Games of the Year - 2016

I'm a bit late with this but finally I've gotten around to the now-traditional 'Games of the Year' post! As mentioned in another recent post, it's been an eventful year for me, and one that's seen a few changes too, not all of which were welcome, and as a result, what was looking like a good, productive year blog-wise actually ended up fizzling out in a largely unspectacular and somewhat frustrating way.

I'll be back though, hopefully with a vengeance as there are still tons of things I want to write about here. As always, whether you are chance visitors or long-term readers of my page, I hope you continue to enjoy my various posts. Feedback is always welcome, positive or negative - what would you like to see more of or less of? In the meantime, here are the Top Ten Best Games I reviewed during 2016:

10. Wonder Boy by Sega (1986) - Arcade

This Sega classic was actually supposed to be the first game I ever reviewed here at Red Parsley, I'm not sure why it took me so long. Oh well, least I got to it, even if it did take me 6 years! It was worth the wait too - the runny leapy action might be a bit unforgiving but it's great fun, and it still plays really well. (full review here)

Games of the Year - 2015

Well, it doesn't seem like five minutes ago I did the last one of these but the year is already over! It's been a busy one for me, and accordingly it has seen the least posts here at Red Parsley in the six years I've been rambling away here, but I've still managed to play a good variety of games on an ever-widening variety of systems.

Over the coming year I hope to continue this. I've started to feel a tad overwhelmed by the enormity of the indie/homebrew/doujin scene but I will continue to cover any titles that catch my eye in addition to covering old favourites and discovering new gems (hopefully at least) on the older systems. I also have a huge backlog of films and TV shows to review but I'll get through as many as I can.

Anyway, I hope you all, whether you are chance visitors or long-term readers of my page, continue to enjoy my various posts. Feedback is always welcome, positive or negative - what would you like to see more of or less of? In the meantime, here is the largely-pointless Top Ten Best Games I reviewed throughout 2015:

10. Super Bomberman by Hudson Soft (1993) - SNES

Only recently reviewed here, the first of the SNES Bomberman games wasn't quite as flashy as the PC Engine version that preceded it, but it was the introduction to the great series for many of us gamers here in the UK, and a mighty fine one it was too. Packed full of hours of manic blasting fun for one player or several. (full review here)

Red Parsley Charts - Part 2

Oh, hey, what's going down y'all? Over a year ago now some of you may recall a list posted here of the Top Ten highest rated games that I've reviewed so far. This was meant to be the first of several similar lists leading to a 'Charts' tab at the top of the page, but... I kind of forgot about it. Until now!

That's right, it's now time for the Top Ten highest rated films that I've reviewed! Since I've only actually reviewed a small percentage of the films I've seen and a tiny fraction of those made so far, I guess it's a rather pointless list, but that's never stopped me before. Like its game equivalent, the list will be updated over time, but for now here are the finest films to be reviewed here so far :)

10. Kick-Ass (2010)

I really didn't know quite what to make of this when it first arrived in a shower of glowing reviews but I bought it anyway and immediately loved it! Aaron Johnson is good but Chloe Moretz steals the show for me as Hit-Girl. Great characters, great action, lots of black humour... What more could you ask for? (full review here)

Games of the Year - 2014

Well, after revisiting many of my old reviews, and indeed getting the urge to play many of the games again too (I don't often get the time to play games simply for pleasure these days), we're finally up to date! The biggest difference with this list is the presence of several indie PC games - a type of game I've increasingly become a fan of since delving into that dauntingly-large world - but this year also featured some landmark arcade titles and I finally reviewed my very favourite game of all time too. Behold, the ten best games I've played (and reviewed) this year are:

10. Oids by FTL Games (1987) - Atari ST

For many years, every time the subject of 'gravity games' comes up I've heard three names - Gravitar, Thrust, and Oids. The latter is one that I never played until this review but it's turned out to be the best of them all - as well as loads of stages featuring all the usual stuff but it even has a level editor too! (full review here)

Games of the Year - 2013

Remarkably (for my standards), I've now posted reviews of over 400 games here at Red Parsley, covering many systems and genres, popular and obscure titles alike. I've still barely even scratched the surface of most of these of course, and my 'to do' list contains well over 400 more titles, but I've still played a lot of good and bad games over these (almost) five years. Here is a list of the finest examples from my fourth year of blogging. Only seems like yesterday that I reviewed some of these...

