First GOTM finished for May 2024. After playing Terranigma, and quite enjoying that one, I was excited to finally get around to Illusion of Gaia. It's...alright. Nothing in it blew me away, the music wasn't terribly memorable, and the writing felt stilted and off. The character transformations were fun, and some of the boss fights were entertaining, but often the actual gameplay mostly devolved into poking stuff with a flute. Level design wasn't all that great, but there were some interesting puzzles thrown in that I enjoyed. The story was sometimes just all over the place, and even having beaten the entire game I still feel like a chunk of lore is missing. Glad to have finally gotten around to this one, but overall a pretty average experience.

Third GOTM finished for April 2024. Does it show its age as an early 3D game from the 90's going back to it now? Absolutely. Is it still one of the most incredible, influential games ever made? Absolutely. The Ship of Harkinian port made this one feel like I remember playing it as a kid, with the improvements really heightening my experience revisiting this one. Hard to say much about arguably one of the most talked about games to ever exist, but I had an absolute blast revisiting my childhood in the world of Hyrule!

Second GOTM finished for April 2024. I'm still not sure if this game deserves this high of a rating, but the uniqueness of the overall presentation and that last chapter/ending sequence feels like it helps elevate what might otherwise just be an average game. The polish put into this remake is stellar. The graphics are great, the music is incredible, and lots of QOL improvements and changes help to streamline and improve the experience. As with any of these "Anthology" type games, not every story is going to hit, and some are even going to be unpleasant. However, there's likely something here for everyone, and making each scenario feel different and unique really helps to keep the game feeling fresh all the way to the end. Again, that last chapter and end-game sequence (while slow in the dungeons) really made for a great finish. It may not be an amazing game, but it was a truly unique experience!

Twelfth GOTW finished for 2024. Cool concept of mixing SHMUPS with a competitive match-puzzle game like Kirby's Avalanche. I got the basic idea behind the gameplay and the controls, but I beat the entire game and I'm STILL not sure I actually knew what I was doing. Pure chaos in the later levels, and that final boss was a massive difficulty spike that I feel like I only somehow scraped through. Neat idea, cute sprites and characters, just didn't gel with this one. Maybe it's better in multiplayer.

Eleventh GOTW finished for 2024. This one absolutely clicked with me. There is no "story" in the Story Mode, which is a shame given the source material, but the gameplay alone still held up really well. The controls are relatively simple on the surface - A to dodge, B to punch, and R for special. However, the way you utilize distance and direction using the D-Pad in this game offers a lot of variety (if very poorly explained) and makes for lots of options in how you fight your opponents. Pressing opponents without a game plan can often put your ass on the mat, so identifying opponent's patterns and taking opportunities with your openings and blocking/dodging made for some surprisingly intense moments in the game. Great looking sprites as well. Great all around boxing game, very much enjoyed this one!

First GOTM finished for April 2024. Branching narrative paths and player choice sound compelling and interesting, but the short run time and somewhat aimlessness of the story beats leaves this one ultimately feeling uninteresting and without any meaningful depth. Lots of replayability, and spending time wandering around and finding different dialogue and story options would've tickled my fancy as a one-game-a-year kiddo, but as an adult with much better games around the lack of compelling narrative drivers and the short run time ultimately left this one feeling like an ambitious idea dragged down by poor execution.

Third GOTM finished for March 2024. I wasn't necessarily blow away by this game - the graphics were good and the weapon options and variety were fun, but the story was barely serviceable and some of the platforming bits and enemies were quite annoying - but I am extremely impressed by the fact that I played a PC game on a Genesis emulator. I've been hearing about this one for a while, so I'm glad to have finally gotten around to experiencing it, but there isn't enough here for me to want to come back for a better ending (mind you, I got the "Normal" ending). Music did kick ass though!

