Author Topic: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011  (Read 10611 times)

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Offline Halbred

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NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« on: December 27, 2011, 01:46:50 PM »

After a lot of bickering, we came up with a list of what we think are our collective 10 favorite games of 2011.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/28809

2011 was a year that featured the death of an old console, the birth of a new one, and the DS. But all jokes about the Wii's premature death aside, there were some awesome games released last year.

Eschewing the categories of old, we're just giving you a list of 10 amazing games that came out in 2011 that we think are fantastic. This is by no means a definitive top 10 list, and the games are presented in no particular order.

So join us for the next two weeks as we reveal our 2011 10.

Following that, each staffer will have their own space to write about the year in memory, and also touch on games that weren't mentioned in this list.

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Offline pureval

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2012, 10:48:28 PM »
I am still absolutely kicking myself for not picking up Radiant Historia when I saw it on the shelf at a local Gamestop. I had not idea the game would be available for such a short time. I walked away thinking "I will just get it for Christmas, no since buying it now when I do not have time to play it." Sadly with the price it is going for now I will probably never get the chance to play it.

Offline Tween20

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2012, 10:58:49 PM »
Of all the game I have played on the recommendation of NWR (and RFN in particular), this is the one I appreciate the most.  The set-up and execution of this game is perfect.  Definitely one of my favorite games of the year, and perhaps on the entire DS.

Offline Crimm

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2012, 03:21:35 AM »
I don't discuss what I dislike about the game in this space, although I do cover it in the review. The combat is way overboard. General enemies should not be this difficult or frequent. I've not seen this kind of abuse by the grunts since Skies of Arcadia.


But god, this game is good.
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Offline Tween20

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2012, 09:51:00 AM »
The combat is way overboard. General enemies should not be this difficult or frequent.

I don't have the experience that you do in this genre, but I did not find it to be so.  If I needed experience, I fought.  If not, I ran.  And I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of figuring out how to multiply hits, so it never seemed so burdensome. Thanks again for the recommendation.

Offline NWR_insanolord

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2012, 03:11:51 PM »
I had to restrain myself for the article, but as I've said elsewhere, I honestly think Super Mario 3D Land is the best game I've ever played.
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Offline UncleBob

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2012, 03:58:54 PM »
I guess I lose my gamer card here.

I'm not really enjoying SM3DL.  I've tried and tried.  It's not *bad*, but... 'meh.
I'd rather just have another New Super Mario Bros.

Then, of course, Mr. "Super Mario World and Link to the Past" Suck likes it, so, perhaps, not all is lost. :D
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Offline NWR_insanolord

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2012, 04:09:37 PM »
I don't understand how anyone could prefer a New Super Mario Bros. title to anything made by EAD Tokyo. Sure, the multiplayer in the DS game is amazing, but I'd much rather see that brought back in a standalone eShop title and let the actual platformers be done by a developer with more creative ambition.
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Offline UncleBob

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #8 on: January 02, 2012, 04:26:55 PM »
I'd love to see the DS Multi-player as an eShop download.  I could finally put NSMB back in the case... :D

But as far as the main game goes... I just don't care for the 3D gameplay (not the 3D effects).  Honestly, I've not been a fan of any of the 3D Mario games (64, Sunshine, 64 DS, Galaxy, Galaxy 2).  They're good enough that I keep buying them for some reason... but, I'd rather have a 2D game...
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #9 on: January 02, 2012, 04:38:20 PM »
I think SM3DL is fun, but far from the best. It was also far too easy if you ask me. I breezed through the majority of it rather quickly really only dying because I was trying to rush through it.

I think my favorite Mario of all time right now has to be SM64. Nothing beats that first Mario in 3D experience for me. SMB3 or SMW was probably my favorite 2D mario though.

Offline KDR_11k

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #10 on: January 02, 2012, 04:48:45 PM »
SM3DL has the advantage that it works REALLY well as a handheld game. Also I could never get into SM64, those level designs just feel extremely wonky.

Offline frostybro24

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #11 on: January 03, 2012, 01:15:56 PM »
prices for radiant historia on amazon start at $55 used... holy ****
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Offline xcwarrior

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #12 on: January 03, 2012, 09:06:46 PM »
So not fair that you can't find Radiant Historia for a price that doesn't involve taking on a second mortgage. Why didn't I buy it the day it was $20 on Amazon. DOH!
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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2012, 12:46:42 AM »
Been trying to find this game at a reasonable price for awhile now. I should have picked this one up when I had the chance.
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Offline Nbz

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #15 on: January 04, 2012, 09:16:31 AM »
MK7 is without a doubt the most fun I've had playing a Nintendo game online. The communities are such an excellent feature which I think more Nintendo online games in the future should contain. I'd agree heavily with its lack of innovation, but I'm not really too bothered by it. The only thing I would have liked is a more fleshed out single player experience. Once you have unlocked all the characters there is no real reason to ever touch GP mode again. I really wish they would have brought back the mission mode from DS, because atm I'm only using this game for online play and I would have loved to have some extra stuff to do when I don't have internet access.

Offline ejamer

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #16 on: January 04, 2012, 11:05:19 AM »
$34.99 w/ Music CD @ Best Buy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Radiant+Historia+with+Music+CD+-+Nintendo+DS/2107079.p?id=1218309756787&skuId=2107079&cmp=RMX&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=2107079

ridiculous pricing everywhere else. $50-$80something.


