So, I had mentioned about doing my own game awards for 2025.
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So, I had mentioned about doing my own game awards for 2025. Somehow this fell to the wayside, but I am getting myself to go through with it. Mostly because I enjoy talking about and sharing games with people. This is purely based off my gaming experience in 2025, which does boil it down to about 140 Retro games across a handful of different genres and platforms. I have done my best to capture a wide variety of genres, because I could probably make this an entire list of platformer games, which is my bread and butter genre.
The names of the awards are mostly silly and just an avenue to talk about them. Essentially, this series of posts is just an opportunity to to talk about games that I highly recommend, with two of them being an exception... Well... Maybe one, because one would probably make some good "bad game" streaming fodder.
In future years I will try to be a bit more organised with all this.
So, with significant delay, shall we begin #IshambardGameAwards 2025?
1/10
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So, I had mentioned about doing my own game awards for 2025. Somehow this fell to the wayside, but I am getting myself to go through with it. Mostly because I enjoy talking about and sharing games with people. This is purely based off my gaming experience in 2025, which does boil it down to about 140 Retro games across a handful of different genres and platforms. I have done my best to capture a wide variety of genres, because I could probably make this an entire list of platformer games, which is my bread and butter genre.
The names of the awards are mostly silly and just an avenue to talk about them. Essentially, this series of posts is just an opportunity to to talk about games that I highly recommend, with two of them being an exception... Well... Maybe one, because one would probably make some good "bad game" streaming fodder.
In future years I will try to be a bit more organised with all this.
So, with significant delay, shall we begin #IshambardGameAwards 2025?
1/10
Best Star Wars Game of the Year:
Rogue Squadron
N64Even though I have played through this game numerous times, heck, I did a Let’s Play of it a couple of years ago. Rogue Squadron remains one of my all time favourite Star Wars, and was still an absolute delight to play for RetroAchievements
Rogue Squadron is one of those games that, I felt read the brief, nodded and knocked it so far out of the park it is now orbiting Endor. I admit, this game came out in the peak of my Star Wars love, in December 1998. This was before Phantom Menace came along and ruined everything with Midichlorians. But for a brief while, Star Wars couldn’t do wrong by me
A decently challenging game with stages that have good replay value. Initially I dreaded trying to get gold on all stages, but most are not too lengthy and the requirements for gold being just about right, not too easy but not taxing
If you haven’t played this one, seriously I think you’re missing out
#IshambardGameAwards #StarWars
2/10
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Best Star Wars Game of the Year:
Rogue Squadron
N64Even though I have played through this game numerous times, heck, I did a Let’s Play of it a couple of years ago. Rogue Squadron remains one of my all time favourite Star Wars, and was still an absolute delight to play for RetroAchievements
Rogue Squadron is one of those games that, I felt read the brief, nodded and knocked it so far out of the park it is now orbiting Endor. I admit, this game came out in the peak of my Star Wars love, in December 1998. This was before Phantom Menace came along and ruined everything with Midichlorians. But for a brief while, Star Wars couldn’t do wrong by me
A decently challenging game with stages that have good replay value. Initially I dreaded trying to get gold on all stages, but most are not too lengthy and the requirements for gold being just about right, not too easy but not taxing
If you haven’t played this one, seriously I think you’re missing out
#IshambardGameAwards #StarWars
2/10
[
M] I saw that 2/10 and I thought that was the game rating for a moment lmao but yeah SWRS is an excellent "flight action" game, as is its sequel, they really wove in the SWEU with great gameplay well.
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[
M] I saw that 2/10 and I thought that was the game rating for a moment lmao but yeah SWRS is an excellent "flight action" game, as is its sequel, they really wove in the SWEU with great gameplay well.
Haha, man, imagine if I did Rogue Squadron that dirty?!
Rogue Leader is fantastic and i look forward to playing it again in the near future.
