Wednesday, 3 January 2024

Super Adventures: Game Awards 20X3

This week on Super Adventures, it's the start of 2024, so it seems like the right time for me to look back at 2023 and hand out some awards to the games that stood out and impressed me the most. Unfortunately I've barely played anything released last year and I can't just give all my awards to Octopath Traveler II and a bunch of boomer shooter demos. Well I suppose I could, but I'm not going to.

My second idea was to do the Super Adventure Game Awards 1993, because you can't go wrong with the 90s, but then I thought about all the poor 2003 and 2013 games that I'd be missing out and decided to give those years awards as well. Not 1983 though, because no one loves it. So I'll be giving out 8 awards each year, but they'll be repeated 3 times, for a total of 24 awards. I hope that helps you form a mental image of how long this is going to be.

I won't be limiting myself to games I've played for Super Adventures, as to be honest I forgotten most of the games I've written about. Power Piggs of the Dark Age and Fausseté Amour might be worthy of all kinds of awards, but I haven't got the faintest idea. I will be using the earliest release date in any region, so Seiken Densetsu 3 would be from 1995 not 2019, for example.

Also, I only know about games that I know about, and I only like the games I like, so if you're wondering why an incredibly deserving game didn't even make my shortlist, its because I'm leaving that one for you to mention in the comments.



Best Action Game
1993
The word 'action' is defined as meaning "the fact, or process of doing something", so really I could give this one award and then call the article done. It's a genre so broad it could include everything, and that's very helpful to me when I'm judging games from three separate decades for the same award. Not a lot of Soulslikes or tower defence games in 1993, but there was no shortage of action games.

In fact I'll throw 'action-adventure' into this category as well, which includes GTA sandbox games, stealth games, survival horrors, and Zelda 'em ups. Metroidvanias too. I'll be giving shooters their own award later though, because shooting never went out of fashion. So here are my nominations for Best Non-Shootery Action Game from 1993:

  • Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
  • Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
  • Cool Spot
  • Disney's Aladdin (Genesis/Mega Drive version)
  • Soccer Kid
  • Streets of Rage 2
  • Super Mario All-Stars
  • Superfrog
  • Yo! Joe!
  • Zool 2

Click to reveal the winning game.


2003
My 2003 list is a bit shorter, because I could only think of five action games I really liked. Well, action-adventures really.

  • Beyond Good & Evil
  • Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
  • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
  • Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Academy
  • True Crime: Streets of LA

I'm sorry for not including Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but this is a list of 2003 games that I actually enjoyed playing... and it originally came out in 2002. GTA took the year off as well.

Click to see the winning game.


2013
You'd think that the rise of indie developers in the 2010s would help me balance my 2013 list more toward pure action, but it didn't work out that way. That's probably my own fault though for not playing enough games.

  • Batman: Arkham Origins
  • Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
  • Guacamelee! 
  • Rogue Legacy 
  • Saints Row IV 
  • Super House of Dead Ninjas
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
  • Tomb Raider (2013)

I was at least able to come up with 8 titles this time. I could've padded it out to 10 by adding The Last of Us, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag or Grand Theft Auto V, but to be honest I've barely played the games. On the plus side, this means I'll be able to do something that other gaming sites could never do, and give the award to something other than The Last of Us.

Click to see the winning game.



Best Shooter
1993
'Shooter' is another huge category that covers all kinds of games. There are scrolling shoot 'em ups, run and guns, first person shooters... and I'll even throw space combat in as well. That means that I'm nominating games such as:

  • Cannon Fodder
  • Doom
  • In the Hunt
  • Jungle Strike
  • Starwing (Star Fox)
  • Star Wars: X-Wing
  • Stardust
  • Syndicate
  • The Chaos Engine (Soldiers of Fortune)
  • Walker

Click to see the winning game.


2003
I can't quite think of 10 choices for 2003 but here are 9 of the shooters that I liked:

  • Call of Duty
  • Chrome
  • Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
  • Metal Slug 5
  • Postal 2
  • Star Trek: Elite Force II
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
  • Unreal II: The Awakening
  • XIII

Okay, maybe I'm stretching the word 'liked' for a couple of them, but the winner absolutely deserves to be there.

Click to see the winning game.


2013
Oh no, 2013 was the year BioShock Infinite came out. No one will ever take me seriously again if I choose that as the best shooter of the year. Fortunately I've got some other options here.

