My biggest issue as the payoff for completing the game to its full percentage just isn't worth the effort, but the journey there still had a ton of high points to make it a fun-ass playthrough for sure!

22.) A Plumber For All Seasons Although it's a short 36 level romp, it's easily one of the best Super Mario World hacks out there. This game is just BRIMMING with charm in its seasonal-themed presentation, with original graphic assets, music, & mechanics that make it a stand-out experience to play.

Also, the game looks AMAZING in RGB on a CRT TV—truly a gem of a 32-bit game to marvel at!

I also managed to do it on stream too! After 4 hours of soul-crushing hardship, I got BOTH endings! I'm still riding high on pride for that achievement y'all...

21.) The Adventure of Little Ralph As far as hard games go—this one odd little Japanese-exclusive PlayStation is easily the hardest fucking game I have beaten all year, & might just be the hardest game I've beaten since the lines of Cuphead & Super Ghouls'n Ghosts... It was still fun as hell too.

Practice makes perfect though! I eventually got the numbers I was looking for, but yeah, it was definitely way more of an acclimation to get these results than I was expecting, especially after JUST smoking out the first two games so easily...

I still managed to squeak out a successful run, but God damn was it a process, & I feel like a lot of that had to do with the difference in handling from the original... It doesn't need to be "one-to-one" to be good—I was just expecting something AS good or better, & Star Fox (2026) is just, not?

20.) Star Fox (2026) Ok, so—this version is FINE playing—especially if the other two options aren't available, however, BECAUSE they exist, all I can say is that this is the version that has the best presentation & soundtrack. The control, responsiveness, & aiming dynamics is just off here...

19.) Star Fox 64 3D Y'all, not set a fuddy-duddy tone before I get to the Switch 2 remake, but—if there is 1 version of Star Fox 64 I recommend to try between the 3 iterations, it's the Nintendo 3DS version. Just turn off gyro-controls & you'll be set with a sharp-controlling beauty of a remaster.

Seriously, revisiting it on stream gave me all the Ratatouille vibes all over again...

18) Star Fox 64 After the reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 remake, I set out to play the previous versions starting off with the N64 original, & got-DAMN does this game STILL fuck SO much. Everyone shits on the Big N's 5th gen output & I'll never get why when titles like Star Fox 64 exist...

I'm curious to know what the top rating is—like if a perfect "100% Shot Down" rating is even possible, & if anyone has ever seen it without plugging in a TAS run or something...

17.) Alisia Dragoon I was starting to see this nomination fall behind in the PPR poll we put it up for tomorrow's stream so I said screw it, & decided to boot it up for a casual play session. Well, 45 minutes later & I hit the credits with only 1 continue used! This game is peak early Sega Genesis!

16.) Mina the Hollower As of this post, this game is absolutely my 2026 GOTY pick. There are so many intricate layers to this game that have made every session feel fresher than the last. I genuinely don't remember the last time I zoomed right into a New Game+ like I have with Mina y'all—get it now

I will take solace in the fact that while I do suck shit at Sektori & will never come close to @grubb.wtf's Hi Score, I have managed to have gleefully smoked him at SAROS.

15.) SAROS This is another favorite from 2026 that I'm somewhat conflicted on. I adore this game, & I had a blast with it, & I appreciate the refinements that HouseMarque made with the Returnal formula As cool as the premise of SAROS is, however, the characters/plot just aren't as good as Returnal

14.) Starfox The original doesn't get anywhere near the amount of love Starfox 64 gets, & that's a bit of a bummer because this SNES title holds up so well, especially when it's got one of the best soundtracks produced for a 16 Bit game.

13.) Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts This entry is easily the weakest of the Ghouls 'n Ghosts lineup when stacked against the Genesis, Supergrafx, Arcade, & yeah, even the Master System version. Mainly because it has the worst Red Arremer AI of any GnG game ever made, & there's way too many of them here...

12.) Pragmata One of my 2026 favorites so far, & weirdly enough, it gave me a dose of nostalgia for what playing in the early days of High-Definition gaming felt like, & I say that with praise Pragmata balances its old & new gameplay designs super well, coupled with an incredible story to boot.

11.) Absolum After striking it rich with a really good Bubble/Necromancy build, @paulybear1.bsky.social & I were able to fully Completey Pete the campaign for Absolum & got the proverbial "Congraturations" screen for beating it. I can't wait for the DLC y'all—13 cheevos away from stamping a hundo!

10.) Final Fight 3 I've been in a big Capcom mood since beating RE Requiem & decided what better way to celebrate the vibe then to boot up the best entry to Capcom's flagship beat'em up series. Multiple routes, Super Moves & unique weapon affinities with SRK AND QCF tech?! It's so good y'all!

9.) Panzer Dragoon Mini This game gets a bad rap & for the life of me I really don't get why—it honestly nails down the conceit of the Panzer Dragoon formula within the form factor of a 8-Bit portable machine & its reduced screen resolution really God Damn well. The interpretation is really solid.

8.) Resident Evil Requiem I finally reached credits on RE9—my favorite part is when I shot Tofu at RPD. The game's first half is where it peaks, but I still really enjoyed it, especially after VII & Village. The juxtaposition of gameplay styles between Leon & Grace is everything RE6 should've been.

I'd like to try again with another character, or better yet, have a buddy over to do a Co-op run, (& see how that affects the ending.)

7.) Cannon Spike I recently streamed the Capcom shooter on a PPR stream where I played it and Resident Evil Requiem back-to-back. I'm honestly shocked that Capcom hasn't re-released this gem for modern consoles, because it's easily one of the best reasons to still have a Dreamcast plugged in!

I know this might sound strange to say but definitely play it on an emulator/original hardware > Cowabunga Collection—the input lag really is THAT rough. Also, farm the shit out of Ninja scrolls. Having a readily ample supply will make the latter-half of the game a total cakewalk as shown here!

6.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles After seeing that the @gamegrumps.bsky.social is playing it, I decided to give it a boot on the Cowabunga Collection & beat it, & maaaan—I totally forgot about how bad the input lag was on the collection. It's still a fun time, & the definition of "Nintendo hard."

5.) CAIRN Y'all—I can't stress ENOUGH just how engaging/enthralling my time with this game was in both gameplay & plot. It's already on my personal GOTY list for 2026, & I'm honestly mulling the idea of doing a 2nd playthrough just to explore the different paths/side-quests I missed out on...

In terms of PD's complex rail-shooting, Orta is easily the best iteration of the system in action, & really finesses Zwei's dragon evolution mechanic into something far more engaging than the Saturn entry's take. Here's what Xbox LET me capture from its native record feature (it was super finicky.)

4.) Panzer Dragoon Orta Ok, this one has been a big bucket-list entry for "games to beat" because it was always a bit too challenging, & it took MULTIPLE streams to do it too. I still can't express just how magical the overall experience was, & I now want to play it more to get BETTER at it.