Your 2021 in gaming - Highs, averages, and lows

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Yep, it's about time for one of these again. How was your 2021 for this hobby of ours we like to call playing video games? And how was 2021 for gaming in general? I'll start things off (I'll try to keep it brief and try not to mention every single game I played this year - just the stand-outs).

---High---

-Collecting NES/FC: My NES broke early on in the year, I replaced it with an AV Famicom, and I spent a lot of time (and a decent, but not ridiculous about of money) on collecting NES and FC carts this year. I feel I'm a bit burned out on the system at the moment, but I did get quite a lot of new games for it. Favorites include some great FC Namco ports, finally owning a real NES copy of Contra, Lode Runner, and of course Devil World. Now the question remains what to focus on in 2022. SNES perhaps?

-Finally played some more point-and-clickers. Monkey Islands 1 and 2 (the former being a replay), and the amazing Day of the Tentacle, which is definitely one of my favorite games ever. Yeah that's only three, but considering how hard it is for me to get into these games, that's not bad.

-Got through some particularly sadistic DOOM mods this year. I really felt I learned a thing or two about the game and got better at it, plus the big one this year (Sunlust) was simply one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I know I talk about this shit too much, but the kind of things that are possible with just base DOOM/DOOM II elements, and the creativity and variety that goes into the level design and fights that mappers create is just amazing.

-Pokémon Trading Card Game (GBC) has been surprisingly addicting this year. I kind of stopped caring after I collected all cards, but this was pretty sweet while I did care, and there's a much expanded sequel waiting if I ever want to get back into it.

---Average---

-This was kind of a filler year for games I feel. Not that that's a problem, but still. Looking at year-end lists really makes that evident. Kind of a slow year for Nintendo in particular. Thankfully, the games I did end up playing were all quite fun. Age of Calamity was very addicting for a few weeks. Bowser's Fury was an interesting experiment that may or may not point to the series' future. Mario Party Superstars has some balancing issues, but is a good old time in the tradition of the N64 and GCN days. Metroid Dread was of course fun (though I don't think they'll ever top Super). But the highlight for Switch this year was Shin Megami Tensei V. I'm only about half-way (and there are some balancing problems on Hard IMO), but it's been very engaging all the way through so far, and it's just cool to finally play a SMT game. So, while I had a lot of fun with what I did play, outside of SMTV, I kinda missed something really big. That's partially due to personal taste, I'm sure. But seriously, outside of Metroid, what really brought a lot of hype this year on Switch? Bring on BotW2, I'd say.

-Super Mario Galaxy. This is still a great time, but it hasn't aged as well as I had hoped.

---Low---

-Crash Bandicoot 4. Not a complete disaster, but just a lot of annoying decisions here. It's all built around collecting gems, but getting gems is made as annoying as possible. You can also just ignore the gems and the challenges that earn them, but then you'll end up with a pretty brief experience. And the thing is, it's almost fun to try and collect them. Trying to get all the crates in a stage or finding hidden gems should be fun, but I really feel like they intentionally made it as dreadful as they could.

-I spent like 20 bucks on the Switch Genesis collection (not the NSO one), only to find out the way the games are displayed sucks ass. The fact that reviewers didn't pick up on this and uniformly praised this has to be one of the more embarrasing moments in gaming journalism in recent years. This doesn't even hit the bare minimum of what's acceptable IMO.

---In conclusion---

-Not a bad year overall for me, but still didn't quite get as much done as I had hoped. I have a huge list of RPGs I still want to play, but between beating DQXI in the second week of 2021 and starting SMTV in november, I didn't even touch a single one. I just have to stop wasting time doing nothing and sitting behind the computer.

-Pretty filler year for gaming overall, as I mentioned above. Seriously, look at some top __ games of 2021 lists and tell me this was a memorable year. Of course, it's not really a problem since there are a million games coming out each year and a billion games from previous years I still have to get to. But Elden Ring and BotW2 alone are more highly anticipated than the entirety of 2021.

-GOTY: Shin Megami Tensei V, unless it starts sucking some serious shit in the second half.

[Deleted]

🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 - I can certainly call this year memorable so I will disagree with you haha, though I realise it's very much a case where it was a year with a lot of games that appeal to my specific tastes and there weren't a lot of heavy hitters in the release line up. Honestly though I very rarely care for the majority of games in top lists most years so it's a matter of what speaks to you and what doesn't. Is it really controversial to say I currently feel complete apathy towards Breath of the Wild 2? Perhaps as the game nears completion the marketing will engage me more.


