Year: 2020

My 100 Favourite Games of All Time (80-71)

Welcome back to the series! Today, I’ll be covering entries 80 through 71.

If you haven’t read the previous instalment in this series, please do so here, and here’s the first entry if you want to start from the entry 100.

Let’s not waste any more time!

80 – Morphblade

Release Date: 3rd March 2017
Developer: Suspicious Developments
Publisher: Suspicious Developments
Platforms: Window

It’s a game about building a board of hexes with which to murder bad guys.

Morphblade fits into that category of games that are entirely designed to be played for about 5 minutes at a time when you’ve got nothing better to do. However, it shows that games of that ilk have to be mindless trash like we see all over the mobile market.

Morphblade is so simple, and yet every time I play, I find myself blown away by the level of depth it has when you take the time to understand how it works. There are 6 different types of hex that you can have on your board, some are weapons, while others are utility tiles. The idea is that you start off with just two tiles, and with every wave of enemies you defeat, you get to add more to the board. Since every tile does something different, and they can all be upgraded to do different things depending on what is adjacent to them, it creates a virtually endless set of possibilities.

Since it lets you gradually build it up, it means you slowly develop a new strategy as you progress through each game, even if every game is only about 5 minutes long. There are some tactics that you can rely on, but there’s just enough randomness mixed in there to get you to try new things as often as possible. Then it does it’s best to throw a spanner into your plans with armoured enemies, or enemies that destroy your tiles. It’s exceedingly tricky but twice as compelling, so it fits into the casual game market perfectly.

79 – Rumu

Release Date: 12th December 2017
Developer: Robot House
Publisher: Hammerfall Publishing
Platforms: Windows, Linux
Metacritic Average: 78%

It’s a game about a robot vacuum cleaner who wants to meet its owners.

The first game on this list that I’ve already reviewed, Rumu is one of those games that takes you places you’d never expect. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling it, but Rumu is one of those games that reels you in with charm and then sucker punches you with emotions.

I ended up playing through the whole of Rumu in one sitting because I found it that compelling. It started me off by letting me tell a toaster that I love it or to “initiate toast” and then it took me on a journey that is a mixture of puzzle-solving and storytelling that hasn’t been done quite like this before.

I’m trying to give away as little as possible, but the game always kept me guessing. It plotted out its mystery in such a smart way that meant I’d have a couple of theories as to what was going on at any one time. It then paces out the big reveals in the plot to perfection, so that you don’t realise what’s really going until the game wants you to.

It’s a game that is only a couple of hours long, but in that time, it drags you in, chews you up and spits you back out again in such a satisfying way that I can’t help but love it.

78 – Saint’s Row The Third

Release Date: 15th November 2011
Developer: Volition
Publisher: THQ
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Linux
Metacritic Average: 84%

It’s a game about gangsters…in a roundabout way.

For many years, Saint’s Row was seen as the doppelganger to GTA. Where GTA looks to ground itself in reality (for the most part) with its stories & characters, Saint’s Row goes in the exact opposite direction. Saint’s Row will usually take the realistic setting and blow it wide open, sure it’s a regular city, but it’s full to the brim with ridiculous weapons, over the top villains, zombies and mutants.

It would eventually take this idea too far and ruin it in Saint’s Row 4 and Gat Out of Hell, but I think Saint’s Row The Third is where the balance is just right. It gives you some fun and stupid toys to play with, but it doesn’t go too far, all of the characters and the world still feel at least somewhat grounded, which gives the wackiness the reference point it needs to even seem whacky in the first place.

It’s a game where the comedy is laced throughout and is pitch-perfect pretty much the whole time, admittedly it gets a bit hokey when it tries to be serious, but that’s a rather minor factor in the grand scheme of things. The world also has a tonne of stuff to do, without doesn’t feel too big, with plenty of activities and side quests to complete, you’re always busy but aren’t overwhelmed by how massive the world is.

Saint’s Row will probably never reach these heights again (if another game is ever even made), but this game and predecessors will undoubtedly stand the test of time.

77 – Bully

Release Date: 17th October 2006
Developer: Rockstar Vancouver
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Platforms: Playstation 2, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Windows, Android, iOS
Metacritic Average: 87%

It’s a game about what your grandparents say their school days were like.

When I was talking about Rumu, I touched on its charm, and Bully has that oozing out of every aspect. It was a game that made me feel nostalgic for a time that never was. When I was in school, I never beat up other kids or snuck into places I shouldn’t have, but Bully was able to throw me back to a fictional time where I’d done all of those things.

The world design is exceptional, with kids that you would recognise, and classes that you loved, and classes you hated it was able to capture the essence of what being a tweenager in school was like in the most fun way possible. Once you’ve played Bully enough, it genuinely begins to feel like you used to when wandering around your school, being able to recognise everybody as you passed them in the hall. Even if you’ve never spoken to them or know their names, you still recognise the faces.

No game has been able to draw the feelings of nostalgia out of me as Bully did, and I doubt any game ever will again, it is a truly unique game that uses its setting to its advantage in a way no other high-school game has done to my liking.

76 – Sniper Elite 3

Release Date: 27th June 2014
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Rebellion Developments
Platforms: Playstation 4, Playstation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Windows
Metacritic Average: 71%

It’s a game about sniping.

Like many games on this list, Sniper Elite takes a singular core mechanic and focuses its entire game around that, and most of the development is clearly spent refining that mechanic to a point.

The sniping in Sniper Elite is absolutely amazing, with realistic physics that provide a proper challenge as you sit atop your perch waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Everything in the game is attempting to make you feel like a sniper would in those situations. It forces you to think three steps ahead at all times, and you need to be completely aware of your surroundings.

I’ve chosen Sniper Elite 3 over the others in the series because that’s where I think the level design was at it’s best in the series. It gave you wide open spaces to let you see across the whole battlefield and take everyone down from one position. Still, at the same time, it wasn’t afraid to force you into claustrophobic areas where you are constantly at a disadvantage and having to be always on the move.

The customisable difficulty level let you fine-tune the experience to be what you were comfortable with. Though, of course, no talk of Sniper Elite would be complete without mentioning the brutal kill-cams that let you see the bullet travel through your enemy’s body. Seeing just what organ it was that you blew to bits helps give you an incredible sense of satisfaction when you nail a shot.

75 – Omensight

Release Date: 15th May 2018
Developer: Spearhead Games
Publisher: Spearhead Games
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows
Metacritic Average: 81%

It’s a game about preventing the apocalypse after it’s already happened.

Omensight is a game that’s very clever with how it tells its story. Presenting you as a being that is called upon after the world is destroyed, you get the chance to go back in time and try and figure out how to prevent the apocalypse. The catch is, you have no idea what actually caused it and the only way you can interact with the world is by following one of four key characters on the final day.

Living the final day over and over again allows you to get to grip with every detail of what happened during that final day. In addition, revisiting places several times breeds a sense of familiarity that causes you to grow somewhat of a bond with your surroundings. The way the mystery unravels as you progress is so satisfying as every re-run of the day gives you more clues to piece together how the end came to be.

The combat system is relatively simple compared to most other hack and slash games, but the movement is so fluid. It’s that sense of effortless movement that, when combined with the variety of abilities the game gives you, causes every fight to become so much fun.

74 – Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman

Release Date: 10th August 1994
Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Game Boy

It’s a game where Wario and Bomberman try to blow each other up.

A game that is pretty much on here entirely for nostalgic reasons, Wario Blast is perhaps the first game I ever really loved. Part of the reason as to why I love the villainous, bumbling idiot is in large part down to this game.

Going back and playing it now, I still think it holds up as a pretty fun game to play. It hits that mark for a casual game perfectly, as it allows the skilful players to do skilful things, while more casual players can still understand and play it with relative ease.

Everything feeds in to create a very tactile experience. The plodding movement that speeds up as the game goes on, while the music and level layout all come together to give the feeling of playing out some grand strategy, even if you are mostly just making it up as you go along. Every level has it’s own unique variants in its levels as well which means that you can never really settle into a single tactic since the game keeps changing things on you.

The boss design is also fantastic, with each boss expanding on your knowledge of the one that came before it, means that your tactics against every boss are different and continuously evolve over time. It’s the kind of game that I won’t play often, but I always enjoy when I eventually go back to it.

73 – I Expect You To Die

Release Date: 13th December 2016
Developer: Schell Games
Publisher: Schell Games
Platforms: Playstation VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest
Metacritic Average: 82%

It’s a game where you get yourself out of all the classic deadly spy situations.

Our first venture into the world of virtual reality on the list, I Expect You To Die is able to capture a couple of different feelings really well. The first of which is the spy movie vibe, it puts you through a charmingly fun musical opening, like from a James Bond movie. In addition to its humour being presented in just the right way to give you the feeling of a cheesy spy movie, without straying into parody territory.

Then there’s the actual gameplay and puzzle design. It provides a quick and easy way to do what is usually quite a fun experience on your own, in your home, which is, of course, an escape room. Every level is essentially a 10-minute escape room that you can play through in your own living room, which is the kind of experience that only virtual reality could really provide.

There are a whole bunch of escape room VR games out there, but I Expect You To Die’s style combined with its short playtimes make for what I think is a better, and more fun overall experience, which takes full advantage of all the opportunities VR provides.

72 – Trine

Release Date: 3rd July 2009
Developer: Frozenbyte
Publisher: Nobilis
Platforms: Playstation 4, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Mac, Linux
Metacritic Average: 83%

It’s a game where you take three unwilling participants on a fairytale adventure.

Trine is something a bit different for this list, so much so that I’d argue there isn’t anything else out there quite like it. While it takes lots of ideas that have all been tried and tested before, it meshes them all in a way to make something that feels brand new and most importantly, fun to play.

