I realise this isn’t the most exciting thing I post on here, but I also realise we’ve probably all got better things to be doing in the week between Christmas and New Year, so it’s the best place for it! Anyway, I just like to record the games I’ve finished over the course of the year with a sentence or two micro-review on each, for no greater purpose than simply doing so, and here they are…

January

1st. OutRun 2006: Coast2Coast – OutRun & OutRun2SP modes (PS2)

1st. Skramble (16K VIC-20)

2nd. OutRun 2006: Coast2Coast – Coast2Coast mode (PSP)

6th. Fighter’s History – Ryoko Kano (SNES on Evercade VS)

13th. A Short Hike (PC)

15th. The Pawn (Amiga)

16th. Sonic Advance 3 (Game Boy Advance)

18th. Sonic Chaos – bad ending (Game Gear)

21st. Samurai Shodown – Hanzo (Game Gear)

23rd. Graze Counter GM (Switch)

28th. Fighter’s History – Liu Feilin (SNES on Switch)

I finished 2022 with all the routes done on Mega Drive Out Run, and this year began with more of the same for the main modes on the sequel on several platforms. I had a good go at arcade Scramble but still couldn’t quite beat it, so turned to an excellent old clone with far more forgiving collision detection instead! Fighter’s History on the Data East Collection 1 for Evercade is a real highlight on there, and yes, you’ve seen it elsewhere before but it’s really good! Special thanks to my friends at Cane and Rinse for making me go back to A Short Hike and play it properly because it’s incredible! The Pawn took a bit longer to just get going than that did to finish, but game-changing text adventures from 1986 generally do! The 2D Sonic odyssey from last year continued and some this month were definitely better than others! Samurai Shodown was cool on the Game Gear though. I saw the end of first game of the year contender Graze Counter (not for the last time), then more SNES Fighter’s History but in a different place this time rounds out the month.

February

1st. Strikers 1945 – Easy (Saturn)

4th. SNK Gal’s Fighters – Mai Shiranui (Neo Geo Pocket Color on Switch)

6th. Cyberpunk 2077 (Xbox Series X)

7th. Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble (Game Gear)

9th. TMNT (Game Boy Advance)

14th. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Mega Drive)

25th. Atari Karts (Jaguar on Switch)

A Sega Saturn port that offers an exclusive easy mode (yeah, right!) is sometimes the only way to properly see a game – especially a Psikyo schmup! There’s way more to Gal’s Fighters than a tiny screen should be able to contain and way more to Cyberpunk than I’m usually into but the story just about keeps things going and the bugs are mostly gone now. Lots more Sonic, although nothing that really got me, and while it was fine, neither did TMNT. Finally this month, the less said about why I got so hooked on the atrocious Atari Jaguar spin on Mario Kart the better, although if I ever do a feature on gaming guilty pleasures it will have pride of place! In the meantime, really should play the real deal again…

March

5th. Mario Kart Super Circuit – all classes (Game Boy Advance on Switch)

10th. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet (DOS)

25th. Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance on Switch)

29th. Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (Game Boy on Switch)

Can you tell from this relatively little lot that my Limited Edition Evercade EXP finally arrived this month? I dabbled with all sorts on that fantastic new handheld for most of it! Conversely, I do love being able to play GBA Mario Kart on a big screen now, as well as a smaller one again! First time playing a Metroid on there though, but I liked it enough for an immediate deep-dive! Speaking of which, Shadow of the Comet took forever but was worth it for the Lovecraftian tale, if not so much the clunky pointing and clicking! Good old Switch Online though because I finished my first Kirby too, which was a mostly pleasant counter to a certain remake that arrived at the end of the month…

April

1st. Kirby’s Dream Land (Game Boy on Switch)

2nd. Resident Evil 4 Remake (Xbox Series X)

10th. Alien: Isolation (Xbox Series X)

12th. Tekken 7 – Story Mode (PlayStation 4)

12th. Tekken 7 – Josie – Arcade Mode (PlayStation 4)

15th. Super Stunt Man (ZX Spectrum)

24th. Speedball – Knockout Mode (Master System on Evercade EXP)

Another Kirby! Going backwards but it seems I might like the series after all! No question about liking Resident Evil 4 Remake though – will be something special that tops this as game of the year (which you can find out here now)! Alien: Isolation would have been in with a shout if it wasn’t nearly a decade old though – absolutely sensational and worth the wait, though I can’t believe it took me so long! Slightly less so Tekken 7 but not far off and it still feels great – enough for second thoughts about the new game day one after all. I started playing The Fall Guy and ended up with a much better stunt game on the Spectrum – a lot cheaper too! First game down on my Evercade EXP too, and the fingers are still there even if this version of Speedball leaves a bit to be desired!

