The Ultimate Guide to Punch-out!

Punch-Out!! distilled the sport of boxing brilliantly and saw Nintendo drawing on its talent for creating memorable characters to deliver a knockout videogame. Stuart Hunt steps back into the ring.

Though it wasn’t the fi rst in the series, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! marked the turning point for the Punch-Out!! franchise. But while the legendary boxer may have helped drive the game’s success on NES, it’s Nintendo’s clever take on boxing and quirky cast of cartoon boxers that many fans remember most fondly.

The origins of Punch-Out!! can actually be traced back to arcades, and, refreshingly, someone who isn’t Gunpei Yokoi or Shigeru Miyamoto: Genyo Takeda. Joining Nintendo in the Seventies, Takeda’s contribution to Nintendo was massive. Widely cited as its fi rst ever game designer, Takeda was involved with Nintendo’s earliest arcade games – Laser Clay Shooting System and EVR Race.

Initially, Takeda worked alongside hardware designer Masayuki Uemura within Nintendo’s R&D2 team, but after proving himself was soon given his own internal team – R&D3 – to lead. A small troupe of around 20 people, R&D3’s focus was hardware design for Nintendo’s coin-op and domestic markets, however Takeda would also oversee a number of popular NES titles targeted at Western gamers, including Pro Wrestling, the underrated RPG Star Tropics and Punch-Out!!.

Takeda’s input is evident throughout Nintendo’s history; pick a period and Takeda’s name is never far away. Credited for coming up with the battery save pack inside NES cartridges, he also assisted in the design of many of Nintendo consoles. He’s the man behind the N64 analog controller and was closely involved with the design of the GameCube, its controller and peripherals. Currently senior manager director at Nintendo, Takeda also had a key role in the development and direction of the Wii and was one of the people behind the decision to gear the console towards innovation rather than graphical power. Of course, to most retro gamers Takeda will always be best known as the creator of Punch-Out!!.

In the tradition of Nintendo’s odd love of dual screens, Punch-Out!!’s cabinet featured two monitors: a top one that showed the statistics of the fi ght and a bottom screen where the action played out. The coin-op controlled and played in the same way as the later home version of the game, with the notable exception that players assumed the role of a nameless green-haired boxer with a translucent wireframe body, with the camera positioned directly behind him.

In terms of control, the coin-op featured a four-way joystick used to make your boxer dodge left, dodge right, and lift and drop his guard. Attacks were performed via three fi re buttons (again, much like the later NES game): jab left, jab right and a big blue button which was used to perform either a knockout blow or uppercut upon fi lling a KO meter at the top of the bottom screen. The original Punch-Out!! presented six fi ghters to fi ght – Glass Joe, Piston Hurricane, Bald Bull, Kid Quick, Pizza Pasta and fi nally Mr. Sandman – and defeating them required players to dodge their punches, read their eye fl ashing attack cues and time dodges, blocks and punches accordingly.

Punch-Out!! was a hit for Nintendo, and wanting to capitalise on its popularity an arcade sequel was quickly released the following year. Super Punch-Out!! featured a new roster of fi ghters that comprised Bear Hugger, Dragon Chan, Vodka Drunkenski, Great Tiger, and Super Macho Man. Little of the formula was altered with, with perhaps the biggest new feature being a pull-able joystick that now made your fi ghter (the same green-haired guy, now sporting longer hair) duck – which was necessary for escaping certain special attacks.

The fi rst ever home version of Punch-Out!! was Punch-Out!! Gold Edition (aka Punch-Out!! Special). Created as a competition prize for the Nintendo Famicom Golf US tournament, they were produced on gold cartridges (hence its name) and only 10,000 were made. Now regarded as something of a Holy Grail among NES collectors, this early version features slightly different colour palettes and audio to the fi nal release. It’s also one fi ght shorter, as the game ends on Super Macho Man, as apposed to Mike Tyson/Mr. Dream.

So the story goes, around the time of Punch-Out!! Gold’s release Nintendo Of America’s founder/president Minoru Arakawa was at a boxing match, and one of the fi ghters impressed him through his strength and power. The boxer was Mike Tyson and Arakawa decided he would be perfect to appear in the game.

