Retrogaming Review of The Year 2011

Retrogaming Review of The Year 2011

While the world becomes ever more enamoured with 3D, HD and any other expensive D's, I find myself drawn back to the games of the past, which in gaming means anything that came out before today, but for me means a little further back. I've picked out the main games that stick in my memory, so anything I played and forgot about probably wasn't worth making a note of, although some of what I do remember wasn't great! The ratings don't necessarily reflect the games as a whole, just the amount of enjoyment I felt I got out of them. So on with the list!

January - March: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004, GameCube) - It's a Nintendo classic, and having completed the first one a few years ago I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. This game started me off this year and was perfect for the dark months, travelling into deep places alone with only my arm cannon for company - it was certainly the most atmospheric game I played all year. I only got properly stuck once and embarrassingly it was a result of not having understood the map icons correctly, but it was certainly worth playing for the first time, even so many years after release. ****

January - December: UFO: Enemy Unknown (1993, Amiga 1200) - The game I always play, every Sunday, like a ritual, so this year wasn't going to be any different. It's anyone's bet as to which will fail first: the monitor, the discs or the disc drive, but I had surprisingly few problems with my Amiga this year. It's a steady contender, not flashy or special, but a workhorse of a game that I feel incomplete without at least dipping into once a week. ***

March - May: Enter The Matrix (2003, GameCube) - I kind of knew what I was getting into when I bought this and it lived up to the positives written about it (the Bullet Time is impressive), as well as the negatives (dull to look at and a bit boring). It was one of those games I felt I had to finish even though I had no desire to get back to it. I got to the end of Niobe's story, but had no wish to return and play through Ghost's side of it. I sum it up by saying I bought it cheaply, played it, and sold it cheaply. *

March - May: Smuggler's Run (2002, GameCube) - A game suited to the lighter months thanks to its outdoor environments and fast gameplay, it reminded me of one of the bonus games on 'Excitebike 64' and it had enough fun to last a while, including a multiplayer, when I could get someone else to join in. Racing towards a distant plume of yellow smoke has never been more exhilarating. ***

May - August: Knockout Kings 2003 (2002, GameCube) - I mention this only in passing as it was a game I bought, played for a while and haven't gone back to. It's my own fault, as I don't really like fighting games, but I'd hoped this would be different enough, and it was, but not enough for me to play in depth and completely. **

May - December: Boxikon (2003, MacBook Pro) - A new Mac this year made me dig out my old cover CD's and look for games to play on it, and this free trial version was the one real find. It's a simple puzzle game, a bit like 'Tetris,' but more fun, and involves placing shapes on a square board to complete a line which then vanishes. I keep meaning to buy the full version, but as yet the trial has kept me entertained enough on its own. ***

June - July: V-Rally '64 (1998, N64) - The reviews and comments on this game made it sound like one of the biggest racing challenges of its day. While I would agree it was a tough game thanks to tight time limits and an unforgiving environment that meant clipping the side of the track made you spin out violently, and difficult handling, once I got the hang of it, I was able to complete everything in the game. The main thing was that I had a great time doing it and a real sense of achievement when each track and cup fell to me, and that level of satisfaction I haven't felt for quite a while. ****

June - July: Alien Breed II (1993, Amiga 1200) - I know I wasn't going to include games I'd forgotten about, but I have to mention this tough old nut to crack, which I finally triumphed over. The last months of 2010 had put me back in touch with Amiga games on the biggest scale for years so I went through the games I had to hand and this happened to be one that worked and that I could now use the CD32 controller on, which made a difference and gave me the impetus to complete it. It only took 10-15 years, but I finally did it! A bit like 'Enter The Matrix' it was something I needed to finish, and it was tough, but I never regretted spending time on it. **

September: Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (2008, MacBook Pro) - I mention this only in passing because I wanted it, I played the first mission and then I got bored with it and never went back. Ironically this was the most contemporary game I played this year! *

September - October: The Settlers (1993, Amiga 1200) - This took up a good portion of last summer, and when I fitted a Hard Drive to my trusty Amiga I planned to gorge myself on a massive size 8 world, but never got around to it until it was too late and the Hard Drive broke down. This put me off playing what is probably my number 1 game of all time until this autumn when I got over my disappointment of having to remain satisfied with a size 5 world and just went for it. I didn't regret it and had plenty of enjoyment from this ancient game. ****

October - December: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (2001, MacBook Pro/ Powerbook) - After my Powerbook's DVD drive went kaput this year I thought I'd never be able to play the first two 'Age of Empires' games again (short of getting an expensive replacement drive), when I found my brand new Macbook didn't like them either (even though 'A of E II' is for OSX). Since both these games would probably rank in my Top 5 Games of All Time it was very disappointing. Until… towards the end of the year I found a patch that made 'A of E II' work on the MacBook, and while I love the original, 'A of E II' is superior, so I was overjoyed to be able to play it again. Not only that, but for the first time I was able to play link-up with my Powerbook which was beautiful. Not since before I sold my old PowerMac have I been able to play any 'Age of Empires' against a human opponent, and back then the PowerMac couldn't cope with 'A of E II' so this has given the game a new lease of life. Now I just need to work out why I can't save multiplayer games… ****

December: Perfect Dark 64 (2000, N64) - All year I had it in mind to get back to playing the single player game, but never got around to it, and just before Christmas I had a hankering for the old game. I also felt I ought to brush up my skills in case the multiplayer was required over Christmas so I played against the Simulants while listening to podcasts and I have to say I felt it was a limited game and so many of the problems haunted me: the slapping, the lack of intermediate AI (they're either rubbish or they don't miss), the missing game options (where's the one to give each player a set number of lives?), that I realised things have moved on since then. The game was fantastic when it came out, but with hindsight the cracks show much more. Saying that, it was still good to play, but it didn't encourage me to replay the single player. **


Next Year - What am I planning to play in 2012? Will I relent and buy an XBox or a Wii? I doubt it. Gaming still doesn't capture my imagination in the way it once did, and, as can be seen by the number of DVD episode reviews compared with game reviews on this blog, I continue to enjoy watching things more than playing them these days. But I will certainly be allowing some time for games:

- I really ought to get going on 'Asian Dynasties' as I don't want to waste it, even though it is a more restricted gaming experience than 'A of E II.'

- Talking of which, now I can play that again I might play through some of the campaigns on the hardest difficulty level.

- I've had 'Advance Wars' hanging around on my Game Boy Advance for several years now and never got into it. Maybe 2012 is the place to try?

- I've also had 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars,' 'X-Men Legends II' and 'Sonic Mega Collection' (all on 'Cube) for almost two years without really delving in.

- But enough about what I 'ought' to be playing, gaming is supposed to be fun, and I don't want to fall into the old trap of playing everything to completion even when the enjoyment factor has dropped near '0' so here are some games I'd really like to try on 'Cube: 'Dakar 2,' 'Mission: Impossible Operation Surma,' 'Starsky & Hutch' and 'Beyond Good and Evil.'

Happy New Year!