The GNamer Forum Awards 2022 - Results time! (The rest of the results, at long last)

(note: some of these won't have direct links to the posts as I couldn't find them/they weren't provided in the vote)


Buska and Balla talk about DLSS - 3 points (one vote, one first place)

You say: ....

Jas ranks all the Pokémon starters - 3 points (one vote, one first place)

You say: “Jas did his own version of those "my grandma tries to guess the names of these Pokémon" videos but in even better style, would like him to name all 1008 please.”

Cappa isn't happy about losing - 2 points (one vote)

You say: “Whilst he may have his arse handed to him, many of the posts following a Cappa defeat were great, even if some of his suggestions were a bit drastic.”

SNES port add-on - 2 points (one vote)

You say: “(Nintendo Switch OLED Model thread, Nintendo Switch, Page 4) - It's a disgrace that this is the last post in that thread, four months now and nobody's replied with their Babestation wankstalgia.”

Cappa got his arse handed to him there - 2 points (one vote)

You say: "...."

OrangeRakoon Kirby Pun Overload - 2 points (one vote)


You say: “He's not even around any more, yet he left us a great gift before he departed for pastures new... What? He's just gone back to GRcade? Never mind, Josef Stalin him out of our history.”

Phantom Crane - 1 point (one vote)

You say: “(Mario Strikers Battle League Football, Nintendo Switch, Page 5) - I’d have loved to nominated Dusty Knacker’s masterfully composed living tribute to The Cappuccino Kid here, but it’s the thought of Buskalilly suddenly slamming down his JoyCons, abandoning a match and running outside so he could leather a bird that was so…unexpected?”

Marvel's Midnight Suns – 5 points (one vote, one first place)

Tunic – 5 points (one vote, one first place)

You say: “The actual #1 would've been Elden Ring if I wasn't holding out on getting a PS5, but this is the other contender for "best game ever" that came out this year. It's just everything I want in an adventure game. The lad's cute. It's like retro Zelda. There's hidden stuff everywhere. There's a whole subversive thing going on. I haven't even finished it yet. Love it love it love it love it love it love it love it love it love it. If you don't love it, it's because you're actually quite stupid. Love it.”

Windjammers 2 – 4 points (one vote)

You say: “A game that was severely underrated last year purely because it didn't have all the bell & whistles some might expect from an online PvP game. For me that was the beauty of it, just pure perfect arcade action.”

Hardspace Shipbreaker – 4 points (one vote)

Metal: Hellsinger – 3 points (one vote)

You say: “Might be a wee bit of recency bias here as I just finished it the other day but this is an excellent rhythm FPS game. I caught myself several times head bangin/foot tappin while playing, also that first moment where you hit a high hit streak and the songs vocals come in is really special.”

Stray – 3 points (one vote)

You say: “Meow. A decent adventure game where its setting and charm shine through, strikes a good balance between the chilled moments, the tense chases and just being a weird little cat knocking things over.”

Dordle - 3 points (one vote)

You say: “It's Wordle but with two words at once!  Not innovative at all, hence it being the only game on my Nontendo list and still only getting three marks; but fun.”

Raft – 3 points (one vote)

You say: “In that it's a game I played this year that left early access. Was a lot of fun hanging out multiplayer-style, mostly quite a chill experience, but then watching as the updates as "episodes" got more and more ambitious when you get to story points. Ruined by the fact that all the characters seem to have mega kidney problems and die of hunger/thirst every 2 minutes. “

Rollerdrome – 2 points (one vote)

You say: “I had been following this one for like 3 years by the solo dev on twitter & it was great to see it picked up/released by the OlliOlli devs in 2022. While the story is a bit forgettable the gameplay and boss fights are really good fun!”

Lights Off, Locks Locked – 2 points (one vote)

You say: “Secretly the best game the guy who made it is cool.”

The Quarry – 2 points (one vote)

TMNT: Shredder's Revenge – 1 point (one vote)

Escape Academy – 1 point (one vote)

No Tomorrow (Metal: Hellsinger)



You say: “Sets the scene of the final boss perfectly.”

I say: Serj Tankian is one talented dude. Massive massive thumbs up.


Ghost (Bayonetta 3)



You say: ...

I say: Scratches an early Paramore itch. Enjoyable!

A Few Screws Loose (TMNT: Shredder's Revenge)



You say: “Tee Lopes has been consistently composing gaming’s best tunes for a good few years now, and on a soundtrack that’s nothing but highlights this is thee highlight”.