Some sources state that Tyson was reputedly paid $50,000 for the three-year likeness deal that saw him become the new fi nal opponent. With Tyson mania rampant, it was a clever strategy, one that, as Arakawa foresaw, helped Punch-Out!!’s popularity. Tyson was fast securing himself a place among the alltime boxing greats, and the opportunity to trade blows with a digital version was a big selling point. This wasn’t lost on the marketing team either as Tyson appeared in a television commercial for the game to deliver this virtual challenge – “You’ve got a shot at Tyson’s title,” the voiceover guy declares, “but for that you’ve got to beat Mike Tyson”. At which point Tyson turns around in his swivel chair and laughs a bit maniacally at the camera.

Knowing that a straight coin-op conversion would be beyond its 8-bit console, Nintendo made a number of changes to the home version of Punch- Out!!. Aside from adding Tyson to the roster and title, Nintendo also introduced a boxing underdog and trainer in the diminutive form of Little Mac and not so diminutive form of Doc Louis. The roster of opponents comprised a mix of new boxers and familiar fi ghters from both coin-ops. In terms of the core gameplay, tweaks were also made.

Mac could only block upwards but still attacked with a combination of high and low left and right jabs. He also had a special haymaker attack, which took the form of stars which players earned by connecting certain jabs at the right time. A stamina counter was also introduced, with the number of stamina hearts decreasing with every successful block Mac made. With no hearts an exhausted Mac would be unable to throw a punch until he dodged an attack.

Between rounds, respite sections were also added. Popular among fans, they allowed Mac to regain some strength, and saw Doc giving him encouragement and advice while his opponents tried their best to psyche him out. There was also a new referee, who looked like a certain Nintendo mascot, and no boxing game would be complete without a training sequence, and this came in the form of a now iconic cutscene that saw Mac running on the streets of New York in a fetching pink tracksuit while Doc cycled ahead.

For the re-release of Punch-Out!! Nintendo didn’t renew Tyson’s contract but replaced him with a new fi nal pugilist, Mr. Dream – who wasn’t as imposing but mimicked Tyson’s moves. But by this time it didn’t matter; Punch-Out!! had secured its place in virtual boxing’s Hall Of Fame and becoming one of Nintendo’s most popular sports game.

Top 10 Video Games of All Time
This is it, the list you thought we’d never dare to do. Today we’re concluding our series of the best video games per generation to bring you our picks for the top ten video games of all time. If you’ve been following our video games per generation series, you’ll know that fifty games were selected as some of the best.

But only ten can make this list. In order for a game to qualify for best of all time, it needs to have made at least rank four or higher in its respective generation list to get on here. So if your favorite didn’t make it onto this list, that’s why. Personal bias has no room here, get ready for the mother of all video game lists as we show off the industry’s finest accomplishments.

10. Goldeneye 007 (1997)

Just scraping into the opening slot is the movie tie-in game that brought FPS multiplayer to the living room. Yet despite only having one analog stick and no online play it still holds out better than a lot of shooters that have come out since. With a strong single player campaign that’ll keep you coming back as you try to unlock the prestigious 007 mode, and a multiplayer section which was amazingly added as an afterthought, Goldeneye is that one cartridge that you’ll never give away.

9. Resident Evil 4  (2005)

OK, so it’s actually the sixth game in the main series, but the beauty about this game is that you don’t need to have played the previous entries to know what’s going on. In fact, not knowing what’s going on is pretty much par for the course for a Japanese game. Resident Evil 4 was a thrilling yet terrifying experience, from dealing with the psychotic infected villagers to the creepy Regenerators. Fans like to hate on this game because of the sequels that followed, but for what it is by itself, there’s no denying how masterful it was put together.

8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

If there was one word we’d use to describe Skyrim, it would be “massive”. This game goes out of its way to make sure everything is vast, from its open world, to its diverse skill tree, loads of quests, and plenty of customization options for your character. Plus, there are dragons. Big ones. Be careful not to get lost in this game, cause it's really easy to go wandering and end up in a cave full of giant spiders or mummified Draugers.

7. Mass Effect 2 (2010)

The sci-fi epic that became the apex of what western RPGs should accomplish, The Mass Effect series drew inspiration from all the right places, with enough lore to rival Star Wars and Trek. The second game used a concept first seen in Seven Samurai, where as Commander Shepard you travel various parts of the galaxy to recruit an team of memorable characters to save the galaxy in one of the greatest final missions ever created. Shepard’s story may be over, but we’ll never forget the incredible journey.

