Spelunky is my personal "granddaddy of roguelikes". Granted, my friends and I are absolutely terrible at it, but these games are endlessly addicting that even if it's the 15th time you've landed on spikes and ended a 40 minute run, you'll still come climbing back up that rope for more torturous fun. I actually used to use Spelunky as a case study for some of my old Game Dev classes I taught, and I highly recommend the "Boss Fight Book" on the development of this wonderful game.

Anyhow..Spelunky 2 takes everything that I adore about the orginal and gives it a new coat of paint. It's one of those perfect sequels that highlight and enhance everything the original brought to the table. That pesky shopkeeper may always hate me, but it's a love hate relationship. Promise...

I tend to keep my distance from first-person shooters. Something about the motor control needed to actually hit your targets is something I've never been particularly good at. Ask anyone unfortunate enough to be placed on a team with me in any modern shooter. Trust me.

This makes it all the more bizarre that Echo Point Nova hooked (sorry for the pun) me the way it did. There must be something about skating around, using RPGs and wind blasts to launch myself into the stratosphere, then pulling off a 920 in slow motion while quick-scoping a robot knight that really speaks to me on a personal level.

I'm still a fair way from 100%, but this will be one of the few games that earns the title of "podcast game", something I can happily throw on while listening to an episode in the background. A prestige all of its own, I'm sure.

I am convinced that the designers of this game actively hated children. Donkey Kong Country has the perfect cheerful presentation, letting you imagine all these cute animals heading off on a fun little quest to save their bananas, before immediately pulling back the curtain and showing you Donkey Kong's favourite finger disguised as game balance. Despite this, I can't get enough of the DKC series. The controls are some of the tightest in the platforming genre, the collectables are enticing enough to make you fully learn and master each stage, and there's a reason this soundtrack has got millions of views on YouTube. Want to know why I think so many people love this game? Simple: I'm 80% certain this game started its life as some kind of psychological warfare conducted by Rare.

I'll admit, simulation games aren't a genre I have a lot of expertise in. I've done my fair share of Euro Trucking, don't get me wrong, but it's a vibe I've always struggled to fully connect with. That being said, I've always had a soft spot for SimCity. Watching your dinky little town grow into a hustlin' and bustlin' megalopolis, all while that sweet jazz blesses your eardrums, is one of the most relaxing feelings you can have in a game. It's incredibly easy to let the minutes turn into hours as you manage housing needs, build public services, and make sure all your advisers are reminding you what an ultra-cool mayor "Sir Stinksalot" truly is.

My neighbours really do need to stop asking to store their trash here, though. Cutieville deserves better than that.

OutRun 2 is my go-to arcade game. Whenever I find myself in the rare occurrence of being at an actual arcade, I always locate the OutRun machine and spend most of my money on it. There's something about this classic that no other racing game before or since has managed to match. Coast 2 Coast includes all of that arcadey goodness from the original release, while adding a bunch of new stages and bringing a career mode as well. This game is in desperate need of a modern release, as I doubt many people want to go through the hassle of getting it set up on modern machines using bizarre GitHub pages and YouTube tutorials (I mean, it didn't stop me though, as having this beauty of a game easily available is almost too much power.)