I say: A proper homage to the 80s this!

Brat Overflow (13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)



You say: “Credit to Mas for pointing this out to me, this title theme is an absolute banger and I could listen to the almost comprehensible warblings of it for days.”

I say: Sounds like something out of a peppier Nier game. Thumbs up!

The battle theme against Professor Sada/Turo



You say: “Got that adrenaline pumping! It was so good!”

I say: Yep, a fitting tune for a surprisingly good finale. Love how keeps the eerie vibes of Area Zero but obviously at a much higher tempo.


Jubilife Village (Pokemon Legends Arceus)



You say: “I loved wandering around the village for many reasons but mainly it's down to this incredible piece, really relaxing and had the nice touch of evolving as you progressed through the story.”

I say: Such chill vibes. Loved returning to the village after being out in the wilds and being greeted by this tune.

Team Star Battle (Pokemon Scarlet/Violet)



You say: “A bop.”

I say: Can't disagree with that! I love the bit that kicks in at around 1:28 - even better when it syncs up with a triumphant moment in your battle.

Anything from Tunic

You say: “Er, anything from Tunic. Let's say the main overworld music, but I love all the ambient bloopy-ness in that game.”



I say: Chill and ethereal. I like it!

But would you believe it... a winner?!:

The Cappuccino Kid (three votes)



You say: “The John Cena of forum awards, you can deny him all you want but he's inevitable, full of the bants and has more retro knowledge than I've had disappointing trips to my local charity shops to emulate his exploits.”

“He’s got a real passion for games both old and new, and it really shows from his contributions to the forum. I like reading his retro insights on games that I remember reading about but have never played, as well as the more obscure curios that I know I will never play.”

I say: As always... a good year for the big man.

Balladeer (three votes)



You say: “I guess he posts sometimes.”

“Just endlessly dedicated to the forum really isn’t he? Kind of the face of GNamer in some ways. I always look forward to the lukewarm reception he gives to games he’s put days worth of his life into.”

I say: The face of GNamer is a great way to put it. Also, sorry for the picture, it had to be brought back though!

The Cappuccino Kid - If Cappa hadn't won the last three(?) contributor votes on the bounce I'd be voting for him here.  Not for his tireless retro or bargain posting, not for heading up Secret Santa, not even for contributing this year's forum meme through his love for comedy headlines - but for being so daring, so bold, so heroic, as to actually give me a full set of votes and mentions in the voting thread at the beginning of the year.  I'll even overlook the terrible Xenoblade slander.

“It's been an alright year innit”.

What's The Score? - Still quality in 2022, shame it died on its backside halfway through the year.  Everyone should definitely have tried harder when Balla tried to revive it, and it definitely isn't Balla typing this.

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet – Buskalilly put it best when he typed that he hadn’t read or heard any criticisms that he agreed with or cared about. Millions of people massively over-exaggerated its performance issues; once you’re settled in I think Scarlet/Violet is one of the best Pokemon games of the lot.

Lunistice – Altogether it’s highly admirable considering that it’s come from just one guy on his tod and made in his spare time.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series – It’s an unfancy and no-frills remaster, but these remain two of the best 2.5D platformers there’s ever been. They’re just as brilliant here as a remembered them from twenty/twenty-five years back.

Bayonetta 3 & Sifu - These would have likely been in my top 5 Nintendo & Nontendo votes but I just haven't got around to playing them yet.

Easy Come Easy Golf – In the absence of a new Everybody’s Golf, this is a valued substitute. If it were a bit less grindy and if the progression structure allowed for shorter three-hole challenges like in the Apple Arcade original then this might have made my year’s top five.

Nintendo Switch Sports – It won’t have the lasting cultural impact that Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort did, but there’s certainly lots of fun to be had and it’s overall a really good addition to anybody’s Switch library.

Was Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon 2022? I had a lot of fun with that.

Wales getting papped out of the World Cup group stage in humiliating fashion – Superb.

An Imposter Among Aux - An excellent little thread from Smurf, if it'd had another couple of pages I'd be voting for it.  As it was I had a good time making my one (correct) guess.