  • Aliens: Colonial Marines
  • BioShock Infinite
  • Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
  • Crysis 3
  • Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
  • Rise of the Triad (2013)
  • Shadow Warrior (2013)

Sorry for the absence of Killzone: Shadow Fall and Metro: Last Light, as I haven't played them. I have played that game based on the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie starring Chris Pine, but I don't think there's any need for me to be nominating that. It's bad enough that Aliens: Colonial Marines is there.

Click to see the winning game.



Best Music
1993
This is a properly subjective award, with 1993 providing some horrifically worthy candidates. Horrifying, because now I have to decide which one to pick as the best.

  • Aladdin (Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Doom
  • Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
  • Mega Turrican (Turrican 3) - Chris Huelsbeck!
  • Plok! - Tim Follin!
  • Starwing (Star Fox)
  • Stardust
  • Streets of Rage 2
  • Super Mario All-Stars
  • Superfrog
  • The Chaos Engine (Soldiers of Fortune)
  • Yo! Joe!

Sorry, I'll stop listing them now. To be honest, most of the other games I can think of only have one or two really catchy tunes and then the rest aren't anything I need to hear again. Like I only listen to Out to Lunch's Amiga soundtrack for the two Switzerland themes (YouTube link).

Click to see the winning game.


2003
2003 is going to be more of challenge for me. As video game music got more cinematic over time it also got less catchy. I've heard so many fantastic soundtracks from this era but I just can't remember them! They blended into the gameplay too well.

  • Beyond Good and Evil
  • Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
  • Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
  • Need for Speed: Underground
  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 
  • Tales of Symphonia

I've come up with these and that's all I've got so far. I was tempted to put Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean there, but then it occurred to me that the only Baten Kaitos song I really know is Valedictory Elegy (YouTube link) and that's not even from the right game! Still a banger though.

Click to see the winning game.


2013
Now I'm really struggling. Saints Row IV is definitely on my list of best soundtracks for 2013, that much I'm sure of, and GTA V has to have an amazing soundtrack... probably, but after that I'm lost. I thought I could remember the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon theme for a moment, but then I realised I was thinking of the Thor: Ragnarok theme.

Am I going to have to listen to the OSTs of every game I've played from 2013 to do this properly? How long would that even take? 40 hours?

  • Aliens: Colonial Marines
  • Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
  • Crysis 3
  • Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
  • Rise of the Triad (2013) 
  • Saints Row IV

Okay, I'm going with this as my list, because this article was supposed to be finished in 2023 and if I keep listening to soundtracks it'll take until 2025.

Click to see the winning game.



Best Cerebral Game
1993
This category is for the point-and-click graphical adventures, the puzzle games, the strategy games, and other games that engage your brain more than your trigger finger. I had to come up with a category that could cover three decades of genres that go in and out of fashion over time, and the more genres I pack in there, the more chance that I can actually list 10 games for each year.

  • Frontier: Elite II
  • Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father 
  • Lemmings 2: The Tribes
  • Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
  • Sam & Max: Hit the Road 
  • SimCity 2000
  • Simon the Sorcerer
  • Star Trek: Judgment Rites
  • The Lost Vikings

Damn, I almost made it to 10, but not quite. I could've made it if I'd added Myst, but I never actually played the game.

Click to see the winning game.


2003
  • Command & Conquer: Generals
  • Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Damn, is that really all I can think of for 2003, one RTS and a tactical RPG? Okay, from now on this category also includes proper RPGs too. Pretend you saw Breath of Fire, Illusion of Gaia and Secret of Mana in the 1993 list; don't worry it won't make any difference to the winner.

Anyway, now I can add:

  • Deus Ex: Invisible War
  • Freelancer
  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
  • Tales of Symphonia

Click to see the winning game.


2013
Did I even play any RPGs from 2013? I suppose there was Evoland, but I didn't really get on with the game. I did play some puzzle games though, and whatever the hell The Stanley Parable is. A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story I guess.

  • Antichamber
  • Gunpoint
  • Redshirt
  • Scribblenauts: Unmasked 
  • The Stanley Parable

I haven't played Gone Home, or The Wolf Among Us, or Kentucky Route Zero either, sorry. I could go try them now, but like I said, I want to get this published in 2024.

Click to see the winning game.



Best Licensed Game
1993
Here's a category you likely didn't see coming. This award is for the best game to be based on a movie or feature a fast food mascot. Did good licensed games even exist before Arkham Asylum and Spider-Man? I suppose I'll find out.

