Freedom Planet was definitely intended to at least vaguely resemble the classic Sonic games, but it's fair to say that the levels are generally more open and invite more exploration. Not really as challenging just to simply reach the end of though. The boss fights though are way more complex and challenging than those in the Sonic games and really form the highlight of the game to me. There are also lots of cute cinema scenes that imbue it with a strong personality that's pretty endearing, though the over-arching storyline itself is about as straightforward as they come and leaves much to be desired. The characters make up the difference for me. In short, I felt like there was a connection to the Sonic legacy there, but ultimately Freedom Planet is definitely a unique experience.

I would strongly recommend Freedom Planet 2. The storyline is ten times better and more interesting and the characters more fleshed out (plus Neera is a playable character too). It also makes a cleaner break with the Sonic-esque Act system in favor of each stage being one giant level instead, which is definitely a welcome modernization. There's also an hub world. The graphics looks way more detailed and lush and gorgeously animated. It's among my favorite platforming games. Again, highly recommended!

You will be pleased to know the Freedom Planet publisher paid their voice actors really well, setting up at least a couple of them up for a proper career in the industry thanks to offering them generous royalties.

Put my vote in for Mario Kart 8 during the last five minutes after checking to see if anything I loved was missing from the excellent Other Games list. Considering the fun I had with Mario Kart 8 and then the additions and changes made to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe it felt a bit like I was voting for two different games in one. Seriously the changes made even without the booster tracks gives each game a unique feel.

My favourite piece of Mario Kart 8 trivia was when someone at Crytek made the silly joke that Wii U was the most powerful console and they were bringing something to Wii U. Anyway the comment went viral after a while with a lot of people like me catching on a little late and not realising it was probably an April Fools joke. So then Mario Kart 8 comes out and for one month Wii U is the best selling console and plenty of people had a good laugh as they jokingly gave Crytek the credit.

With 31% of votes going to "Other" we are going to need a runoff vote.  Three games made the cut from the first round and they are joined by three more from write-in votes.

Official runoff voting will end Sunday, December 10 at 11:59 PM, EST.

From the ones left now, it's Dark Souls II. It's the weakest entry in the series, but it's still Dark Souls.

Still voting for Alien: Isolation, one of the most perfect horror games I have played, but I am also happy to see Tropical Freeze making the run-off.

LOL, Dark Souls is like pizza and sex.  Even bad Dark Souls is still kind of good.

Feeling like Alien: Isolation should win this one, it's the best of the Amnesia/Outlast-type SHs by far.

Hmm, no love for Transistor. My second choice for 2014 is Alien Isolation.

Despite some issues at release, I do want to play this again some day, preferably in VR.

From giving me vibes of walking around the Enterprise-D


To the lovely 70s sci-fi vibes


To tense moments with incredible fire effects


And of course iconic moments from Aliens


And great action sequences

Donkey Kong Country got more write in votes, but so far Alien Isolation is doing the best in the poll. Definitely did not expect that to happen.