6. Portal 2 (2011)

First of all: “Cake” … now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can say that no other game of the last generation brought more creative innovation than the Portal series. Portal 2 has everything a great sequel should be by giving us the well written humorous dialogue of Wheatly and GLaDOS, while also giving us well-crafted puzzle rooms to take on solo, or share the thinking challenge with a friend. It’s also a game that we can safely predict will age very well.

5. Chrono Trigger (1995)

Square are indeed the JRPG kings with their Final Fantasy series, but their best work came with this time-traveling epic. A master class of storytelling, the game is still as emotionally hard-hitting as ever, and just like Mass Effect, it too contains an iconic cast of memorable party members. Not to mention the game also comes with thirteen endings, each of them as vastly different from one another. Some say Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPGs of all time, and we're inclined to agree.

4. Super Mario World (1991)

Mario had a lot of games in contention for best of all time, with Super Mario Brothers 3 and Galaxy 2 also eligible. But as the apex of 2D Platforming, Super Mario World knows no equal. The 16-bit sprites still look amazing today, and with the inclusion of multiple routes, secrets galore to discover, and ninety-six different exits to find, there’s plenty more to come back to once you’ve defeated Bowser and saved the Princess.

3. Half Life 2 (2004)

There are few games in history that still feel brand new a decade after they’ve been released. Yet Half Life 2’s revolutionary emphasis on physics based combat and puzzles still puts it leaps and bounds across most FPSs today. Valve’s second game on this list really shows how the company has become true pioneers for gaming, while still giving us amazing experiences, and yes we can see the irony of putting this series at number three.

2. Tetris (1984)

The game that’s over thirty years old yet is as addicting and challenging to play today as it was when it came out. There have been many variations throughout the years, but its core gameplay remains the same as this Russian classic is still played by hundreds of thousands today. In fact it’s now the best selling video game of all time, thanks to being so accessible that it can be played on almost any device with a screen and a few microchips. Tetris games is a true timeless classic.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

Before we get to the most iconic spot of all, let's have a look at some honorable mentions. We know this game is at the top of almost every other all time list out there - feel free to search for yourself. And believe me, we tried hard to find a successor, but when comparing precise gameplay, revolutionary mechanics, well paced storylines, replay ability, fantastic level design, combat variety, and capturing the scope of an epic adventure, no game has even come close to matching what Ocarina of Time has achieved. Whether you have your old N64 cartridge, digital version on the Virtual Console, or you're taking it on the go with the 3DS remaster, this Nintendo masterpiece is our pick for the greatest game of all time.
Source Watchmojo Youtube Channel

Top 15 Most Successful Indie Games Ever Made
From surviving the night in hostile environments to piloting intergalactic spaceships we countdown the 15 most successful indie games ever created.

15. We start off with Spelunky

An action adventure game where the user explores procedurally generated tunnel systems. Collect treasure , avoid traps and battle hostile snakes, spiders and bats. Originally launched as freeware in 2008 for Windows, the creator of the game Derek Yu remade the game for XBox and Playstation. Spelunky received high ratings and was named PC Gamer’s 2013 Game of the Year.

14. Castle Crashers

A 2d Side scrolling beat em up set in a medieval universe. Play as one of four knights, rescue the princess and bring the evil wizard to justice. Castle Crashers was xBox Live’s best selling title of 2008, and went on to sell over 3 million copies.

13. Don’t Starve

An action adventure game with randomly generated worlds, you try to survive for as long as possible. With a day and night cycle you spend your days collecting resources to craft weapons and shelter. At night avoid dangerous monsters and an invisible creature that attacks you if your light source goes out. Even though the game has a high level of difficulty, it has received positive reviews and went on to sell over 1 million copies.

12. The Binding Of Isaac

Take control of Isaac, a child sacrificed by his mother in this top down 2d shooter. A favorite among speed runners, The binding of isaac has received several very positive reviews. IT has an average score of 84 out of 100 among critics and has sold over 2 million copies.

11. FTL Faster Than Light

A space based Real time strategy game. Fly a spaceship belonging to the galactic federation and fight off the rebels to ensure the critical information you’re carrying arrives safely. FTL had a wildly successful kickstarter campaign and raised $200,000 on a $10000 goal. It has won excellence in design awards and named Best debut title of 2013.

10. Five Night’s

At Freddy’s Playing as a night time security guard at a pizza place, you must survive your shift without being attacked by the resident animatronic robots. This simplistic point and click survival game became wildly popular among several Top YouTubers and an overnight sensation.

