Top 50 Favorites: #30

Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes

Always loved the off-kilter, macabre simplicity of this one - its rich black-and-white visuals, classical soundtrack, and lovable silent protagonists among other aspects. What should feel like another one of Sony's underwhelming launch titles instead feels totally invigorating due to all these - on the surface - basic features implemented in the most unorthodox, freakish manner possible. Reminds me of the type of thing I'd come home to from middle school in 2011 and play on Newgrounds for a couple hours while chomping down Pringles and a pack of Starburst. A loving tribute to the flash games my generation grew up on just as the medium was starting to die out - a beautiful mix of kooky gimmick gameplay, deadly sadism, and zany humor. Only the seventh generation of gaming could have produced something so uniquely bizarre.

Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes

So unabashedly, ludicrously (and arguably accidentally) over-the-top in its offensiveness that it's impossible not to find it at least a little remarkable. I mean come on, the thing was created on the same engine as Carmageddon and released on the 41st anniversary of the actual assassination after several months of extensive research to make this as accurate as possible - by a team who had no idea the general public would find it "sickening", "despicable", and "[in] bad taste" (even after adding in enhanced blood splatter and ragdoll options). Games like that don't come around often, even if the end result is little more than a meager physics simulator in actuality. I admire not only the gall but the seemingly impossible ignorance it must have taken to make and then release this the way it did. Plus okay it's kind of hilarious making the car hook into a building at high speed and seeing everybody just launch tf out like something right out of Goat Simulator.

England during the black plague... what a time to be alive, amiright? Occasionally goes a little too ham (no pun intended) on the grimdark tone but, like, I get it - if there were any setting from history that would constitute such a constantly distressing atmosphere, this one would be a top contender. Regardless this is brisk, pretty gorgeous for what it is, and suitably gross. Has plenty to critique about religion, wealth privilege, and the English empire - but mainly seems content with putting a bunch of child protagonists through hell which - again - seems a bit of a tired field even at this point. Every ounce as simple and restrictive as The Last of Us, but I digress - it's not too shabby.

Very possibly the worst video game I've ever touched. I've been known to be relatively forgiving towards chintzy, blatant cash-grabs like this from the era - by which I mean, there tends to be a prior expectation that they're going to be pretty crappy already. But this is a new low even by that grading curve, and I didn't think the first Cars video game was even that bad, either. Muddy graphics, choppy framerate, track design that ranges from brutally boring to the most horrendous things ever, and handling that will legitimately make you curse your own soul. Those fucking Guido races are one of the top 5 worst things ever spat onto a video game disc - total luck whether or not you don't spin out for no reason (usually miliseconds before the finish line) and/or glitch right through the floor of the track. There are gripes to be made with the current state of gaming but come on, don't act like you aren't immensely glad that this borderline evil genre of games isn't poisoning the well so much anymore.

It's easy to see why this is so beloved, there's a reason for that - it's Minecraft. Countless have tried but few have actually succeeded in matching the singular atmospheric prowess going on here. The visuals, the music, the sense of calm serenity that strikes as you get lost in your own little world within it - like come on it's so goddamn chill. Its art style is so simple yet so deeply, deeply unique. Though I confess - and this is entirely a me problem here - that I find this gameplay loop seriously drags and becomes samey after only a handful of hours. So if this type of game is your bread and butter, I can 100% understand why you'd swear by it - it has enough ease-of-access to be pick up and played by anyone, but enough minute complexity to be more than a one-trick pony show. But for me personally, I only really like it sparingly. Runs like a slug on PS5, too.

One instance where I may actually prefer the original to the remake - what registered as endearingly rustic on the PS1 just feels kind of cheap, basic, and dull on the PS5 despite retaining pretty much everything the former had to offer and not even really looking bad per se. I still think this is a pretty good little platformer - but even looking at it as its own product there's still some depth problems, inconsistencies in the moveset (especially that damn rev roll), and seriously unreliable controls (most notably in original mode, where the amount of times you firmly press a direction and Pac just straight up ignores it is too high to ignore - especially in such fast-paced gameplay). It's fine but tbh it just really made me want to go back and replay Pac-Man World 2.