---High---

Many many releases, that I'm just picking up mostly. Hopefully they actually live up to my expectations. The downside there is a good number of them were lengthy RPGs. 

Metroid had a fantastic new entry which rekindled my love for the series. It also looks to be in a more than healthy place going forward.

New Pokemon Snap arrived and my excitement for it really hasn't died at all. It is genuinely my favourite video game in more than 30 years of playing. 

I managed to decrease my backlog for the first time I can remember; even if just by a little. I got through some of my older RPGs and discovered some gems. Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter and Ys VIII round up my top 3 games I played for the year. Both are just wonderful JRPG's. 

We were allowed to play together again and so was able to team up with my brother once more this time playing It Takes Two.

Castlevania Anniversary Collection showing up on Halloween (might have been the day before) was just perfect timing and a great way for me to truly discover the series roots for the first time.



---Average---

I put quite a large amount of time into games which I gave 6-7/10 so games I got some enjoyment from but would consider quite flawed or simply not favourites. There were only a handful I played that truly excited me. 

I wasn't able to pick anything up for the busiest release season of the year which perhaps made my interest wane some. I started off strong and died down. I think I need to pick a game or two up here and there fairly regularly to give me something fresh and keep me engaged.



---Low---

A bunch of games where I had high hopes or expectations didn't live up for me. Ori and the Blind Forest, Super Mario RPG and Batman Arkham Knight being the biggest 'offenders'. None of these were to my tastes.

Dropping off Fire Emblem Three Houses again. I will give the game another chance but so far it makes me really pessimistic as to the direction of the series.

I played Super Ninja-Kun on Super Famicom. Just plain terrible. What's the point of a platformer where you can barely jump? And the music gives me nightmares.

Due to personal reasons I wasn't able to do the kind of exercise I like to do ordinarily which included dropping off Ring Fit Adventure.


---In conclusion---

Way more positive than negative for me for 2021. 2022 doesn't seem to have a busy release schedule for me so far so looks like it will make a great year to play last years releases and continue to beat my older games. That said all game developers can stop making JRPG's for a good few years now, thanks.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Best:
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007) - 8 (74 stars, 2/3 green stars (the third luigi quest didn't appear yet))
Deus Ex: GOTY Edition (PC, 2001) - 7.5 or 8 w/ mods (normal, got nearly all upgrade canisters, 22.5h)

Highs:
SimCity 3000 Unlimited (PC, 2000) - 7.5 (sandbox/non-scenario mode, started in 1900 and ended in 2051)
Valdis Story: Abyssal City (PC, 2013) - 7.5 (Wyatt, Normal, STR-focused build with little to no points in the magic skill tree, S-classed about 10/15 bosses, about 8,5h minus boss retries (several hundred) - 17,4 in total though this includes testing out the other chars)
R-Type Delta (PS1, 1998) - 7.5 (Normal, R-9 ship; might be an 8 with the R-13 on Easy)
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando/Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded (PS2, 2003) - 7.5 (normal, two armor upgrades)
Mahou Daisakusen/Sorcer Striker (ARC, 1993) - 7.5 (Normal, 1p, Necromancer ship)
Environmental Station Alpha (PC, 2015) - 7.5 (95% completion, normal)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising (PC, 2010) - 7.5 (normal, good/pure ending (not full purity however), Tarkus became the traitor)
Fight'n Rage (PC, 2017) - 7.5 (normal; twice as gal, once as f. norris w/ ricardo as cpu ally; b, d and f endings)
Gargoyle's Quest II/Makaimura Gaiden: The Demon Darkness (GB, 1993) - 7.5
Dead Space (PC, 2008) - 7.5 (Normal, plasma/pulse/force)
Quake (PC, 1996) - 7.5 (Normal)
MDK (PC, 1997) - 7.5 (normal)
Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (PC, 1996/2015?)(Unity ver.) - 7.5 (Khajiit battle mage type character, reached level 10, high reflexes)
Crypt of the Necrodancer (PC, 2015) - 7.5 (individual zones (beat necrodancer; made it to 2-1 in all zones mode), Cadence)
The Lost Vikings 2 (SNES, 1997) - 7 (1p, might be a 7.5 in 2-player and with the speed hack)

