The gaming industry’s constant rise in popularity over the last few decades hasn’t slowed down in 2020, exemplified by recent reports showing that the gaming industry has grown bigger than sports and movies combined. Granted, lockdowns that have taken place all over the world this year have greatly affected all three forms of entertainment; but even when the sports and film industries get back on their feet, much of gaming’s new audience will likely be sticking with the hobby longterm.
The industry’s consistent success over the years has had many great benefits for gamers, one of which is the plethora of games that now release each year. Although AAA Xbox One titles like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077 comfortably find themselves in the industry’s limelight, there are numerous game releases each year that go under the radar.
10 RUGBY 20
Considering Rugby’s popularity, it’s fair to say that fans of the sport have been shortchanged when it comes to tie-in video games. Rugby is the 8th most popular sport in the world, yet it doesn’t have anywhere near the same catalog of games as Golf or NFL Football, both of which are less popular worldwide.
Rugby 20 likely went under the radar as it wasn’t developed by EA or 2K, but by Eko Software, who are best known in the sports genre for their Handball series.
9 WWE 2K Battlegrounds
Following the disastrous release of WWE 2K20 in October 2020, a game so buggy that it makes Cyberpunk 2077 look like it was developed by Nintendo; 2K decided to take a break from the realism centric releases and instead create an over-the-top arcade action game with cartoony visuals and character models.
The concept certainly wasn’t a bad idea, as its aim to provide a fun stop-gap title while working out how to make 2K22 a success made sense. However, the execution left much to be desired, and it fell considerably short of the game it was likely trying to emulate: WWE All Stars.
8 Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Released just two years after the original Nickelodeon Kart Racers title, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix aimed to improve upon its lackluster predecessor which scored just 49 on Metacritic.
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix succeeds in this, although it still falls short of a respectable score with a 69 mark from the review aggregator. One of the main improvements that the second game made was the roster size; expanding the original game’s pitiful 12 playable characters to a far more enticing 30.
7 Battletoads
After 26 long years, Rare’s Battletoads franchise finally received a new entry in 2020. Battletoads, much like its predecessors, is a brutally difficult side-scrolling beat em’ up. The game doesn’t hold back on the nostalgia, as it brings back painful memories of the infamous Turbo Tunnel stage with modern iterations of the tricky level.
Unfortunately, Battletoads failed to impress fans and critics, with its repetitive levels and weak story that contributed to its underwhelming 72 Metascore.
6 PHOGS!
To the delight of many, the platforming genre has had a small resurgence in 2020. The genre that once dominated the gaming industry has seen a new Crash Bandicoot game, the excellent Metroidvania Ori and the Will of the Wisps, a superb sequel to 2008’s Spelunky, and much more. Because of this, many of the genre’s games went under the radar this year.
One such game is PHOGS!. The puzzle-platformer puts players in control of a two-headed dog, reminiscent of Nickelodeon character CatDog (who appears in the aforementioned Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix) and puts them in some of the year’s most intelligently designed puzzle stages.
5 Streets of Rage 4
Released over a quarter of a century after Streets of Rage 3, Streets of Rage 4 is Dotemu’s attempt at rejuvenating the classic Sega Genesis beat em’ up series.
Although the beat em’ up genre’s day in the sun has undoubtedly passed, Streets of Rage 4 is more than just a trip down memory lane. The game is a fantastic modern take on the popular arcade genre and is fully deserving of its impressive Metascores that ranged from 82-86.
4 Super Mega Baseball 3
It’s fair to say that good indie sports games are hard to come by, as the sporting genre is dominated by the licensed titles released by EA and 2K like the FIFA and Madden series.
Fantastic unlicensed sports games like Super Mega Baseball 3 may be about to get their time in the sun though, as the potential lawsuit surrounding EA’s FIFA series could jeopardize the future of licensed titles.
3 Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle
Most gamers will have heard of Bayonetta and a fair few will know of Vanquish, but not too many will be aware that SEGA and PlatinumGames’ pair of cult classics received a 10th-anniversary re-release this year.
The bundle of critically acclaimed games released in February 2020, and features remastered iterations of both games.
2 Planet Coaster: Console Edition
Originally released in 2016, Planet Coaster is a spiritual successor of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3; which was also developed by Frontier Developments.
As the title suggests, the game came to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox One Series X|S in November 2020. The game unsurprisingly had some interface issue, a common theme of console iterations of management games; but it still impressed critics and received an Xbox One Metascore of 85.
1 Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is a throwback to the point and click genre that dominated the 90s with titles like Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max: Hit The Road.
Despite the similarities, Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition differentiates itself from the classic point and click games with its absence of puzzles. This move ensures that the flow of Kentucky Route Zero‘s story remains consistent, as there are no tricky sections that stop players in their tracks.
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