Retro Gamer’s Top 10 Games of 2014By Fawzi Mesmar

10 - HearthstoneHearthstone attempts the seemingly impossible task of creating a collectable card game to have the depth of MTG while still making the game accessible to virtually anyone.

However the expertly made game by the wizards at Blizzard soars through competition with excellent solid mechanics, competitive scene and beautiful presentation utilizing all the familiar characters from the world of warcraft, making sure that hoards of fans will be playing, steaming and talking about this game for a long long time to come.

9 - Bayonetta 2Bayonetta 2 is stylish, daring, extreme, loud and so mechanically solid that it’s hard to ever take seriously but more importantly nearly impossible to ignore.

Bayonetta cleverly introduces an easy to pick up hard to master combat system that flows so naturally to the player, never allowing for a dull moment bayonetta constantly demands that the player up their game skillfully.

When it comes to action games - and those are becoming a rarity nowadays - Bayonetta 2 is really as good as it gets.

8 - Child of LightJRPG is such a weird term, especially when considering a game like child of light, however while all the japanese rpg tropes can be found here make no mistake that it has been iterated upon and in many ways improved for western players. With combat system that is reminiscent of Grandia II, the game creates a children book presentation, sweeping orchestral themes, and a colorful cast of characters.

Ubisoft team in montpellier has certainly been making important additions to gaming as a medium recently and child of light is no exception

7 - Mario Kart 8Nintendo is synonymous with quality; they are well known to deliver games that stand the test of time, work properly and with a level of polish that is virtually unrivaled in the game industry as a whole.

While some might dismiss the 8th iteration as just another Mario Kart game, they would be missing out on THE Mario Kart game. Every single aspect of this game has been significantly improved upon delivering the ultimate couch experience in a carting genre in which Mario Kart rules supreme.

6 - Alien IsolationIn this day and age it is not possible for a game like Alien Isolation to even exist, yet it did and thank god for that.

A sheep in wolf’s clothing, Alien isolation at it’s heart is an indie game with AAA aesthetics. The beautifully and dutifully remade environments, characters and themes ring so true to the source material of one of the greatest movies ever made ever so faithfully.

Deeply haunting, aesthetically pleasing, Alien isolation is probably the most tense experience you’ll ever have.

5 - Valiant HeartsIn my praise of Child of Light I already touched on the importance of Ubisoft Montpellier’s contribution to modern gaming and advancing it as a genre, Valiant hearts is no different.

It’s in it’s comical presentation is what make Valiant Hearts strike all the right chords; the subject of war and loss is not an easy one to approach let alone within an entertaining manner. Valiant Hearts elegant design and consistently gorgeous themes pack a punch all the way to it’s outstanding finale.

4 - Super Smash bros for Wii UAs a kid I’ve often had arguments with my friends on who would win if our favorite video games mascots starting beating the living crap out of each other, with that in mind upon seeing the first screenshot of Megaman, Mario, Sonic and Pacman battling each other I was short of breath.

Smash presents ideal solutions for problems fighting games have been having for years, anybody can play smash, but once you discover the depth that in holds - and believe me this game is DEEP - mastering it is pure bliss and has a very healthy competitive scene a head of it.

3 - Shovel KnightI tweeted at the developers of this game saying: “I almost dismissed this game as pixel art hipstery but that was a big mistake. Shovel knight is a fantastic game.”

Don’t make the same mistake as me, Shovel knight is a wonderful throwback to the games we grew up playing, done right with modern game design tropes added in the mix and in so many ways improving on mechanics in the process. It’s easy to see the passion that fueled the development of Shovel Knight, and it’s wonderful to feel that sensation of playing good old fashioned games once again.

2 - This War of MineWhile video games for such a long time used armed conflicts as exaggerated fantasies of power and violence, This war of mine gives you a brief glimpse of the reality of the beast.

You form your own story, your own reality and every decision you make will wear heavy on your heart and soul. This is not an easy game to play, not because of the complexity of its mechanics but because this is not a mindless experience, it demands attention from you as a player and as a human being.

1 - Shadow of Mordor If it wasn’t for the wonderfully designed nemesis system, this game wouldn’t be even on this list. Generally speaking I wouldn’t be expecting much of a lord of the rings licensed game. But this game surprised me in almost every single aspect.

I thought that I saw the matrix, I knew what the game was trying to do, but still I aborted the story mission that I was doing, and instead decided to hunt down the orc that killed me and belittled me on a quest of vengeance that has absolutely no ingame benefit other than fulfilling a part of a story I had in my head.

Honorable Mention - Captain Toad treasure tracker

While playing Super Mario 3D World, I thoroughly enjoyed the Captain toad levels within the games, and thought to myself that this would make an awesome standalone game, but then again, what more can you do with it that you haven’t seen already?

Nintendo Tokyo AED had an answer in the form of a game that just oozes charm, has incredible design, execution and has been polished to near perfection.