Happy 2019, everyone! Wasn’t 2018 a totally bonkers year for video games? God of War, Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – every month seemed to deliver one hit after the other. It was just too much for my wallet to bear! Since every video game site under the Sun is compiling a list of their ‘Best of 2018’, it only made sense that we here at Duel Screens do the same. I’m going to take a different approach than my parter-in-crime Stephen Fontana, however. While I agree that 2018 brought us mega, AAA hits, I’m going to focus on a handful of smaller-scale releases that really captured my attention in 2018, even more so than their big-budget brethren.
Mega Man 11
The Blue Bomber is back and he is better than ever! There is no video game franchise that quite excites me as much as Mega Man does, and Capcom did not let me down with the eleventh installment of its iconic side-scrolling platformer. Building on the boss-ability-stealing mechanics that made Mega Man a household name, Mega Man 11 introduces a “Double Gear” system which allows you to either speed-up Mega Man’s movements (and slow down time around him), or overclock his weapons to reach their true potential. I cannot begin to describe what joy I experienced when I started playing Mega Man 11. It has all the makings of a classic Mega Man title and switches up the formula just enough to make the gameplay feel fresh and fun. My only hope is that I don’t have to wait another decade before Mega Man 12 comes out.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Who needs a new Castlevania game anyway? (um…I do). A retro-inspired prequel to the upcoming gothic-horror title Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Curse of the Moon is an NES-era lover’s dream come true. With four unique characters to choose from, Curse of the Moon looks, plays, and feels like my favorite Castlevania game of all time – Dracula’s Curse. The gameplay is better than its cartridge-based counterparts, the level design is varied and inspired, and the soundtrack will blow your freakin’ earballs off. It is the perfect way to tickle your pickle in anticipation of the main game proper . Hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer for Ritual of the Night to make good on its 2019 release window. In the meantime, however, you can always get a Symphony of the Night-style fix from my next favorite game of 2019.
Timespinner
Yet another sprite-based game on my list, Timespinner scratched a persistent Symphony of the Night itch I so desperately wanted Chasm to satisfy (spoiler alert: Chasm let me down). Timespinner is short and sweet metroid-vania of the highest quality. It’s got everything you could ask for in a game: a revenge story, time-bending abilities, and a massive world to explore. The gameplay is fast-paced and the boss battles are as difficult as they are a wondrous sight to behold. Gorgeous pixel art and a memorable score elevate Timespinner above all other games like it. Fans of the genre would be smart to keep an eye on developer Lunar Ray Games; I honestly cannot wait to see what they work on next.
Wizard of Legend
For a grown man in his mid-thirties I spend way to much time wondering what it would be like if I had magical powers. Fortunately I can live out my spell-casting fantasies with games like Wizard of Legend – a no-nonsense,
rogue-like dungeon crawler that is so packed with wizardry-action, it would put the likes of Merlin to shame. Featuring over a hundred unique spells and relics to customize the experience just the way you like it, Wizard of Legend drew me in faster than any game of this list. Its simple facade masks its ultra-difficult interior but don’t let the challenge keep you down. Nothing quite beats that feeling you get when you have gotten good enough to beat your first boss.; I screamed so loud that the neighbors thought I had won the lottery. Yeah, the video game lottery maybe. Speaking of games that make you feel like you just hit the jackpot…
Streets of Red
<Oh look, more pixels! Streets of Red may be an easy sell to someone like me with all those splendiferous sprites, but the real reason it’s on my list is because it combines two of my favorite things: video game nostalgia and 80’s B-Movie horror slashers. If you take a moment to peep that trailer, you find all sorts of horror movie icon homages ranging from Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, to Alien and Predator. To make things even more throwback, each of the six playable brawlers stems from a very specific video game character: Axel is clearly modeled after Link, Queenie is a shoe-in for the best Terra look-alike contest, and Jackson is basically sai-wielding ninja turtle Raphael..expect he isn’t a turtle. With unlockable characters and a recent free update that brings the boss count up to 15(!), Street of Red makes the wait for Streets of Rage 4 so much more bearable.
Cosmic Star Heroine
Square Enix doesn’t seem to be doing anything about a Chrono Trigger sequel any time soon. I couldn’t tell you why they would just leave money on the table like that, (honestly, I think it’s a personal problem) but in any case, Cosmic Star Heroine is the next best thing. Inspired by (you guessed it) Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star, Cosmic Star Heroine is an RPG with heart. I honestly have not been so impressed with a turn-based combat system since Legend of Legaia on the PS1. It’s got a motley crew of wonderfully diverse characters and it is a FRIGHTFULLY addictive little game; I could not put it down for days.
There you have it – my favorite games of 2018. There were so many more I wanted to mention, like The Messenger and Moonlighter, but I really had to keep myself in check here. I fall in love very easily and if I let my emotions get the better of me, this list of favorites could have quadrupled in size. How about we just jot those down as Honorable Mentions and move on. Deal? Cool.