Regardless of whether you play co-op or single-player, the level design is done in such a way, so you feel like you’re on an adventure. With a mostly linear path with the occasional secret, the focused experience that Trine provides is something that continuously engages me no matter how many times I play through it.

The storytelling is also a big selling point. While it’s not exactly one of the greatest stories to ever be placed in a video game, but the comedic tone throughout is just enough to keep me smiling as the characters interact with each other and bumble around the temples and caves you traverse in the game.

Trine is a franchise I love mostly because of its charm, which all feeds back into its gameplay to ensure that the whole thing is an enjoyable experience, and certainly something a bit different.

71 – ICEY

Release Date: 17th November 2016
Developer: FantaBlade Network
Publisher: X.D. Network Inc.
Platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Mac, Andriod, iOS
Metacritic Average: 84%

It’s a game about following the arrows.

Ever since The Stanley Parable popularised the idea of the meta-narrative, many copycats popped up, and almost all have failed. It quickly became apparent that it was going to take something a bit more innovative to be anywhere near as good as the original, enter ICEY.

Turning heads in 2016, this game takes the idea of a narrator who talks directly to the player instead of the character, refined it a bit and put it in the context of a 2D hack and slash. It’s a melding of genres that I didn’t think would work initially, but it came out fantastic. The writing of the narrator is just as good as in The Stanley Parable, letting you go to uncomplete levels, debug menus and making the narrator so annoyed they hack into the game just to call you a pig.

On top of that you throw in an incredibly smooth and meaty feeling combat system with a complex series of moves and combos to pull off, and ICEY becomes one of the best entries in two of my favourite game genres.

So there you have it! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Please, let me know what you think of all these games, either in the comments below, or on Twitter @10ryawoo. The next entry in this series will be uploaded next Wednesday, but in the mean time, come back here on Saturday, where I’ll be diving into the world of 3D Sonic games!

10 Worst Title Reigns That Followed a Money in the Bank Cash-In

The concept of Money in the Bank is one that’s inherently interesting and exciting. The idea that at any time, the briefcase holder could show up and claim their spot at the top of the company, totally changing the landscape of the WWE is something that will almost certainly never get old.

When the briefcase holder finally decided it’s their time to shine, it’s always a memorable moment, even when the wrestler in question is one the audience doesn’t particularly care for. While the action of a wrestler showing up and winning a title in shocking fashion has led to some of the most legendary WWE moments ever, the discussion surrounding it often only focuses on the win and not what came after it.

It’s all well and good crowning a new champion in memorable fashion, but the next day, work has to start on making that champion a good one; a task which has seen a surprisingly high failure rate. So that’s what I’m covering today, as, in this two-part post, I look back at what every wrestler to successfully cashed in the Money in the Bank contract did with the title after winning it. Starting with the worst.

To be clear here, I’m ranking these items on a couple of things. First, there’s the pure numbers, namely, the number of days they reigned as champion. I’m also looking at the overall quality of the titles reign. How were they booked as champion? How many great matches or interesting storylines did they take part in while holding the belt? Finally, there’s the critical matter of how that wrestler continued to be treated after losing their championship. Was their stock in the company raised to a level above what they were at before holding the briefcase? Or did they just sink straight back down to where they were or – in some cases – did they sink even further?

I’m also not counting Asuka in this list as her title reign is still ongoing and I don’t think it would be fair to rank it yet.

So, with that in mind, let’s get going with these rankings.

10 – Alberto Del Rio – 2011
(WWE Championship)

Cashed In At: Summerslam 2011
Won Title From: CM Punk
Days As Champion: 35
Lost Title At: Night of Champions 2011
Lost Title To: John Cena
World Titles Since: 3

When people think back to the summer of Punk and how it was utterly squandered by WWE before suddenly changing their minds and course-correcting in November, what people tend to focus on in regards to Summerslam 2011, is Kevin Nash. I can’t say I blame anyone for doing so because let’s be real here, it was 2011 and this is Kevin Nash, whose physical prime was in about 1987; I know that’s before he was famous but, in many ways, that’s the point.

Anyway.

What I’d like to look at here is the oft-forgotten clusterfuck that the WWE title went through following Kevin Nash’s attack on Punk as Alberto Del Rio cashed-in his contract and became champion. The move itself was a terrible one. Punk was arguably hotter than any superstar in WWE had been since the attitude era and to not give him the chance to have a run at the top in favour of the unproven Del Rio seemed like it was throwing money directly in the bin.

Realising this, WWE knuckled down and made Del Rio into a legitimate main-eventer who wowed crowds the world over.

…hmm? What? What is it? That didn’t happen? Well, what did?…you serious? Wow, ok.

The night following his win over Punk. CM Punk decided he would get justice for this crime by…not attempting to get a rematch and went after Nash. Instead, Del Rio successfully defended his title against Rey Mysterio is a pretty decent match (unlike Swagger, Del Rio was actually a respectable in-ring competitor). It seemed like WWE might actually be trying to make something of him.

Then, just over a month later, he lost the title to John Cena. I’d love to give more detail, but that’s really it. Nothing even remotely interesting surrounded it, Del Rio and Cena had a match, Cena won, job done.

That brings up an interesting point because, based on that, I imagine you’d think that this reign should be much lower down on the list. The thing is, Del Rio actually wins bonus points in the last category of my criteria because, despite being a shitshow, Del Rio did actually see his stock in the company raise significantly following this title reign.

He won the title back from Cena just two weeks later. Although he would lose it back to CM Punk rather quickly, he was still treated as a legitimate upper midcarder in the following years. He even saw two more fairly substantial reigns with the World Heavyweight Championship a couple of years later.

So, even though his actual title reign was awful, the longlasting effects of it were beneficial to Del Rio, so the whole endeavour has got to be given some credit. Not much, mind, but some.

9 – Randy Orton -2013
(WWE Championship)

Cashed In At: Summerslam 2013
Won Title From: Daniel Bryan
Days As Champion: 28
Lost Title At: Night of Champions 2013
Lost Title To: Daniel Bryan
World Titles Since: 2

When I was first putting the research together for this list, I had honestly anticipated Orton’s title reign to be among the top. In my mind, he had cashed in at Summerslam and then held the title all the way through to next year’s Wrestlemania, but that’s actually not the case.

Instead, after Orton teamed up with Triple H to ruin Daniel Bryan’s crowning moment, Orton was immediately thrown into a rematch with Bryan at the next Pay-Per-View, Night of Champions. At this show, Bryan won the title back…for about 23 hours. It transpired the next night on Raw that the referee, Scott Armstrong, had performed a fast-count (sort of) for Daniel Bryan’s successful pinfall attempt. Even though it was made very obvious that Triple H had paid Armstong to do this deliberately, it was used as grounds to strip Bryan of the title.

Now, you might have noticed there that I only spent a single sentence talking about Orton’s reign. That’s because it’s roughly how important it was to all of this. Despite, being dubbed “the face of the WWE” he was just being used as a surrogate for Triple H, who wasn’t an active wrestler at the time.

While the number of world titles Orton won after this is just two, don’t let that fool you. Orton was already a certifiable megastar in WWE and had firmly secured his spot as a future legend for the company. After (eventually) winning the WWE title back thanks to various people being paid to screw over Daniel Bryan, he held it all the way through until Wrestlemania 30, where Bryan would reach the crowning moment of his career (for real this time).

Orton was a fantastic foil, but as it stands, all of that is moot in regards to his place on this list, because the fact is, the title reign following his Money in the Bank cash-in was a total non-factor in just about every conceivable way.

8 – Alexa Bliss -2018
(Raw Women’s Championship)

Cashed In At: Money in the Bank 2018
Won Title From: Nia Jax
Days As Champion: 63
Lost Title At: Summerslam 2018
Lost Title To: Ronda Rousey
World Titles Since: 0

The main problem with this reign is that it actually came at the end of Alexa Bliss’ first run at the top, instead of the beginning. Had this whole thing happened in reverse, this would probably be top 5 material because Alexa Bliss’ run at the top of BOTH the Smackdown & Raw women’s divisions throughout late 2016, 2017 and early 2018 were fantastic.

Bliss had been conquered at Wrestlemania 34 earlier that year by Nia Jax after seeing well over a year dominating WWE’s women’s division, so when she won the briefcase, it seemed odd, especially in the face of brilliant up-and-comers like Ember Moon. We didn’t have to wait long to find out what WWE’s game was though, as later on that night, Bliss would interfere in the Jax/Rousey match and cash-in her contract.

This seemed to be done for a couple of reasons. For one thing, Nia was not popular and, despite being a face, fans did not really care for her as the Raw Women’s Champion. The second was that WWE wanted to hold off on crowning Ronda as champion until Summerslam, but that was 2 months away, so they needed a story to tide themselves over in the meantime. So, why not revisit the Wrestlemania feud between Nia and Alexa? What’s that? Because we’re all sick of it? Pfft, who gives a shit?

As it stood, Alexa did a fine job as champion, by this point in time, she had an evident grasp on her heel persona and was as brilliant with it as she always was. The match the pair had at Extreme Rules was pretty decent too, thanks to a bunch of chaos injected by Ronda Rousey and Mickie James’ presence at ringside.

The main problem with this reign is that there was no drama to it because we were all just waiting for Ronda to win the title at Summerslam. I’m not saying that was a bad thing, I seem to be one of the only wrestling fans that enjoyed Rousey’s run as champion, along with believing she’s a great wrestler, but whatever. My point is, there was never any goal for Bliss’ title run other than to stall for time until Summerslam.

