2016 had a lot of really good games and content, so much so that I haven't played them all. So, here's a list based on the games that I have played ordered by my personal favorite. Here are my top 7 favorite games of 2016 (apparently, I've only played seven games from 2016 :P)!
#7: Star Fox Guard
I bought this and played it once, so... number 7! Star Fox Guard is a game where you have to defeat a near-endless supply of robots from taking the energy core of your base. You place 12 cameras around your base and shoot lasers and the incoming robots. Thing is you have to keep track of both screens of the Wii U in order to really protect your base, which is easier with an other person shouting out which camera you need to switch to. This game can be difficult, but the cool thing is you can create your own pattern of robots and hand it the game off to someone else to try and defeat against your army of robots! Mwahaha!
Or you can summon Fox or Falco by using their amiibo to wipe out all of the robots in the base. You can do that too.
#6: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Picross
This was one of the My Nintendo rewards and, as you can probably tell, is a Picross game based on elements from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo 3DS (this game is for the 3DS, not Twilight Princess itself). The game has you mark 8-bit (or maybe 16-bit?) shapes of characters or items from the game... which is made increasingly difficult when the icons look absolutely nothing like the subject until you finished the current objective. I am so not good at this game, but it's an interesting challenge.
At the time of this writing, the game is still available for download with 1000 platinum, Miitomo, or Super Mario Run tokens needed to actually download it, but I'm not sure how long it'll remain available. So if you like Zelda and Picross, I highly recommend this game.
#5: Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge
I have NEVER played a Mini Mario game until now (*gasp*), but this game is actually a lot of fun. The game relies mainly on amiibo, specifically Mario-based amiibo. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Rosalina, and Yoshi amiibo are all compatible and will all unlock their respective worlds upon scanning them. Each one has their own abilities that is utilized to a great extent and you have to use them all if you want to 100% the game... which means you need all the aforementioned amiibo in order to do so.Anyone got a spare Bowser Jr. and/or Rosalina amiibo they're willing to lend me? This game is available FOR FREE for both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U! Yay!
#4: Fire Emblem Fates
When this game first announced, I was very excited about it. Then more information started coming out: There will be 3(!) separate versions a la Pokemon, some of the characters just don't sit well with me, the game is heavily influenced by Awakening mechanics like the nonsensical children... My brothers urged me to get the game once they saw it on shelves, so I bought the Birthright version.
The gameplay itself is actually alright. Some mechanics are different, such as the weapon triangle being revamped, and of course there's the My Castle thing, which is actually pretty cool. The graphics are amazing for the Nintendo 3DS and the music is awesome. And that's about all I like. Characters and story feel underdeveloped, but I guess I like this game enough to place it above games that didn't hold my interest for very long.
You're better off playing the older titles, if you ask me. I'm still having fun with Awakening.
#3: 2016 Smash Bros. DLC
This one might be cheating a bit, but last year's addition to Super Smash Bros. 4 was amazing. The Mii Costumes look amazing and Corrin plays very well. Geno may not be getting much of a spotlight in Smash for a while, but at least now we can dress our Miis up as him. And Corrin has some very interesting mechanics, such as stunning opponents with his lance-arm-thing and his chainsaw Omega Yato deals damage as he's/she's charging a Smash attack!
Oh, yeah, Bayonetta's there, too. Her stage is pretty cool, but Bayo's not the type of character I'd like in Smash. She's incredibly overpowered, even with her recent nerfs, but she's still fun to fight against online. Never putting her in my games, though.
#2: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the initial reveal of this game. If I hadn't gotten it for my birthday, I likely never would have. However, the game looks amazing (aside from the occasional, noticeable graphical glitches) and plays very well. Everything is greatly enhanced from the GameCube version (which this is based on, not the backwards Wii version) and the addition of Hero Mode is a welcome addition. Though this looks more like a revamped cash-grab more than anything, I highly recommend this game. The fact that it comes bundled with the Wolf Link + Midna amiibo certainly helps :3
Honorable Mention: Power Master 1: A Strange Journey
Yes, I'm putting my own game that I created onto this list as it released in March of 2016. I'm not entirely sure where to place it, so I'm just giving it an honorable mention.
It took me along time to design and I was mainly working on my own, but my first game shattered everyone I told about it's expectations, even my own. It's created similar to the classic RPG games like Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy, meaning it doesn't have too many outstanding mechanics, but I quite like how this game came out. An expansive overworld filled with secrets like Zelda, well designed sprites drawn by my brother... the game turned out great!
It certainly has it's fair share of problems, though. The story is lacking and the dialogue is not well written (I was trying to keep it close to the source material I made when I was 13, but I guess I tried a little too hard...), and there are two differently designed sprites for enemies which is just...weird. But hey, it wouldn't be called A Strange Journey if it wasn't.
#1: Project X Zone 2
If you ever wanted an RPG Super Smash Bros., this is game for you! Continuing off of Namco X Capcom and the first Project X Zone, this game includes various characters from Namco, Capcom, Sega, and Nintendo franchises like Sakura Wars, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Dalkstalkers, Phoenix Wright, .hack, Fire Emblem, and even Segata Sanshiro. The game looks fantastic, is incredibly well written, and the story actually makes sense for a crossover game other than just being a "fanservice-y crossover" where the characters are just simply in the same world. As the story progresses, you'll find more characters, improve their stats and moves, pair them up, and send them out to fight loooooong battles against villains from their worlds. The maps play out like a strategy RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics, but the battles play out more like Street Fighter. I've spent so many hours on this game and it is very worthy of being my favorite game of 2016.