May

10th. Tower of Evil (VIC-20)

14th. Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64 on Switch)

22nd. Summer Games (Commodore 64 on Evercade VS)

28th. Summer Games II (Commodore 64)

After new consoles a couple of months ago, the new Legend of Zelda seems to have left its mark this month! Tower of Evil did too though – very impressive take on Atic Atac and better than the Spectrum version. And likewise, I feel the same about this N64 Wave Race over the GameCube version I’m way more familiar with. Lovely time returning to Summer Games and getting to know its sequel too – neither is quite Winter Games but they mostly still stand up!

June

4th. Tekken 7 – Josie – Arcade Mode (PlayStation 4)

6th. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

8th. Winter Games (Commodore 64 on Evercade VS)

10th. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive Mini)

14th. Fightin’ Spirit – Story Mode – Sheila (Amiga Mini)

23rd. Call of Cthulhu (Xbox Series X)

26th. ClayFighter – Ickybod Clay (SNES on Evercade VS)

Ninety hours with Zelda was wonderful right up to the very end… Well, when I was finally properly stocked-up for the very end at the gruelling third time of asking! Abandoning my Street Fighter 6 preorder prompted another return to Tekken 7 and just enjoying some more new characters – mind definitely made up about Tekken 8 now… And after all those Summer Games shenanigans last month, how could I resist spending the first week of this one with the winter variant? Sonic 2 is always a joy, but especially on the original Mini. Just like the lovely Shelia and her dolphin in Fightin’ Spirit on another Mini! This Cthulhu isn’t so lovely but a decent, if very last-gen, first-person point-and-click -vibe RPG horror thing! Finally this month, ClayFighter really isn’t the horror thing its reputation suggests!

July

2nd. The Combatribes (Arcade on Evercade)

3rd. Street Sports Baseball (Commodore 64 on Evercade VS)

20th. Sensible Soccer (Mega Drive on Evercade VS)

24th. Moon Patrol (Arcade on Evercade EXP)

28th. The House of the Dead Remake (Switch)

After all that Zelda it’s now all that Diablo IV limiting much else going on this month… Mindless and without sophistication but it must have had something is how I’d describe Combatribes’ beat ‘em up action to start with! Think I’ve got about all you can out of Street Sports Baseball but so glad I found it, just like the sport it’s based on not that long ago! Big gap while I was on holiday but then same story for Sensible Soccer – even winning gets boring in the end! Good old Evercade this month though – been a long time since I looped Moon Patrol. Never beat House of the Dead before though, and while Remake on Switch is a bit of a mess, it’s a fun mess!

August

1st. Lifeline: Whiteout (iOS)

12th. Sonic & Knuckles (Mega Drive)

16th. Super Mario Land 2 – 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy on Switch)

31st. Sonic Blast (Game Gear)

More holidays and more Diablo but no excuse for taking so long with narrative adventure Lifeline, which I’ve been playing on and (mostly!) off on my watch and phone since 2017 – wish I’d never started but clever idea! Sonic & Knuckles occasionally has a few too many clever ideas but it has its moments as well, and I liked it a lot all the same, just like I did playing through Mario Land 2 again via Switch Online’s still-scant as I write Game Boy library. Lastly this month, Sonic Blast, which is exactly what it says even if I’m in the minority saying so!

