FAKE RONJAN!!Game of the Year, Game of the Decade
2019 draws to a close, and so does the teenage decade of this century. I suppose there’s no better time than literally the final day of the year to compile some thoughts on my favorite games this year and this decade!
First off, 2019. This year - and really every year since its release - has been about the Nintendo Switch. For the first time in years, I haven’t had a PlayStation or an Xbox hooked up to the TV at all and haven’t missed it.
So what Switch games hit the mark this year? I consulted Nintendo’s Year in Review statistics and my screenshot album on my Switch to see which games had meaningful or memorable play time. Five emerged. While these aren’t the only games I played this year, they’re the ones I’ve seen enough of to put into an order.
5. Pokemon Sword / Shield
Pokemon Sword / Shield is patronizing and boring. I quit for good after one-shotting the entire fire gym with my fully evolved water starter. I wish I hadn’t wasted over ten hours on it and I’ll never play it again. The most memorable moment for me was naming a Pokemon after Mitch McConnell.
4. Untitled Goose Game
This game may have started out as a joke, but it’s one I enjoyed for a couple of hours. While I eventually got to the “I get it” point and didn’t end up completing it, it was fun. That’s more than I can say for Pokemon.
3. Super Mario Maker 2
I came into 2019 expecting this game to top my list. I sunk 150 hours into the original Super Mario Maker on the Wii U and put another 35 hours into the 3DS version over the course of several years. As I sit here on December 31st, however, I’ve clocked “only” 25 hours into Super Mario Maker 2.
Now, I enjoyed my time with Super Mario Maker 2 immensely. It’s objectively a better game than the original: it has more options to create, it’s on a more successful system, and it has more levels to play.
The novelty seems to have worn off for me, however, and I fell off from the game completely after only a couple of months. I only uploaded a single level that I created, and it was just a remake of my favorite creation from the original.
Maybe I simply got my fill of the original game and am ready for something truly new. Zelda Maker, anyone?
2. Cadence of Hyrule
Speaking of Zelda, what a revelation Cadence of Hyrule was! Rhythm based gameplay + classic top-down Zelda style + adorable characters + incredible soundtrack? Yes please!
I loved playing as Zelda instead of Link and taking out enemies during a big dance party. It honestly kind of made my whole summer. And as I closed in on the end of this one, I thought for sure that it would end up topping this list.
It turns out, though, that there’s one thing that can beat a top-down Zelda game …
1. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Another top-down Zelda!
I missed the original Link’s Awakening on the Game Boy, but my favorite games in the series to date were A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS and A Link to the Past on Super NES. I knew I was going to love this one, but I had no idea just how much.
It’s weird, it’s atmospheric, and it hooked me with its ephemeral theme. Dreams are an incredible way to experience an alternate life, whether it be a career road not taken, a fleeting romance, or even living life with literal superpowers.
Link’s Awakening has you experiencing all of this as Link himself as he discovers and immerses himself in a new dream world. Eventually, as he progresses further, he realizes that the only way he can wake up is to destroy his dream world and everyone in it. The conclusion was surprisingly emotional for Link, and ultimately for me as well.
Honestly, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Koholint island. The bite-sized overworld and old-school dungeon design were exactly what I was looking for, especially the final stellar hours with Eagle Tower and Turtle Rock. Oh, and It was adorable and had incredible music, too.
I’ll be playing this one again, and I can’t wait for the next 2D Zelda - whether it be an original or a remake.
Congratulations to The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for making it onto ...
The List
(Games of the year accompanied by my contemporaneous commentary)
2013 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
Perfectly captures and modernizes the essence of classic Zelda by bringing the emphasis back to exploration. No one can really pull off "moments" with just the right touch the way Nintendo can, like when you get the Master Sword and you're rewarded with a fanfare and remixed Hyrule overworld theme. I had chills. The game's pacing kept me going, and I'm sad that it's over.
2014 - Valiant Hearts (PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, PC, iOS)
I feel like this game was designed for people like me: gameplay that doesn't trivialize or glamorize war; a small, focused story rather than an epic one; characters that have real lives that the war impacted. In today's landscape where games without combat or murder are described as having "no gameplay", I will always be thankful that someone tried something like this.
2015 - Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
This is a game in reality that I literally dreamed about as a child, and I can't put it down. The community continues to find new ways to make Mario fun, inventive, hilarious, challenging, and even poignant. I'll be playing this one for years. It's the peak of crowdsourced level design creativity.
