Best 7th generation digital only releases (including PC)

[Gamerforlife]

Our other thread seems weighted heavily towards retail games, so here's one for all the cool XBLA/PSN/DSiWare/Wii Shop/indie PC games that came out this past gen. You can't ignore how big the digital space became this past gen. In fact, I expect to see a greater variety of games in this thread. I'm assuming we consider the Vita and 3DS part of the same gen as PS4/Xbox One, so I'm leaving out eshop/Vita PSN stuff. Here's some of my faves

1. To the Moon - It told a very emotional story that I won't forget
2. Double Dragon Neon - My god Skullmageddon is awesome!
3. Castle of Illusion HD - AMAZING remake
4. Mark of the Ninja - Set the new standard for 2D stealth
5. Journey/Flower - Just about everything thatgamecompany puts out seems amazing
6. DoDoGo - Amazing lemmings style puzzle game, amazingly polished and charming
7. Fist Puncher - Really fun River City Ransom style beat 'em up
8. The Dishwasher Vampire Smiles - It's Itagaki style Ninja Gaiden in 2D, but with more polish and style.
9. Dust: An Elysian Tail - Fantastic metroidvania/beat 'em up mix, way more fun than Shadow Complex
10. Hell Yeah Wrath of the Dead Rabbit - Classic, 16-bit era Sega Style platformer

Other notables for me:
-Guacamelee - Cool metroid/beat 'em up hybrid, but not quite as cool as Dust:An Elysian Tail
-Thirty Flights of Loving - Almost feels like an awesome ride rather than a game, but awesome none the less
-Mario vs Donkey Minis March Again - Another fantastic Lemmings style puzzle game
-Outland - Like a fusion of Prince of Persia, Ikaruga, and Silhouette Mirage
-Stick it to the Man - Funny, Tim Schafer style adventure game with some stealth and platforming thrown in
-Dear Esther - More like an interactive story than a game, but memorable
-Hotline Miami - It's Drive! The Game!
-Castle Crashers - It's Castle Crashers, you all know about this game and how awesome it is

[alienjesus]

I'll mention the one (or 5, 7, or 12, depending on what you count) I always mention:

Art Style - These games are amazing. I'm not a huge fan of all of them, but the ones that do it for me hit it out of the park, and those that don't aren't bad games, they just aren't my kind of thing.

There are 5 of them on WiiWare, and 7 on DSiWare, and I'd recommend buying them all. The Wii ones are 600 points, the DSi ones are 500. Some of them are based on the Japan only Bit Generation titles for GBA.

Here's a summary of them all, listed from my favourite to least favourite - PAL name on the left, US on the right, as they often differ:

1. PicoPict/Pictobits - make 8 bit nintendo sprites and build up amazing remixed chiptunes by matching coloured blocks with the Stylus. Every retro fan owes it to themselves to play this one in my opinion. DSiWare

2. Rotohex - Rotate triangles to form hexagons. A classic match 3 style puzzler, but one that makes you think in a compeltely different way. And the music builds up in such an awesome way, it's a complete zenlike experience. WiiWare

3. Boxlife - Cut shapes out of a grid to build into boxes. A ton more fun than it sounds. Getting money lets you upgrade a little house too, which is cute. DSiWare

4. Intersect/Digidrive - Fast paced game where you have to point cars in the right direction to build up fuel which you then burn to move away from the spike of imminent death. Confusing to explain, but fast paced and fun to play. DSiWare

5. Code/Base 10 - Compelling game where you must remove numbers by adding them to 10. You can flip numbers vertically or horizontally to change them - eg flip a 5 upside down to make it into a 2. DSiWare

6. Cubello - Block matching game where you shoot blocks at a rotating shape to match them. The shape spins in response to the impacts making it trickier to hit. WiiWare

7. Aquite/Aquia - Awesome puzzle game where you have to push blocks into the tower to match them, which in turn pushes blocks out of the other side which you then have to place elsewhere. Would be much higher on the list, but it's also one of the hardest games I've ever played. DSiWare

8. Penta Tentacles/Rotozoa - Interesting game where you move a cell around trying to catch matching coloured microbes on each of its arms. Fun and challenging, but really short. WiiWare

9. Orbient - Move a planet around a galaxy absorbing other planets and stars using only gravity and anti-gravity. A lot of people like this one, but the pace is a bit slow and deliberate for my liking. WiiWare

10. KuBos/Precipice - Complex 3D block game where you must climb block towers by pushing and pulling blocks, punching them away, and colouring floor tiles. Again, very well done, but a bit slow for my tastes. DSiWare

11. Light Trax - A weird hybrid puzzle racing game where you play as a beam of light racing other beams of light. Travelling right next to other beams speed you up, but crossing their beam trail slows you right down. Really tough to play. WiiWare

12. Nemrem/Zengage - Far and away my least favourite (the only one I don't like at all), this is a very deliberate game where you must move coloured objects to the right area of the grid by sliding them around. Very frustrating in my opinion, but some people might be more into it than me. DSiWare

[cha cha]

As I said in the other 7th gen hidden gems thread... I dunno why Raskulls, Fat Princess and Guacamelee don't get a lot of love. All are amazing and innovative games with a ton of multiplayer replay value.

Raskulls- may be one of the funnest hyper casual yet competitive games ever created (I put it up there on the hallowed ground with Twinkle Star Sprites). Best described as a cross between Super Mario World, Mr. Driller, Bomberman and Mario Kart all in one!

Fat Princess- is AMAZING to play with 36 players at a LAN party, so much strategy and tech that went undiscovered by the masses! I fault PS3 for having badly implemented party chat and virtually no good built-in communication tools.

Guacamelee- at least the OP agrees with me on this game. Truly a hidden gem, and yea wish it sold better for a sequel and/or additional content, because that is all it was missing.

[fastbilly1]

Castle Crashers, Battle Block Theater, and Perfect Dark HD are the main three reasons why I have a 360.

Bomberman Blast and Bubble Bobble Wii, are two of the best Wii downloads - Bomberman is 8 player, Bubble Bobble is 4 player and has expert levels that are very difficult.

PC wise though that is like opening pandoras box. So many indie games that are excellent. FTL for example is one of the finest rougelike's I have played and I can go back to it every few weeks. Torchlight 2 is one of the best ARPG's ever created.

[lisalover1]

Fat Princess- is AMAZING to play with 36 players at a LAN party, so much strategy and tech that went undiscovered by the masses! I fault PS3 for having badly implemented party chat and virtually no good built-in communication tools.

I couldn't agree more; Fat Princess is, in my opinion, the most fun PSN exclusive out there. Definitely my most-played PS3 game.