  • Alien Vs Predator (SNES)
  • Cool Spot
  • Disney's Aladdin (Genesis/Mega Drive)
  • Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
  • McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure
  • Star Trek: Judgment Rites
  • Star Wars: Rebel Assault
  • Star Wars: X-Wing
  • Super Back to the Future II 
  • The Punisher

Click to see the winning game.


2003
Lots more Star Wars games in 2003, but which of them will I inevitably pick?
  • Justice League: Chronicles
  • Star Trek: Elite Force II
  • Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Academy
  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
  • Tron 2.0
  • XIII

Click to see the winning game.


2013
I would've guessed that 2013 would feature far fewer licenced titles than in previous decades, but Warner Bros. has really filled my list up with DC games.

  • Aliens: Colonial Marines
  • Batman: Arkham Origins
  • Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.
  • Deadpool
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us 
  • Scribblenauts: Unmasked

Click to see the winning game.



Best Competitive Game
1993
The 'Competitive' award is for games that are basically about competing against someone, either a multiplayer opponent, or the AI, or even just your own scores. It's a nice big category I can throw all the sports, fighting games, racing, pinball etc. into. Games like:

  • Micro Machines
  • Mortal Kombat II
  • Ridge Racer
  • Skidmarks
  • Virtua Fighter

I'm just throwing Virtua Fighter on there to get to the list to 5, I don't really like it much.

Click to see the winning game.


2003
My list for 2003 used to be longer, but whenever I double-checked a game's date I discovered it was from a different year. So now my options are pretty much limited to this:

  • DreamMix TV: World Fighters
  • Need for Speed: Underground

Maybe this category was a mistake!

Click to see the winning game.


2013
Man, I made a category including all games with a hint of competition, that's all sports, all racing games, everything, and this is the best I can come up with for 2013. I guess I'm not a very competitive person.
  • Grid 2
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us
  • Need for Speed: Rivals
  • Poker Night 2

Click to see the winning game.



Best Visuals (2D)
1993
This is it, the final award, well... kind of. I was originally going to just have one 'Best Visuals' award, on the assumption that 1993 would have next to no 3D games and 2003 would have no 2D worth speaking of, but I'm going to go wild and split them up into two awards anyway.

Also, this is an award for graphics, so I'm going to skip the list of nominations and show off the very best looking games of 1993. That I know about and can remember.

RUNNER-UPS

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (Arcade)

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine)

Cool Spot (SNES)

Disney's Aladdin (Genesis/Mega Drive)

Disposable Hero (Amiga)

Gabriel Knight (PC)

Gunstar Heroes (Mega Drive/Genesis)

In the Hunt (Arcade)

I had to throw an IREM game on the list.

Lionheart (Amiga)

Some Henk Nieborg pixels for you.

Mortal Kombat II (Arcade)

Did digitized sprites right.

NBA Jam (Arcade)

Perihelion (Amiga)

Has a very distinctive grey and amber palette.

Raiden II (Arcade)

Rocky Rodent (SNES)

Samurai Showdown (Arcade)

Saturday Night Slam Masters (Arcade)

(I love the dude's face on the right health bar).

Secret of Mana (SNES)

Simon the Sorcerer (PC)

Super Back to the Future II (SNES)

Superior Soldiers (Arcade)

The Chaos Engine (Amiga)

The 7th Guest (PC)

The Punisher (Arcade)

I could just keep listing arcade brawlers but I need to stop and give something an award already.

Click to see the winning game.


2003
Graphics were evolving rapidly during the 1990s and during the PlayStation era there was a real push to drop 2D graphics entirely. Pixel art was a relic of a more primitive age. There was still the GBA, heroically keeping 2D alive into the 2000s on its tiny dim screen, but this is going to be a short list:

  • Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 
  • Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
  • Metal Slug 5
  • Sword of Mana

Click to see the winning game.


2013
Indie games are where you should look if you want fantastic 2D visuals in 2013. Unfortunately I haven't played all that many that really stood out to me.

  • Goodbye Deponia
  • Guacamelee!
  • Rayman Legends
  • Rogue Legacy

Click to see the winning game.



Best Visuals (3D)
1993
3D games had been around since the '80s and the PC Engine already had a CD drive add-on for like five years, but 1993 twas the night before the dawn of the multimedia era. This is when arcade games first started getting texture mapping and consoles like the 3DO came out, so I've found a few legit 3D titles for this list. I've also also included some of those 'fly into pre-rendered video footage' games and sprite-based 3D titles like Privateer.