As I mentioned at the beginning, despite having many reigns as Raw & Smackdown women’s champion, this reign happened right at the end of that period, and as such, she’s only moved down the card since. She’s currently doing a fantastic job as one-half of the tag team champions. Still, she in no way benefitted long-term from holding the briefcase after everything else she’d already accomplished.

7 – Jack Swagger -2010
(World Heavyweight Championship)

Cashed In At: Smackdown 30th March 2010
Won Title From: Chris Jericho
Days As Champion: 79
Lost Title At: Fatal 4 Way 2010
Lost Title To: Rey Mysterio
World Titles Since: 0

JACK ONE TWO.

Honestly, I hate that theme so much, but it’s going to be in my head for the next week, and I may as well try and take you down with me.

All the other title reigns I’ve covered so far on this list have all been bad because of some sort of exceptional circumstances or completely bonkers booking decision that was made by WWE that ruined the whole thing. This title reign isn’t like that. While it’s still relatively short, clocking in at just under 3 months, it’s a hell of a lot longer than any other reign I’ve covered so far. There wasn’t any weird or stupid booking that occurred during it, and he didn’t lose the title in any kind of unusual way. So what makes it so bad?

Well, it’s actually quite simple. The thing that made this title reign among the worst on this list was Swagger himself. I hate to say this because his current work in AEW is delightful, but he just wasn’t ready in 2010. He had a good look to him, and he even had a legitimate amateur wrestling background to boot. Unfortunately, he was yet to find a personality or in-ring style that clicked with audiences.

As a direct consequence of this, there was usually very little interest in any of his major title feuds. He got some solid wins under his belt against the likes of Chris Jericho and even a clean Pay-Per-View victory over Randy Orton. The problem is that those matches were crap. The veterans did what they could for Swagger. However, the more he wrestled, the more obvious it became to everyone watching that he hadn’t built up the ability to carry a world title and it’s no surprise that none of his PPV title defences ever got the main event spot. Combine this with a personality that had little-to-no charisma, and it became clear that this wasn’t going to work.

It’s a shame because something like this is the whole point of what I believe Money in the Bank should be. It’s a rocket to strap to someone’s back to give them the chance to prove that they’re world championship material. Unfortunately, using it on untested wrestlers is always going to lead to some failures, and this was the case with Swagger.

6 – Dolph Ziggler – 2013
(World Heavyweight Championship)

Cashed In At: Raw 8th April 2013
Won Title From: Alberto Del Rio
Days As Champion: 70
Lost Title At: Payback 2013
Lost Title To: Alberto Del Rio
World Titles Since: 0

Ziggler’s cash-in is one of those moments that you could use to singlehandedly justify the existence of the Money in the Bank concept. I’m a sucker for watching a crowd go absolutely mental for something and the moment Ziggler’s music hit on 8th April 2013 is one of the biggest, most excited reactions I’ve ever heard from a wrestling crowd.

Unfortunately, that night is about where the good times stopped. However this time, it wasn’t directly WWE’s fault. Ziggler was initially set to defend the title at the Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View that May. Sadly, that match would never happen as Ziggler suffered a concussion at a Smackdown taping and was taken off of TV for a month to recover.

When he made his return, he reignited his feud with Alberto Del Rio, the man he had won the title from and their match at Payback was a surprisingly well-told story that was able to successfully execute the rare “double turn”. Del Rio ruthlessly targetted Ziggler’s head (playing off of the concussion angle), and Ziggler pressed on, resilient as ever, reversing the face/heel roles going into the match.

As good as this was, it was also the end of Ziggler’s title reign. A rematch was scheduled for the next Pay-Per-View (Money in the Bank, funnily enough) and Ziggler’s entourage, consisting of AJ Lee and Big E Langston, turned on him and cost him the match. After this, Ziggler abandoned his world title pursuit in favour of getting revenge on his former friends.

Ziggler would have a small handful of world title matches in the years since, but he’s never been in with a chance of actually winning. While his cash-in has undoubtedly immortalised him in the minds of modern fans, the unfortunate events that followed it did nothing to elevate his long-term standing in the company.

5 – Rob Van Dam – 2006
(WWE Championship)

Cashed In At: ECW One Night Stand 2006
Won Title From: John Cena
Days As Champion: 22
Lost title At: Raw 3rd July 2006
Lost Title To: Edge
World Titles Since: 0

This is a case is just a bit sad, more than anything else. This is because if things had gone as they were originally planned, this probably would’ve landed towards the top end of the list. Sadly, as it often does, real-life got in the way and put a premature end to this story.

RVD’s cash-in at ECW One Night Stand is one of the better cash-ins we’ve ever been greeted by. Taking place at the second version of the event, this match was actually a full-length affair due to RVD announcing his intensions to cash-in on Cena in advance of the event. It was the kind of beautiful chaos that reminded us all of the good ol’ ECW days, resulting in the man who was arguably ECW’s biggest star during its lifetime winning WWE’s grand prize.

Things started off in promising fashion. Heyman reinstated the ECW Champion and gifted it to RVD, making him a double champion. RVD retained the title against Edge at the Vengeance Pay-Per-View and then retained the ECW Championship against Kurt Angle just two nights later in a pair of quality matches. Things were going well, and RVD was riding a wave of momentum. Unfortunately, things were about to come crashing down.

In the early hours of 3rd July, RVD and fellow ECW alumni Sabu were pulled over by police for speeding on the highway. While they were being questioned by the police, the car was searched, they were found to be in possession of hash and were arrested. This was a direct violation of WWE’s Wellness Policy and was technically a firable offence. They weren’t fired, however, a triple threat match where RVD defended the WWE title against John Cena and Edge was immediately scheduled for Raw that night where Edge walked away as the champion. The following night on ECW, RVD lost his ECW Championship to the Big Show, and he was promptly suspended for 30 days.

It’s impossible to know how far RVD would’ve gone with the title had this incident not occurred, but if the first few weeks were any indication, it probably would’ve been something really memorable. As it stood, RVD would leave WWE in 2007 and would only return for brief stints in the midcard in the years following. As such, he never reached the world title scene again.

4 – CM Punk – 2008
(World Heavyweight Championship)

Cashed In At: Raw 30th June 2008
Won Title From: Edge
Days As Champion: 69
Vacated Title At: Unforgiven 2008
World Titles Since: 6

After being moved to Raw in the 2008 draft, CM Punk immediately made his presence felt on the red brand by taking advantage of a laid-out Edge (courtesy of Batista) to crown himself World champion for the first time in his WWE career. Almost immediately, things didn’t look to be favouring the new champion. Less than a month into his reign, Punk was forced to defend his title against Batista. While he did retain the championship, it was only via Disqualification after Kane appeared and attacked both men.

A rematch was scheduled for the next night on Raw, which had a near-identical outcome, as the match ended in a no contest, allowing Punk to retain once again. This led to an odd situation in which Batista turned his hunt towards John Cena’s WWE Championship (for seemingly no reason at all), and JBL targetted Punk’s title instead. This admittedly went better for Punk, as he was able to get a pinfall win over JBL at Summerslam, although it must be said that there was little exciting or unique about the match, due in part to the fact that it was buried under much bigger matches.

So far, so standard for WWE in the late 00s right? Well, you’re not wrong, and if Punk had actually lost his title in a match, then this might have jumped up several spots on the list. However, WWE managed to make it so much worse than it needed to be.

Going into Unforgiven, CM Punk was set to defend his championship in a 5-man championship scramble, featuring Kane, Batista, Rey Mysterio and JBL. Unfortunately, Punk never got to the match as earlier in the night, he was attacked by Randy Orton’s Legacy stable and was deemed unable to compete, thus forfeiting the championship. While this might have made sense if Punk had suffered some sort of legitimate injury and couldn’t take part in the match, that wasn’t the case, Punk was perfectly healthy and even wrestled the next night on Raw.

Instead, for whatever reason, WWE saw fit to simply take the title off of Punk for basically no reason, coming up with the lamest of excuses to do so in kayfabe. Punk had a rematch with the eventual winner of the championship scramble, Chris Jericho (who was announced as Punk’s replacement), the next night on Raw. He lost, and that was that. The weirdest part about all of this is that Punk wouldn’t even attempt to seek revenge on Orton for this until 2011, where he suddenly remembered it and used it as the basis for their Wrestlemania 27 feud.

Without taking into account the way it ended, this championship reign would’ve been slightly below average at best. Still, when you take into consideration that Punk never even got the chance to lose the title in the ring, the whole thing becomes an absolute joke. Amazingly, it would take another 6 years of this kind of treatment for Punk to walk out of the company.

3 – Edge – 2005
(WWE Championship)

Cashed In At: New Year’s Revolution 2006
Won Title From: John Cena
Days As Champion: 21
Lost Title At: Royal Rumble
Lost Title To: John Cena
World Titles Since: 10

You know what they say: first’s the worst…almost.

With the hindsight of the greatness that Edge would go on to achieve throughout his career, it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking that Edge’s first title reign was just another glorious accomplishment in his long list of career highlights. Unfortunately, the reality of the matter is quite different. As iconic as his cash-in was, very little of interest would follow, and it wouldn’t last very long.

The “live sex celebration” became a very memorable moment in WWE history for obvious reasons, but it wasn’t actually any good. What followed it was a pretty decent micro-feud where Edge put away Ric Flair in a TLC match of all things. However, following that, the man Edge had stolen the title from, John Cena, came knocking and it was all over.

Cena was already growing a bit of reputation as the guy who wins every title match regardless of whether it’s actually a good idea, a trend was not about to be bucked. Cena had his rematch against the Rated R Superstar less than a month after he lost the title and if you need to me to tell you who won, then clearly you haven’t been paying attention.