9. Terreria

An open ended sandbox game, terraria’s success lies in its classic exploration adventure style of gameplay. Procedurally generated, there are several types of biomes to explore. Collect resources, craft weapons and fight mobs of increasing difficulty. Terreria has been praised by several notable gaming review sites, and has sold over 2.5 million copies

8. Hotline Miami

Inspired by the 2011 Movie Drive, Hotline Miami is a 1980’s styled 2d top down action game. You take control of an unknown character thats plagued by visions, violently butchering people as the missions progress. Hotline Miami received several awards including Best PC game of the year and Best Soundtrack of 2012.

7. Braid

In This Puzzle Platformer Braid’s main defining feature is ability to manipulate the flow of time to your advantage. Game designer Jonathan blow developed the game over 3 years and funded it using his own money. Braid has been considered a masterpiece by some critics, is rated #1 in XBox Live Arcade, and 10th XboX 360 game overall.

6. Limbo

Released in 2012 spelun Limbo is a 2d Sidescroller.Guiding your unnamed character through hazardous environments in search of your sister , you try to avoid a gruesome death. Limbo won several awards after it’s release and has generated over 7.5 million dollars in revenue.

5. Bastion

Playing as the Kid, a Catastrophic event called the Calamity takes place. You need to search for shards which are used to improve the bastion, the last refuge for civilization. The game is widely praised, and has sold over 3 million copies. Bastion has won several awards from best role playing game of the year to to best xbox live arcade game of 2011.

4. World of Goo

In this awesome Puzzle game, you use balls of goo to create structures to get over objects and difficult terrain. Released in 2008, World of Goo only cost around $10,000 to make. Nintendo Life has stated that World of goo is one of the best WiiWare releases to date, and others claiming the game to be virtually flawless.

3. Fez

A unique 2d puzzle game set in a 3d world, take control of gomez, and collect cube fragments to restore order to the universe. Fez’s main feature is the ability to rotate between 2d and 3d world views, which reveals different paths to take.Fez had a high profile 5 year development, due in part outspoken designer Phil Fish. Fez has been highly acclaimed, with some critics naming it the 2012 game of the year.

2. Super Meat Boy

Featured in the documentary Indie Game The movie, play as Meat boy and save your girlfriend Bandage girl from the evil Dr Fetus. Super meat Boy is another favorite among gaming critics and players alike. It’s been named most challenging game of 2010 and nominated for best soundtrack and best retro design. As of January 2012, Super meat boy has sold over 1 million copies.

1. Minecraft

At the Top of our List we have an open world sandbox with no specific goals it gives you the freedom to do pretty much whatever you like. Minecraft was originally created by Markus Persson and released in may of 2009. News of the game quickly spread, and even though there was no formal advertising done, websites like Reddit and YouTube helped boost it’s popularity. Minecraft is one of the best selling games of all time, selling over 60 million copies as Oct 2014 It’s won numerous awards and has been praised by critics for it’s creative freedom. The game eventually ended being sold to Microsoft for an astounding 2.5 billion dollars.

Top 10 Best Games for Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has had a huge amount of success since its release, for a few reasons. It’s a solid system, it’s unique, it can be used both portably and not. But perhaps the biggest reason for its success is the awesome selection of games you can get for it! So let’s go over some of the best games out there for Nintendo Switch! Of course, this will be fairly subjective, but I’ll do my best to list the games that gamers on the whole enjoy, not just my personal favourites. If you enjoy this video, let us know by throwing us a thumbs up down below. And if you want more, check out our video on the Nintendo E3 Conference! But before you do that, get ready, it’s time for the Top 10 Best Games for Nintendo Switch!

10. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
Shovel Knight was first released on June 26, 2014 by Yacht Club Games. And it was awesome, an indie platformer that rivalled the best ever made, throwing back to the old 8-bit platformers. But when Treasure Trove edition was released in March 2017 on Nintendo Switch, it quickly became one of the most popular switch games out there. It includes all the campaigns that were funded through kickstarter, as well as the original game. Definitely a solid game that has had great success. And hey, while we’re on the subject of knights.

9. Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania style game that is, admittedly, a bit similar to Shovel Knight, not just in name but also because they’re both platformers. But Hollow Knight is definitely an original game in its own right, with rather different mechanics and looks. It was made by Team Cherry by just three people, taking inspiration from Zelda and Metroid. In the game, you play as a tiny knight, as you explore a dangerous, underground world, wielding a nail and using powerful spells. And in the two weeks following its release on Switch on June 12th, 2018, it sold over 250,000 copies. Not too shabby. And did I mention it was made by THREE PEOPLE? Dang. They’re talented. And rich.

