 2.0 : Killer App). Pick it up if you can!

Beaterator by Rockstar [PSP]
Create, mix and distribute your own tracks with Timothy Mosley. Yes, the Timothy Mosley.

Space Invaders Extreme by Square Enix [PSP]
Fantastic update of the classic 1978 arcade space shooter. Kick-ass sounds, dazzling graphics and a wonderful sense of nostalgia (even though I'm born after the facts). A steep difficulty completes the package. Even on the medium setting, this is one hard game!
Get yours today!

Guitar Hero - Modern Hits by RedOctane [DS]
Every modern console has its own version of Guitar Hero, so the Nintendo DS couldn't be left in the dark. Great gameplay, but questionable selection of songs. Guess I'm not familiar anymore with the "modern" hits. Generation gap already?

God Of War - Chains of Olympus by Ready At Dawn Studios [PSP]
By far the best (looking) game on the PlayStation Portable. Large, impressive, engrossing ... think of a positive adjective and it's bound to be applicable. Essential for any PSP owner! Can't wait to play the sequel.

One by Digital Legends Entertainment [N-Gage]
Enjoyable fighting game on the go, complete with a "create your own character"-feature. Unambitious and unmemorable, but solid fun while it lasts.

Pathway To Glory by RedLynx [N-Gage]
Hardcore turn-based warfare, with plenty of strategy action. Not my kind of game, to be honest, but - as one of N-Gage's few killer apps - a must. If you have an N-Gage, that is. I'm probably not talking to you.


Second-hand

Spider-Man 2 by Backbone Entertainment/Digital Eclipse [N-Gage]
The 2D-side scrolling levels are fun, but the 3D-first person stages are let down by a crappy camera and a horrendous framerate. An okayish licensed game for Nokia's telephone/console.

Beyond Good & Evil by Ubisoft [NGC]
I haven't finished it, but I like what I've seen so far of this inspired buddy detective adventure. Optional Dutch speech, too, which doesn't happen all too often.

Loco Roco 2 by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Studio [PSP]
Rhythm-based blob game. Very colourful, very silly and very Japanese. And very good.

Revolution X by Rage Software [Mega Drive]
Not played yet, so no opinion.

Home Alone 2 by Imagineering [SNES]
Awful, just awful. Barely playable. I wanted this so bad when I was 10 years old. Luckily, I never got it. New Super Nintendo games cost $75, I paid $2. And that's more than enough.

Judge Dredd by Probe Software [SNES]
Another game I wanted when I was just a kid, based on the cover art. I didn't read reviews back then, so you judged games on their cover art. This game, another bargain at $2, is actually worth the full admission. Atmospheric and difficult, it's far better than your average movie-turned-game. I sampled it through a high definition projector on a large screen and the 16-bit graphics were still impressively crisp. Not a classic, but a definite recommendation.


Hardware

32X by Sega
One of two failed attempts to expand the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. The 32x came out in the early nineties, when 'bit' appeared to be the magic word in video game land. Nowadays, nobody cares how much 'bits' the Wii, the PlayStation3 or the Xbox360 has. The 32X offered 32 bits, double the amount of the SNES and the Mega Drive, but the games were an apparent let-down. I use the word 'apparent', for I have yet to play my first 32x game. I bought the expansion in 2010, but I don't own any games as of now.

GameBoy Advance SP by Nintendo
My original monochrome 1992 Game Boy system has been ageing since 1998. It still works (Nintendo products don't break (down) that easily), but the screen has some nasty scratches. Thanks to this second hand SP, I can continue to play cherished childhood classics such as DuckTales and The Pagemaster from time to time.



Julian De Backer, 27 June 2011