“My Switch list could have been bigger, and I've got games higher on my personal Top 10 on Switch then Nontendo

6th Pokémon Violet
7th Kirby and the Forgone Land
8th Neon White
9th Behind the Frame
10th Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes”

Open-World Pokémon - If 2022 did anything, it was convincing us that the way forward for Pokémon is sprawling open worlds.  With its intriguingly vertical environments, thoroughly enjoyable monster-riding, open-world catching, and limited use of troves of crappy collectables,

“Overall the Switch had a great 2022 for me with all its exclusive games and RPG's “

Chained Echoes - Only played it in earnest after the year's end and nobody else will vote for it, but this is a compulsive and enjoyable RPG, bringing interesting twists to turn-based battling, fantasy RPG plots, levelling up, flying robots, and giving you a goat character who eats his enemies. It risks missing out on both 2022 and 2023 by virtue of being a small game with an awkward release date, so I'm giving it a little bit of love here.

Pokémon Legends Arceus: Made a play for the future direction of the series that really struck a chord with many. Roll on the next such game!

Clodsire - Just an excellent dopey lad.

Elden Ring “Would've been my game of the year probably if I'd got round to playing it. Now Zelda's coming out this year, WHEN WILL I HAVE THE TIME (*sobs*)”

Ninja Hideaway - A quality addition to a quality multiplayer experience.

Portal on Switch? So sexy.

Liz Truss - ahahahahahahahaha... (pauses for breath)AAAAAAAAhahahahahahaaaaaa...

Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden - Could be extended to the entire series and its low-effort shenanigans; but with the humour of the first all but removed and a horrendous closing boss gambit, this was the worst of the first two.  An absolute disgrace of a game.

Mario Kart Tour - Just... stop, okay?  Stop with the banal real-city tracks that bleed into 8 Deluxe.  Stop with the mucking up of existing tracks (Peach Gardens never needed a shoehorned-in u-turn in the final lap).  Stop with the egregious microtransactions.  Just stop.

Open-World Pokémon - If 2022 did anything, it was convincing us that the way forward for Pokémon is tightly tailored linear paths.  With its sloppy environments and duff towns, low-effort monster-riding, lack of open-world catching, and use of troves of crappy collectables, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet made a play for the future direction of the series that left many feeling cold.  Let's hope the next such game is nothing like that!

Mario Strikers – Most of the forum’s highlights throughout the last six months have been through this and I appreciate them, but bugger me this is a poor effort from Nintendo. It’s another half-hearted Mario sports game on Switch, once again lacking customisation features, content and staying power.

Taito Milestones – A stingy and context-free compilation of just ten arcade games from across the late ‘70s and ‘80s, none of which I’d say are particularly significant nowadays. Those old Taito collections on Xbox and PS2 had amazing stuff like Bust-a-Move 2, Rainbow Islands and The New Zealand Story. This has “Front Line” and “Space Seeker”.

Bayonetta’s characterisation in Bayonetta 3 wasn’t my fave.

Sonic Frontiers – I’m honestly undecided if I think Sonic Frontiers truly deserves an honourable mention or a dishonourable one. The gameplay is addictive, oftentimes interesting and can be genuinely good fun – they’ve found a formula that they should stick with for their next Sonic game. There’s no question that it’s an extremely ropey Switch port though, with a chugging framerate and environmental pop-in that’s so much worse than what Pokemon Scarlet/Violet got slaughtered for. It's receiving a dishonurable mention because it's the first time where I’ve played a game on Switch and though ‘aye, this system’s showing its age a bit, time for them to announce the Nintendo 64 2’.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had amazing highs but a fair few mediocre lows - it’s just not quite the game it could have been.

WWE 2K22’s GM Mode – People were screaming for this to be readded to the WWE games for nearly fifteen years but what 2K returned with was lazy, overly-simplified and so much more basic than even the first GM mode in WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2006. There were no multi-man matches, no mid-card titles, no storylines, no trades…it was massively disappointing.

Evercade – Releasing a third version of its hardware in two-and-a-half years is pretty shoddy. Splitting the userbase further by having exclusive digital-only games on that third hardware revision was more than a bit mince. Yet it’s that the Evercade EXP launched with the same software bugs and manufacturing problems as the previous two that was the riddiest of all the behaviour.

Nintendo of America - I'd like to forget that NoA were embroiled in a sex assault and general contractor mistreatment mini-scandal that the games media quickly swept under the rug, and that NoJ hasn't said a damn thing about.  I almost did when putting together my votes.  But I didn't, and neither should you.  (UbiSoft and Activision are still run by cunts by the way.)