8. Sonic Mania Plus
Yep, this IS Top 10 Gaming, so I’m contractually obligated to mention Sonic at least once a video. That’s a joke, but like… it may as well be true. Anyway, Sonic Mania was a breath of fresh air for Sonic fans, who had been so often disappointed with Sonic games in recent years. It was a trip back to the good old days, and everyone was very pleased. But Sonic Mania was not released with physical copies, and fans and retailers wanted them. So Sega said "Uh, you want to give us more money for the same game? Sure..." Now, since a retail release is more expensive, they added some stuff to the game to make it worth it, which made Sonic Mania Plus even better than the original. It added Ray and Mighty to the game, changed some level designs, and changed multiplayer to allow 4 players at once. And it was just bomb.

7. Mario Tennis Aces
Mario Tennis Aces had fans a little bit worried, but ended up exceeding expectations. I can’t imagine anyone needs a description, but if you do, it’s a game where you play But this game saw a bunch of really cool additions and changes to the game, to make it even more engaging and unique, and more than just a tennis game. A bunch of different kind of shots, like zone shot and trick shot, add a whole new element to the game. This is what Nintendo games should be, just fun, fast, a little bit silly, and great for passing around with your friends. And it’s awesome.

6.Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Even though it was originally a Wii U game that was ported to the Switch, this game is on this list for many reasons. For one, Mario Kart is always fun. Even a bad Mario Kart game is still a good game. But this is one of the best ever, possibly even THE best. It packs all the same racing action with your favourite Mario characters, and has some really cool additions that take advantage of the Switch’s capabilities. Deluxe lets you use every character on every track, including DLC, gives you new vehicles, brings back old items, and more.  You can also race 8 at a time locally, and even play two player on the go. Just don't play in public if you get competitive; nobody needs to see you cry.

5. Splatoon 2
Not gonna lie, I’ve somehow managed to almost completely avoid hearing anything about Splatoon 2. But it is without a doubt one of the most successful games on the Switch. It’s a shooter, which isn’t exactly Nintendo’s usual MO, but when you look at the graphics and the mechanics, you can see that it is definitely a Nintendo game. And I mean that in a good way. It's super crazy, and cartoonish, and quite silly, involving players shooting at each other with coloured ink, switching between humanoid and squid form, to try to win a number of game modes. With over 6 million copies sold, it’s one of the highest selling Switch games ever, so if you haven’t tried it yet, maybe it’s time to give it a chance.

4. Celeste
Celeste was released on all the main platforms on January 25th, 2018, and very, very quickly became super popular. With rave reviews, including many perfect scores, this platformer made by Canadian video game developers Matt Thorson and Noel berry is one of the most popular switch games ever. And it's awesome. Surprisingly, Celeste is not the name of the protagonist, who's really called Madeline (line). Celeste is the name of the fictional mountain in Western Canada, that you must climb, while battling a wide array of characters as you work through inner struggles. Definitely worth trying if you like this kind of game. It’s especially popular in the speedrunning community, with players competing to finish it as quickly as possible. But most people prefer to take it a bit slower.

3. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
That’s right Skyrim. In Skyrim, you play as the Dovahkin, someone born with the ability to absorb dragon souls, and utilize them to learn powerful shouts. Skyrim has become a bit of a meme lately, since Bethesda had a habit of just porting the game to new systems rather than making new games. But most people will agree that Skyrim is friggin awesome, and some of the changes they made for the switch made it even better, the most significant being, of course, motion controls. This might seem a bit weird to have all the way up at number 3, since it isn’t exactly a Switch game. But it IS on the Switch, and Skyrim is just such an amazing game that it needs to be near the top of any list, regardless of the console. So good.

2. Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey took the world by STORM when it was released on October 27, 2017. Hopes were high, and the game was even better than people had hoped. It has all the best parts of previous games, like Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy, but added new mechanics too. At times, you'll revert to a 2-D character to play 2-D levels, plus the introduction of Cappy brought a whole possession mechanic to the game, allowing Mario to gain cool new abilities by chucking his hat at nerds. There are even alternate costumes you can use! If you have a switch and don’t have Odyssey, get it. You won’t regret it.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild was amazing. In the game, we adventure as Link, who has awoken without his memories, in a futuristic Hyrule where Calamity Ganon threatens the safety of the world. You need to release the powerful Divine Beasts and defeat Ganon before he regains his strength. And it’s sick. Breath of the Wild brought us the most open-world Zelda game ever, and it worked really well. Graphically stunning, awesome story, and best of all, they managed to make a Zelda game that played a more like a traditional RPG, while still feeling very much like Zelda. There are some really cool mechanics, the glider is so fun, and it’s just so much less structured than previous Zelda games.

