The GNamer Forum Awards 2021 and Five Years of Switch (Thanks For Voting!)

Monster Hunter Rise (3 votes, 16 points)


You said:
“Myself and the lads at Monster Mash enjoyed the big budget Monster Hunter World on PS4, but we did feel it lacked some of that immediateness of past MonHun games. Rise dealt with that complaint and then some. The minute-to-minute gameplay is as snappy as it's ever been with the new wirebug moves breathing new life into some of the weapons. Some of the tweaks to the structure of the game going from World to Rise were much appreciated to boot. Roll on Sunbreak!”
“The best Monster Hunter game, which says enough already, and where wirebugging around is one of the most satisfying traversal mechanics ever put to buttons.”

I said: My only surprise is that this is so low, a surprise substantially mitigated when you look at who voted and who didn't - and the fact that one person gave their MonHun vote instead to Generations Ultimate.  Anyway, I can fully see why this is up there.  Get past the major initial hurdles and there's a game that even Ol' Lonesome over here enjoyed.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (3 votes, 17 points)

You said:
“Weirdly I've come away from this a little disappointed so the fact it's still in my top 10 is testament to how good it is, the classic Animal Crossing charm is there but now with the opportunity to make it truly your own perfect paradise. The wholesome content we all needed and still do.”
“The right game at the right time, it was the ideal island escape at a time when everything in the world was well and truly fucked. So many of my lockdown memories are about iron ore, Emporer butterflies and manically rushing to any Twitter randomer’s island to sell my turnips for a 879% mark-up. I’ve drifted away from it since its first anniversary, but for those first 365 days New Horzions was as essential to me as smacking kitchen pots together on my front porch at 8pm on a Thursday, or having Zoom quizzes with folk I’d absolutely cross the street to avoid in real life.”

I said: 'The right game at the right time' indeed.  As a result of that time, I spent longer on this game and enjoyed it more than its predecessors.  It's still a game that asks you to keep coming back and, for a while, didn't provide enough to make that worth the return trips - but then it released a fair chunk of new content, so fair play to 'em.  I'd have been astonished if this hadn't made it.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2 votes, 17 points, 1 first)

You said:
“Pretty much a perfect remake of a perfect game. The original is my favourite game of all time and this is faifthul enough to it, with enough quality of life improvements, to equal my nostalgia. This is the Link's Awakening new players should play."

I said: One of two games I didn't see placing, that owes its placing almost entirely to one (over?)enthusiastic first-place vote.  Hey, the fewer voters, the more chances there are for minor upsets like this!  I rankle slightly at a remake of an old game, that feels very much like an old game, placing so high on a best-of-Switch award - but I did enjoy my time with LoZLA moderately well, and it did feel like a full remake, and it's one of the best-looking games on Switch.

The 35 and 99 series for Nintendo Switch Online
“Three really smart twists on classic games that I previously thought I was kind of done with. A real shot in the arm for Super Mario Bros., Tetris and PAC-MAN respectively, and a shiny golden nugget in amongst all the keech that is Nintendo Switch Online.”

Banjo-Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
“This was so good, what a highlight this announcement was. The euphoria across social media was unlike anything else I can remember.”

HAMSTER Arcade & NEOGEO Archives
“There’s several companies who deserve a round of applause for their commitment to re-releasing their old material, usually for fair prices. In particular, you really have to say ‘fair play’ to HAMSTER Corp for releasing something new every week for the last five years (without a break, I think?). I’d be destitute if I’d bought everything I truly wanted, but their range of all-time stoaters, long-forgotten early ‘80s forebearers and eclectic and unpronounceable Japanese arcade exclusives is seriously admirable from afar. They're going to be doing Console Archives next, which might make my cock and balls explode.”

Nintendo Labo
“I thought this was going to be a Wii-style revolution and change the face and course of gaming. Instead, it merely became a really enjoyable and quirky engineering tool that sadly offered too little to do once you’d finishing constructing it. Like for most folk, Labo just ended up taking up a bit too much of my shelf space. Still, I thought the idea behind it was utterly sensational. I’ll remember my time with the first Toy-Con set really fondly.”

Microsoft
“They might not have been my favourite games on the planet, but it’s really nice to have the Oris on Switch, as well as Banjo in Smash.  Good Guy Microsoft wins another fan.  (Tunic next please.)

Nintendo’s Spotlight @ E3 2017
“This was the one that revealed Rocket League in its first thirty seconds, suddenly announced Metroid Prime 4 in the middle, and then ended with that first Jump Up Superstar video for Super Mario Odyssey, the one where you could see what Cappy could truly do, the one where Cappy possessed the body of the Goomba, the Bullet Bill and the T-Rex. I was buzzing about this show for days. It made me feel really optimistic about the Switch at a time where there was still a little bit of the Wii U’s stink about the place.”

Whoever’s creating Nintendo’s cover art these days
“Breath of the Wild. Mario Tennis Aces. Super Mario Party. Kirby Star Allies. ARMS. And loads more! Some of Nintendo’s most attractive and memorable box art ever has been designed over the last five years.”

The eShop
“The Switch has really been my introduction to the world of indie gaming.  Over half of my top games are smaller downloadable titles, that feel perfectly at home on a handheld machine.  It could do with curation and character, sure, but there’s some amazing stuff on there.”

NSO Retro Content
“I know this is an unpopular opinion to the wider Internet, but I've really enjoyed dipping into the NES, SNES, N64 and Mega Drive content in the NSO offering. Playing some of the games online with folks as well has been a grand time and worth the price of admission in my eyes.”

HD Rumble
“It’s still really nice when used well.  Eastward’s train tracks were a recent highlight.”

Hybridisation
“You can play it on the telly and on the loo?  Genius!”

First off, a big big thanks to Cappa.  He essentially saved this category, with a raft of Honourable Mentions - and saved my opinion of my own communication, by not including any specific single games in that list!  (Appreciation too to those who tried to submit specific single games, they'd be a cause for much gratitude on another day - just not this time.)

Besides not dealing with a bunch more games, the reason I asked for that was to highlight other Switch-related things that might have gone under the radar in a sea of more games.  I think they did that.  I'd forgotten about that Switch Spotlight, where they revealed Metroid Prime 4 and sent us all mad!  (About that, Nintendo/Retro...)  I definitely don't think enough people, including myself, appreciate Nintendo cover art: nice to have a spotlight (ha) shone on that too.  I might need to have another look back through my collection. We even got some praise for NSO, which is... rare.

Finally: how good is the Switch's hybrid aspect?  Really really good, IMO.  Unless you're Mas.  Still, he's got an OLED now: hope springs eternal!