Sadly Rebel Strike was quite... Meh. In my opinion. Just a poor end to what could have been a glorious trilogy. -
Best Star Wars Game of the Year:
Rogue Squadron
N64Even though I have played through this game numerous times, heck, I did a Let’s Play of it a couple of years ago. Rogue Squadron remains one of my all time favourite Star Wars, and was still an absolute delight to play for RetroAchievements
Rogue Squadron is one of those games that, I felt read the brief, nodded and knocked it so far out of the park it is now orbiting Endor. I admit, this game came out in the peak of my Star Wars love, in December 1998. This was before Phantom Menace came along and ruined everything with Midichlorians. But for a brief while, Star Wars couldn’t do wrong by me
A decently challenging game with stages that have good replay value. Initially I dreaded trying to get gold on all stages, but most are not too lengthy and the requirements for gold being just about right, not too easy but not taxing
If you haven’t played this one, seriously I think you’re missing out
#IshambardGameAwards #StarWars
2/10
Scariest Game of the Year:
Alien Trilogy
PS1I have mentioned this a couple of time. Xenomorphs terrify me, and I struggle to articulate why. Alien themed games are like some horrendous drug for me, it leaves me in a terrible way, but damn the high was worth it. They create moments when it becomes too much and I have to pause and walk away for a few moments to compose myself. Honestly, doesn’t get better than that
Alien Trilogy does a fantastic job of putting me through that cycle, especially when you first start playing it. The oppressive atmosphere, the music including random Alien alert noises, it all just keeps you on your toes. Then Xenos show up, erratically charging towards you, you backpedal, blasting away with a, frankly ineffective, shotgun, in blind panic.
After a while you get used to it, and by then you have a Pulse Rifle. But it doesn’t stop being a great and scary experience as more Xenos approach from the shadows
Bloody terrifying stuff.
3/10
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Scariest Game of the Year:
Alien Trilogy
PS1I have mentioned this a couple of time. Xenomorphs terrify me, and I struggle to articulate why. Alien themed games are like some horrendous drug for me, it leaves me in a terrible way, but damn the high was worth it. They create moments when it becomes too much and I have to pause and walk away for a few moments to compose myself. Honestly, doesn’t get better than that
Alien Trilogy does a fantastic job of putting me through that cycle, especially when you first start playing it. The oppressive atmosphere, the music including random Alien alert noises, it all just keeps you on your toes. Then Xenos show up, erratically charging towards you, you backpedal, blasting away with a, frankly ineffective, shotgun, in blind panic.
After a while you get used to it, and by then you have a Pulse Rifle. But it doesn’t stop being a great and scary experience as more Xenos approach from the shadows
Bloody terrifying stuff.
3/10
Just don’t Award
Animorphs
GBCSometimes you see a game, and you know you are going to be in for a bad time. Animorphs is that kind of game. Even if you told me a good one existed out there you need to appreciate there would be a level of skepticism. Based on a series of preteen sci-fi novels that plagued school libraries and book stores about kids turning into animals to defend the earth. I mean, that sounds promising, it also being an RPG sounds like the perfect genre for this kind of thing
Sadly, the game doesn’t just mug you and leave you in a dirty alleyway, it disorientates and confuses you. Why can a Wolf beat an Elephant? Why is this seagull destroying my party? Why can’t I hit things? What do any of these moves do?
This had potential, but that is not enough for me to say anything more than just don’t. This is an anger inducing game, and not in a good way like a rage game. There is no sense of accomplishment here, only hyperbolic fury
4/10
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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Just don’t Award
Animorphs
GBCSometimes you see a game, and you know you are going to be in for a bad time. Animorphs is that kind of game. Even if you told me a good one existed out there you need to appreciate there would be a level of skepticism. Based on a series of preteen sci-fi novels that plagued school libraries and book stores about kids turning into animals to defend the earth. I mean, that sounds promising, it also being an RPG sounds like the perfect genre for this kind of thing
Sadly, the game doesn’t just mug you and leave you in a dirty alleyway, it disorientates and confuses you. Why can a Wolf beat an Elephant? Why is this seagull destroying my party? Why can’t I hit things? What do any of these moves do?