10 of the best iOS games ever
You can download and buy almost any game within any genre for your iPhone or iPad and you will almost certainly find options that keep you entertained for hours on end or for when you have a few spare minutes. We have reached the point where the most difficult aspect of iOS gaming is knowing what to choose and so here we present a selection of the very best titles from a variety of categories
to get you started. For very little money you can have hours of fun no matter where you are.

Alto’s Adventure
Alto’s Adventure does not look like a special game on the face of it, but the implementation and subtle gameplay ensure that you can play it in a variety of ways. Whether you are trying to reach a specific goal or simply want to fly through the air, this is a thrilling and calming arcade game that
works on every level. Summary One finger gaming just became a reality. A brilliantly absorbing game.

F1 2016
A true arcade experience on a phone? F1 2016 delivers this with stunning graphics, decent AI opponents and a career mode that is truly deep. The best feature of all though is the precise turning, breaking and strategy you need to use to be the best which makes this feel like a console quality title in your hand. Summary A wonderful racing game which feels bigger than the device it plays on.

INKS.
INKS. stands apart purely for the way it is presented and the organicfeeling animations which genuinely make you feel as if you are filling the playing surface with ink. Imagine pinball married to throwing paint on the floor in a very defined way and it is still hard to work out what it is, but it is
a superb experience. Summary This is a buttery smooth visual feast with deceptively simple gameplay.

Plague Inc.
Oh my. Your task is to destroy every living being on earth and if you succeed you will actually find yourself feeling good about what you have done. It sounds ghastly, but there is a huge amount of strategy involved in succeeding in this game and the end result is an absorbing classic that will grab you and not let go. Summary A fantastic strategy game which involves destroying the world!

Pok?mon GO
How could we not include the game that took over the world for a few months and which is still played by millions of people every day? Pok?mon GO truly does marry your phone with the real world and as time goes by, you will still feel the need to collect as many as you can. A brilliantly
put together game. Summary Bring the outside world to your phone and enjoy new experiences.

SpellTower
Not all great games need to be based on amazing graphics and speedy animations because sometimes you just want to take a moment and play with words. In SpellTower you will find yourself taking many minutes looking for one word and then blazing through a series of solutions that will make you feel great. A classic word game for everyone. Summary One of the best word games available on any platform.

Really Bad Chess
It sounds impossible to take a game like Chess and make it play in a completely different way that still feels familiar, but the developer has done so here. In this game Chess becomes more accessible to people who struggle to play it and the number of different elements on show makes it potentially a
very important development. Summary It’s hard to believe that Chess has been tweaked this way.

8 Ball Pool?
iPhones connect us to our friends and colleagues with ease, but the very best games can connect us to people anywhere in the world. This style of gaming feels more realistic and personal than simply playing against an AI opponent and over time you may find yourself getting more than a little involved in trying to beat a stranger. Summary A simple pool game that stirs the emotions.

Space Age: A Cosmic
Adventure Mobile games are typically considered to be of the genre where you can play for a few minutes and then put them down again. Space Age, however, will take you through a journey that is
varied, at times perplexing and always interesting. It is a true adventure game with lots of personality thrown in. Summary It will take many hours to navigate through the wonders of Space Age.

Threes!
Originality is the name of the game here because it feels like a completely new gaming concept that others are already trying to copy. It’s a simple tile game offering a highly impressive environment
to play in and a mechanism which makes it one of the most addictive gaming experience anywhere. You won’t be able to put it down. Summary Numbered tiles have never been this much fun.

Top 10 Scariest Horror Games of All Time
These days, fantastic horror games are not hard to come by. The survival horror genre in particular has made massive strides in the industry, with developers pumping out some of the most impressive and compelling titles to ever grace our consoles over the last decade and a half. Whether you play horror games because you love them, or you play them because you adore a good scare, these games on our list today are all worth giving a go, and are full of frights. These are our picks for the top 10 scariest horror games of all time.

