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Derrick's Top 13 Games of 2008 - Part 2

Posted by Derrick Sanskrit

Missed part 1? Click here!

9 - Space Invaders Extreme (DS/PSP):
One of the most iconic arcade games of all time crossed its 30th anniversary this year, and to celebrate they reinvented the whole damn thing. We've seen this before, but Space Invaders Extreme was different. How? It was flippin' awesome this time. Bright colors and flashing lights, sound effects that sync with the club-ready music, new power-ups and new aggressive enemies, Space Invaders Extreme turned the arcade classic into an underground rave of interplanetary destruction. And, as I already said, its flippin' awesome. I prefer the DS version, but both are great, and for the bargain price of $19.99 there's really no reason not to pick up this addictive portable reimagining.

8 - newtonica (iPhone/iPod Touch):
Kenichi Nishi's debut game for Apple's "gaming device" multi-touch widescreen iPod is sheer casual bliss. There is a ball and you can spin it with a flick of your finger. Cubes fall toward the ball and you get points by lining up the ball so the blocks fall in the appropriately colored areas. Don't strain your brain too hard, there's only two colors. The first ten minutes of play are stress-free and easy, but soon enough the speed and frequency of falling blocks increases to the point of insanity and the slow relaxing game has turned vicious and intense. Charming. Addictive. Very easy to lose track of time and surroundings when played. Oh, and a soundtrack by Kenji Eno. That's an awesome game.

7 - Professor Layton & The Curious Village (DS):
Level 5's logic-puzzle festival was a truly unique gaming experience. It marked the first time ever that both my little sister and I completed the same game from start to finish within a week. This is not to say that the game is short, rather that the game is engrossing for players of all ages and paths. Solve one quaint puzzle after another, every now and then coming across one that truly adjusts the way you're thinking and fills you with a sense of wonder and excitement upon completion and eager to find the next puzzle. Couple that with a surprisingly deep narrative and absolutely gorgeous animated cutscenes and you have one of the shining gems of an already very impressive DS library. Now what's it gonna take to release the two sequels outside of Japan?

6 - Boom Blox (Wii):
Who would have thought that the debut game from Stephen Spielberg's development deal with Electronic Arts would turn out to be my go-to party game? Got a bunch of friends over? Pop Boom Blox in your Wii and fire up a few Wiimotes. Gamers and nongamers alike will pick up the controls in a matter of minutes and everyone in the room becomes captivated, watching blox fall and explode and crazy little critters jump and shout. Arms will be made sore and remotes will be passed to other people who were watching but not playing and the whole thing keeps going until everyone is worn out and needs a nap. This is what happened on my birthday, this is what happened at a friend's housewarming, this is what happened at Thanksgiving, and this is probably what will happen again at Christmas. Boom Blox, while fun enough as a single player game, is THE killer multi-player title for the Wii.

Part 1
Part 3

Related Articles:
Bob's Top Ten Games of 2008: Audiosurf, Braid
Time Magazine's Top 10 Games of 2008
Action Button's Top 25 Games Ever

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Posted Dec 10 2008, 01:00 PM

Filed under: boom blox, nintendo ds, derrick sanskrit, wii, psp, space invaders extreme, space invaders, iphone, newtonica, top ten of 2008, top 10, professor layton

Comments

Roto13 said:

Yes, the other two Layton games need to hurry up and get announced. The first one did ok, if I recall. It was the number one selling DS game for a few weeks.

Boom Blox is great. But Brawl is still the number 1 Wii party game, as long as your party goers are all gamers.

December 10, 2008 1:21 PM

Demaar said:

Like I said in some other PSP posts here, I keep forgetting there are games I want to own for it (SIE one of them). If I had an iPhone/Pod touch I'd totally get Newtonica.

I also need to finish Layton and buy Boom Blox. Basically this post is my list of shame.

December 15, 2008 3:55 AM

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.