September

7th. Guilty Gear X Advance Edition – Arcade, Millia Rage (Game Boy Advance)

10th. Mortal Kombat 11 story mode (Xbox Series X)

16th. Diablo IV (Xbox Series X)

25th. Starfield (Xbox Series X)

27th. Mystery World Dizzy (NES on Evercade VS)

Was there ever a better soundtrack on GBA than Guilty Gear X? Fun fighter too, as long as you notch up the difficulty. The default difficulty is more than enough in MK11 though, and is exactly the kind of nonsense, ultra-violent fun I want from Game Pass! Diablo was just a nerd-out in all the best ways over several months and a proper game of the year contender! Starfield probably won’t be but although it wasn’t what I expected, I quite liked what I got despite the jank, which the post-game stuff more than made up for. And the NES version of my favourite ZX Spectrum Dizzy was a joy as always!

October

3rd. The Legend of Silkroad (Arcade on Evercade VS & EXP)

6th. Cocoon (Xbox Series X)

7th. Gris (Xbox Series X)

20th. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – bad ending (Master System)

27th. Grim Fandango (Xbox Series X)

29th. Super Castlevania IV (Nintendo Switch)

For such an average beat ‘em up, The Legend of Silkroad obviously had enough about it to keep me going to be able to eventually see the end in a respectable number of credits. Cocoon was anything but average – mind-boggling puzzle-adventure spanning worlds within worlds that you carry around with you. Incredible! As was Gris, my game of the year when it first came out in 2018, and its recent appearance on Game Pass only confirmed I’d do the same again. Master System Sonic 2 might not be sequel you’re looking for but it does its own sometimes mean-spirited thing, and get past that and it’s a decent Sonic. I spotted Grim Fandango on Game Pass and fancied another point-and-click play-through, and likewise my favourite Castlevania got its annual repeat performance too, and never gets old either!

November

2nd. Yie Ar Kung-Fu (ZX Spectrum)

4th. Hyper Sports (ZX Spectrum)

4th. Mikie (ZX Spectrum)

5th. The Innsmouth Case (Switch)

12th. Echo Night (PS1)

15th. Resident Evil 4 Remake (Xbox Series X)

20th. Castlevania AGA (Amiga)

I started the month reacquainting myself with my old favourite, Konami’s Coin-Op Hits on the Spectrum, which will be getting its own deep-dive here very early in 2024 – looks like I remembered how to play a few of games on it too! The Innsmouth Case was hardly a favourite but I made my choose-your-own Lovecraftian bed in a sale so seeing one good ending over a couple hours was all good! Not a patch on Echo Night though – I properly fell in love with this none-more-PS1 supernatural mystery! Speaking of which, another run through of that remake of my all-time number three favourite game, which will still take some beating as game of the year even if it’s not quite that level! This new Castlevania homebrew ain’t bad either, and I don’t even think they’re done with it yet…

December

1st. MLB Slugfest 2003 (GameCube)

8th. The Legend of Zelda: Season of Ages (Game Boy Color on Switch)

16th. Sonic Mania (Switch)

19th. Panzer Dragoon: Remake (Switch)

23rd. Batman: Arkham Origins (Xbox 360 on Series X)

I finally finished an enormous season on a fantastic old baseball game, meaning I can move on to several others I’ve now got queued up! Season of Ages did turn into a bit of a slog-fest rather than a slugfest but a couple of really fun late dungeons kept me going even if it went on a bit. Sonic Mania got tough at the end but I reckon it’s a top three Sonic the Hedgehog for me, and the Mirage Saloon stage might be my favourite of any! I’ll aim for a top ten countdown sometime next year once I’m done with the new game (meaning all the 2D Sonics now completed too) so stay tuned! Panzer Dragoon was probably worth the couple of quid I paid in a sale ages ago but not exactly a thrill ride. Last up, it wasn’t quite Asylum or City but it was nice to eventually get to this Batman and celebrate Christmas in Gotham!

And that was my year in gaming! Well, the ones I finished at least… In case you’ve read this far and don’t know already, all of these and everything else I’ve played are covered in a bit more detail than here every Sunday in the Retro Arcadia Weekly Spotlight, where we’re now well into the hundreds of editions! And in case you missed it, the other day there was also a special Christmas edition of that too! And I’ll see you for the next one in a few days from whenever you’re reading this!