Cena would go on to main event Wrestlemania 22 against Triple H, while Edge got himself into a feud with Mick Foley. While this feud and the match that came from it were brilliant, it wasn’t the world title match that we had all hoped Edge would be partaking in that year. In the years since New Years Revolution 2006, WWE has framed the moment of Edge’s first cash-in as the real moment he seized the main event scene in WWE by storm. In reality, it would take at least another six months for him to get a world title reign that aligns with the legendary status his career is held to today.

2 – Brock Lesnar – 2019
(Universal Championship)

Cashed In At: Extreme Rules 2019
Won Title From: Seth Rollins
Days As Champion: 28
Lost Title At: Summerslam 2018
Lost Title To: Seth Rollins
World Titles Since: 1

When it comes to elevating a wrestler, that was obviously never the intention with this one. Brock Lesnar is inarguably the biggest megastar of WWE’s modern era, and there was literally no way possible that his stock could be elevated any higher than it already was. Instead, Brock’s acquisition of the briefcase and subsequent title reign served the singular purpose of creating an excuse to have a full-length rematch of Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins, which had lasted a mere two minutes at Wrestlemania 35 earlier in the year.

The match in question turned out to be a great one. Rollins fared exceptionally well against a version of Lesnar who was very clearly “on” that night at Summerslam. It was easily the match of the night and reminded people of what a brilliant wrestler Rollins is, during a time where character stagnation and letting out his frustrations at the fans on Twitter was causing audience investment in him to plummet.

That said, the result was a title reign that was, quite frankly, pointless. It consisted of just two matches, the cash-in where Lesnar won the title and the rematch at Summerslam where he lost it. While I don’t doubt the fact that the Rollins/Lesnar rematch was the right move for Summerslam, I don’t think the Money in the Bank briefcase was even remotely required to achieve that. As has been shown countless times in the past, the only justification you need for Lesnar getting a title shot is Lesnar showing up on Raw and declaring he wants one.

As I said, this entry gets a higher entry than Sheamus’ purely because it was more successful in executing its primary goal. That said, it was still a waste of the Money in the Bank concept and deprived another wrestler of the opportunity of a lifetime.

1 – Sheamus – 2015
(WWE Championship)

Cashed In At: Survivor Series 2015
Won Title From: Roman Reigns
Days As Champion: 22
Lost title At: Raw 14th December 2015
Lost Title To: Roman Reigns
World Titles Since: 0

Traditionally, the purpose of the Money in the Bank briefcase is to take a wrestler who hasn’t quite got their breakthrough into the main event scene yet and strap a rocket to their back to turn them into a verifiable megastar. So I don’t think it’ll be much of a surprise that Sheamus’ title reign landed last on this list when you consider that its entire purpose was to get someone else over. That someone else being Roman Reigns.

The thought process behind this title reign was a simple and surprisingly clever one. The audience at large were still staunchly against Roman Reigns as the face of the WWE, favouring more versatile wrestlers such as Dean Ambrose or Kevin Owens. So the conundrum for WWE was simple, how do they make everyone happy about Roman Reigns winning the WWE title? Enter Sheamus.

Sheamus tends to be quite a polarising wrestler, but the most prominent opinion of him amongst fans (myself included) is that he’s got a lot to offer the company as a tough midcard wrestler. However, as a main-event competitor, he’s always been quite underwhelming. So the idea was simple. If Sheamus wins the WWE title, then everyone will hate that, so when Roman Reigns wins the title from him, everyone will love it.

As cynical and shortsighted of a plan as it was, it absolutely worked. Although the match between the pair at 2015’s TLC event – where Sheamus retained the title – wasn’t all that great, the rematch the next night on Raw (featuring Vince McMahon as a special guest referee) went down an absolute treat as fans screamed their approval when Roman Reigns ended Sheamus’ run at the top.

While this title reign did technically serve its intended purpose, that purpose was an inherently flawed one that not only failed to give Sheamus any kind of longlasting credibility as a main event level competitor, but didn’t even create any longlasting goodwill for Roman Reigns. By the time 2016 rolled around, the audience was back to their Roman loathing ways, booing him out of every arena he entered.

Everything about this title reign was an absolute failure and a complete waste of the briefcase.

My 100 Favourite Games of All Time (90-81)

We’re back again! Counting down another 10 games that I adore.

If you haven’t read the first instalment in this series, please do so here, where I explain how I’m judging these games.

Let’s not waste any more time!

90- Antichamber

Release Date: 31st January 2013
Developer: Demruth
Publisher: Demruth
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Metacritic Average: 82%

It’s a game about…ummm…mindfucks?

Antichamber is such a hard game to talk about because saying pretty much anything would ruin the experience. It’s one of those games that I think you should go into as blind as possible, because the more you know, the less of an effect it will have with you.

Antichamber is a game that sits you down, shows you the basics of its puzzle mechanics, and then proceeds to fuck with your head for an hour until either break through the game or the game breaks you. It’s a game where genuinely nothing is at it seems, as corridors change the moment you turn your back and the rules of the world are so fluid they may as well be non-existent.

It’s the kind of game that I love more for how impressively it was conceptualised and built, more than how it actually plays. Coming up with puzzles like the ones in Antichamber seems like an impossible task. How do you take the most random of elements and connect them into a puzzle? How do you create a world that changes on a dime, but still remains consistent the entire playthrough? Most importantly, how do you take any of those elements and turn them into an entirely solvable puzzle game? I couldn’t even begin to answer these questions, but Antichamber already has.

Just go and play Antichamber and you’ll see exactly what it means.

89 – Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Release Date: 7th December 2018
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios, Sora Ltd.
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Metacritic Average: 93%

It’s a game where your favourite Nintendo characters all beat the ever-loving shit out of each other.

The appeal of Smash Bros is so simple that it was always destined to be a success. It’s the classic playground debates of “Who would win in a fight between…?” Nintendo takes beloved characters from all over the gaming world (not just their own IPs) and throws them into a world where they all coexist…when they’re not using their unique abilities to beat each other’s brains out.

The feel of the gameplay is incredible. ‘Casual Fighting Game’ doesn’t sound like it should be possible, but that’s precisely what Smash Bros is. Anyone can pick up Smash Bros and do ok at it once they’ve got the hang of the controls. At the same time, it has enough depth to it that taking the time to learn advanced strategies and grow your skill at the game is a fun and rewarding experience.

I don’t know how Nintendo was able to create a style of gameplay like that, but that’s what Nintendo seems to be good at; creating games that are simultaneously for children and the most skilled gamers in the world.

88 – Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)

Release Date: 30th October 2012
Developer: Criterion Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita, Wii U, Windows, iOS, Andriod, Kindle Fire
Metacritic Average: 86%

It’s a game about driving around a city stealing cars.

One thing you’re not going to see very much of in this series is racing games. Not because I think they’re bad, some of them are extremely impressive, but because they’re not the kind of games that capture my attention for very long. Maybe it’s because I know next to nothing about cars, but for the most part, I don’t get enjoyment out of driving around the same tracks over and over with a few different cars and even when I’m playing with friends, I only tend to get a kick out of more basic ones like Mario Kart

As you probably realised though, Need For Speed: Most Wanted is an exception to that rule. I admit, its racing mechanics are nothing special, and its open-world has been done by plenty of other racing games before and since. What it can do though, is strike a perfect balance between races that are brief enough to avoid getting boring and an open-world with enough to do that getting between each race is loads of fun.

The system of finding cars out on the streets and jumping between them to unlock new ones is such a fun system that taps right into that collectors/completionist part of my brain. Whenever I’d find a new car out in the world, it was a sweet little thrill, and I was excited to try out some races with it.

As well as all of that, some scenarios like police chases could get crazy. There were plenty of times throughout the game where I’d howl with laughter after watching a police car bounce off my roof, off a bridge and into the ocean. Even though I don’t think its mechanics are anything special, it was still able to provide me with a fantastically fun time as I drove around the city, which is good enough for me.

87 – Nidhogg 2

Release Date: 17th August 2017
Developer: Messhof
Publisher: Messhof
Platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Mac
Metacritic Average: 80%

It’s a game about sword fighting someone just like you so you can be eaten by a giant worm.

So-called ‘couch’ games are among my favourite genres. When a game gets it right, it has created some of the best social experiences of my life. I think the key to a good couch game is a simple concept that anyone can pick up quickly, but it also doesn’t get tired after a couple of plays. Nidhogg is pretty much the archetypal example of this formula.

The idea is easy for anyone to pick up straight away – you have to kill your opponent over and over again to run to the opposite side of the map – and the controls are easy to pick up. You wouldn’t think such a simple formula had such significant playability value, and if you were playing against an AI it probably wouldn’t be all that fun. However, when you’re playing against another person, of any skill level, it can be a tense and brilliant game.

The constant back and forth pushing creates matches that last ages and are tense and exciting for the entirety of their run times. The moment when you finally break through is a rush of adrenaline as you make a mad dash for victory, while your opponent now has to frantically work out a way to stop you. It’s a gameplay loop that has so much subtle variation to it that I never get tired of it, which is precisely was a couch game should be.

86 – Stacking

Release Date: 8th February 2011
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Publisher: Double Fine Productions, THQ
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows, Mac
Metacritic Average: 84%

It’s a game about solving puzzles with sentient Russian Dolls.

Allow me to introduce you to the beautiful world of Stacking, which may be the most intricately designed world the puzzle genre has ever seen. The basic concept of the world is that everyone is different sizes of Russian Dolls, and if you sneak up behind someone who is one size above you, you can jump inside them, control them and use their abilities. Disturbing implications of that aside, it may be the most genius puzzle mechanic I’ve ever seen.