Mids:
Mega Man Zero 4 (GBA, 2005) - 7 (Normal, didn't fully level up the elf and missed two EX skills)
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (GC, 2005) - 7 (Normal, 7.5 on Easy w/ NG+?)
Brain Lord (SNES, 1994) - 7
Bastion (PC, 2011) - 7 (Normal (no hard mode), reached level 6, beat each arena once (one with a god power on it) and got about 2/3 of the achievements+finished 10/11 weapon challenges)
Axiom Verge (PC, 2015) - 7 (normal, 77-ish % completion)
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC, 2004) - 7 (Toreador clan/class)
Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Spyro 3)(PS1, 2000) - 7 (got about 110 eggs and 12k gems)
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (NDS, 2006) - 7 (normal, didn't do the battle arena nor most side quests, beat the first boss rush course)
Air Combat/Ace Combat (PS1, 1995) - 7 (Normal)
Beyond Good & Evil (GC, 2003) - 7
Metroid Prime 2 (GC, 2004) - 7 (Normal, 80% completion)
Mega Man Legends 2 (PS1, 2000) - 7 (Normal, didn't fully upgrade anything)
An Untitled Story (PC, 2006) - 7 (Normal/Regular, 660 health)
Mega Man ZX (NDS, 2006) - 7 (Normal)
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (PS2, 200?) - 7 (Mattias, SK ending, most items)
Okami (PS2, 2006) - 7 (didn't get all beads, moves nor beat all bounty hunt monsters, beat the optional bosses)
Shaman King 2 (GBA, 2005) - 7 (Normal, 75-ish spirits)
Rex (Spectrum, 1988) - 7 (mission 1, couldn't start mission 2 in the online emulator)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (NDS, 2008) - 7 (93% completion, bad ending)
Mad Stalker (MD, 1994/2020) - 7 (normal)
Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest (PC, 1995) - 6.5 (Knight campaign)
Toki (PC, 2019)(1989 Remake) - 6.5 (Easy)
Lyle in Cube Sector (PC, 2006) - 6.5 (got most upgrades I think)
Chibi-Robo! (GC, 2005) - 6.5 (around 50-60% completion)
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (PS1, 1996) - 6.5 (Count rank, 51/100 secrets, didn't do lost city)
Policenauts (PS1, 1996) - 6.5
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge: Director's Cut (Multi, 2014) - 6.5 (29/34 secret items, 6h, normal/non-magic mode)
Knight 'n Grail (C64, 2009) - 6.5

Lows:
Ore ga Omae o Mamoru (I Will Protect You)(NDS, 2009) - 6 (didn't beat the post-game area)
Legacy of the Wizard (NES, 1987) - 6
Knytt Stories Plus (PC, 2020)(originally 2007) - 6 (Normal)
Generations Lost (MD, 1994) - 6 (normal)
Battle of Olympus (NES, 1988) - 5.5
Below the Root (C64, 1984) - 5.5 (played as Neric)
The Adventures of Rad Gravity (NES, 1990) - 5.5
Urban Chaos (DC, 2000) - 5.5
Todd's Adventures in Slime World (Lynx, 1990) - 5.5 (played through the first two modes and about halfway into the third, revisit on MD?)

Gave up on:
Draconus (C64)
Hero of the Golden Talisman (C64, 1985)
Cosmo Police Galivan (NES, 1988) - At the second to last level or so, it's a guide game


The year was pretty good for me, not as many highs as I would've liked but pretty few bad games.

I generally stayed focused on the platform adventure/mv site up until the last few months due to irl stuff and getting back into Starcraft 1 for about a month. I was hoping to be pretty much finished by now but some games took way longer than expected and I ended up finding some more games to add too. Next year I'm planning to do some site redesigns if I can find the time.

I played a lot of Wii games (mostly Mario and Sonic racing, some SMG 1-2 and DKC Returns) with my nephew which was generally a lot fun, though it's mostly me playing and him watching so far. He's actually better than me at Sonic Dash (or w/e the touchpad one is called) though, and he's very proud of that which is cute. 

Besides playing I've been making chip music for a GG Shinobi to MD remake/port, and the demake of Symphony of the Night for MD. That's been pretty fun, if very time consuming, and in some ways educational.

I also have some unfinished RPGs to get through, not really feeling like it now but we'll see.

[dsparil]

I was going to say that I’m going to keep this short, but that’s impossible for me even cutting out a lot of stuff.

Best

I wasn’t sure what to to go with so I’m to have two:

Deltarune Chapter 2 (and 1) - I liked Chapter 1 when it came out, but I just loved it on a replay, and this is as someone that really did not like Undertale. The characterization is significantly better, and it presents similar themes in a better way in half the time. Chapter 2 is such a delight with improved gameplay too. Apparently there’s even a secret plot/ending. Topping it all off was releasing Ch. 2 for free when it was originally going to be paid because Toby Fox is a mensch.