  • Alone in the Dark 2 
  • Doom
  • Microcosm
  • Ridge Racer
  • Starwing (Star Fox)
  • Star Wars: Rebel Assault
  • Star Wars: Trilogy
  • Star Wars: X-Wing
  • Virtua Fighter
  • Wing Commander: Privateer

RUNNER-UPS

Star Fox uses a SuperFX chip inside its cartridge to bring polygons to the SNES. It doesn't bring a lot of polygons mind you, and they don't move very quickly, but the game's art design along with its rail shooter linearity allows it to do a lot with what it has.

Here's another rail shooter, built around very different technology. Star Wars: Rebel Assault makes use of pre-rendered video instead of real-time polygons, but you're still moving through the world in 3D and you can clip your wings on the canyon walls, so it counts I think. More so than Myst and The 7th Guest.

Virtua Fighter was an absolutely groundbreaking fighting game due to its use of real-time 3D combatants made of far more polygons than Edward Carnby had back in 1992's Alone in the Dark. But it was running on the Sega Model 1 arcade board, which apparently wasn't all that keen on Gouraud shading or texture mapping, so it's not the prettiest game on the list.

Click to see the winning game.


2003
2003 wasn't really a hugely significant year in the advancement of video game graphics, that I'm aware of. Sixth-generation consoles like the PS2 and GameCube were firmly established and we were still waiting for the next leap in graphics brought in with games like Doom 3, Half-Life 2 and Far Cry. That doesn't mean the games looked bad though.

  • Beyond Good & Evil
  • Call of Duty
  • Chrome
  • Final Fantasy X-2 
  • Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
  • Need for Speed: Underground
  • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 
  • Silent Hill 3
  • Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
  • Unreal II: The Awakening

RUNNER-UPS

Beyond Good & Evil definitely looks like it's 10 years more advanced than Ridge Racer. Those may not be ray traced reflections but they're still awesome.

Chrome felt like a proto Far Cry at times with its grassy woodland environments. It's nowhere near on Far Cry's level really, but games were getting there.

I haven't played much of Final Fantasy X-2, but it makes a good first impression with areas like this. I wasn't sure at first if it was real-time or pre-rendered.

If you want pretty graphics, racing games are where you want to look, and Need for Speed: Underground is one of the most impressive of its time. I'm not just saying that because of the shiny road.

Hey it's another Ubisoft game. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time manages to impress with some nice art design and cloth physics.


Click to see the winning game.


2013
This is the last one now, the final award, the best looking 3D game of 2013.

I have to admit, I'm a little biased towards giving this to a game that's easy for me to take a screenshot from. And I'm absolutely biased towards showing off the games I've already played before.

  • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
  • Batman: Arkham Origins
  • BioShock Infinite 
  • Crysis 3
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Killzone: Shadow Fall
  • Metro: Last Light
  • Ryse: Son of Rome
  • The Last of Us
  • Tomb Raider (2013)

RUNNER-UPS

The Arkham games are all visually awesome, with the slightly unloved Arkham Origins being no exception. It features solid graphics technology combined with great art design, even if it's a bit muted compared to Arkham City.

Crysis 3 wasn't quite as stunning for its time as the original Crysis, partly because it was targeting weaker hardware, partly because time had moved on. It's still a Crysis game though, and deserves a mention.

Tomb Raider 2013 made use of cutting-edge TressFX hair simulation technology, which may or may not be turned on in this screenshot, I'm not even sure. It was a graphically impressive game in general though, and you can almost see the pretty water effects down there.


Click to see the winning game.


CONCLUSION


If there's one thing I've learned from my trip through the last few decades of video games, it's that double checking the dates of 300 games is really boring! But also necessary, as I accidentally gave an award to 2012's Fez before I caught my mistake. Why did I think this would be a low-effort article I could just rush to get done by the end of 2023? I was really dumb.

I've also learned that people who do podcasts where they rank every game ever made have a better memory than I do. I've been trying to mentally replay games in my head so I could compare them properly, but I'm lucky if I can even remember they existed.

