Games of 2017

Games of 2017

Games from a parallel Universe far, far away...

It's been another good year for games, here are some that caught our eye:

Sword of IANNA

Incredible. A huge action adventure that has it all, it's well programmed but relies on inspired game design rather than technical wizardry. The only mistake they made, if that's the word, is that there is less appetite for huge sprawling epics these days.

Circuitry

One of the top AGD games of the year, Circuitry is a hard as nails single screen platformer. Think Specventure but less ropey. The difficulty is part of the thrill, but it's hard to imagine anyone except the author getting matchfit enough to complete it without snapshots. It's very polished but the oh so familiar AGD beeper farts let it down a tiny bit.

Ooze

Brilliant gravity flipping platformer. Great graphics and music, and completion feels within reach early on, so many players will see this to the end. AGD but you wouldn't know it, not that there's anything wrong with AGD that is.

Pixel Quest2000

An addictive puzzle game that caters well to the modern player's wont to dip in and out of a game. The focus on modern sprites make it more of a niche game, but classical tastes have already been catered for with Pixel Quest.

Xelda: Quest for the Golden Apple

This game could be a good match for Brunilda, but less sophisticated graphics and task design put it a tier lower, albeit a tier with a footstool on it. Some of the early challenges may seem irksome - get the thing to get the axe, take the axe to some bloke, oh the axe is blunt, take it to this other bloke - but the player is eased in, then drawn into a very absorbing adventure.

Monty Mole and the Lost Souls

An uncomplicated, rollicking good platformer with a difficulty level that allows the modern player to complete it after a few sessions. It just about gets away with the short looped Indiana Jones theme. Just. I think.

Gamewatch continued...

Do recent years show a downward trend or a cycle? That remains to be seen..