#29: Buried with the flower seeds.

#30 - Nintendo/Square.

Ah, didn't see that.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

#30

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PlayStation 3)

Change From Last Year: -4

There was a period of time during the last console generation when quality JRPGs seemed to almost disappear in the west, especially when it came to home consoles. From Final Fantasy to Dragon Quest and Star Ocean to Shin Megami Tense, most series seemed to either go exlusively handheld or produced some of the worst game in their entire history. Naturally, there were still some genuinely great games that came out during that time period, and one of the best in my eyes was Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, the answer to the question "What if a Studio Ghibli film was a game instead?"

When this game came out in the west in 2013 it was a genuine breath of fresh air and a wonderful reminder of the best elements of the genre's past mixed in with some really nice fresh ideas. The visuals and music (composed by Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi) are both amazing, the story and characters are memorable and charming, and the gameplay is a nice mix of old school and modern styles of JRPGs. I haven't yet had the time to play the sequel, though it is sitting on my shelf even now for just such a time.

I've finally gotten to starting this on Switch recently. I got 10 hours in and was really loving it (despite it's looks, the game is tough as nails! I've wiped out 10+ times so far!). But my save file was destroyed by the bugs that are apparently common in the port :< I'll give it another go in a couple of weeks, as I could feel that it was really something special - good pick.

Correct!!

Super Mario RPG: I first saw this game running on a SNES Emulator in school, when I was younger. When I finally tried it myself a couple of years later, it became one of my favorite RPGs ever. I love the story, the characters, the gameplay... It's a great game.

I've missed like 12 days, so here comes another mass drop (there are a fair few commonly praised games in here, so I'll only give a spiel about those I don't think'll be on many lists if any at all)

#41: Bayonetta (Wii U/NS) (+13 yoy)

#40: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) (no change)

#39: SSX Tricky (GC) (-1 yoy)

#38: Final Fantasy X (NS) (new this year)

#37: Pokemon Crystal (GBC) (-5 yoy)

#36: The Sims: Bustin' Out (GBA) (+11 yoy)

In bringing The Sims to the GBA, Maxis of course had to make some compromises with the simulation aspect that had made the PC original such a success. However, in cutting large parts of the sandbox gameplay (namely the building aspect) and substituting a surprisingly strong story, lovable characters, a fantastic soundtrack and great minigames, they knocked it out of the park. I never hear the GBA version of Bustin' Out being spoken of anywhere, but it is a fantastic game, one that is easy to come back to years later, and one I happily recommend to all. It deserves to be played more.

#35: Pokemon Yellow (GB) (-6 yoy)

#34: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GC) (-6 yoy)

#33: Into the Breach (NS) (+15 yoy)

#32: Dragon Quest (NES) (-10 yoy)

#31: Little Nightmares (NS) (new this year)

#30: Chibi-Robo! (GC) (-14 yoy)

Chibi-Robo was a fantastic blend of fun, adventure and absurdity that formed one of the Gamecube's best games. This was Skip in their prime, crafting a colourful world full of charming characters, with a compelling story (if you cared to pay attention to its details), and a stunning variety of gameplay that drew me in time and time again. The death with the terribly conceived, poorly executed mistake that was Zip-Lash is a tragedy. Releasing in the dying days of the GC's lifetime, Chibi never had a chance to shine. That more people don't know of this game is sad, there was so much potential here for sequels and an expanded world, but it never came to fruition.

#29: The Urbz: Sims in the City (GBA/DS) (+13 yoy)

A direct sequel to the abovementioned Bustin' Out, Urbz was greatly polished, and expanded upon the great style of the original, introducing a whole range of side activities (ranging from a card game, to Excitebike, to creating animals through gene splicing for pet shows). Urbz was a fantastic sequel, and despite launching alongside the DS, remained one of it's best games even as its incredibly strong library grew and grew over the following years.

#29:

Hint 1:

... .... ....

hee... hee... hee hee...

aha! aha! ahahahahahahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Hint 2:

sequence of ending a chapter -

I'm..... SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

#27:

Hint 1: you fight a chicken in a robot suit...

Hint 2:

...who was possessed by a tiki

#32: Super Mario Galaxy

There's something magical about this game! Each new galaxy is a joy to discover. It's one of the few games that makes use of the Wii's unique control scheme quite well, with the shake to spin, using the pointer to collect and shoot star bits or draw one Mario toward a pull star. Boss fights are plenty and fun (although most of them quite easy) and the level design is out of this world (pun very much intended)! If I had to criticize a part of it, it would be that the extra 120 stars with Luigi aren't that fun to get since it's just doing what you already did with Mario but with slightly different controls but nevertheless this is a fantastic 3D platformer filled with hours and hours of fun!

#27: Donkey Kong Country Returns