What are your 2016 GOTY contenders?

[Metal Jesus]

I have really enjoyed Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)

[noiseredux]

here we go: http://www.rfgeneration.com/news/pc/noi ... n-3414.php

[Exhuminator]

here we go: http://www.rfgeneration.com/news/pc/noi ... n-3414.php

Glad to see The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain made your list.

[alienjesus]

I barely played 5 games that actuall released this year, so my top 10 list is going to be picked from games which I beat for the first time this year.

First off, honourable mentions:

Sega 3D Classics games (3DS eShop) - I enjoyed a lot of these, but many of them were just versions of games I already played before and loved, made even better. If I'd included them, my top 10 would have been full of the likes of Gunstar Heroes and Streets of Rage 2, which isn't fair to the new games I beat this year.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS) - This is here for the same reasoning as the above. I love Majora's Mask, and it would have made the top 5 had it been a totally new experience. Like Ocarina 3D before it, this is the definitive version of this game.

Panic Bomber (Virtual Boy) - This is here because I think it's drastically underrated. Not only is it a damn fine puzzle game, but it's a damn fine Virtual Boy game too. Give it a go if you can!

Power Blade (NES) - This is a fun little romp, quite easy but a ton of fun. I think it deserves to be better known than it is.

Castlevania (NES) - It's not perfect, but it is a great start to a great series. I enjoyed my time with it.

Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu To Hikari No Tsurugi (Famicom) - I adore this series, and this first entry holds up surprisingly well, despite a few quirky mechanics and it lacking some of the modern conveniences of later entries in the series.

There are some other noteworthy games that I won't write up too - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice, Rhythm Paradise Megamix, Super Aleste, Sega Rally Championship, 1080 Avalanche and Lost Kingdoms are all fun games deserving of your time.


Now for the main event:

10. New Adventure Island (PC Engine)

I've always liked the original Wonder Boy and the Adventure Island games well enough, but I've not been crazy about them. This one is an absolute blast though - very fast paced, quick action and some genuine challenge. I couldn't stop playing it.

9. Mugen Senshi Valis III: The Fantasm Soldier (PC Engine CD)

This is a great little action game, with a variety of options to proceed thanks to multiple characters with different weapons and magic and some fun challenges to overcome. The difficulty curve is all over the place, and not all the level designs are great, but it manages to be too much fun for it's flaws to drag it down.

8. Super Monkey Ball (Gamecube)

I had played a little Super Monkey Ball back when I was a teenager, and remember not thinking much of the main game, sticking mainly to the mini-games. Well, teenage me is stupid, because Super Monkey Ball is fantastic fun. I still haven't managed to get through the Expert difficulty, but one day....

7. Rocket Knight Adventures (Mega Drive)

I'd heard good things about this game for quite some time, and when I finally got to it, it held up to the praise. Konami's output on the Mega Drive always seemed like they were trying to match their former colleagues at Treasure, and this is no exception - there's a ton of great setpieces and impressive graphical effects throughout. Definitely worth your time.

6. Klonoa: Door To Phantomile (PS1 Classics)

Here's another game I'd heard a lot of praise for, but it ever really looked like it was all that great to me. Well, I was wrong, because this game is great. The mechanic of inflating your enemies and using them to double jump is unique and interesting, and the game does it's best to keep the stages and challenges interesting throughout. Pretty great stuff.

5. Mystic Quest (Game Boy)

Better known as Final Fantasy Adventure in the US and as the first Seiken Densetsu game in Japan (it's sequel was known as Secret of Mana in the west), this is quite a different experience to it's sequel. Whereas that is more RPG heavy, this one takes a lot more cues from Zelda, with more action focus and puzzle filled dungeons. It's also pretty great, with a surprisingly long adventure, hilarious but not confusing Engrish translation and some brilliant music. A must-own for the system.

4. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS)

I know not everyone on the forum is a fan of this title, but I loved it. I found the story compelling, and the escape the room style puzzles were a lot of fun. The true ending I found satisfying and strange, and despite some flaws with how it handles replays, I didn't find repeat playthroughs to be too tedious. I'm glad they apparently improved that in the sequel though.

3. Pokémon Sun (3DS)

The latest Pokémon game isn't without it's flaws - dungeons are too basic, some areas feel like they didn't have time to finish them, with apparently pointless landmarks and unaccessable areas (see: golf course, lighthouse). However, it's clearly a labour of love, and I found this to be an utterly compelling and fun entry in the series. If we get a '3rd' version of this for Switch, as rumoured, then I hope it will be even better.

2. Ikaruga (Gamecube)

I've known I love Ikaruga for years and years now. It was the game that got me into shmups, and it really captures that zen like feeling of weaving through the bullets perfectly. However, it's balls hard and I've never managed to beat it to include it on one of those lists. Well, it's finally beaten (with like 7 credits, but hey, I'll take it, I still used limited continues!) and I loved it. One day I'll manage to beat down the number of credits I need, but I'm happy to finally have gotten to experience this game in it's entirety at last.

1. Persona 4 Golden (Vita)

It's rare that an RPG can keep me fully invested for 80+ hours, but here is one that did. And that's mainly because it's not only an RPG - the social, visual novel and dating sim like aspects of the 'normal' world in Persona 4 were probably even more compelling than the odd, dungeon crawling world inside the TV. The story was interesting throughout, and despite it's over-reliance on your usual anime tropes, and ended up really invested in the world, the characters and the story of the game. I look forward to Persona 5 coming out next year.

[Xeogred]

Super Monkey Ball is incredible. I really want more games like that. The XBLA one was pretty cool too.

[Markies]

Here is the list of the best games I beat in 2016!

10. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (XBOX)
9. Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice (PS2)
8. Doom 3 (XBOX)
7. Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge (XBOX)
6. Mega Man 5 (NES)
5. Mega Man 6 (NES)
4. Resident Evil 4 (GCN)
3. Parasite Eve (PS1)
2. Shining Force (GEN)
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)

I could have easily done a top 15 as eliminating the final 5 was incredibly difficult. 1 & 2 were the only ones in concrete and then everything else fell into place. Looking back, I played some really good games in 2016!

[ElkinFencer10]

Persona 4 is a fucking masterpiece.

[Sload Soap]

I played a lot of very good games in 2016 and while it was hard to narrow down my honourable mentions (Doom, FFXV, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Castlevania, Yoshi's Wooly World, Pitfall!, Power Blade) there is one clear winner.

Super Mario 3D World. Brilliant on your own, brilliant with friends, an amazing distillation of almost everything that makes Mario Super in his 30 years, both 2D and 3D.