Wii U Honourable Mentions:"3rd party ports for both as there is some real good ones like mass effect 3 but without the other 2 it seems a little pointless, same with deus ex great to have it but played it 2 years ago and can now but for £3 on 360. So if you can find cheap and haven’t played them buy but if you have then go buy srcibblenauts or something."
"Rayman Legends: A game that single-handedly made me rethink my hatred for the limbless one. Those music levels were a stroke of genius."
"Rayman Legends: A whirlwind of fun. The only issue with the game is that the credits roll too soon."
"LEGO City Undercover: whilst it may be based on the handed-down-from-the-ancients LEGO gameplay, no game has been this funny before or since. Good work."
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to mention The Cave yet again, since I really like it and nobody else does."
"Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3 and The Wonderful 101."
"Pikmin 3, Mario 3D World, Rayman and Monster Hunter for all being awesome."
"Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, Lego City Undercover and Rayman Legends made the “missable” Wii U unmissable."
"Honourable mention to Most Wanted U, first of all, for being such a well-executed third party game at a time where great third party ports were thin on the ground (Trine 2 and Sonic Transformed are two other titles I remember that were superior to other versions). Really enjoyed playing online with masofdas, Jaster, Phillips et al."
"Another honourable mention to Pikmin 3. What a wonderful game. Every aspect has been fine-tuned so all the various strategic elements felt great to play around with. Even in the most testing parts it was a joy to figure things out on this, and while this was my first Pikmin game, I really appreciated the new approach taken to let players optimise their playthrough. And histograms as online leaderboards."
"Spin the Bottle deserves an honourable mention as well, simply because it’s probably the most inventive use of Wii Remotes and GamePads I’ve ever experienced on the system since Nintendo Land. A night’s session with this game was worth the entry price alone, and had everyone in the room giggling right from the character select screen."
"And Super Mario 3D World: of course. Not only does it have a Mario Galaxy-beating soundtrack in my eyes (thanks to its level designs giving way to less bombastic music, which I’ve preferred), but it’s just an incredibly solid Mario game, full of variety, and what Mario 3D Land should have been in terms of scope. But luckily the two games complement each other beautifully, never feeling like substitutes.
I’d give a dishonourable mention to the general treatment of Wii U this year, as great as the system is I believe Nintendo squandered their first year head start. The sad result of this is great games out now and on the way will only be experienced by audiences smaller than they deserve."
"Rayman Legends, from what I've played of it, has been an unquestionable gem. It's also one of the few games on the system that actually goes some way to making the GamePad seem worthwhile, even if the bulk of the gameplay is best with traditional controls. A real looker, and a true credit to the Wii U's meagre catalogue."
Wii U Dishonourable Mentions:"Super Mario 3D World. Oh no he didn't! There were many worse games I acquired, but I've slagged them off enough. And this game is good, but not 3D Mario good. It has many of the same faults as 3D Land - non-analogue control, unhelpful camera, cuboidal levels, a time limit that puts the kibosh on any exploration, and BLOODY BOOM BOOM. It also contributes an irritating two-level dash, a difficulty step-function (with the step arriving too late in the game), some pathetically easy bosses, a complete absence of secret goals, and a brilliant yet wholly underused power-up in the Double Cherry. Oh, and the camera is far too restrictive in multiplayer. Come at me, gentlemen."
"Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams: a dull and sloppy mess of abused colour. Don't go near it with a bargepole. Or a bargepole tied to a bargepole."
"Mass Effect 3. Not that it was a bad port, but because of what it caused. The game wouldn't sell well to begin with, anyway, being the third part of a story-heavy trilogy. But, then came the announcement that it wouldn't get DLC... and then came the cheaper trilogy on other consoles released at the same time. The result: EA killing all support of the console."
"Game and Wario"
"Trine 2 for existing, Scribblenauts for being about 7 years too late and TW101 for having missions that are too long."
"Game & Wario was a real low-point, and can only be remembered for being a shoddy showcase for the GamePad, the Wii U and the WarioWare series itself."
"Super Mario 3D World: I could fill an Argos catalogue with things I dislike about this game, but let's just say that I pretty much hated it from the moment I realised it wasn't going anywhere. If this game didn't sport Mario on the box, I seriously doubt it would've commanded those ridiculous review scores. A bitter, bitter disappointment. And not the first on Wii U, depressingly."
3DS Honourable Mentions:"Fire Emblem Awakening: best game I’ve played on the 3DS, DLC done right, amazing. Luigi Mansion 2 well it is good but would like to of seen it on a console over a handheld."
"Luigi in Luigi's Mansion 2. His year, his game. His cowardly, lovable "heroism" contributed so much to the success of the much-delayed haunted romp. Just a shame he was usurped by another man in green at the end of the year. Well, I say "shame"..."
" Q4. Two of Nintendo's biggest franchises, two of the other biggest franchises on Nintendo's portables, and several other less recognised gems. Compensating for their home console's slow year, or for the 3DS' previous one? Whichever it was, it worked, and Nintendo fans had a great autumn."
"SteamWorld Dig: gaming needs more stuff like this. A nugget of finely honed brilliance that came out of nowhere."
"The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: it is crazy how the walking into walls mechanic changed things so completely. That and a creditable story made for the best handheld Zelda ever."
" Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion 2, Fire Emblem Awakening."
" Fire Emblem, Luigis Mansion, Steamworld Dig and Bravely Default."
"Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a masterpiece, deserving to be remembered alongside Ocarina of Time, Pokemon Red/Blue and the Super Mario Galaxy games as one of Nintendo’s true classics. Also: Too Many Games! Luigi’s Mansion 2 didn’t pan out quite the way I was expecting, mind. Still, a good game, and as close as I’ve got to a Dishonourable Mention in what was a vintage year for the 3DS."
"Fire Emblem. Fire Emblem! I should play that game again, pure gold. Pure heart-wrenching gold."
"Honourable mentions to Luigi’s Mansion 2 and A Link Between Worlds, both stellar first party games that are classic Nintendo through and through. In the case of the latter, Nintendo made a Zelda game I didn’t even know I wanted yet (when it was first announced I was almost disappointed, but it all soon changed once I started playing it), which is always a good thing: their ability to surprise has not waned one bit."
"Another honourable mention to Etrian Odyssey IV, for being such a stellar RPG. Never thought I’d like something as traditional-seeming as it, but all its various elements mesh together to create an experience where you’re always making progress. Never has charting a map been so fun."
"Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I lost six months to this game. Six bloody months! But what the heck, I had a lot of fun with it, and I just know I'll get sucked right back into it when I've had a sufficient break. Nintendo's most charming franchise, bar none."
"Oh snap, I forgot to mention Animal Crossing too. But that’s a self-explanatory one, right?"
3DS Dishonourable Mentions:"Generation 6's Pokémon. Only 69? And one of them is a walking chestnut. No, the mega-evolutions don't make up for it: most of them look like they were taken off a 12-year-old DeviantArtist's page."
"Mega Picross, as featured in Picross e3: thankfully I've not bought any 3DS clunkers in this, the first year of the GNamer Forum. However, Mega Picross got right on my wick. It messed with my carefully laid thinking for far too long."
"Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team were both very disappointing IMO."
"Animal Crossing New Leaf (feel free to add a tumblweed gif)"
"Dishonourable mention straight to Ace Attorney 5. It really didn’t do it for me, and while it was mostly mechanically and visually sound, the writing felt off, there was too much hand holding, the ‘main’ cases weren’t executed very well and it just generally didn’t feel quite right."
"It would be churlish to complain about last year in 3DS terms. 2013 was a staggering year for the system, regardless of Nintendo's sales targets."
Other Formats Honourable Mentions:"Bioshock Infinite play it also if you have a VITA (all 6 of us in the UK) buy Tearaway it's great."
"Bioshock Infinite - A masterpiece of art direction and storytelling and a clinic in immersive gameplay. Highly recommended."
"Guacamelee - Fun little Metroidvania... but with LUCHADORS."
"None. I'm one of those Nintendo fanboy types The Rest Of the Internet (TM) despises with such cold and uncalculated passion."
"The Stanley Parable. I love the way the game deconstructs the tropes of videogames."
"Grand Theft Auto V."
"TLoU, GTA5, ACIV:Black Flag, Guacamelee, Muramasa, Civ V Brave New World. I'll spare you from the other few hundred I could easily add!"
"FIFA 14 was good…and I believe that’s the only ‘new’ Other Format game I bought in the last year! I spent a lot of time building up my DS collection, blagging the likes of Hotel Dusk, Phantom Hourglass, Inazuma Eleven and DK Jungle Climber for virtually hee-haw. It’s a good time to be a last-gen gamer."
Other Formats Dishonourable Mentions:"The Black Boxes o' Power, a.k.a. the PS4/X1. The Wii U was struggling enough without being rudely shoved out of the limelight by these two. And if they were going to sideline it so effectively, could they at least do it with some decent games?"
"Journey (even though it wasn't this year)"
"Have I ever mentioned just how immensely horrible King Kong DS was? I mean, I’ve played some poor games in the past but never have I been quite so annoyed by a game’s incompetence that I actually removed the cart from my system and attempted to feed it to my friendly neighbourhood cat. Not even the cat wanted it. If there were a game that would set an example for how not to make a game, this wouldn’t win- not because it’s not the worst game ever but because the writers/lecturers explaining why it’s so bad would likely end up feeding themselves to a cat (like a tiger) rather than the cart.
Bad game."
Your GNew Year's Resolutions:"Hoping we keep the podcast keep going and can join in, and just try keeping news & release going for the foreseeable future."
"Do more composing and/or writing. Creative stuff. I shall let Buska's dedication to his novel inspire me.
Get a girlfrI'M SO LONELY."
"I'd love to see some new faces join us on the good ship GNamer. We seem to have hoisted everyone from the sinking ship NGamer - let's encourage some new swabbies to our lovely vessel."
"Firstly, that we get to one hundred users, tempting more informed and wondrous Nintendo lovers over. Or, y'know, more alternate accounts. Secondly, just that the second year is better than the first one - because the first one was mighty fine, yes sirree!"
"To play more games, I've been slacking a bit lately and I really do miss it."
"To finish more games."
"Pass my degree with a decent grade, nothing exciting here!"
"For the forum: less chat about sales figures, charts and Nintendo on mobile phones. None would be best. It’s fucking boring, the same old bollocks every week and I couldn’t give a shite about any of those topics."
"I should write poetry. I probably should keep ideas like that to myself, too."
"Rant less. I think I’ve already ruined this one on The Twitter, but maybe I’ll start now."
"To be here a bit more often. It's a constant source of guilt for me, but real life/family matters are making internet time both scarce and valuable at the moment. I hope y'all understand."
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*collapses in corner*