10. S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
Shadow of Chernobyl is a first person shooter survival horror that’s set in an alternate reality. A second nuclear disaster has happened at the famous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone, causing strange other worldly mutations. You assume the role of the Stalker, who has amnesia, who comes across five different breeds of mutants in the Zone. There are bloodsuckers. There are Snorks, who almost look human and wear gas masks. There are poltergeists, an extremely mutated human who is missing all of its body below its hips and seem invisible.

There are Pseudogiants, a giant mutated ball of several humans combined, and lastly, controllers, who have psychic esque powers that disorient you in short bursts. In addition to the mutants that you’ll come across, there’s a whole lot of supernatural aspects at play. It also scores big points for atmosphere; not only is the sound design and music really on point, but the lighting in the game even offers up it’s own scares, with the way your flashlight moves sometimes casting shadows that will have you double taking, fearing that there’s more lurking nearby than there is in actuality.

9. Resident Evil 4
There’s a lot of fantastic Resident Evil games to choose from that could’ve landed a spot on this list, but Resident Evil 4 tends to take the cake when it comes to being the scariest of the bunch. It’s considered to be one of the best survival horror games out there to boot, pioneering the over the shoulder third person perspective in that genre. You play as Leon S Kennedy, former Raccoon City Police officer six years after the events of Resident Evil 2, on a mission to rescue the US President’s daughter Ashley Graham. Despite how annoying many players found Ashley to be, the game itself features some of the most terrifying foes in the franchise to date, combined with revolutionary combat mechanics that have made their way into other games in the series, and in the genre, since.

8. Slender: The Arrival
Slender may not be a popular choice on this list compared to some other titles, but this relatively indie game still manages to bring the fright factor home. Slender is of course about Slender Man; the urban legend that has now made its way from creepy pasta online to a full blown pop culture sensation, even scoring a poorly made film that studios thought would pull in the big bucks at the box office. Despite the recent questionability about the character’s representation, Slender the game is definitely one adaptation of the myth that is worth while.

It’s an expanded title from the game Slender The Eight Pages. Like others on this list, it’s a survival horror, where you’re armed with only a flashlight as you hunt down answers concerning your missing best friend, which unravels a greater mystery concerning missing children, which are of course connected to the Slender Man. Regardless of whether the story entices you, the gameplay itself is what lands this title on our list. You explore abandoned areas, each with different objectives, often being hunted down by Slender himself.

There’s a level in a mine that’s particularly terrifying, where you’re chased down by a young child in a hoodie, as well as Slender. And huge chunks of the game build tension; one of the final chapters takes you inside the recording of a friend investigating a farm, which requires you to solve a few puzzles, but manages to create SO MUCH TENSION in the process, that when you do finally get pursued by one of the missing children now deformed, you’ll be on the edge of your seat practically pooping yourself.

7. Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 is often seen as one of the best horror games of all time, and definitely the best released game the franchise has ever had to offer. It’s disturbing, unsettling, and places players in a world that manages to get under their skin in real life. You play as James Sunderland, who enters the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his deceased wife, saying she’s waiting for him there. The game employs psychological tactics as well, all of which mess with the player as you progress in the narrative. In addition to that, many players see the encounter with Pyramid Head as being one of the scariest moments to ever occur in video game history, and the conclusion of the game itself is one that has lingered with many players for years.

6. Penumbra The Black Plague
The Black Plague is the second title in the Penumbra series, which follows a character named Phillip through an underground research base. It’s an exploration game where flight is mightier than fight, and leaves you avoiding enemies, using stealth tactics and solving puzzles. You start the game by waking up in a locked room, escaping through an air vent and discovering that inside this facility, there are infected zombie like creatures. You’ve been infected too, but instead of joining the hive mind, you slowly slip into insanity as another one of the infected takes over, taunting you with sarcastic and crude dialogue throughout the game. The Black Plauge is the spiritually successor to our number one on this list, too, but more on that later.

5. Alien Isolation
Alien Isolation plays on the elements that made the first few Aliens films so fantastic; you’re on a deserted space station, playing as Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, tracking down a lost flight recorder, all while trapped inside this space station with none other than a Xenomorph. Inspired heavily by the first alien film, the game isn’t an action packed one; instead, it requires you to not get killed by the Xenomorph, not be the killer yourself since you are unarmed, creating exponentially more tension that way. There’s also a handful of malfunctioning andriods scattered throughout the station’s rooms as well that add another eerie element to the title. Overall, it’s title really speaks volumes for the game as a whole; you feel entirely isolated, and hunted.

