10. NCAA Football 2012
Pretty much every year, a sports game manages to make its way into my top 10. This might be the best, or at least the most addictive, of them all. The new coaching carousel addition for the dynasty mode gave this year’s NCAA Football game much more reason to keep playing through the years. READ MORE
I thought 2010 was a rough year for me, but it was nothing compared to my 2011. I think I might have played maybe fifteen games this year, not counting a couple of throw-away DSiWare titles picked up out of boredom, quickly consumed, and then discarded. Only about five of these were on the Wii, which is to be expected given my limited genre interests (and the equally-limited offerings on that system of late), but what really hurt me this year was my lack of interest in the 3DS.
Not that the 3DS had a bunch of world-rocking titles or anything, but the industry’s shift of focus drew attention away from the DS and my options suffered accordingly. Also not helping was the industry’s continued inability to release quality titles (of my interest) between April and October. Nearly three-fourths of the titles I enjoyed this year were released between January and March, which made for an especially long, dry summer. I don’t expect this to change in 2012, especially if I keep avoiding the 3DS, but a man can dream. READ MORE
10. The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
Some people will claim this entry is a cop-out for two reasons: first it is two games, and second: both of them are PS2 natives. These two games are good enough to get nominated again on the PS3. Both are absolutely amazing experiences that go beyond gameplay. The story that Team Ico manages to communicate with little to no spoken dialog is amazing. If you enjoy puzzle games at all and haven’t played these two then you owe it to yourself to track down a copy of the dual pack. The best the PS2 had to offer is presented on this one disc. READ MORE
The writers and editors here at Snackbar Games hope you have a joyous, game-filled Christmas season and a fun rest of the year! 2012 marks ten years online for us, and we plan to keep bringing you game reviews, features and columns for as long as we’re able.
Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere: we’ll be sharing our personal favorites from now until January, as well as revealing our Game of the Year awards. Be sure to check back through the holidays for those!
Video games have a tendency to attempt a grand finale during their last acts, giving us a large, epic battle against something we have been preparing for the entire game. Sometimes, these moments come out of nowhere, but sometimes it leads to a final act that is exact what we might expect it to be. And yet, games rarely deliver. Final acts in games are generally bad, and even some of your favorites might suffer because of it. In the long run it might not matter, but to leave the player with an unsatisfactory or lazy conclusion might ruin their feelings on the entire game in the long run. Generally speaking, final acts in games tend to be missing something that everything prior to them did so well. READ MORE
