The Video Games of 2020
We all know 2020 is booted. It will go down in history as one of the worst years in recorded time. Forever & Ever.
Hella trash. However, there were some silver linings.
Here are my top 10 games of this year…
Each of them has a very special place in my gaming memory and playback heart.
Number Ten: RADARjAM
I always wanted to play a true TOP GUN flight sim since the actual movie game released on the NES.
RADARjAM is the TENET of flight games, rather than expounding energy to shoot, you fly into enemies and gain momentum to create endless entropy loops and kinetic mayhem.
Supporting Hamra Digital out of Brooklyn, NY, with this game and helping them in their adventure in Game Development, I am so looking forward to what comes next.
Number Nine: KnockOut Party
Knockout Party is a bona fide E-sport, there I said it, everyone who’s sleeping on it, everyone who hasn’t tried it, needs to download this amazing, AMAZING madcap crazy brawler, as soon as possible.
Having spent over 3 Streamer events, spanning over 12 hours of matches, I still have yet to tire of beating the hell out of my opponents and watching them flailing and falling to their demise.
KOP is very Good, and it is my hope and goal to craft an expanded indie e-sports community around this awesome game.
Number Eight: Smugglers of Cygnus: Cygnus Pizza Race
I started my career with such iffy feelings for the racing genre. At times very hit&miss. Growing and gaining traction with Midnight Club, Forza, and Ridge Racer, I fell in love.
I was a huge Wipeout fan in High School, and Cygnus Pizza Race immediately sucked me into the larger world of the Smugglers of Cygnus larger cannon universe. This mini-racer offers gamers the chance to test their driving merit with great space ships and even greater race tracks…also Pizza. Can’t go wrong with Pizza.
Number Seven: Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
Action packed, filled with great visuals, and Zombies. This remake in my opinion is the better than Resi 2, specifically in the frame of pacing. The storyline is a bit janky, but stemming from its source material it doesn’t stray too far into the deep end of the pool.
The graphics are a great facelift, seeing the more branched out parts of Raccoon City was also a great treat
Number Six: Risk of Rain 2
The endless sci -fi Rogue-like I never thought I needed and am mad that I can’t get enough of. The game hits tremendous strides in control, design and overall replay-ability.
I have found myself trapped in endless cycles of trying to beat my previous run, which is a sure-fire way to prove the staying power of any grind Rogue-lite. It keeps getting better with each run and keeps proving there are new secrets to find.
Number Five: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This game saved so many lives during this pandemic, it served as an outlet for people on lockdown, a coping mechanism for others dealing with grief and being burned out from a cycle of bad news.
The greatest god-game and avatar management system that has been pushed to the masses, this game struck at the exact time people needed it, and I am thankful for having enjoyed so much of this world
Number Four: Streets of Rage 4
2020 deserved a brick to the face. SoR4 provided the ultimate release of pent up anger and frustration. I spent over 10hrs over 8 playthroughs, unlocking older characters, the new art style is perfect and provides a brutal incentive for gamers to enjoy the one of the greatest beat’em-ups
Number Three: Guardians of Lodino Forest
Disclaimer: BANGER ALERT.
ANYONE who knows me, knows, I am an absolute sucker for hybrid sports games, Blitz Ball, Mutant League, Super Baseball and the pinnacle, & the reason I work in video games, Super Punch-Out
With G.O.L.F, I have been brought back to a time of pure joy in gaming excellence, the game is addictive, balanced, and most importantly fun!
Number Two: Cyberpunk 2077
Caveat.
I’ve worked on some of the largest open world adventure games throughout my entire career (GTA, RDR, Dead Rising, Resident Evil, Street Fighter), and Cyberpunk 2077, with all its bugs and all it’s weird functionality is an Indie Game masterpiece.
There I said it.
The fact that you can jump into a world so robust so different than any other experience that’s currently out there deserves, your attention, your praise, your money, your time, your investment of mind space, and the Developers deserve more respect.
This is another opportunity to give people a new way of seeing the future of Indie Games. I’m at a little over 33 hours (one Mainline story completed playthrough, I’ve started three separate play-throughs), the adventure has only just begun with Cyberpunk 2077, and it has made my list, as it has made an impression on all of us in 2020, for better or worse. The needle has shifted.
And……
Number One: Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions
Ok, not what anyone expected right!?!
Well, then. Let me school you.
Tsubasa again scratches a deep itch, it allowed me to become an anime that I’ve loved as a child, it allowed my Children and family to play together on the same world class team, facing players from all around the globe and becoming ranked top 20 in the US (at the time)
Tsubasa has allowed my sons to play together in a way that is otherwise impossible. I built and groomed the perfect all-star squad. I got family members addicted to the game, as I wiped the floor with them and the most basic of High-School squads.
I have won 5 back to back World Cups, unlocked the dangerous US National Team, blew past the overhyped Argentina, and got destroyed more times than I’d like to admit by the German team…and loved every minute.
Hyuga over Tsubasa all day tho….
God, I love Video Games.
Be safe everyone, 2021 is going to be on 1,000!
