![]() Na-na na-na na-na-na-na-na-nah! In some parallel universe, Sonic has retired and Billy Hatcher rules. ![]() (Asura's Wrath has just recently been added to Xbox One backward compatibility: treat yourself!) OW Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Real talk: this is one of the most soulful games of the last 20 years, and it lingers with me still. But there's also something raw and true and human at its centre, a sad and empathetic portrayal of damaged masculinity chewing itself up in the nihilism of its own fury. It is wildly over-the-top, and quite hilarious. This unhinged game is a barely coherent assemblage of galactic-scale QTEs, cheesy dialogue, sudden hit-pauses, episode breaks, average beat-'em-up sections and terrible shooter interludes - and it is absolutely glorious. MR Asura's WrathĪ preposterous tribute to - or perhaps satire of - the 90s golden age of fighting anime, Asura's Wrath is the tale of a demigod who is betrayed by his brethren and spends 12,000 years in purgatory, waiting to unleash a tidal wave of retributive rage on his return. Ah well, it's not as if the game itself is going anywhere. Simple, strategic and often brilliantly silly, there's a spring in the step - as well as in your punches - that makes Arms an absolute blast. Arms is to fighting games as Mario Kart is to driving games - not surprisingly, given it's the Mario Kart team behind it - but rather than thinking of it as a simplification of the form, like Mario Kart this distills the genre to its very essence. I still can't fathom why it never caught on. As it is, Arms is already forgotten just over two short years on from its release, even by Nintendo itself with cover star Spring Man relegated to an assist trophy in the latest Smash Bros., we never even got any amiibo. In a just world, we'd be talking about this as one of Nintendo's crowning achievements. Stuffed with colour, collectables, and a host of deeply disturbing creatures, this reimagining of Wonderland - a psychological horror in its very purest form - is a grim, grotesque place that shines even in its darkest moments. Whilst the platforming and combat can, admittedly, feel a touch unpolished at times, it's the striking design and unsettling story that'll keep you pressing onwards, even when you begin to doubt there's a fairytale ending awaiting poor Alice. Alice Madness ReturnsĪn altogether darker vision of Lewis Carroll's adventures, Alice: Madness Returns is delightfully macabre in all the right ways, blending Carroll's Wonderland with American McGee's fine eye for horror and metaphor. ![]() We would present our own picks for the best games of the last two decades, but honestly where's the fun in that? So here's a collection of the Eurogamer team's personally-cherished gems that might have gone unsung, or might have escaped your attention. As you might have noticed, this week marks 20 years since Eurogamer first sprung forth from boss-man Rupert Loman's loins (or something like that, I wasn't paying attention), and to mark it we're running a short series of celebratory features. ![]()
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