Second GOTM finished for March 2024. For the amount of effort put into this remake alone, this game is phenomenal. I can't remember the last time I played a "remake" or "remaster" and truly felt myself in awe while playing. Not only is it stunning to look at, but the QOL and accessibility features are outstanding. The gameplay loop, while easily broken, was also really fun and diving into the skills and combat mechanics was enjoyable. Top-to-bottom excellent remake!

However, this one isn't without its faults. The story felt pretty weak at times, especially since the main antagonists aren't introduced until about halfway through the game - briefly - and then you don't really see them again until the final dungeon. Some of the story beats felt truly geared towards the Claude and Rena interacting and being together, and every other interaction that might've deviated from that goal felt mechanical and forced. While I enjoyed interacting with many of the other characters (especially with the great voice acting), none of them really felt all that necessary to the plot and the story did its damndest to remind you of that fact. It wasn't a bad story, but it was certainly the weak spot of this game for me.

A really great game with an excellent remake, but when the core story of a game comes off this weak there isn't a whole lot a remake can do without fundamentally changing the game. I really enjoyed it, and will eventually play it again for the other protag's storyline, but it lacked just that little bit extra to make it something truly special.

Tenth GOTW finished for 2024. A clunky, bumpy, sloppy-camera riddled mess that I absolutely loved. This is objectively not a great game, but it feels like it's more indicative of the state of early 3D platformers and less because of a lack of effort on the part of the developers. There's a ton of love behind this game, packed with references and nods to the show, the actual voice actors playing a part, and lots of fun ideas that were poorly executed. To be honest, due to the poor camera control, the house often felt like the greatest adversary in this game. Most of the levels I enjoyed were played outside/away from the house, while the ones I didn't involved navigating this enormous space full of crevices, obstacles, and multiple doorways that made actually completing them a nightmare. Still, I can feel the care that went into this game, despite all its flaws, and for that I still had a good time. Gotta love that wave of nostalgia!

First Dragon Quest I've ever played, and boy was it a good one! Branching storylines across multiple generations, multiple paths/endings, a surprisingly heart wrenching story and fun characters. The dialogue was great - if often a little cheesy in some places - and the graphics were absolutely stunning with the cross-screen scenes. The monster recruitment was really cool, and added an extra layer of depth not often found in an RPG. The last dungeon was a crock and I don't understand why there wasn't a save or zoom point placed in there somewhere besides the entrance, and forcing me to choose between the canon familial party characters (which I did) or the carefully cultivated monster characters I'd been honing throughout the game (which I ultimately didn't) about 2/3 through the game left me wondering why the monster recruiting mechanic was even present at all. Those two points aside, this was an absolute treat and I'm honestly anticipating coming back to this one in a few years and trying a different story path.

First GOTM finished for March 2024. What the devs were able to do with this game in terms of visual effects and gimmicks is borderline astounding. It looks incredible, it sounds incredible, I just wish it felt incredible to play. The platforming is awfully stiff, and needing to be precise and anticipatory with many of the inputs was a big 'ol pain. It wasn't brutal in its requirements, per se, but I don't know how many times I fell down because I didn't push up on the D-pad at the right time or in the right context when trying to go up stairs. Bosses were fun and mostly unique in their mechanics, and while the level design was a little dull it was still fun to explore the spaces. Had a good time with this one overall!

Eighth GOTW finished for 2024. I had a lot more fun with this one than I thought I would. While I don't have any nostalgia or previous knowledge of the Samurai Pizza Cats animated series tie-in, I still mostly enjoyed this little platformer. Switching out characters on the fly to overcome obstacles was fun, and the difficulty didn't feel as harsh as many NES-era games love to be. Platforming controls felt pretty good for the most part, but too many times I accidentally ran while moving left and right and used several special moves while climbing up platforms due to the use of the D-Pad for additional move sets. There felt like just a tad too many levels as well, as by the end it felt like it overstayed its welcome a bit. Still a fun and cute platformer that I'm glad I tried out!