Arrest of a stone Buddha - I’m going with this as a heterodox choice. For a game so short, this did leave a long impressive especially considering it was one of the first games I finished last year. On the one hand it’s an arty “experience”, but there’s so much pure action too.

High

Metal Slader Glory - It has some problems, but it’s truly shocking that this is was a game actually on the FC. I really hope Nintendo remakes this particularly since the creator (really the author since he did so much himself) is open to it.

Metroid Dread - My feelings for it have improved since playing it. One of the interesting things is that there’s actually a lot of unintentional sequence breaks so there’s a lot to explore that way despite the game being very directed otherwise.

Shin Megami Tensei V - This would have been an easy GOTY for me since the gameplay is series best, but the story takes a little much of a back seat for the most part despite a lot of promise.

Vaporum - I was very surprised at how much I ended up liking this real time dungeon crawler as that’s a genre I’m not usually too keen on. A lot of interesting story kept me going when the core gameplay started to wear on me. Shame the second game isn’t as good and feels rushed out the door before being fully completed.

Valley - This had slipped me by entirely, but it’s actually an extremely good first person platformer. Biggest problem it has is shying away from presenting itself that way.

---

Mid

Assassin’s Creed IV/Rogue - Finished off the other set on Switch, and it’s a mixed bag. IV has some nice pirate-y stuff, but it’s also a little boring and the engine seems to not handle tropical environments well. Rogue is somewhat better in gameplay, but the plot is worse.

Famicom Detective Club - I liked the Missing Heir, but thought The Girl Who Stands Behind was a lot worse. It’s easier to rip off Agatha Christie and do it well than it is to rip off Dario Argento.

God EaterMonster Hunter Rise - That’s really the problem i had with it. It has an audience GE overall doesn’t have especially on Nintendo systems where 3 was something like 10% of the overall sales. If you don’t care about MP, GE3 honestly might be the better choice.

Kowloon Highschool Chronicle - I had written before that this might have better stayed an untranslated curiosity as the actual game doesn’t quite work although it is decent for the most part. The mini 8-bit RPG inside it is pretty good though.

Legend of Mana - It’s such a mess of a game with gameplay that’s so easy it makes many of the side elements completely pointless. There’s still some fun here, but I called it a bundle of parts taped together, and I haven’t changed my mind. I would have rather not replayed it and kept my earlier more positive memories.

---

Low

Bravely Default II - It’s fine I guess, but it’s generally a bad idea to make a game that’s completely trivial to break wide open. The other games could be too, but they didn’t involve the starting class and one of the first classes you acquire.

Crystal Ortha - Kemco might as well be called Kure-shi RPG Factory these days, but there are some real gems. This is not one of them. Such a miss from Hit-Point after the truly excellent Monster Viator.

Mary Skelter Finale - Not just a disappointment, but painfully boring too. Dungeons are way too sprawling, and it was a huge mistake to split up all the characters into fixed parties. There’s too much repetition because of that, and various gameplay systems get screwy when only one party has access to specific characters.

Phoenotopia Awakening - I don’t want to pile onto this since it kinda flopped and was made by one person, but it should be taken as a cautionary tale about putting too much work into elements that barely matter (a bajillion cookable foods you’ll never see) versus ones that matter e.g. the awful base equipment progression. More a disappointment than a low, but it’s a shame how some tweaks that’ll never happen could have made it so much better.

SMT III HD - Finally got a chance to play it, and boy was I disappointed. Thinking back, so much of it comes down to demon negotiation being completely random in the Maniax version that was the base of the western release and the HD ports. I forget if I mentioned this before, but the reception of the original game in Japan was significantly cooler compared to the west despite good reviews and it actually underperformed Atlus’s expectations.

Worst

The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - This wasn’t my lowest scoring game, but it was such a gigantic disappointment. Such an interesting premise absolutely wasted on a scattershot plot with so many contrivances. I thought a lot of the complaints I saw about this when the original came out were trolling, but it might have actually been worse than I imagined. It’s also so boring with text that absolutely crawls compared to other games in the series. Maybe the sequel redeems this game, but I could never bring myself to get to it. Maybe this year I will in some lull, but I’m dreading that occurrence.

---

General Things

Picross - I’m actually starting to get towards the end of all the official Picross games. Mostly a lot of uniformity between sub-series with some highs and lows here and there.