“Just basically everything in 2022. Except the Euros, I'm so proud of the ladies (*sobs but tears of joy this time*). But just everything else was terrible.”

Neon Violet - Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl with horrendous voice acting and some horribly unenjoyable spiky levels to her name.  Bin.

“Might just be me, especially as I didn't play Elden Ring Nontendo was lacking in 2022 outside it and God of War.”

Lunistice's graphics - I'll say nothing about the rest of the game, but if you have nostalgia for these then you don't just have rose-tinted specs, somebody's painted over them.

“Worst Game Pupperazzi
2nd Boreal Tenebrae
3rd Chocobo GP
4th House of the Dead Remake
5th Worst As Dusk Falls”

Vodeo Games' closure - If Beast Breaker had been released in 2022, when I played it, it would have been my runner-up for GotY.  Quite an incredible hidden gem of a first and now only game.  The loss of its developer isn't quite Cing levels of injustice, but it's close, for reasons beyond the great title they released.  Buy the game today in their memory.

The Switch's 2022 - Up there in the conversation for the worst year the Switch has had so far IMO.  Even several of the Nintendo big hitters seemed to elicit "they were still good I guess" reactions rather than actual enthusiasm, and the top-quality indies that normally make up the supporting cast didn't seem to appear.
Elden Ring - Look, I'll stop ragging on FromSoft's games when people stop forgetting to vote in my vote threads because of them.  Until then the hissy fits will continue.

“Keep up studying, keep up gymming, keep being excellent.”

“We just did something like this for the last Pod of War Gamecast, and I'd like to say I'll play more backlog, buy less games etc, but I won't. I'll certainly try and lookat  keeping it to like two retail games per month (4 weeks) Jan Fire Emblem & Forspoken for instance with the odd retro & indie pick up.

More #content on the Pod of War channel as it can do well, like my GT7 video has over 300+ views, I'd like to keep that going.

Still looking at getting a flat, I've said this before, but we all know what the market is like at the moment plus it's been like 3 years & my Dad isn't getting better I do feel bad, yet how long is a piece of string.”

“Calm it down with the old retro gaming a bit. I don’t need to go out for my lunch break and come back with Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action!, Dino Master and ATV: Quad Frenzy on the Nintendo DS and forget my food. New experiences both through and away from gaming are what I want and need, but, you know, good ones. The resolution is to declutter my collection, focus on better games and spend more of my time doing different things.”

“Finish more games than I did in 2022! My Backloggery says I only beat 8 in 2022… it was 17 in 2021 and 21 in 2020, and obviously lockdowns and not working 40 hour weeks contributed to that, but I’d like to hammer away at more of my catalogue this year!”

Pokémon Scarlet/Violet – 10 points (four votes)

“Maybe this should be higher, but my connection to Arceus felt more personal and I didn't want two Pokémon games in a row.”

“If a Pokémon game convinces me to finsh the 'Dex, it's doing something right. The admittedly rough performance didn't detract from what was a really great adventure. It feels like slowly but surely that Game Freak are piecing together how to refresh Pokémon.”

“A lot of fun, but not as exciting to play as Arceus. I enjoyed it but it didn’t feel like as fully realised a world and concept… feels like the series is getting there, though.”

“It's a slow starter but once I got in to the story a bit more it was a non stop smilefest right until its epic conclusion.”

Splatoon 3 – 10 points (two votes, two first places)

“I'm already at about 150hrs played on this, which is like 40 more than I put into the previous game. When I saw reviews starting to drop for this I saw some say it was "more of the same" which I think is wildly unfair, when looking at the multiplayer (the real meat of the game) the feel of the game is totally different from 2 especially when you get your head around the new movement options squid surge and roll which give you more options during your gun fights. The motions controls are a lot smoother & the special weapons have some great counter play to them which the previous entry didn't really have. It's easily the best multiplayer game out at the moment.”

“All I needed. More Splatoon with slightly nicer visuals, some improvements here and there and lots of new stuff.”

Kirby and the Forgotten Land – 8 points (three votes, one first place)

“A Nintendo 3D platformer came out this year! It wasn't as mad as day, a Mario Odyssey or Galaxy, but instead it had a very physical sense of presence. Grounding Kirby in that odd post-apocalypse made the wackier stuff really shine.”

“An excellently crafted video game. There’s very little else on the Switch that’s got the amount of imagination, playability and finesse that this does.”