This had potential, but that is not enough for me to say anything more than just don’t. This is an anger inducing game, and not in a good way like a rage game. There is no sense of accomplishment here, only hyperbolic fury
4/10
@ishambard But but, Official Nintendo Seal of Quality!
By the way yeah, elephants are pretty tough. "Weaknesses" comes down to stereotypes about fear of rodents, being herbivores, and comments about their fat stores.
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@ishambard But but, Official Nintendo Seal of Quality!
By the way yeah, elephants are pretty tough. "Weaknesses" comes down to stereotypes about fear of rodents, being herbivores, and comments about their fat stores.
Nintendo put a seal on this game to prevent it from having quality.
I should note that asking the question about why a Seagull is destroying my party ignores the fact I have put a lot of time into 100% Orange Juice. I know the destructive power of seagulls...
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Just don’t Award
Animorphs
GBCSometimes you see a game, and you know you are going to be in for a bad time. Animorphs is that kind of game. Even if you told me a good one existed out there you need to appreciate there would be a level of skepticism. Based on a series of preteen sci-fi novels that plagued school libraries and book stores about kids turning into animals to defend the earth. I mean, that sounds promising, it also being an RPG sounds like the perfect genre for this kind of thing
Sadly, the game doesn’t just mug you and leave you in a dirty alleyway, it disorientates and confuses you. Why can a Wolf beat an Elephant? Why is this seagull destroying my party? Why can’t I hit things? What do any of these moves do?
This had potential, but that is not enough for me to say anything more than just don’t. This is an anger inducing game, and not in a good way like a rage game. There is no sense of accomplishment here, only hyperbolic fury
4/10
Most Disappointing Game
Demolition Girl
PS2Y’know, Animorphs nearly won this award. It was close. But Demolition Girl pipped it at the post. I have touched on this numerous times. The western release of this game was called Demolition Girl. But there is no demolishing here. At least, not done by yourself and immediately I am just disappointed because the concept of being a Kaiju and destroying cities sounds fantastic. Katamari does a fantastic job of depicting ridiculous catastrophic destruction, though not a good comparison to the antics a true Kaiju game would have
I can’t be too angry. It's a budget game, but I can still be annoyed that the mark was missed so badly. Besides my personal vendetta, this game really is pure crappy gaming streaming fodder. It controls terribly, it's nonsensical and is also rated 12+, so it would be safe for streaming due to it not being too spicy
Even to this day, thinking about the wasted potential makes my blood boil
5/10
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Most Disappointing Game
Demolition Girl
PS2Y’know, Animorphs nearly won this award. It was close. But Demolition Girl pipped it at the post. I have touched on this numerous times. The western release of this game was called Demolition Girl. But there is no demolishing here. At least, not done by yourself and immediately I am just disappointed because the concept of being a Kaiju and destroying cities sounds fantastic. Katamari does a fantastic job of depicting ridiculous catastrophic destruction, though not a good comparison to the antics a true Kaiju game would have
I can’t be too angry. It's a budget game, but I can still be annoyed that the mark was missed so badly. Besides my personal vendetta, this game really is pure crappy gaming streaming fodder. It controls terribly, it's nonsensical and is also rated 12+, so it would be safe for streaming due to it not being too spicy
Even to this day, thinking about the wasted potential makes my blood boil
5/10
Master of the Mouse Award
Mickey’s Dangerous Chase
GameboySo, for the first part of 2025 I spent a lot of time playing Mickey Mouse platformers. Most were pretty good, and then there was Fantasia. We don’t talk about that one. I am nearly done with all the games, I just need to beat the racing games, which puts me on edge and I have put those off. Ironic when you consider another award winner.
Mickey’s Dangerous Chase is a GameBoy game that I had almost zero expectations for, so that is probably why I ended up enjoying it so much. At times it is a straight forward platformer and at other times there is a bit of a puzzle element, more-so when you try to clear stages with all collectiables.
Was it the best Mickey Mouse game? Probably not, the Magical Quest series of games are a favourite of mine but this game surprised me the most with providing a fulfilling gaming experience, and it was a GameBoy game!
Besides, when else will I talk about this one?
6/10