2016 - Pokemon Go (Android, iOS)
This may seem like a ridiculous choice to fans of "real" games, but nothing made me smile this year like Pokemon Go did. Despite lacking any meaningful mechanics, and despite having a leveling system that grinds to a halt after level 20, I kept coming back this year. And with new Pokemon now being added to the mix, I suspect I'll keep up with it.
2017 - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Mario's latest adventure joins Super Mario World and Super Mario Galaxy in my personal Mario Hall of Fame. While the entirety of Super Mario Odyssey was sheer concentrated joy, nothing prepared me for the exhilarating New Donk City festival. This love letter to Mario's history is so earnest and so well-executed that it's one of my all time favorite moments in gaming, period. It's perfect.
2018 - Celeste (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
You keep climbing, even when you have died hundreds of times, are feeling exhausted, and are considering giving up. Finally, you reach the home stretch. The game starts counting down the checkpoints for you, your heart is pounding, and you make it. You reach the top and you feel the greatest rush possible. And all you want to do is bask in the glory of your accomplishment forever.
2019 - The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)
It’s weird, it’s atmospheric, and it hooked me with its ephemeral theme. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Koholint island. The bite-sized overworld and old-school dungeon design were exactly what I was looking for, especially the final stellar hours with Eagle Tower and Turtle Rock. I’ll be playing this one again, and I can’t wait for the next 2D Zelda - whether it be an original or a remake.
So with 2019 settled, now it’s time to determine a Game of the Decade.
Logic would suggest that my favorite game of the decade would have to be one of these seven games, but there are a couple of complications here. First, I didn’t start “officially” picking my game of the year until 2013. And second, there are several games I played after the year of their release.
A few games I want to throw into the discussion:
Heavy Rain (2010), The Walking Dead (2012), and Life is Strange (2015): each of these games got their hooks into me on sheer narrative. Heavy Rain, more than any game before or since, had me feeling the same desperation and terror as the main character during a sequence in which I had to cut off my own finger. The Walking Dead made choices, not gun violence, the central mechanic in a horrifying land of zombies. And Life is Strange told a hauntingly beautiful tale of friendship and inevitability. I’m glad that narrative experiences can thrive without the main character constantly holding a gun.
Mass Effect 2 (2010), Uncharted 3 (2011), and The Last of Us (2013): on the other hand, narrative experiences can also thrive with the main character constantly holding a gun. The Mass Effect trilogy is - despite its flaws and bungled ending - an incredible accomplishment for world building and choice carryover between games. And Naughty Dog continued their tradition of balancing cathartic action sequences and down-to-earth human moments. I finished all three of these games despite their gun-centric gameplay, and that speaks to the quality of everything else.
Civilization V (2010): at latest count, I’ve put 134 hours into this game, making it my 2nd-most-played game after Super Mario Maker. I was so addicted that I had to officially convince myself that I retired.
Rayman Legends (2013): I enjoyed 2011’s Rayman Origins well enough, but Legends upped the ante with music-themed platforming that blew my mind. When I reached the Orchestral Chaos level I had the world’s biggest smile on my face. Mariachi Madness reinforced it.
Danganronpa and Danganronpa 2 (2014 in the US): nothing about “a bunch of teenagers are locked in a building by a crazy robot teddy bear and forced to murder each other and solve mysteries” should work, except it totally does. I played both of these games back to back in 2016 and ended up being totally consumed, even having nightmares about them. I eventually forced several friends to play them both so I had people to talk to about it. While I also enjoyed the third game, Danganronpa V3, the first two are the ones I’ll remember.
Shovel Knight (2014-2019): this game is simply nostalgia done right. It’s a tribute to 8-bit gaming without being a clone or a lazy rehash. The characters are adorable, the storylines are memorable, and the sheer amount of content that’s been added over the years is astounding.
So now, with all of these games on the table, what’s my Game of the Decade pick?
Super Mario Maker 2.
Wait, what? The game I didn’t even pick as my favorite for this year? How?
Super Mario Maker was my most played franchise this decade by far. The original sank its hooks into me like no game ever had and was going to be hard to supplant as my favorite. But if I’m picking a Mario Maker to be my game to rule them all this decade, I have to go with the sequel that’s better in every way and on a system that I prefer.
Super Mario Maker 2 isn’t the game I will remember 2019 for, but it’s the one I will remember this decade for. It brought gamers into the creative process and I am excited to see how Nintendo expands on the idea in the future.