Best of 2012 Nominations...
It's hard to resist the siren call when walking by the obligatory sit-down racing game at your average movie theater arcade. American Racing, by TurboNuke, seeks to capture that sense of action, and by and large, it succeeds. The trade-off for fast-paced fun is loose handling and limited customization options, but this is definitely a game that'll get your adrenaline pumping.
Minigolf! In space! With explosions! And trance music! And lens flare! You'll find it all in Bomb Runner, a physics arcade game by Core Studios. Inspired as much by pinball as by golf, you must click, drag, and shoot your way through 24 beautiful levels. Some of the shots do seem to rely on luck as much as skill, especially in the later levels, but overall, Bomb Runner is an entertaining diversion.
Will those darn Gummi Bears ever learn? When you steal the wallet of the angry minotaur that's already crushed your comrades once before, there's going to be a reckoning. It's Burrito Bison Revenge, an action launch game from Juicy Beast. It feels a bit more like "Burrito Bison 1.5" rather than "2", but it's still a very fun way to pass the time.
Forsooth! There's a fair and virtuous maiden beyond that hill, noble unicorn! Too bad unicorns aren't so good with hills. Or rocks. Or galloping. Or... maybe you should just stand still. Foddy.net returns for another simple, silly and tricky arcade reflex game sure to bring out the pretty pretty pony in you.
With its sleek iconographic aesthetic, twitchy gameplay, and impish sense of humor, Chris Underwood's Hanna in a Choppa quickly became a favorite here at JayIsGames. In fact, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say it's right up there with
Stunt Copter and
Comanche in the rotocraft gaming hall of fame. Now, after four years, and plenty of crossed fingers, the physics puzzle action returns in Hanna in a Choppa 2! Of course, the name is a bit of a misnomer, since it seems Ms. Hanna has earned quite a few more pilot's licenses this time around, from hot air balloons, to biplanes, to jetpacks, to ostriches. Cunning level design and satirical writing work hand in hand to form an instant classic.
JuicyBeast serves up a silly and addictive little arcade launch game about blasting off on barrels and cleaving monsters in 'twain. A Very Bad Guy has stolen ten princesses and hidden himself atop a tall tower, so you'll need to build a barrel cannon and blast your way up to him. Earn gold by completing achievements, upgrade your equipment and earn new power-ups, and prepare for a fun, frantic arcade experience that's perfect for filling time.
Flex those metacarpals, because the moon is in danger from alien invaders and the only thing standing between the moon and utter distruction are your typing skills. I really do hope you were one of those kids paying attention in 7th grade typing class and not just playing math blasters, because the entire human race is depending on it. It's a great little game that'll keep you playing long after you beat all the regular levels and have been fired from your cushy middle management job for playing video games instead of, you know, working.
Proke, a word game developed by Peter Hastings, is all about vocabulary building... literally! The goal of it is to build a mighty tower to the heavens, and your only tools are quick thinking and linguistic fortitude. While racing the clock, type a word that has the designated prefix or suffix, or for extra height, both. The faster you type, the higher you'll build. Extra points can be scored for typing the letters that appear in Bonus Bubbles, or doing combos of words with same prefix/suffix. Proke is a light kind of game, but it's very addictive.
If a snake eats a pellet in the forest, and no one is there to control the joystick, does it still score a point? There's no need to get philosophical with Netgrind's Snakes On A Cartesian Plane, but you do need to put your thinking cap on. Each level puts a twist on the classic snake game, like disappearing traps, weirdly warping walls, and twisted controls. How many points can you rack up?
It might be a bit out of season to be topical, but Pixeljam's Snowball is a mammoth pinball game to behold. With well over a hundred targets to collect and multiple flippers and springs to control, this seasonal table has a lot of fun bells and whistles to keep you entertained until the next cold front sweeps through.
Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 4 is all about re-imagining the Guitar Hero experience for your home PC. It improves over its predecessors with amusing presentation and a host of new options and features. You can play every song in two difficulty levels, garner achievements for epic thrashing or embarrassing failure, and battle egregious enemy bosses like the diabolical Puppet or the innocent Pizza Guy through the shear power of Rock. Or you can just put on your headphones and sneak a quick jam in a break in your day.
In Super Villainy, the mightiest villains have grown bored after destroying the earth, and decide to have one final battle royale, arena shooter style, to determine who is the baddest. A solid release by Rob Almighty, with a little more freedom than what is usually seen in the genre.
Everybody loves a parade, especially Sushi Cat! But when Wife Cat gets lost midst the bustling crowd, Sushi Cat knows it won't be easy to find his pink lady love. But he'll find her, even if it means eating all the shari, nori and neta in the county! Sushi Cat 2: The Great Parade is a new set of levels in Joey Betz's popular pachinko arcade game series. While undoubtedly a level pack more than a sequel, the inspired level design and surreal power-ups make it a pack of awesomeness that will leave you :3-ing
More arcade avoidance action to be enjoyed in this sequel to the 2009 cat nomming adventure original. Considering how simple yet lovely the original was, it's impressive that Time 4 More Cat manages to improve on it without piling on so much that you lose the addictive ease and simplicity that made it popular to begin with. The art is beautiful, soft, and surreal, while the soundtrack only adds to the dreamlike atmosphere.
Get ready to smackdown your opponent in the one or two player game Wrestle Jump! Control a Mexican wrestler with the single goal of pounding the other guy's head to the ground. Kick your leg against the arena floor to throw your opponent wildly around. Whoever gets the most smackdowns wins!
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