Tuesday 3 January 2012

Top ten games I completed in 2011. (Pt 2)

Welcome to part two of my top ten games completed in 2011.

Let's get straight onto numbers 5-1.

5. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube)

Took me three attempts to get into the game but when I finally did I couldn't put it down. Graphically Wind Waker still looks as good as it did the day it was released, game play wise, well It's a Zelda game, you know what to expect.
The things that I realy enjoyed about the game include the changes in Link and Zelda and funnily enough the sailing. Some people criticise it but I thoroughly enjoyed it and probably spent way too much time just sailing around looking for islands and treasure, I just found it to be very relaxing.

4. Tomb Raider: Legend (GameCube)

Legend is the first TR game that I've ever properly played (I tried the first one for the Dreamcast as part of my five in fifteen posts a while back but could not get into it at all), and is a game that I really enjoyed playing.
I'm sure that everybody is fully aware of the adventures of Lara Croft so I shall skip all that. What I will say is that Legend is a wonderful game, it handles smoothly, has nice graphics and with the amount of puzzles and action included has brilliant game play. Unfortunately it can be a little on the short side depending on whether you decide to collect everything or not but that's just one minor niggle in an otherwise great game.

3. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (GameCube)

This game was a total surprise to me, like Ghost Trick I didn't really know what it was about and when looking at the box it looked very child like but as you can probably tell I'm really glad that I did buy it.
You take control of a small robot called Glitch who must infiltrate and destroy an enemy race of robots. This is done in a third-person view over quite a few levels and includes a vast amount of weapons that can be upgraded. Glitch can also take over and control larger robots which does help a lot as the game can fall on the difficult side quite often and even though levels can take a few attempts you never feel like it's the games fault for you dying. Overall Metal Arms is difinitely worth a play.

2. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

The second to last game that I completed in 2011 goes in at number two due to how good it is. Order of Ecclesia was the first Castlevania game that I played since Super Castlevania IV on the SNES (which is also one of my all time favourite games), and I thought that it was an absolutely superb game.
The game can be tough as nails and can take a lot of levelling up to finally be able to easily overcome enemies but again like Metal Arms it never feels like it's the games fault that you keep dying. The graphics are brilliant with the bosses filling up the screen and one shadow boss being exceptional and tough. The game play is great with lots of hidden secrets and puzzles which result in items to use and new weapons/glyphs to collect. There are also numerous sider-quests that can be completed that again result in items to use and some not to use but that can really add to the experience and joy of the game.

1. Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)

So the last game that I completed for the year is also my number one game for the year. It's not because it's fresh in my mind but a game that I've just thoroughly enjoyed and really liked playing.
The graphics are nice, the music is quaint and relaxing and the game play is just brilliant. It's a platform game at heart but there is just so much going on that it never gets boring. One minute you can be jumping and swinging along platforms when suddenly Kirby transforms into a ship and the level turns into a shump. It certainly keeps the game fresh and enjoyable. Yes, it can be on the easy side, which is also the one problem with the game in that you cannot actually die, but if you try and collect all 100% of the items you can come across some difficult patches.
Finally, away from the main game there is enough stuff to do to keep you entertained like completing various mini-games and decorating Kirby's flat in an Animal Crossing style. All in all Kirby's Epic Yarn is a fun, enjoyable and relaxing game that you can play for minutes or for hours and that's why it's at number one.

Well, there is my top ten games that I completed in 2011, nine out the ten games were Nintendo games mainly because it's been a lot easier to play on the Wii and DS over the past year, rest assured though that next years will probably be a lot different as I'm finally going to make a start on my Sega back catalogue and work through some 360 games that have been neglected.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the top ten and maybe spotted a game or two that you hadn't considered playing before.

6 comments:

  1. So nice to see someone else talk about Epix Yarn in a positive way. I absolutely LOVED that game. Sure, it's easy, but why should that preclude it from being fun? One of my favorite Wii games thus far, for sure. BTW, you really have to get Return to Dream Land (also for Wii) soon, if you don't already have it, as it's also an amazingly pretty and fun game.

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  2. I've just got 100% on Epic Yarn, I loved playing it that much.

    The thing is, it's only easy if you just play through it. Some of the levels and mini-games are tough as nails, even without being able to die.

    In all honesty I don't believe I've actually seen a copy of Dream Land on the shelves yet. I will have a look next time I head into the city as if it's half as good as Yarn it's going to be a good game to play.

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  3. I too loved the sailing in Wind Waker. Doing it without some sort of strategy guide map is even more interesting, especially when you find lookout posts in the sea, huge octopuses to kill or a new island rising up on the horizon. It's like proper exploring and makes you feel like you're actually discovering something/somewhere that nobody else has found.

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  4. Oh, yeah, I agree that Epic Yarn is only really easy if you just play through each level and don't care about perfecting them. A few levels in particular drove me completely nuts!

    As for Dream Land not being on shelves: I don't think it's been released in Europe yet, although I can't say that with any certainty...

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  5. @DS90. I know exactly what you mean. The excitement when you look through the telescope or just catch a glimpse of an island in the distance was great. It was a good job that the map wasn't bigger as I could have quite happily sat there for days sailing around.

    @Bryan. There were a couple of levels and mini-games that left me feeling rather frustrated at times but overall I'm glad that I went for the 100%.

    Turns out that Dream Land has been released over here, just under the name Kirby's Adventure Wii. It's currently at full price so will wait until it drops in price.

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  6. Ah, yes, I forgot that the latest Kirby Wii game got a different name/title in each region. Weird. Anyway, yes, pick it up at some point, even if you have to get a used copy. Well worth playing, IMO.

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