The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe – 8 points (three votes)

“It’s not totally new, but it has a lot of new parts, and it made me laugh out loud several times. A lot of fun and lots of silly, silly birds.”

“I'd liken this to going to see a comedy set – yes, not all of the jokes are going to land, but you'll at least find yourself laughing pretty regularly. It does require a bit of knowledge around gaming tropes, but I can't imagine anyone posting here missing the punchline on any of the jokes.”

“Yes it counts picky rule people, it's basically twice as big as the original game. The original (and in most cases the best) way to do "meta" in a videogame. Genuinely funny, and does a great job of thinking of everything you might try and catch it out with.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge – 7 points (two votes)

“This is the slickest and most accomplished side-scrolling beat ‘em up that there’s been since the days of Turtles in Time. Time might tell that Shredder’s Revenge is even better than Turtles in Time, it’s that good.”

“This is just a great modern take on a Ninja Turtles beat em up, great action & music.”

Neon White – 7 points (two votes, one first place)

“Top-quality silky smooth first-person puzzle platforming.  Shame it didn't have any writing or characters to flesh out the experience.  (puts fingers in ears, says 'la la la')”

OMORI – 6 points (two votes, one first place)

“One point from me to keep Moyles' vote company.  An intriguing and deeply disturbing RPG with lovely art and music.”

“I lavished praise on this after I'd finished it last year and whilst I'm maybe not as glowing in my praise as  I once was, I still consider this one of the best games I played last year. It scratched that itch of games in the vein of Mother whilst bringing its own fresh take on the genre.”

Atari 50 – 5 points (one vote, one first place)

“because I'm an old man and I love old game shit. And this was one area of nostalgia I totally missed out on. OK, most of the early games are not fun at all today, but the whole package, with the documentary elements, is brilliant - some of the peeps involved are quite old now and you may not get a chance to do this again. This is of course irrelevant because all y'all are voting for Pokemon and all that shit.”

Return to Monkey Island – 4 points (one vote)

“Well worth the wait, tells a great story as the series always has, I loved the art style and has some great accessibility options for those who are less familiar with the point and click genre.”

Olli Olli World – 4 points (one vote)

“A brilliant sequel for the skateboarding score attack platformer. Lot's more charm as well with it's psychedelic world/characters along with some neat changes to some mechanics like lane switching and vert ramps. Gnarly duuuuude!”

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – 4 points (one vote)

Triangle Strategy – 3 points (one vote)

Pilotwings 64 – 3 points (one vote)

“in that I needed to pad out this list, and it Switch Onlined in 2022. But this is still great, and it's the first time it's been available in ages.”

Nobody Saves the World – 3 points (one vote)

“The best and most fun class system in games.”

Signalis – 2 points (one vote)

“Only played about 3 & a half hours of the apparent 8 hour play time but in that time I've really enjoyed the atmosphere and classic RE survival horror gameplay.”

Earthbound – 2 points (one vote)

“in that I needed to pad out this list, and it Switch Onlined in 2022. But this is still great, and more interesting than any of your spiky haired lads”

Mario Strikers: Battle League Football – 2 points (one vote)

“It should have been a lot better, completely lacking in modes and options however I can't deny that it's been just pure no nonsense fun that never failed to make me smile.”

Two Point Campus – 2 points (one vote)

“It has all the depth, character and interestingness that you’d want from a management sim, but it’s made even better by being really intuitive, nicely accessible and an obvious labour of love too.”

Inscryption – 2 points (one vote)

Banjo-Kazooie – 1 points (one vote)

“In that I needed to pad out this list, and it Switch Onlined in 2022. But this is still great that it made its way to a Nintendo console again.”

Tinykin – 1 point (one vote)

“I do love a collect-a-thon and this fits the bill perfectly. It may not do anything new but the gameplay is pleasant and I enjoy the whole tiny world vibe.”

Windjammers 2 – 1 point (one vote)

“All that was required here was to slightly refine the 1994 original and that’s what’s happened, they’ve not ars ed about with it at all. Stylish, addictive and as intense as Windjammers ever was, it’s a well worthwhile sequel. I just wish there was more surrounding that core/match gameplay to keep everyone’s interest up – just twelve months on most people have probably already forgotten that Windjammers 2 even exists.”

Portal Companion Collection – 1 point (one vote)

“These games still hold up brilliantly, but there’s nothing new to them, so I ranked them lower. Still, absolutely stunning babes.”