Just don't have Felicia fight a Q-Bee. That will make your ears bleed.
#7: Star Fox Guard
I bought this and played it once, so... number 7! Star Fox Guard is a game where you have to defeat a near-endless supply of robots from taking the energy core of your base. You place 12 cameras around your base and shoot lasers and the incoming robots. Thing is you have to keep track of both screens of the Wii U in order to really protect your base, which is easier with an other person shouting out which camera you need to switch to. This game can be difficult, but the cool thing is you can create your own pattern of robots and hand it the game off to someone else to try and defeat against your army of robots! Mwahaha!
Or you can summon Fox or Falco by using their amiibo to wipe out all of the robots in the base. You can do that too.
#6: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Picross
This was one of the My Nintendo rewards and, as you can probably tell, is a Picross game based on elements from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo 3DS (this game is for the 3DS, not Twilight Princess itself). The game has you mark 8-bit (or maybe 16-bit?) shapes of characters or items from the game... which is made increasingly difficult when the icons look absolutely nothing like the subject until you finished the current objective. I am so not good at this game, but it's an interesting challenge.
At the time of this writing, the game is still available for download with 1000 platinum, Miitomo, or Super Mario Run tokens needed to actually download it, but I'm not sure how long it'll remain available. So if you like Zelda and Picross, I highly recommend this game.
#5: Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge
I have NEVER played a Mini Mario game until now (*gasp*), but this game is actually a lot of fun. The game relies mainly on amiibo, specifically Mario-based amiibo. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Rosalina, and Yoshi amiibo are all compatible and will all unlock their respective worlds upon scanning them. Each one has their own abilities that is utilized to a great extent and you have to use them all if you want to 100% the game... which means you need all the aforementioned amiibo in order to do so.
#4: Fire Emblem Fates
When this game first announced, I was very excited about it. Then more information started coming out: There will be 3(!) separate versions a la Pokemon, some of the characters just don't sit well with me, the game is heavily influenced by Awakening mechanics like the nonsensical children... My brothers urged me to get the game once they saw it on shelves, so I bought the Birthright version.
The gameplay itself is actually alright. Some mechanics are different, such as the weapon triangle being revamped, and of course there's the My Castle thing, which is actually pretty cool. The graphics are amazing for the Nintendo 3DS and the music is awesome. And that's about all I like. Characters and story feel underdeveloped, but I guess I like this game enough to place it above games that didn't hold my interest for very long.
You're better off playing the older titles, if you ask me. I'm still having fun with Awakening.
#3: 2016 Smash Bros. DLC
This one might be cheating a bit, but last year's addition to Super Smash Bros. 4 was amazing. The Mii Costumes look amazing and Corrin plays very well. Geno may not be getting much of a spotlight in Smash for a while, but at least now we can dress our Miis up as him. And Corrin has some very interesting mechanics, such as stunning opponents with his lance-arm-thing and his chainsaw Omega Yato deals damage as he's/she's charging a Smash attack!
Oh, yeah, Bayonetta's there, too. Her stage is pretty cool, but Bayo's not the type of character I'd like in Smash. She's incredibly overpowered, even with her recent nerfs, but she's still fun to fight against online. Never putting her in my games, though.
#2: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the initial reveal of this game. If I hadn't gotten it for my birthday, I likely never would have. However, the game looks amazing (aside from the occasional, noticeable graphical glitches) and plays very well. Everything is greatly enhanced from the GameCube version (which this is based on, not the backwards Wii version) and the addition of Hero Mode is a welcome addition. Though this looks more like a revamped cash-grab more than anything, I highly recommend this game. The fact that it comes bundled with the Wolf Link + Midna amiibo certainly helps :3
Honorable Mention: Power Master 1: A Strange Journey
Yes, I'm putting my own game that I created onto this list as it released in March of 2016. I'm not entirely sure where to place it, so I'm just giving it an honorable mention.
It took me along time to design and I was mainly working on my own, but my first game shattered everyone I told about it's expectations, even my own. It's created similar to the classic RPG games like Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy, meaning it doesn't have too many outstanding mechanics, but I quite like how this game came out. An expansive overworld filled with secrets like Zelda, well designed sprites drawn by my brother... the game turned out great!
It certainly has it's fair share of problems, though. The story is lacking and the dialogue is not well written (I was trying to keep it close to the source material I made when I was 13, but I guess I tried a little too hard...), and there are two differently designed sprites for enemies which is just...weird. But hey, it wouldn't be called A Strange Journey if it wasn't.
#1: Project X Zone 2
If you ever wanted an RPG Super Smash Bros., this is game for you! Continuing off of Namco X Capcom and the first Project X Zone, this game includes various characters from Namco, Capcom, Sega, and Nintendo franchises like Sakura Wars, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Dalkstalkers, Phoenix Wright, .hack, Fire Emblem, and even Segata Sanshiro. The game looks fantastic, is incredibly well written, and the story actually makes sense for a crossover game other than just being a "fanservice-y crossover" where the characters are just simply in the same world. As the story progresses, you'll find more characters, improve their stats and moves, pair them up, and send them out to fight loooooong battles against villains from their worlds. The maps play out like a strategy RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics, but the battles play out more like Street Fighter. I've spent so many hours on this game and it is very worthy of being my favorite game of 2016.
Just don't have Felicia fight a Q-Bee. That will make your ears bleed.