Shooters in general - Started the year with a few Psikyo games, and ended with a bunch of Compile. I always meant to go back to Psikyo, but never did. I guess in that sense Compile’s games have a synergy that Psikyo’s don’t. Or maybe I’ll feel completely differently once I do finally return to them.

SNK 40th Collection - Some good, some bad which isn’t surprising for such a large collection. It would have been interesting to see some better control schemes for some of the NES ports, but the collection as a whole has some weird sloppiness in the programming that maybe it’s better that it wasn’t attempted.

[Digitalnametag]

High

Persona 5 Strikers - Fun follow up to the base game. Awesome remixes of the already great P5 soundtrack and a fun action based battle system. Hard to tell this is an Omega Force game.

Ys IX Monstrum Nox - While not quite as good as VIII this is still an excellent follow up. It definitely feels more constrained due to the central location but the battles are still fast paced and the music catchy.

Tales of Arise - After the long break after Bersaria it's good to see Tales of back. A solid game.

Tales of Abyss - The last Tales of I had not beaten. Of the localized ones anyway. Glad to clear the backlog of this and enjoyed doing it! Symphonia is still my favorite but I can see why people make an argument for Abyss.

Slay the Spire - Card based rogue-like? You had me at 'card based'.

Shadowverse: Champions Battle - A surprisingly enjoyable game for being similar to Hearthstone and based off an anime adaptation meant to push the original digital game. What a mouthful.


Low

Blue Reflection Second Light - Probably the worst game I beat this year. Not terrible but also not very good.

NEO: The World Ends With You - This could have been better. Relies too much on its better predecessor instead of telling a unique story. Not the sequel we wanted. Except...


Best Soundtrack

NEO: The World Ends With You - Persona 5 Strikers is real close here. I was disappointed with a lot of things in NEO but damn is the soundtrack fire. Remixes of old songs and great new ones. I've been listening to the soundtrack a lot over the last year. Almost makes me forgive the rest of the game. Almost.

Game of the Year

Hades - I typically avoid the media darling games that people lavish praise on and this one got a lot in 2020. It can't be that good! Well...it is. I started playing this thinking I'd clear it once. And then just another 9 times. And then just until I got to the True Ending. And then I kept playing. My brother bought the game and played it as well. So yeah. I share the popular opinion of the 2020 gaming media. Gah! Next you'll have me saying I like Undertale or something.

[spanky]

These are always hard for me to do, mainly because I have a habit of forgetting what I've played. Time goes so fast for me now. Here's a few games that immediately come to mind though.

High

Hades - Yep, got completely caught up in this. Was NOT expecting to love it so much.

Final Fantasy VI T-Edition - I ended up losing my save (though I found another one) but I really love FFVI and this breathes new life into the game.

Metroid Dread - An extremely smartly designed entry into the series.

Trials of Mana - One of the best remakes I think I've played and manages to fix most of the problems I had with the original.

Mid

Super Mario 64 - I went in on a family membership with some friends for the Expansion Pack, which I do agree is quite overpriced! Emulation issues aside, it was fun to revisit this as I had not played it in probably 20 years.

Retromania Wrestling - A fun, if somewhat underdeveloped spiritual successor to Technos WWF Wrestlefest. 

Low

Final Fantasy VII Remake -  Despite all the hype, I just could not get into this. It was relatively fun to play, I just don't really care for the decompressed version of a story I've already played through many times

[Null0x00]

High

Quake - It finally got an unexpected remastered version that blows away the previous DOS and Windows version. Great modern support plus all the previously released expansions and brand new online matchmaking. This is how you rerelease an old game.

Sora - Have had for years but finally got around to playing it, and it's an excellent 2D action game/shmup. It's always been peculiar to me that Orange_Juice are mostly known as makers of doujin shmups that only really appeal to hardcore gamers, but their most popular game by far is a cutesy, low stakes digital boardgame (100% Orange Juice, if you didn't know).

Xmas Shooting — Scramble!! - First time I've played this too. Christmas NiGHTS and Blue Stinger now have a good stablemate for worthy Christmas themed videogames.

Hades - An obviously good and polished experience that almost feels like a Greco-Roman Binding of Isaac played from an isometric perspective instead of like the classic Zelda of that game. Still need to beat it at least once, but it's definitely a worthy game from what I can tell.

Stardew Valley - The closest game I've played to Harvest Moon and something that I spent 80+ hours on as I loved it so much. Got far enough to rebuild the community centre, but I'll be damned to spend the hundreds of hours needed to 100% everything.