It creates fantastic opportunities for puzzle solving, as you can stack up various dolls with various abilities all together to access certain areas or trigger a chain of events. Stacking has every element of the puzzle-solving weaved into the world so carefully that the atmosphere throughout the game is incredible. Not only that, but every puzzle has a plethora of solutions. Stacking weaves the exploration of its world into the core of the game, making the world-building and puzzle-solving blend into one cohesive experience.

It’s a unique concept for both a puzzle game and a game world – both of which are becoming rarer by the day – and it absolutely gets the most out of what it brings to the table.

85 – Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Release Date: 25th September 2008
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Metacritic Average: 74%

It’s a game where you gotta go…and do an RPG.

So here’s where we get to the first instance in this list where we get to a game that, from an objective standpoint, isn’t one of the best; but this is a list of my favourite games, not the best, so it goes in here.

A Sonic the Hedgehog RPG is such an obvious idea, you wonder why it hasn’t been done multiple times before or since. Sonic has a vast cast of characters, which is perfect for the JRPG genre, not to mention that Sonic’s whole level-design philosophies rely on bright, colourful and wildly varied terrains. As it stands, Sonic Chronicles is the only Sonic RPG we’ve ever gotten, and I wish it had taken off because I think it’s brilliant.

The exploration of the varied environments is fun, and you get to use a considerable portion of Sonic’s cast throughout the adventure. The game makes good use of the DS’s touch screen mechanics but doesn’t go overboard with it and risk making it a chore. The battling isn’t the most complex, but there’s enough strategy weaved into it that you’ll have to give every turn some thought before you act. I also think the writing is really good for a Sonic game. It’s nothing spectacular, but it tells a compelling story and even throws in a few meta-jokes in here and there.

Maybe I’m just being blinded by nostalgia, but for all this game’s flaws, I think it hit on a satisfying formula (which ended on a cliffhanger, by the way) that I’d like to see more of one day.

84 – Mark of the Ninja

Release Date: 7th September 2012
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Mac, Linux
Metacritic Average: 91%

It’s a game about sneakily murdering everybody…or nobody depending on how you feel.

A 2D stealth platformer isn’t anything unique on the indie market, but Mark of the Ninja doesn’t worry about being unique to stand out, instead, it just stands out by being the absolute best at what it does.

The sense of focus in Mark of the Ninja is outstanding. It’s a game that understands that its stealth mechanics are all it needs to be fantastic, so refines those mechanics to near-perfection. Your abilities, items, UI and combat ability (or the limitations thereof) all serve the central purpose of being quick, efficient and above all, stealthy. Every step you take will give you vital information to work out how to get through a room. Sound is very clearly visualised, guard’s cones of vision are clear and strict, while your limited combat capabilities push you to the more challenging, non-violent solution.

Few other games can take the essence of being a silent killing machine and turn it into what more closely resembles a strategy game. Still, Mark of the Ninja manages to make every single action satisfying to perform.

83 – Worms Clan Wars

Release Date: 15th August 2013
Developer: Team17
Publisher: Team17
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Metacritic Average: 73%

It’s a game where Worms take turns blowing each other up.

You can argue all day about which Worms game is the best and, to be honest, they all have their charms, but I think that Clan Wars was the game that refined the 2D Worms formula to the best iteration we’ve had so far.

I adore the turn-based strategy genre in all its forms (as you’ll see later in this series), but it does mean that there’s a lot of games out there vying for my attention. This generally means I only have one or two games that fit into each role for what I want from the genre. For example, I have one or two 4X games that I like or squad-based tactics games. While they all fall under the ‘turn-based strategy’ umbrella, they apply the genre in very different ways.

Worms fits into these roles as my go-to ‘casual’ turn-based strategy game. It’s the one that I go to when I’m feeling like I want to play a bit of strategy, but don’t want to spend an hour or more staring at my screen mulling over hundreds of possibilities. That’s what I think I love about Worms the most, it takes a typically quite complex genre and boils it down to its simplest elements, making a fast-paced and fun game.

Where most other strategy games will have you balancing countless factors as you push towards your goals, Worms only gives you a few things to think about. These things include: Where is your worm? Where is the worm you want to blow up? Which over-the-top weapon are you going to use to bring about their destruction? THAT’S IT, and it’s brilliant.

82 – Just Cause 3

Release Date: 1st December 2015
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Metacritic Average: 74%

It’s a game about explosions.

Just Cause is a series that I’ve become less and less enthused with over the years, but I still think there’s a base level of enjoyment there every time I play. I didn’t like Just Cause 4 very much because it shifted focus to something I didn’t really care for, but Just Cause 3 knew what the franchise was best at and rolled with it.

Making every base a checklist of things to blow up was great, and some of the most fun moments I can remember playing games have been while trying to find the most creative ways to blow a base to pieces. That’s the thing about Just Cause, and why it can be quite divisive. It’s because if you play it as your standard AAA open-world game, just doing what you’re told, then it’s not the most fun experience. The fun comes in when you let your mind wander and realise that the game is a sandbox for the most mental stuff to happen.

The whole world is specifically designed to be more of a toybox for you to mess around with. It gives you plenty of tools that are specifically designed to interact with the environment in weird and exciting ways and depending on how you tackle every challenge, it can be an extremely dynamic experience.

Not only that, but it provided players with the wingsuit, which is one of my favourite methods of traversal in gaming history. The entire landscape is designed to work perfectly with the wingsuit, as you use the grappling hook to drag yourself along it can be so satisfying to glide over the terrain in the perfect way to make an excellent feeling method of moving around the world, no vehicle required.

81 – Sonic Generations

Release Date: 1st November 2011
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, Windows
Metacritic Average: 77%

It’s a game where you gotta go fast…multidimensionally.

I’ll be the first to stand up and say that 3D Sonic games have their flaws and I will always prefer their 2D counterparts. However, that doesn’t mean there’s never been a good 3D Sonic game. I can’t deny that Sonic Adventure 2 is the most popular of the 3D Sonic games, but my personal favourite is undoubtedly Sonic Generations.

Firstly, the readdition of the classic 2D Sonic levels was a brilliant touch. It didn’t quite have the same feel as the original games, but I think Generations’ reimagining of the 2D platforming mechanics made for a fun experience. The nostalgia factor was prominent, not just with the mechanics, as I’ve already discussed, but with the levels too. They picked one level from every major Sonic game, and it was a wonderful trip down memory lane, seeing how beautiful some classic locations could look with the modern art style.

Meanwhile, the 3D platforming mechanics were, for my money, as good as they’ve ever been throughout the franchise. By this point in time, SEGA had made many, many mistakes with their 3D platforming mechanics and this game finally polished everything to the point where I believe it will hold up far into the future. The sense of speed and momentum was fast and snappy, the levels were designed in such a way that didn’t go too far to hamper your speed. Instead, it provided you with a series of quick challenges, where the punishment for failure was usually only being forced to take a slower path.

Generations did a wonderful job on iterating on the progress the series had made with Colors & Unleashed, combining it with Sonic’s gameplay routes to create the most complete feeling modern Sonic game to date.

So there you have it, 10 more awesome games in the bag! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post, if you haven’t read the first one already, then please do so here. Please, let me know what you think of these games, either in the comment below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure you come back here this time on Saturday, where I’ll be covering Money in the Bank cash-ins and their subsequent title reigns!

My 100 Favourite Games of All Time (100-91)

This list was a long time in the making, and finally, it’s here.

Throughout the summer, I’m going to be running down my top 100 games of all time. This isn’t designed to be a definitive ‘greatest’ or ‘most important’ games list, this is going to be personal to me. The only thing that determines what position each game gets on a list is how much I enjoyed playing it. It’s that straightforward.

Some quick background on my gaming history, I’ve only ever owned the following platforms: PC, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360 & Nintendo Switch. So, if a game didn’t come out on any of those platforms, I didn’t play it. I recently picked up a PS4, but I haven’t had a chance to play much yet, so don’t expect to see those games on this list.

My usual restrictions on ‘no early access’ doesn’t stand for this one, they’re totally free to go in regardless. The only restriction I’m putting on it is games that I played for the first time in 2020 will not be on this list. My opinion on how much I enjoyed a game tends to shift as I get some distance from it, so I will be covering those in my usual end-of-year lists, instead of including them here.

Finally, before we start. Although this first list is coming out in the usual Saturday time slot, I’m going to be releasing the rest on Wednesday every week, so I can still cover all the other stuff I like to cover on this blog. This also has the happy (and entirely planned) coincidence of meaning the final instalment will release on my birthday.

That’s all the explanation, now onto the games!

100 – GeoGuessr

Release Date: 9th May 2013
Developers: Anton Wallén, Daniel Antell, Erland Ranvinge
Platforms: Web Browser

It’s a game where you work out where you are.

A lot of casual games, such as Candy Crush and Angry Birds, sell themselves on being ‘accessible by anyone’, but I’m not entirely sure that statement is quite true. I think some people wouldn’t quite understand why they’re doing the things they’re doing in games like that, and the attitudes presented in those games can be quite a lousy representation for someone new to the medium.

GeoGuessr is what I would describe as the best possible introduction to video games. The concept is so simple, you’re in a place on the Earth, you have to wander around it and work out where you are. Not only is that easy for anyone to understand, but it brings to the table the core of what video games are supposed to be about, problem-solving. It’s an interesting little toy to use on your own, but where it really shines is when you get a bunch of people involved to start discussing and debating it with you.

GeoGuessr is a game where absolutely everyone can get enjoyment out of it. I’ve played it with my younger siblings, my older relatives and friends similar ages to me and all of them had a fun time playing it. It’s a concept that’s so immediately graspable by just about anyone, and it allows you to put to use the general knowledge that we all gain about the world during our lifetimes.

