Christmas 2019 is now over and only a few more days are left in this decade so if I was ever going to do a ‘games of the decade’ article now is the time! But picking a top 100, or even a top 10 across the entire 10 years is tough and personally I was more interested in how many games I actually played that came out this decade. So that’s what I have done.
Using a mix of Steam, what I have in my own cupboards and a Wikipedia list of games that released in each decade I compiled a list of every game I have played and picked out my top five for each year. Just to explain my methodology a little first, only games that first released in this decade. No ports so the likes of Final Fantasy VII releasing on Switch in 2019 would not count. Now remasters like Wind Waker HD and collections like the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection I am counting in my total new games played list (with collections being counted as simply one game) however neither are eligible for my top five of each year. Those have to be new.
I am also going by the western release date unless it doesn’t have one of course, and I am also judging on the year they came out, not the year I played them. For example, I played Hollow Knight in 2019 however the game came out in 2017 so if it does end up on this list it will be under 2017.
So with that out of the way let’s cover my top five games of 2012 with every game I played listed at the bottom. It goes without saying that if I didn’t play a game then it won’t be on this list. Simple.
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
5) Hotline Miami – PC/PS3/Vita/PS4/Switch/Mobile – October 23rd 2012
I’ve always been interested in Game Maker and the kind of games that developers can make with the tool kit. Most of them remain as fan games online but every so often one hits the mainstream and Hotline Miami was the first example I can think of. An arcadey top-down shooter, seemingly inspired by classic Grand Theft Auto, Hotline Miami is fast-paced fun. You can die very easily but are thrown right back into the level so you can keep pushing forward, or while really funky music plays in the background. It has its own style that has made it incredibly memorable over the years and is an important piece of indie game history.
4) Rhythm Heaven Fever – Nintendo Wii – February 13th 2012
Rhythm Heaven Fever, or Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise as I know it, was the first game in the Rhythm Heaven series that really hooked me. And it took some time. Originally when I got the game I never beat it but years later I approached it again with friends and saw it in a whole new light. It’s fun, it’s goofy, it’s got good music and it’s great to play with people, which is a feature it has over the other three Rhythm Heaven games. In a post-Guitar Hero world, Rhythm Heaven Fever is a great introduction to the genre for many, myself included.
3) Resident Evil Revelations – Nintendo 3DS – January 27th 2012
I was always a big fan of Resident Evil 5 but it wasn’t a horror game like the classics. It was a co-op action game and that’s fine but it definitely made the survival horror genre feel like it was dead when its biggest franchise had stepped away. That was until Resident Evil Revelations, a return to form that manages to use the new action-stye gameplay introduced in Resident Evil 4 but with the survival horror elements of Code Veronica and before. While it’s not perfect, as it jumps between horror sections with Jill to more action sections with Chris and Raymond that are not nearly as fun, it was impressive to see on the Nintendo 3DS and is one of the better games in the overall series.
2) La-Mulana – PC/Wii/Vita – July 13th 2012
La-Mulana was a surprise hit for me. I played it on a whim as I like platformers and for the first time, I felt like I was playing a Metroidvania that actually gave me completely free movement. The genre defines itself on not being linear and they technically are not but for most games of this genre, there is a clear pathway the developers wanted you to take and will guide you there. Not with La-Mulana. This felt like being an explorer as cryptic hints are given to the player on puzzle solutions and where the treasure lies and it’s up to the player to forge their own path. It’s less about receiving upgrades (although these still matter) and more about finding keys and solving the puzzles that then guide you to your destination. A must-play for Metroidvania veterans looking for a challenge.
Honorable Mention) Tokyo Jungle – PS3 – September 25th 2012
Tokyo Jungle was another surprise hit for me. Bought on a whim as it launched on my birthday, Tokyo Jungle is a unique take on the survival genre. You play the role of an animal who has to survive on the abandoned streets of Tokyo. Your only goal is to get enough food to survive, find a mate and have children, all while avoiding being hunted by bigger predators. The game really limits you to the abilities of your animal of choice which gives a great sense of power or vulnerability if you are a predator or prey. But the game has balance, weaker animals will struggle a bit more for food but finding a mate is easier while the stronger animals like Lion’s suffer from being alone, out of their natural habitat. The many different animals give a ton of replayability, it is simply held back by having only one map that never changes.
1) Kid Icarus Uprising – Nintendo 3DS – March 23rd 2012
For a while, this was my favourite game on Nintendo 3DS. I love my obscure and forgotten Nintendo so of course a sequel to the long-dormant Kid Icarus series was going to be exciting to me and developed by Masahiro Sakurai of all people was the icing on this floor cake. It became an instant classic, even with its dodgy controls that required a bundled stand to play comfortably, with a great single-player and multiplayer mode. The story, in particular, made me love all of the characters new and old, and the twist in chapter nine elevated what could have been a game cut short in its prime to a season length epic about an overly optimistic angel fighting against the forces of the underworld.
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
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wish we got a Kid Icarus game for switch
I got into the KI series with Uprising. Still hoping for a Switch of that game.
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