"ACTIVATING JOY MODULE"

One major flaw in an otherwise splendid experience - and it's that, holy shit, even by PS3 standards this framerate can CRAWL at what feels like nearly a dead stop. Still, this is a spirited and gushing love letter to the series that more than stands on its own two feet. The heart powerups and prince hop (as long as you don't rely on half-responsive motion controls) are great new additions, as is the Roboking - there's a nice balance between his insecurity and the King of All Cosmos' narcissism that keeps this feeling fresh on a level-to-level basis. Even the remixed music is fun - sure, not all of them are as good as the originals (looking at you, "The Moon & The Prince" remix) but some of them are imo, and are seriously evocative tunes in their own right. Hub menu not as good as We Love Katamari, gameplay more engaging than Katamari Damacy Reroll. Has your usual repetition problems as can be expected with the series, but this is a sadly overlooked entry. Innovates just enough without taking away the core experience, which many game franchises were guilty of doing around this time. "Even Eternal mode can't last forever", "Why do humans adore what can hurt them so badly?".

Top 50 Favorites: #41 (Included with Control: Ultimate Edition)

Just as rock-solid as the other Control expansion, but twenty times as deliciously trippy. The way this seamlessly blends two different game series into an awesome mindfuck love letter to both of them should forever be remembered - never feels forced and never reaches for cheap fan service, everything here feels 100% totally authentic. Gives away so much while actually revealing so little, mesmerizing. And like the base in addition to its aforementioned other DLC, there's sleek graphical fidelity and a pitch-perfect combat system to boot. Needs to be required playing before Alan Wake 2

Top 50 Favorites: #41 (Included with Control: Ultimate Edition)

Drop-dead gorgeous colors, perfectly fair amount of content for the price, further intrigue about a key character from the base game, psychedelic platforming, a rad new environment, and more of - like - some of the finest combat video games as a medium have to offer. Just straight-up quality all around - has the exact off-kilter energy you would want out of this IP.

Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes

Fun addition to the base game, but also like the base game it feels like you're over with it way too quickly - I'm talking like an hour tops here. I can respect that the game (and its DLC)'s main goal at the end of the day is just to fuck around with its funny physics and laugh at all the bodily mayhem you can cause within it - and make no mistake, it is absolutely a hoot to do that. But to that end it lacks the same continued quality-of-life support that Human: Fall Flat offers (for free no less - while this and the Cyberfunk add-on are paid). So this can't help but feel sadly tossed-off, flash-in-the-pan in a way - even though there's so much potential for more in it.

Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes

I'm not at all opposed to more games being unabashed Human: Fall Flat clones - even if they don't do it quite as well. As a kid I was obsessed with ragdoll physics games, so I just know I would have sunk so many hours into this had it come out back then. Knowing that alone makes me happy, but this gets plenty of points in its own right for how hilarious and quick-paced its gameplay is. Every game should have its own dedicated fart button! Though like all these types of games, my one major complaint is that it feels far too short for how surprisingly large its map is and for how many missions/side content it offers therein. Still think this is super underrated, though some of the power-ups totally trivialize all the deliveries and exploration the game was clearly built around.

A few things holding this back from true greatness, but still remains a pretty exceptional kart racer. It's a shame that its drift is so finnicky for precise play, because mechanically the thing is close to perfection - beyond satisfying to pop off perfect turbo boosts in quick succession, and it works essentially as intended for casual racing. But in a game that emphasizes its own (fair and richly rewarding) difficulty, reliable inputs are crucial - which are hindered doubly so due to this also having maybe the world's most delayed jump that will fail you at least 50% of the time. The tracks are just phenomenal though, catered sharply to the game's physics/mechanics - the only two tracks in the entire roster that are anything less than amazing are Cortex Castle and Oxide Station (can't believe there's so much love for those two considering how slapdash and awkward they feel to play). Their art style, too, is pristine. Plus, as is the case with the rest of Crash's recent fare, this feels like a God's honest love letter to the franchise. Though the crystal challenges are the same type of horrible, not fun extra content as - say - the Challenge of the Gods in the early God of War games. Also microtransactions.

Elite - a perfect encapsulation of the PS2-era's offbeat, wholesome charm. Starting off as the size of a pea to rolling up entire cities with this game's effervescent soundtrack is just a dream. The graphics, the colors, the mood, the idiosyncratic gameplay all just clicks here. Still has the issue of repetitious missions and the occasional collision problem like the (still awesome) previous game (which this improves upon in essentially every respect), but there's simply no arguing with this game's dreamy and almost childlike feeling of fun.