99 – Toybox Turbos

Release Date: 12th November 2014
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Codemasters
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows
Metacritic Average: 78%

It’s a game about toy cars trying to murder other toy cars.

Toybox Turbos took did something quite rare to see in the modern gaming climate, even on the indie scene, which is that they took a form of gameplay that hadn’t been used for almost a decade, breathed new life into it, and managed to create a game better than the original.

Trying to top Micro Machines was going to be quite the task, but the developers of Toybox Turbos managed to replicate the gameplay feel almost perfectly. Then they piled tonnes of charm in the visual design onto it, and you’ve got yourself a winner. It creates the beautiful style of couch co-op that I absolutely love where the learning curve isn’t very steep at all. There’s also a pretty low skill ceiling, which means anyone new picking up shouldn’t have much trouble defeating more experienced players.

Toybox Turbos is one of those rare gems that take an old formula and polishes it up to work in a modern setting. It keeps the sense of fun the original formula had while throwing in a new visual style that ramps the charm through the roof.

98 – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Release Date: 21st August 2012
Developer: Hidden Path Entertainment, Valve Corporation
Publisher: Valve Corporation
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows, Mac, Linux
Metacritic Average: 83%

It’s a game where you shoot some dudes.

I’m not the biggest fan of dude-shooting games. They tend to get a bit repetitive for me, and they’ll often drive me away. However, I can’t deny that I occasionally get that itch to play a game where I’ve just got to do some simple dude-shooting and not worry about much else. When that time comes, CS:GO is the game I get to scratch that itch.

The shooting is nice and tight, the guns are surprisingly precise, and there’s a good variety on offer. There’s more skill to it than many other shooters I’ve played, but when I’m playing it casually, I don’t feel constantly pressured to be hyper-aware or always being competitive. Honestly, I have just as much fun wandering around aimlessly shooting at bots as I do playing real matches.

I wouldn’t regard CS:GO as anything special, but I can’t deny that I do have fun whenever I decide to boot it up once a month or so.

97 – Tetris

Release Date: 6th June 1984
Designer: Alexey Pajitnov
Platforms: If it exists, you can play Tetris on it

It’s Tetris.

I don’t care what anyone says, Tetris is brilliant. It’s wonderfully compelling and a little bit addictive. There’s nothing revolutionary or particularly unique about Tetris, and if I’m honest, I can’t really describe why I like it so much, I just do.

I don’t really think there’s much more I can say about it, Tetris is brilliant because it’s Tetris, and that’s all there is to it.

96 – Liero

Release Date: 1st January 1998
Developer: Erik Lindroos
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

It’s Worms but in real-time.

A pretty straightforward, but surprisingly engaging windows game here, as Liero was a game that fully embraced the chaos of what the Worms games could be.

For one thing, there was a wide variety of weapons that could make any game quite tense. The AI wasn’t the smartest, but it was still good for a game, although playing against another person was always much more fun. The mechanic of having to manually dig through the terrain to get to each other is genius, as it means that you’re almost entirely in control of the map. Given that almost every weapon affects the terrain, you’re continually having to think of the consequences of every move, giving the game a surprising amount of strategy.

What really makes this game stand out, though, is the levels of customisation you can give to each time. You can change the amount of blood produced (all the way up to 500%, which is insane) and you can customise your health to insanely high degrees. Easily the best setting is the one that lets you change the reload speed, as you can change it all the way down to zero, meaning there are no reloading times. At this point, every weapon in the game become a ludicrously powerful tool of mass destruction that could obliterate the whole map in seconds.

It’s stupid, ridiculous and insane amounts of fun.

95 – Democracy 3

Release Date: 14th October 2013
Developer: Positech Games, Red Marble Games
Publisher: Positech Games, Tri Synergy
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Metacritic Average: 70%

It’s a game about being the government.

Democracy teaches you a lesson, a lesson in why the people in power do the things that they do. When you see a politician do something that seems to be totally against what they preach, Democracy shows you why the people in power do things like that by forcing you to become that person. You can absolutely play Democracy by just changing everything to be exactly how you personally want the world to work, but it won’t go well. You’ll end up driving the GDP through the floor, spiking crime to an all-time high or just upsetting enough people so that you lose you next election in a landslide, or worse get assassinated.

When playing Democracy, I found myself making decisions that go against some of my fundamental beliefs solely to keep the country afloat. Be it because putting a substantial tax on something because it makes up the extra money we need in our budget or because banning something I think is fine will make the majority of people very happy. CGP Grey’s ‘Rules for Rulers‘ video touches on a lot of these points, but Democracy is a game that shows it to you in action.

Not only is Democracy quite a fun game if you have the patience to bury yourself in it, but it will also help teach you things about how the government works, and what exactly is going on in the minds of those in power.

94 – Mini Metro

Release Date: 6th November 2015
Developer: Dinosaur Polo Club
Publisher: Dinosaur Polo Club
Platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Web Browser, Windows, Mac, Linux, Andriod, iOS
Metacritic Average: 89%

It’s a game about designing underground train networks.

Mini Metro is a constant balancing act, one that will inevitably spiral out of control, and it’s your job to prevent that spiral for as long as possible. Everything about Mini Metro draws me into it. I’m not one of those Brits who’s in love with the London Underground, but the aesthetic design of the game is an endearing one. It had all the charm in the world, and it’s also an excellent way to display all of the information the game needs to display.

It creates a slightly strange style of puzzle, where you’re not presented with the whole puzzle right at the start, but rather the puzzle slowly forms throughout the game. This kind of puzzle design forces the player to form solutions that aren’t necessarily efficient in the long-run but work for the moment they are presented to you. In that sense, it’s almost like a game that teaches you how to be good at ‘bodge-fixing’ things. Sure, that line you’ve just made will be overcrowded in a couple weeks, but it’s working right now and ‘right now’ is all you’re concerned about.

It means that every puzzle is different every time you play it, and gives the game replayability value that puzzle games don’t often have. Games very rarely use the player’s own inefficiency against them, but Mini Metro creates a scenario that tricks you into making long-term mistakes, without it feeling like the game is deliberately screwing you over.

93 – Organ Trail: Director’s Cut

Release Date: 9th August 2012
Developer: The Men Who Wear Many Hats
Publisher: The Men Who Wear Many Hats
Platforms: Playstation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Web Browser, Windows, Mac, Linux, Andriod, iOS, Ouya
Metacritic Average: 86%

It’s a game where everyone dies of dysentery while you shoot zombies.

Plenty of classic games have been remade and had various adaptations made over the years. Games like Tetris, Pacman and Pong have had too many clones or ‘new takes’ on them to count, but Oregon Trail has never really had that. I don’t know if because it was an educational game, or it just wasn’t popular enough to warrant it, but I don’t think I’d ever seen an attempt at adapting Oregon Trail until this came along.

At face value, Organ Trail takes the gameplay or Oregan Trail, makes a few modernisations and sets it in a zombie apocalypse, except it goes deeper than that. Not only does Organ Trail update the nuances of the gameplay, but it also looks to expand upon it and gives much more replayability value with a massive variety of events and missions you can partake in. Not to mention keeping your crew alive.

All the while, it keeps that feeling of going on a journey and caring about the characters that you created by giving stupid names because you thought it would be funny. It taps into what was compelling about the original Oregon Trail and expands upon it, which is perfect for a homage game like this one.

92 – Westerado: Double Barrelled

Release Date: 16th April 2015
Developer: Ostrich Banditos
Publisher: Adult Swim, Cartoon Interactive Group Inc
Platforms: Xbox One, Windows, Mac
Metacritic Average: 80%

It’s an old western murder mystery.

That sentence alone should be enough explanation as to why it’s on this list, but here are the details.

Westerado gives you a very simple premise that slowly expands over the course of the game. You get taught how to shoot, and then your family gets murdered and you have to find out whodunit. The murderer could be pretty much any random guy wandering about the world, but how you figure it out is the key.

You go around the world doing favours for people in exchange for information. You get told little details about the man bit by bit. These could be what shape his hat is, or what colour his bandana is. Then once you’ve got your full description, you find his location and hunt him down. The game presents itself, both in its narrative and gameplay, like it’s an old western, to create something genuinely unique.

91 – Bejeweled 3

Release Date: 7th December 2010
Developer: PopCap Games
Publisher: PopCap Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows, Mac, Nintendo DS, iOS, Android
Metacritic Average: 82%

It’s a game where you make the colours line up.

Once again, I don’t really think this one needs much explaining, it’s the game that you play when you don’t want to play anything. Sure, it has various modes of gameplay that change up the formula in exciting ways, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s the game where you swap the colours to make the colours match, and that is in some way useful.

Also, while it didn’t invent the formula, it certainly popularized it to the point where King could take that exact same formula and make one of the most popular mobile games of all time, so it’s got to be doing something right.

And there you have it! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post. Please, let me know what you think of these games, either in the comments below, or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure you come back here on Wednesday for the next entry in this series!

10 Powerful Pokemon That Are World Champions

While Pokemon has spent the past twenty years enveloping kids and adults alike with its bright & colourful world, exciting battles and storytelling charm, everyone’s favourite creature capturing franchise has accrued a wide range of different types of players. Some want to just play through the story and use Pokemon they like the look of; some want to follow the series’ slogan and catch ’em all, and those who like to spend countless hours resetting their game over and over to get a Mewtwo that’s green instead of pink.

Which of those groups I’m a part of isn’t important (although my green Mewtwo will wipe the floor with whatever pathetic pink monstrosity you throw my way). However, others take things a significant step further. Not content with merely defeating each game’s champion and entering the Hall of Fame, some players go out into the real world with their Pokemon to battle anyone they can find to prove that they are the very best, like…you know the rest. Eventually, these competitions between trainers were formalised, and 2009 saw the video games series (referred to as VGC) join the Trading Card Game at the official Pokemon World Championships, using a 4 v 4 double battle format.