Anyway, here's a convenient summary of the winners I picked:

1993

Best Action Game 1993 - Super Mario All-Stars
Best Shooter 1993 - Doom
Best Music 1993 - Doom
Best Cerebral Game 1993 - Day of the Tentacle
Best Licensed Game 1993 - Star Wars: X-Wing
Best Competitive Game 1993 - Mortal Kombat II
Best Visuals (2D) 1993 - Sam & Man: Hit the Road
Best Visuals (3D) 1993 - Ridge Racer


2003

Best Action Game 2003 - Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy
Best Shooter 2003 - Call of Duty
Best Music 2003 - Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Best Cerebral Game 2003 - Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Best Licensed Game 2003 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Best Competitive Game 2003 - Need for Speed: Underground
Best Visuals (2D) 2003 - Metal Slug 5
Best Visuals (3D) 2003 - Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne


2013

Best Action Game 2013 - Saints Row IV
Best Shooter 2013 - Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Best Music 2013 - Rise of the Triad (2013)
Best Cerebral Game 2013 - The Stanley Parable
Best Licensed Game 2013 - Batman: Arkham Origins
Best Competitive Game 2013 - Injustice: Gods Among Us
Best Visuals (2D) 2013 - Rayman Legends
Best Visuals (3D) 2013 - BioShock: Infinite


Let me know the full extent of my wrongness in the comments below! Or better yet, suggest some other deserving games. Also, let me know if I should do this again for other years. How does Game Awards 20X4 sound to you?


Next on Super Adventures, an actual game for a change! Well, kind of.

Fortunately if you can't guess what it is from the clue I never have to write about it. Those are the rules.

8 comments:

  1. Best Action Game
    1993: I'd go Streets of Rage 2
    2003: I haven't played any of the nominees. :/
    2013: Of your nominees, the only one I've played is Rogue Legacy and I didn't like it much, but I notice Black Flag is in your almost-nominees and I think that's great fun (apart from the modern-day bits) so I'll pick that.

    Best Shooter
    1993: Loads of good picks here! I was this close to picking Doom, but Chaos Engine is so good! So Chaos Engine.
    2003: Of those, the only one I've played is XIII, so that wins by default I suppose.
    2013: Blood Dragon, but mainly for the soundtrack.

    Best Music
    1993: Streets of Rage 2 by an absolute mile, but that's a really good list of nominees. Shows how good SOR2 is.
    2003: Haven't played any of them enough to remember the music.
    2013: See above. Blood Dragon, obviously.

    Best Cerebral Game
    1993: This is a tough one (although Elite II shouldn't be in here!) but maaaaayyyyybeeee Lemmings 2?
    2003: Of the nominees, the only one I've played at any length is C&C Generals, so it's that, although it seems wrong to pick that somehow.
    2013: I have played none of them.

    Best Licensed Game
    1993: Yeah, X-Wing.
    2003: XIII again, I suppose.
    2013: I don't think I've played any of them, aside from Castle of Illusion, and then it was the original rather than the 2013 version.

    Best Competitive Game
    1993: Micro Machines for me.
    2003: I've only heard of one of your nominees, and I haven't played the other one!
    2013: I have played none of them.

    Best Visuals (2D)
    1993: Chaos Engine! Although it could have been Gunstar Heroes.
    2003: Haven't played them, but your screenshot of Metal Slug 5 looks good, so I'll pick that too.
    2013: Rogue Legacy but only because I haven't played the others.

    Best Visuals (3D)
    1993: Difficult to argue with Ridge Racer from that list.
    2003: I wasn't super impressed by most of the moninees, and I haven't played half of them, but Final Fantasy X looked great, so I assume X-2 does too. Probably.
    2013: I haven't played Bioshock Infinite but that is a lovely screenshot, so yes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you have to use the manual and a YouTube tutorial to figure out the basic controls, it's a 'cerebral game'.

      Delete
    2. I suppose that applies in general to Elite II, but I spent most of my time shooting ships and crashing into moons.

      Delete
  2. And, just for fun:

    Best Action Game
    1983: Atic Atac.

    Best Shooter
    1983: Attack of the Mutant Camels.

    Best Music
    1983: I'll go for Manic Miner just for lack of anything else.

    Best Cerebral Game
    1983: Ant Attack.

    Best Licensed Game
    1983: Star Wars.

    Best Competitive Game
    1983: Track and Field.

    Best Visuals (2D)
    1983: Dragon's Lair, although this feels like cheating.

    Best Visuals (3D)
    1983: Star Wars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've gone back too far! Manic Miner's music doesn't sound so great coming out of a ZX Spectrum, but the orchestral version is awesome. Also, Dragon's Lair is definitely cheating but it's also definitely the right answer.

      Delete
  3. The next "game" looks like it might be Model Builder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn, now I actually do have to write about it.

      Delete
  4. This was a great idea. A fun article to read, guess what you picked based on years of blog posts, and pick my own from the short list.

    ReplyDelete

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