PixlBit

Ghost Trick was a fantastic game. Animation was especially gorgeous. Twist was a bit ridiculous, but it's in the Ace Attorney universe (Missile is a very minor AA character), so that's to be expected. Sonic CD was great too, but agree 2 and 3 were better. Call of Juarez the Cartel was terrible from what I heard. It garnered almost as much controversy as Duke Nukem Forever, but it was because it felt pretty racist instead of sexist. 

Thought 2011 was a pretty good year for games. My favorites were Dark Souls and Kirby's Return to Dreamland.

Well it's not exploring so much as it it is how the game rewards mastering its levels. The GBA and DS games just meant you'd have a better time, lose less lives, and get a better score at the end. In the Genesis ones and Mania, getting a perfect run means you take a different path, almost to the point where it feels like playing a new level. Sometimes it means more rings, easier access to special stages, or neater setpieces, but I feel rewarded for mastering the game in a way only Genesis Sonics and Mania have accomplished in that series. It's why I can replay those games over and over but was done with all the DS and GBA Sonics the second I beat them. 

Though the games do reward you for exploring with special stages and I felt Mania had by far the best ones in the series. Had a blast with all of them and Super Sonic was much more manageable than the Genesis games. But that kind of level design is why Mania has a better reaction than Colors did, Colors had a more generic, but still good, level design while Mania went back to one of the overlooked elements that made Sonic unique and hasn't really been replicated well. 

Right now I'm playing Kotor and Rime mostly. Need to get back to DB FighterZ. Sonic Mania was my second favorite game of last year after Breath of the Wild.

There was an Earthworm Jim remake in 2010 for XBLA and PSN. Was mostly identical to the old games in terms of gameplay, but damn was it gorgeous. Personally I thought Sonic Colors was really good like the Rush games, but lacked the nonlinear level design that makes me love Sonic Mania and the Genesis games. I wanted more opportunities to experiment with the wisps to reach new areas, they felt more suited to getting past obstacles which is fine, but doesn't give me much reason to return to the levels once I beat them.

Well lately the REmake has been getting ported to everything under the sun, so I think I'd prefer 4 to hit there. That game is SO much better with a Gamecube controller. Agree with a lot of the others, but I'd want Wario World, Warioware, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario: TTYD, Pikmin 2, Killer 7, and Rogue Squadron 2 on here above a couple of those since they're not on modern hardware. That's a huge appeal of the Classic consoles, games like Tecmo Bowl, original Yoshi's Island, a good port of FF6, and Star Fox aren't on modern hardware.

And that makes me want a Gamecube Classic even more because with NES and SNES those games were a small minority (especially NES). With a GC Classic, that would be over 75% of the library.

Personally, I like the Wii version of TP more because the motion controlled aiming is much more fluid and natural feeling, but the Wii U version is the best IMO. Hope that and Wind Waker move to the Switch.

EBA is top 3 DS games for me, after Pokemon and Ace Attorney. These years had great AA games btw. My GOTY each year would be:

2006- Elite Beat Agents (though now that I've played Final Fantasy 12, that might top it)

2007- Mass Effect (also one of my favorite years in gaming. So many great games to play)

2008- Fallout 3

I enjoyed Arkham Knight a lot, but something about it felt off. A very good game that does a great job of making it feel more like an authentic Batman experience and adding its own flavor, just less than the sum of its parts. Persona 5 was great too and one of my favorite RPGs, there was just too much of it. When I'm thinking of ways they could have trimmed it down to 80 hours, something's wrong even if I still loved what I played.

I think you misunderstand what I'm proposing. I'm saying they should be a portable PS4/XB1, not a new platform. Meaning the Sony one gets all those new niche Japanese games the PSP/Vita did along with its console staples. Meanwhile I think a MS handheld with all its backward compatibility has a strong appeal if you can get a good chunk of 360 and Original Xbox games along with XB1. Maybe not in Japan, but in the rest of the world that's a good value

They're as traditional as you get in that you're picking commands, just have your own unique flavor of them. 5 changed things with its interface, rather than picking from a menu each command is mapped to a button. It just makes things more streamlined in the long run.

Well Microsoft used to have two killer apps with Halo and Gears of War, but the Xbox One installments have made the series lose their luster. Gears wasn't even bad, it's just not the leader it once was. MS just seems afraid to take risks with their IPs which is a problem.

Sony is interesting too because Uncharted is theirs, but it's also that because it pushes graphics which you can't do on underpowered hardware. Look at Uncharted Golden Abyss, a strong seller that didn't sell people on the Vita unlike 1-4 which absolutely pushed consoles. Sony's killer apps before were all third party: Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto 3. Nintendo just does a better job of retaining IP value than Sony and Microsoft.