Naturally, with almost 900 hundred different Pokemon in the franchise, not all of them are going to have the power or skill that it takes to be a part of a world champion team and as such, a select few Pokemon have risen to the top. These Pokemon rose to the top and have claimed a spot of a world championship-winning team during their lifetimes. We’ll also be looking at teams that made it to the top 8 (quarter-finals). Be it because they dominated the metagame for a short space of time, or endured through the years as a staple of the scene, these are the 10 powerful Pokemon that are world champions.

I’d like to thank smogon.com and False Swipe Gaming on YouTube, as this is where I got the majority of my research from.

10 – Tyranitar

One of the most fragile Pokemon on this list, Tyranitar is much like any good video game boss in that it has a big glowing weak spot in the form of Fighting-type Pokemon. Not only does Tyranitar’s Rock and Dark typing give it a 4-times weakness to them, but it doesn’t possess any kind of reliable move in its arsenal to deal with them.

Tyranitar’s main strengths come from its ability. The most prominent ability for this pale green monster uses Sand Stream to kick up a sandstorm as soon as it enters the field. This boosts Tyranitar’s defences and deals some all-important chip damage to any non-Rock, Ground or Steel-type Pokemon the field. Backing this up with moves like the forceful Crunch and Rock Slide – the latter of which can deal damage to both opposing Pokemon simultaneously – was the perfect way to make use of Tyranitar’s exceptionally high attack stat. Not to mention, it was always packing a Low Kick to deal with otherwise troublesome Steel types.

Tyranitar’s standout year competitively was 2012. It featured in five of the teams to make top 8 at the world championships that year, including helping the USA’s Ray Rizzo claim his third world championship. While its popularity has notably decreased since then, thanks to weather effects becoming less critical to the metagame, Tyranitar has still made sporadic appearances over the years. Most recently helping Roberto Porretti reach 7th place in 2018.

Tyrantitar is an undoubtedly flawed Pokemon having a whole host of weaknesses to common types. Still, it makes up for it with a fantastic ability and a whole truckload of powerful attacks that make this Pokemon one that can never be underestimated.

9 – Bronzong

From a Pokemon who has popped up on a few teams every year, to one that absolutely dominated a single year of VGC.

After a few sporadic appearances in the early days of VGC, Bronzong disappeared in the background and was very rarely, if ever, featured in high-placing teams as it was outclassed in its support role by incredible Pokemon like Cresselia. This begs the question, in 2016, why on Earth did it feature on 7 out of the top 8 teams, including world champion Wolfe Glick’s?

It was quite simply a beneficiary of the other Pokemon that ended up being featured heavily in the 2016 metagame. This was the first season since 2010 where “restricted Pokemon” like the cover-legendaries were allowed to feature on competitive teams. One of the most popular of these Pokemon was Xerneas, which had the ever-resilient Fairy type and an incredible buffing move in the form of Geomancy. Luckily for Bronzong, it was an almost perfect counter to the legendary of life. It’s rare Steel & Psychic typing made it quite the tough Pokemon to crack, especially against opposing Fairy types, which it could absolutely wreck with a well-placed Gyro Ball.

That wasn’t all it did though, as its primary role on the team was to set up Trick Room, which is a move that turns the speed-calculations on its head and allows the slowest Pokemon on the field to move first. This was a crucial factor to victory in a metagame littered with fast Pokemon like Salamence, Gengar and even Rayquaza. It could even run a move like Hypnosis, to prevent those Pokemon from moving entirely, or use Skill Swap on it’s allied Primal Groudon/Kyogre to keep the beneficial weather effects in play while the Primals make the switch out of battle.

Although Bronzong has seldom been seen in VGC before or since the 2016 season, during that one season, it was almost mandatory to have if you wanted to land yourself a high placement. In the long-run, it will always have Pokemon that do its job better, but it absolutely proved that all it takes is the right set of circumstances to launch any Pokemon into the forefront of the metagame.

8 – Incineroar

One thing that is abundantly clear when looking through the history of competitive VGC is that starter Pokemon do not make good competitive team members. Their relatively even stat balance often makes them perfect for running through the singleplayer game, but relatively unviable for the much harsher climate of competitive play. So what makes Incineroar different?

First of all, the Dark-type is a huge boon, as it gives it access to some fantastic competitive moves. These can include moves like Snarl that lower the opposing Pokemon’s Special Attack, or Knock Off which can rid opposing Pokemon of their held-items, which are often crucial to a Pokemon’s survival in battle. The moves that were key to any Incineroar set, however, were Fire Blast, which could deal out massive Fire-Type damage, and Fake Out, which was guaranteed to immobilise its target on that turn if it hit.

Combine this with its Intimidate ability – an ability that lowers the opposing Pokemon’s attack when Incineroar enters the field – and you’ve got yourself the perfect support Pokemon. It’s able to keep its partner in the fight by stalling out opponents and perfectly countering some of the most prominent and powerful Pokemon in the Sun & Moon metagame, including Aeigislash, Celesteela and even the all-powerful Cresselia.

As such Incineroar has seen huge usage since its Intimidate ability set was released in 2018. It featured on five of the top 8 teams in 2018 and seven in 2019, featuring in the 1st place team both times.

Incineroar was able to prove that starter Pokemon are more than just fodder for the singleplayer game and fond childhood memories, but could wreck shop on the battlefield too.

7 – Amoonguss

Another Pokemon here that has seen scattered usage throughout the years, Amoongus is one of those support Pokemon that never truly goes away.

Spore and Rage Powder are the moves that have been key to Amoonguss’ success over the years. Spore is a move with 100% accuracy and is guaranteed to put the opposing Pokemon to sleep, which is an incredibly powerful thing to have in your arsenal. Meanwhile, Rage Powder forced all attacking moves (not counting spread moves) to target Amoonguss, allowing it to easily protect it’s partner while it dealt out all of the damage.

It had options when it came to its abilities. It could run Effect Spore, which had a chance to inflict a status effect onto any Pokemon that attacked it, or Regenerator, which let it restore one-third of its health when it switched out of battle. While Effect Spore was run for its early seasons, in the years since, high-ranking Amoonguss players have almost exclusively Regenerator sets. This makes it a bulky support Pokemon that can restore its health whenever it wants to, which is a giant boon to controlling the pace of any battle.

Amoonguss’ presence in VGC is quite wide-spread, but also somewhat scattered. It featured on three of the 8 teams in 2011, 2013 & 2019, while taking a spot on a whopping six teams in the 2015 season. It also claimed the world championship in both 2013 & 2015.

Amoonguss ended up being one of those support Pokemon that competitors in VGC just keep coming back to. It has some pretty clear counters, which is why it isn’t seen every year, but when the metagame allows for Amoonguss to flourish, it will always have a noteworthy spot to fill on a team with world championship aspirations.

6 – Thundurus

Arguably one of the most versatile Pokemon this list, Thundurus can fill just about any role you need it to, depending on how you build it.

With a lightning-quick Speed stat (pun definitely intended) and a Special Attack stat to die for, Thundurus could thrive as an all-out attacker. Running Thunderbolt as a robust attacking move made it hard to contend with. It could also carry Hidden Power Flying or Hidden Power Ice to deal with several Pokemon that would otherwise threaten it. Its speed made sure it’d always get to move first, save for a Trick Room which wasn’t overly common in the seasons where Thundurus saw its most prominent usage.

That wasn’t all Thundurus could do though, as it was also an ideal support Pokemon. It couldn’t dish out healing like other great supports, but it didn’t need to. Its ability, Prankster, gave all of its non-attacking moves priority, which meant that they would always execute first, even if the opposing Pokemon was faster. Combine that with access to a move like Thunder Wave and the opposing Pokemon would be lucky if they ever even got a chance to move before they were swept away by Thundurus’ partner. It could even run Rain Dance to control the weather if the team needed it.

Thundurus’ standout year was inarguably 2011, featuring on seven of the top 8 teams at that year’s world championships, including 1st place. It was most frequently partnered up with its fellow genie Tornadus, and the fair of them wrecked shop throughout the 2011 metagame. It’s usage dropped in 2012 when the enitre National Dex was allowed to compete in VGC, instead of just the Unova Dex. However, it still managed to find a spot on four top 8 teams in 2012 and three top 8 teams in 2013.

Its last hurrah was in the 2015 season, where it won itself a second world championship thanks to Shoma Honami using it as a part of his team. It held two top 8 spots in 2016 but was mostly unable to make an impact thanks to the presence of Primal Groudon & Primal Kyogre.

Even though the Primals were banned again for 2017, it faced a significant problem as there was a new Electric-Type Special Attacker on the scene that outclassed Thundurus in just about every way and that Pokemon’s name was…

5 – Tapu Koko

I won’t lie to you, this list is most legendary Pokemon from here on out.

Dipping back into the well of Generation 7 Pokemon now, Tapu Koko has seen almost total dominance over VGC since it burst onto the scene in 2017 and it’s clear to see why. It has a stupidly high Speed stat which allowed it to totally wipe the floor with the rest of the metagame, which ended up being full of pretty slow Pokemon. It was in a bit of trouble if it came up against a Trick Room team, but even then it had a few tricks up its sleeve to protect itself.