4. Dead Space
It Xenomorphs aren’t your thing, how about Necromorphs? Dead Space is also set in, you guessed it, outer space! It’s another survival horror game that puts you in the shoes of protagonist Isaac Clarke in the year 2508, a ship systems engineer who is forced to fight his way through the mining starship he works on in search of his girlfriend and safety. The crew have all been butchered, and then their corpses reanimated, turning them into Necromorphs; a new take on the zombie genre that is appalling, terrifying, and forces you to use a mechanism called ‘strategic dismemberment’ in  order to fight them off and kill them for good. It’s a gruesome deep space adventure that will haunt your dreams, from its startling atmosphere to its vicious means of fighting off your foes; there ain’t no effective head shots here, people, which made many people have to approach this shooter in a different way than other titles with similar themes and premises.

3. Outlast
While some may argue that Outlast 2 is a better game, there’s something about the first title in the series that left us feeling absolutely mortified by its end. And by that something, we mean everything up until the reveal of what exactly Wallrider was. Decent level, but definitely not as scary as the underground caverns under the asylum that you need to navigate to get there, let alone THE WHOLE DAMN ASYLUM you work your way through during the rest of the game!

So, when Outlast starts off, you’re a journalist, armed with only a camcorder and its night vision feature, heading to the game’s asylum to investigate some mysterious happenings. You get there, and immediately, it’s scary as hell. You have to break into the building, only to discover that something has gone horribly wrong; all of the security guards are dead. Your first real mission in the game is to start up a generator; a moment that is perhaps one of the scariest, as you find yourself navigating around in flooded basement, searching for levers that you need to turn on, all while avoiding getting your head smashed in by one of the freed asylum patients who, of course, wants nothing more than to satiate his thirst for blood.

You’ve gotta run, you’ve gotta hide, and you’ve gotta hope that these mental patients don’t find you. The rest of the game sees you employing similar tactics, with you being utterly defenseless, and needing to constantly find batteries in order to make your camera run; that night vision becomes oh so precious. There’s also some particularly gruesome moments that are hard to watch. But overall, it’s not so much the story in Outlast that makes it great, but rather, the mechanics of the game itself, and the pace in which the game flows, scaring the likes of even the most seasoned horror gamers out there.

2. PT
PT is often considered the best horror game of all time, despite the fact that it never actually got made. So, for context, if you’ve never heard of it before, PT stands for playable trailer. It was a teaser game released on the playstation store, a first person psychological horror game developed by Kojima Productions and directed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro. It was meant to be a teaser for the game Silent Hills, the next installment in the Silent Hill franchise that was eventually cancelled. After the cancellation, the game was removed from the playstation store and removed the option for players to reinstall it, which caused a lot of controversy (and made some PS4s go for quite the expensive price tag online if they had the game installed on the system).

Anywho, despite only being a trailer, it was critically acclaimed for its visuals, its ability to create extreme tension and it’s puzzles. Essentially, you awaken in a haunted house, exploring the same L shaped corridor as it continues to loop, with supernatural occurrences throughout. In order to progress, you need to solve cryptic puzzles and other terrifying events. There’s no means of defending yourself either, like in previous Silent Hill games.

It’s claustrophobic and repetitive environment not only invoked fear, but a deep curiosity about what would happen next, and put the player in a state of vulnerability that not many other horror games have managed to achieve in the past. Despite it’s short life span, the trailer has had a massive impact, largely influencing other horror games that have come out in recent years. There’s actually a remake of it that recently surfaced called Unreal PT, available for PC, that players can even try out in VR.

1. Amnesia The Dark Descent
Amnesia The Dark Descent is one of those titles that manages to scare the crap out of you before anything scary has actually happened. It follows the story of a man named Daniel, who has amnesia, and wakes up in the Brennenburg Castle in 1839 with the knowledge of only three things; that his name is Daniel, where he lives, and that something is hunting him. The Dark Descent has a very intriguing mechanic; the more time you spend hiding in the dark while avoiding the utterly horrific monsters in the game, the more your sanity level drops, which alters your perception, and can cause you to see and hear things that aren’t actually there.

This aspect of the game exists right from the get go, establishing a really uncanny feeling for players as they begin their journey through the castle. It’s part psychological thriller, part survival horror game, that once again puts you in a position of needing to rely on flight over fight, with players often having to barricade themselves into rooms in order to avoid the monsters chasing you throughout the gothic building’s corridors.

source Top 10 Gaming youtube channel