From the very second this game was revealed I was pretty sure it'd end up being here. Donkey Kong Bananza is a fantastic 3D Platformer that builds upon ideas from Super Mario Odyssey while bringing some very fun destruction into the mix, even if it leads to a slightly clunkier game than Odyssey..

This was my first time playing this game fully since my original playthrough back in 2010, and my first time 100%ing the game. Considering my thoughts on Galaxy 1, I was very pleasantly surprised at just how much I loved this game. It fixes nearly every issue I had with the original and has way fewer bad missions than the first game while staying fresh throughout most of it's runtimes. While I still prefer games like Sunshine for their tighter controls, Galaxy 2 is still a really fantastic game.

After many years of waiting as someone who got Mario Kart 8 on it's release date in 2014, I'm glad to say that Mario Kart World has largely been worth the wait. Great tracks, fantastic music, and an incredibly fun new mode called Knockout Tour have made playing this game a blast for the 60+ hours I've put in thus far. A great launch title for the Switch 2, even if it shouldn't be $80.

I also played through 3 and Paradise this year but this was easily my favorite of the three games. This game irons out the small number of flaws from Burnout 3 and perfects the formula. This game is easily the most fun and pure arcade racer I've ever played.

While it hurts excluding Banana Rumble from this list, Monkey Ball Deluxe is easily the best game in the series and I had a ton of fun grinding through it this year. This game is SEGA at it's best, simple arcade fun that is addictive and extremely tough to master. My only complaint stems from some bad stages (mainly from the Monkey Ball 2 set) but the rest of the game more than makes up for that. Maybe someday I'll be able to get through Expert lol.

Finally cleared this one off of my backlog after years of it sitting there, a truly fantastic puzzle game that I really should have finished sooner.

A solid remake of the GBA original that adds a decent amount of new content.

A very solid futuristic racer for Switch 2.

A very good remake of the original game that adds a lot of new content. Level designs have been updated and are largely improved, all of the bosses are new and are far more interesting than the original versions, and 100%ing is no longer a total nightmare since you no longer need every Pac-Dot. My only complaints are that the original bosses/levels aren't also included in some form and that there's some weird performance hiccups on occasion (on Switch 2),

Replayed this for the spooky season and had a pretty good time with the game, though it does have some small issues that hold it back from being higher on this list. Late game boo hunting gets pretty obnoxious with how often boos escape to different rooms, the controls can be a bit akward, and there are occasionally some pretty cryptic puzzles. However, it is still really fun going through the mansion and sucking up ghosts.