First of which was its ability, Electric Surge. This causes the terrain to become charged with electricity immediately upon Tapu Koko entering the field. Electric Terrain was an insanely powerful tool, as it boosted the power of electric type attacks by 50%, prevented any Pokemon on the ground from falling asleep. Finally, it made the move Hidden Power (a reasonably common move on a lot of Pokemon) the chance to paralyse its target. On top of that, it always ran Thunderbolt (chosen over the more powerful Thunder due to it’s higher accuracy) as a mighty attacking move. It also was backed up by Volt Switch, which allowed it to easily switch out of battle and refresh the Electric Terrain when it rejoined the fight.

Tapu Koko featured on a world championship-winning team in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons of VGC, featuring on seven of the top 8 teams in 2017 and four top 8 teams in 2018 and 2019. It had a great variety of allies over the years, although it was most commonly seen alongside Incineroar for an overwhelming display of attacking prowess.

4 – Garchomp

There are no frills on Garchomp, it’s just a big nasty bastard with more power than most Pokemon can handle. With an absolutely monstrous Attack stat, even the bulkiest of Pokemon have trouble standing up to Garchomp when it gets going. There’s nothing complicated about its moveset either. Garchomps main attacking moves are the devastating Earthquake, which damages every other Pokemon on the field that isn’t flying. It also packs Dragon Claw to cover anything that resists or is immune Earthquake, and even if a Pokemon resists both of those moves, Garchomp can also carry Rock Slide to deal with it.

It even has some defensive prowess too. Dragon and Ground is an incredible defensive type combination and while it’s HP and Defense stats don’t quite match up to its Attack, they’re certainly nothing to be sniffed at. It can even work its defensive capabilities into its moveset, as Substitute could be used instead of Rock Slide, to keep itself around on the field even longer than usual.

Garchomp’s usage in VGC has been a bit scattered throughout the years, although it is generally only missing from the metagame in years where ‘restricted Pokemon’ are allowed. It first made waves in 2012, where it features in three of the top 8 teams, including Ray Rizzo’s first-place team. Garchomp’s standout year was 2014, where it sat on five of the top 8 teams, including battling alongside Sejun Park’s legendary Pachurisu, which won him the world championship that year.

While more recently it has only seen two top 8 placements at the world championships (both in 2017), that’s not entirely representative of the force Garchomp has been on the metagame over the years. Even in the years where it didn’t reach any of the highest placements, it was still widely used amongst the community helping various competitors win regional and national championships respectively.

Garchomp is a Pokemon that needs nothing more than it’s pure power to be successful, which makes sense when you look at the absolute monster this thing presents itself as.

3 – Groudon & Kyogre

I’m giving these two the same entry because their careers in VGC have been heavily linked to each other in some way and their roles on teams are pretty similar in the grand scheme of things.

While Groudon & Kyrogre may not look like they’ve been used as much as many other Pokemon on this list, that is only because they’re classed as ‘restricted Pokemon’ which means that they have been banned from usage in all but three seasons. In 2010, which was their debut season, they were featured heavily. Their ability to control the weather upon entry into the field made them perfect for the format, as it meant they would always be switching in with an advantage.

Their solo typing combined with their substantial defensive stats made them great Pokemon to control the pace of a battle, as it was likely they’d be able to stick around in the fight for an incredibly long time. It would really put the pressure on the opposing team to find a way to handle it quickly, or risk getting swept away by the pair’s hard-hitting spread moves like Surf or Earthquake. As such both Pokemon were featured heavily at the world championships that year, with five of the top 8 teams featuring Kyrogre and six featuring Groudon. This included Ray Rizzo’s 1st place team, which made use of both of them.

Restricted Pokemon weren’t allowed again until 2016, and the metagame had shifted a lot by then. Mega-Evolutions were now running rampant, and there was plenty of brand new powerful Pokemon that threatened to put the weather duo out of a job. Then Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire came out and bestowed Groudon & Kyogre with a gift from the heavens…Primal Forms.

Primal Forms completely turned the metagame on their head and were vital for victory in the 2016 season for a couple of major reasons. Firstly, they didn’t take up a mega-slot. Under normal circumstances, there can only be one Pokemon per team that can mega-evolve in a battle. However, the Primal Forms triggered automatically upon entry, provided they were holding the right item (Blue Orb for Kyogre, Red Orb for Groudon). This meant that you could run a different Mega-Evolved Pokemon alongside them, essentially allowing you to have two Mega-Evolved Pokemon in every battle.

With them came some genuinely incredible abilities. Kyogre’s Drizzle ability became Primordial Sea, which prevented attacking Fire-Type moves from doing any damage whatsoever. Meanwhile, Groudon’s Drought ability became Desolate Land, which prevented attacking Water-Type moves from doing any damage whatsoever. As you can imagine, this led to tense battles for control over the weather, as one of those weather conditions would prevent the opposing legendary from executing their signature move (Origin Pulse for Kyogre, Precipice Blades for Groudon). This factor ended up dragging Mega-Rayquaza into the metagame, as its ability, Delta Stream, was able to remove both of these weather effects.

Both Pokemon were all over the 2016 & 2019 seasons, which were the only two that Primal Kyogre & Groudon have been allowed to compete in as of 2020. In 2016, Kyogre saw a bit more useful than Groudon, claiming five slots in that year’s top 8, including 1st. Meanwhile, Groudon only managed three, just missing out on the top slot at 2nd place. However, in 2019, the situation was flipped on its head as this time Groudon was the one to claim 1st place, while Kyogre’s highest placement was only 3rd.

The only thing holding back Kyogre and Groudon is how infrequently they’ve been allowed to take part in VGC. Although, it’s clear as to why that’s the case, as any season where they’ve been allowed to take part, they’ve absolutely dominated the competition and have become must-haves for anyone with world championship aspirations.

2 – Landourus

I wonder if Game Freak meant for the genies to be this powerful when they made them?

First of all, it’s typing is incredible. Being the odd combination of Ground and Flying-Type gives it not one but two immunities; Electric and Ground-Type attacks won’t even scratch it. While there are better defensive Pokemon, its defensive stats are still high enough to give it some staying power. Surely with access to amazing moves like Earthquake and Rock Slide, it would be a sure-fire hit for VGC right? Well…not at first.

For the first couple of years after debuting, Landourus didn’t actually make any top 8 placements at the world championships. The problem was, there were just other Pokemon than could do its job better. Between Terrakion, Krookodile and Garchomp, there wasn’t much reason to pick Landourus over any of them.

UNTIL…

In 2012, Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 released, which gave each of the genies (Thundurus, Tornadus & Landorus) brand new “Therian Forms”. While the other two genies ended up not using theirs much over the years. Landorus, on the other hand, became terrifying. It’s Attack stat got boosted to 145, which is one of the highest for any non-Mega Evolved Pokemon. At this point, Landorus dominated.

At first, in 2013 it made four of the top 8 spots at the world championship. That was nothing, however, compared to the 2015 season, where Landorus’ Therian Form featured in all eight to the top 8 teams that year; a feat that no other Pokemon has ever achieved as of 2020. That wasn’t even the end of its dominance, as it persisted into the 7th generation. It most recently featured on six of the top 8 teams at the world championships in 2018.

Landorus got off to a bit of a rocky start, but once the Therian Form came along, there were few Pokemon that stood any chance of stopping it. It has almost unrivalled attacking power and a type combination that is both unique & exceptionally useful.

1 – Cresselia

To put it simply, Cresselia is the ultimate support Pokemon.

The first point in its favour is it’s exceptionally high HP and Defence stats. The solo-Psychic typing means that it doesn’t have a great deal of weakness, and its Levitate ability grants it immunity from the ever-present and potentially devastating Earthquake. The long and short of it is that once Cresselia is out on the field in a battle, it can stay there pretty much as long as it wants to, with its opponent having to scramble to find a way to get rid of it. This is because if the opponent doesn’t find a way to remove it from the battle quickly, it could very well wreak havoc.

As for the ways it can wreak havoc, they vary. The most commonly used set is the Trick Room set. Using Trick Room to allow the slowest Pokemon the field to move first is a great asset that almost always puts Cresselia in control of the pace in the battle. From here it can be loaded up with a bunch of great support moves, and there’s honestly so many to choose from. It has its choice of Light Screen or Reflect, which reduces the power of opposing attacks and usually carries Helping Hand to boost the power of its partner’s attacks.

When Cresselia isn’t using Trick Room, Icy Wind is the move it will use to control the pace of the battle, as that move is guaranteed to lower the Speed of the opposing Pokemon. Thunder Wave is also an option, as it can inflict Paralysis. However Icy Wind is usually preferred as it does damage along with the reduction in speed. It will also carry the move Calm Mind, which raises both the Special Attack and Special Defence of Cresselia. This boosts its bulk even further, along with giving it greater ability to deal out damage for itself, instead of relying on its partner to do all the heavy lifting. It’s attacking move of choice is Psychic, although it can also carry Ice Beam to take out common threats such as Landorus or Mega Salamence.

When it comes to top 8 placements at the world championships, Cresselia is second to none. With the exception of 2019, the only years where it didn’t claim a spot were the years that it was banned. In every other year, it has claimed a spot on at least one of the top 8 teams, winning a world championship on three separate occasions; those being in 2010, 2012 & 2015.

With the sheer amount of usage it’s seen over the years, you could make an excellent case for Cresselia being the face of VGC. Every time a new generation comes along, it features a handful of useful support Pokemon. Still, none of them will ever be able to have the longevity or legacy that Cresselia has in the competitive. It’s seen a slight dip in usage in recent years, but you can bet that it will only be a matter of time before Cresselia finds yet another way to take charge of the competitive scene; probably winning another world championship in the process.

And there you have it! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Please, let me know what you think of these Pokemon, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure you come back this time next week, as I’ll be releasing the first instalment in my summer-long series where I’ll be running down my 100 favourite games of all time! You won’t want to miss it.