Nice deal - getting the CD bonus is great and actually worthwhile for this game.
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #17 on: January 04, 2012, 12:25:45 PM »
I find it hard to agree with this... I've written my own review of the game, and I just found it to be extremely lackluster from the perspective of most Mario platformers. And I'll say this now and let the rage pour upon me, but the Tanooki suit is ridiculously overused in this game, if only because it corrects the majority of the flaws in the game- cheap deaths dealing with camera angles, difficult grunt enemies, and overuse of bottomless pits.

:D
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Offline Eyothrie

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #18 on: January 04, 2012, 12:53:03 PM »
$34.99 w/ Music CD @ Best Buy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Radiant+Historia+with+Music+CD+-+Nintendo+DS/2107079.p?id=1218309756787&skuId=2107079&cmp=RMX&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=2107079

ridiculous pricing everywhere else. $50-$80something.

Its backordered, and I wonder if Best Buy will even get in a new shipment.  I was under the impression that the bundle with the CD was first print only
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #19 on: January 04, 2012, 04:10:50 PM »
Somehow I just lack the desire to play Skyward Sword. Between motion controls that just don't work for me and constantly make me swing in the wrong direction (for reference, I had no trouble with games like Red Steel 2, Wii Sports Resort or Zangeki no Reginleiv) and the constant talk about how badly padded it is on various podcasts I haven't played further than finishing the second dungeon. Hell, the new controls aren't even analog and many of the obstacles that I've seen rely on the bomb bowling were extremely hard to pull of, in large part because I couldn't control the aiming direction for the things finely enough. Combat hardly works for me, roughly half of my initial swings go the wrong way (usually right into enemy defenses) so I prefer to not Z-target (the AI seems less quick to react when it's not Z-targeted) and just waggle, I get more hits that way. Knowing what to do but failing at it because the controls seem inadequate for the challenge is pure frustration.

Offline TalesOfFan

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #20 on: January 04, 2012, 09:11:03 PM »
Somehow I just lack the desire to play Skyward Sword. Between motion controls that just don't work for me and constantly make me swing in the wrong direction (for reference, I had no trouble with games like Red Steel 2, Wii Sports Resort or Zangeki no Reginleiv) and the constant talk about how badly padded it is on various podcasts I haven't played further than finishing the second dungeon. Hell, the new controls aren't even analog and many of the obstacles that I've seen rely on the bomb bowling were extremely hard to pull of, in large part because I couldn't control the aiming direction for the things finely enough. Combat hardly works for me, roughly half of my initial swings go the wrong way (usually right into enemy defenses) so I prefer to not Z-target (the AI seems less quick to react when it's not Z-targeted) and just waggle, I get more hits that way. Knowing what to do but failing at it because the controls seem inadequate for the challenge is pure frustration.
Are you playing the game in a brightly lit room? I've heard that can interfere with the controls; otherwise, they've worked like a charm for me.
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Offline Crimm

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #21 on: January 05, 2012, 12:12:54 PM »
The CD is first shipment only. Jonny's copy is from the second run and he did not get the CD.
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #22 on: January 05, 2012, 01:04:20 PM »
Somehow I just lack the desire to play Skyward Sword. Between motion controls that just don't work for me and constantly make me swing in the wrong direction (for reference, I had no trouble with games like Red Steel 2, Wii Sports Resort or Zangeki no Reginleiv) and the constant talk about how badly padded it is on various podcasts I haven't played further than finishing the second dungeon. Hell, the new controls aren't even analog and many of the obstacles that I've seen rely on the bomb bowling were extremely hard to pull of, in large part because I couldn't control the aiming direction for the things finely enough. Combat hardly works for me, roughly half of my initial swings go the wrong way (usually right into enemy defenses) so I prefer to not Z-target (the AI seems less quick to react when it's not Z-targeted) and just waggle, I get more hits that way. Knowing what to do but failing at it because the controls seem inadequate for the challenge is pure frustration.
Are you playing the game in a brightly lit room? I've heard that can interfere with the controls; otherwise, they've worked like a charm for me.

I'm playing in the same room that I always play Wii games in and never had trouble with. The issue is with swings (and a lot of unnecessary control drifting that comes from using the motion plus for things that the IR can simply do better), at the speed of a swing there's no way for the IR to keep track of what's happening so it's all on the motion plus and it simply reports the wrong swing direction (e.g. I swipe horizontally and the game does a vertical slash). Often I end up with a completely wrong orientation of my item after one swing (especially with the bug net) and need to let the IR recenter the controls.

Offline Cyrian

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Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #23 on: January 05, 2012, 03:00:34 PM »
Its backordered, and I wonder if Best Buy will even get in a new shipment.  I was under the impression that the bundle with the CD was first print only

I wouldn't get your hopes up.  A lot of people on the CAG forums apparently had issues with Best Buy cancelling a lot of orders from Black Friday.  I ordered one just in case but I'm not really expecting it to ever come.

Re: NWR Staff's Favorite 10 Games of 2011
« Reply #24 on: January 05, 2012, 07:44:15 PM »
I'll have to agree with Zach about Mighty Switch Force being the best eshop game on the 3DS. I only wish that there was more levels. It did take me awhile to beat some of those par times. I'm also curious as to what you meant by letting chance decide which of those three eshop games were the best?
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