10. Ghost'n Goblins by Capcom (1985) - Arcade

I actually played Ghouls'n Ghosts before this but I'd heard it was meant to be just as almost-impossibly tough. As it turned out, it wasn't too bad in that regard - it was still a big challenge but not as frustrating as expected, and I consequently enjoyed it a lot. Sir Arthur's first adventure remains a top arcade game. (full review here)

Games of the Year - 2012

Remarkably (for my standards), I've now posted reviews of over 400 games here at Red Parsley, covering many systems and genres, popular and obscure titles alike. I've still barely even scratched the surface of most of these of course, and my 'to do' list contains well over 400 more titles, but I've still played a lot of good and bad games over these (almost) five years. Here is a list of the finest examples from my third year of blogging. I need to play some of these again...

10. Yars' Revenge by Atari (1981) - Atari VCS

I missed the heyday of the VCS so I didn't get around to playing this highly-regarded title for it until many years after its release but first impressions of it were still great even after all this time. It's as simple as you would expect from the VCS but the challenge is just right and it's very addictive! (full review here)

Games of the Year - 2011

Remarkably (for my standards), I've now posted reviews of over 400 games here at Red Parsley, covering many systems and genres, popular and obscure titles alike. I've still barely even scratched the surface of most of these of course, and my 'to do' list contains well over 400 more titles, but I've still played a lot of good and bad games over these (almost) five years. Here is a list of the finest examples from my second year of blogging. Seems like such a long time ago now...

10. Hellfire by Toaplan (1990) - MegaDrive/Genesis

Jaz Rignall of C&VG/Mean Machines used to rave about this one, a rare example of a horizontal-scroller from Toaplan, but I never really thought it looked like much. Then I played it and discovered one of the smoothest and most well designed such games yet seen! It's tough but I still can't stop playing it. (full review here)

Games of the Year - 2010

Well, 'tis nearly the festive season here in the UK, and indeed many other countries, and will remarkably be the fifth such season since I've been posting my ramblings here at Red Parsley. Usually this affects the content of my posts to no significant margin, such is my indifference to this time of year (and there are only so many 'Christmas Games' posts people can read, anyway), but this year I was thinking of posting a 'Top Ten Games of the Year' closer to the... ummm, well, end of the year.

This would not, however, be comprised of games released in 2014 - I've played so few of those it would be a bit pointless - but will instead feature my favourite ten games of those that I've reviewed in the year. Since these games could've been made at any time, I suppose this could also be a somewhat pointless exercise, but I'm going to do it anyway. Before I do that, though, I figured I might as well do the same thing for every year since Red Parsley has existed.

If nothing else, this will give me a chance to highlight some of my older reviews (and some great games in the process) to newer readers, and will probably prompt me to tidy them up a bit too (looks like I was less of a perfectionist in the early days!). So, the finest games reviewed during Red Parsley's fledgling year are:

10. Shinobi by Sega (1987) - Arcade

I've probably spent much more time playing the MS version of this classic than this version but few could deny the charm the arcade original has. It's tougher, there's no doubt of that, but it's also very satisfying and enormous fun to play. The gaming world has seen many ninjas but none as cool as Joe Musashi. (full review here)

Red Parsley Charts - Part 1

Oh, hello there. In a flash did the idea come unto me one hazy afternoon of late; an idea so resplendent in its simplicity that one cannot fail to gibber in a curious mixture of awe and bewilderment. This idea was, to add another tab/page to the top of this modest blog featuring charts of the highest rated games and films!

These charts will feature only such titles that have already been reviewed here at Red Parsley so far and are therefore likely to change over time as I encounter more and more splendid examples (hopefully). Here is the first such chart which is none other than an overall Top Ten Games :)

**Last Updated 16/12/15**

10. Bomberman '93 by Hudson Soft (1992) - PC Engine

Any Bomberman game is special (well, almost any - see the Bottom Ten Games!) and this is definitely the best one I've reviewed here so far. Wonderful, colourful, varied graphics, appealing music, and not only an immensely enjoyable game for one player but one of the finest multi-player games ever made. (full review here)