Mid

Balan Wonderworld - Also ranked as the year's most disappointing game. I know it's basically become the internet's punching bag due to the cutscenes and dance numbers, but it's hardly the worst platformer ever made. It's just completely mediocre and unmemorable outside of the memes. A worthy NiGHTS successor this is not.

Super Mario 64 - It's the first time I've ever played it (shockingly) and even though I understand its importance in gaming history, playing on the Switch without the N64 controller that it was designed for makes for a significantly compromised experience. I would honestly give this game another chance if I could get my hands on the new Switch N64 controllers and see how it plays then, but given they're sold out and I'll be damned to pay scalper prices, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

Guilty Gear Strive - A solid fighting game that just has too few characters and one of the worst lobby systems I've seen in a fighting game. Will probably get better once it releases DLC characters but really, is this what modern $60-80 games have been reduced too? Full price early access game that you have to spend more money on to get the complete experience? I blame Street Fighter V for starting this trend in fighting games.

Street Fighter V - It finally feels like a complete game now after five seasons of DLC, but even so the more I play this the more I realise how stupid most of the new mechanics added to this game are, and that it really is a massively dumbed-down experience compared to Ultra Street Fighter IV. That game basically revolved around hard-to-execute links and FADC combos that required genuine skill to do reliably, and this game mostly removes all of that with its V-Triggers, Crush Counters that always make throwing out lights risky, annoying 50/50 guess games on wake-up and easy to execute safe combos that still do a ton of damage. I hope any future Street Fighter 6 is significantly better.

Low

Operation Body Count - It's Capstone garbage so really, what where you expecting? Probably the worst game I've played all year. Will likely play Corridor 7 this year to cap off (sorry) the unholy Capstone FPS trinity.

Game of the Year

Cruelty Squad - The only new game that's worthy of a GOTY award is one that deliberately goes out of it way to throw the proverbial middle finger at all conventional AAA design, by trying to be as off-putting and esoteric as possible for a FPS. That's probably what makes it such a great experience when you scratch away the garish surface and find the genuinely solid game underneath it that actually gives the player enough credit and freedom to beat the levels how they want. Compared to everything that I played in 2021, nothing really came close.

[retr0gamer]

Had a good 2021 in terms of games. I finished 56 games and DLC campaigns. It's a massive amount compared to previous years not not managed that since college. I made a vow to ignore all big budget Triple A games that waste your time and as a result I'm enjoying games an awful lot more.

I have a disappointing section for games that I had built up for years and finally got to play and really disappointed me and ended up bad or average.

Currently nearing the end of Trails in the Sky: SC and loving it. It's been keeping me occupied the last few weeks.

--Excellent--

Streets of Rage 4|PC
Sekiro|PC
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim|PS4
Mischief Makers|N64
Deception 4: Blood Ties|PS4
Thief 2: The Metal Age|PC
Resident Evil Village|PC
DuckTales|NES
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions|Android
No One Lives Forever|PC
Yakuza: Like a Dragon|PC
Fuga: Melodies of Steel|PC
Quake|PC
Return of the Obra Dinn|PC
Sweet Home|NES
Umurangi Generation|PC
Umurangi Generation: Macro DLC|PC
Metroid Dread|Switch
Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge|Gameboy

--Good--

Megaman X2|SNES
Megaman 8|PS1
Command & Conquer: Red Alert|PC
Final Fantasy Adventure|Gameboy
Virtua Racing|Switch
Crysis Remaster|PC
God of War: Chain of Olympus|PS3
Live a Live|SNES
Clockwork Knight|Saturn
Double Dragon|NES
Air Combat|PS1
Kamui|PC
DuckTales 2|NES
Turok Dinosaur Hunter|PC
Ape Escape|PS1
DuckTales Remastered|PC
Asterix|Master System
Tail Concerto|PS1
Contra 3 (Hard Mode)|SNES
Rocket Knight|PC
Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon|PC
Picross S3|Switch

--Average--

Megaman 7|SNES
Megaman X3|SNES
Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus (DLC)|PC
Professor Layton and Pandora's Box|Android
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure|Megadrive
Final Fantasy II: Pixel Remaster|PC
Yakuza: Dead Souls|PS3

--Disappointing--

Secret of Mana|SNES
Enemy Zero|PC
Sparkster (Hard Mode)|SNES

--Bad--

Megaman & Bass|SNES
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhead|PC
Drakengard 3|PS3
Halo 5: Guardians|XBox One