The dawn of a new year is the time to take a fresh, new outlook on life, and prepare optimistically for what the future has in store. Not for me though! As an aging, bitter gamer I am constantly worried. Worried that the shiny new game everyone’s going on about is going to turn out to be a dud. Even long running, dependable series aren’t always safe. It’s like when you go to a favorite restaurant time and time again, and then that one time they really screw up your order. Sure, you’ll go back again, but you’ll never forget that bad experience. You will always go in more cautious.

So simply enough, this is a list of games in 2011 I am most worried about. Specifically, these are games I really and truly want to be good, but can’t help but fear something might go wrong, for whatever reason. So you won’t see anything like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, which I have no expectation will be any good to begin with.

Mega Man Universe

As notorious of a Mega Man fan as I am, it’s best to get this one out of the way first. I’ve been loving Capcom’s return to Mega Man’s roots with Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10, and I’ve been since keeping an eye out for Mega Man 11. But rather than taking the completely predictable route, Capcom took a slightly less predictable twist and announced Mega Man Universe. While we had ample time to speculate what the game would be, it turned out to be a “do-it-yourself” Mega Man engine based on the classic, Mega Man 2. Some have called it the spiritual successor to Mega Man Powered Up, a fact which Capcom has been ambiguous about confirming or denying.

The game garnered a handful of complaints immediately. Some complained about the game’s jarring visual style and redesign of Mega Man, though personally I’ve gotten used to it. Others with hands on experience playing demos have critiqued the solidness of its controls, an issue I can’t defend as offhandedly as I did the last. But my personal greatest concern is the focus on having users create their own stages. User-generated content is one of those things that sounds great on paper, but you’re taking a huge gamble that the players will use it well enough to keep up interest in the game for everyone. Let’s not kid ourselves; a lot of the stages made are going to be crappy. You’re going to make some crappy stages, and so am I. And it’s only going to take playing through four or five of those in a row before people get tired of using the service. Other games notable for centering around the user generated experience, like Spore, LittleBigPlanet and Wii Music all failed to meet expectations after released. And while I’ve got nothing wrong with letting players get creative, you can’t offer that in lieu of concrete, professionally made content.

The only real hope I see for Mega Man Universe is if it opens its doors to much more content than Mega Man 2′s, and what it loses in being a creative-based game can be countered with being a content mammoth. Imagine if it had the content of all the Mega Man games, and if at the very least you could play those games recreated, with their stages and music and all. It will also offer much more depth to the stage creation aspect, which would at least help it keep fresh longer (in Mega Man Powered Up it grew old pretty fast).

Incidentally, it’s also worrisome that Capcom has not released any new information about Mega Man Universe since late September.

Status: Worried but optimistic, because I’m a big dumb Mega Man fan.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon

If you follow Barrel Roll, you’ll know I picked up Earth Defense Force 2017 earlier this year and completely fell in love with it. It is my favorite Xbox 360 game and would easily be my game-of-the-year if it in fact released this year. I’m surprised I’ve yet to review this title, though I suppose it’d just fall apart into a bunch of obscene fawning. At any rate, Earth Defense Force 2017 is actually the third in a series from developer Sandlot. Released in Japan as part of D3 Publisher’s Simple 2000 series, it’s an addictive, easy to grasp action game that’s genuinely like playing a campy sci-fi movie. The only way they could sink this one is by handing the series to a no-name Western developer to muck it all up.

Which is exactly what they did when handing Insect Armageddon to North Carolina based Vicious Cycle. Vicious Cycle recently developed such titles as Matt Hazard: Blood bath and Beyond and Despicable Me: The Game… whoo. And the original teaser trailer I saw for the game didn’t instill much hope for me. The bugs were strangely cybernetic looking and the music had more of a summer blockbuster feel than camp.

But here’s where I totally backpedal. Following information about the game and later gameplay videos that would come out, Insect Armageddon for all intents and purposes looks incredibly promising. The armies of bugs, the huge library of weapons, the completely destructible cities, and the hammy but not too ridiculous voice acting; it all appears to be there. And while additional features such as different armors don’t seem entirely necessarily, it doesn’t appear they’ll get in the way of the core gameplay either.

When the time comes I’m sure I’ll nitpick a lot of things. But I certainly won’t let it get in the way of enjoyment, unless something is really that glaring. But it really looks like Vicious Cycle is on the right track. Kudos guys. North Carolina barbecue is the best.

Status: Optimistic.

Unnamed DS Kirby Game

I don’t have much to say on this one because we really don’t know a lick about the title still. It was slipped into a montage during a Tokyo Game Show presentation, and little has come out for it other than some screens. What the heck is going on in this picture anyway? Why are there so many Kirbys? What’s the point of this game?

Now I have no way of weighing whether or not this game will necessarily be fun. But it certainly doesn’t look like an ordinary Kirby game. Though, I don’t know anymore. After pinball, golf, block stacking, racing, and line riding gameplay, maybe the traditional platformers are the black sheep of the Kirby series. And while Epic Yarn was an alright game, it still didn’t deliver that fun, classic feeling Kirby experience. Upon hearing about a new DS title, I really hoped it would be a return to the roots and cast away silly gimmicks. But it really is starting to seem like silly gimmicks are all that Kirby is about anymore.

Status: Doubtful, but should probably hold out for more info.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Another minor, since ultimately… I don’t know how much I care. I’ve never been a tremendous Zelda fan. I’ve also never beaten any of the games; the older ones because they get too hard, and the newer ones because they get too boring. But if I had to have a preference, it would definitely be the former.

I know many are stoked about Skyward Sword; it’s the game many imagined Twilight Princess was going to be when it came out on Wii. And while I’m not gaga for Zelda, I am definitely interested in an full blown action/adventure game that makes use of the Wii’s Motion Plus feature. Since a lot of the new features are related to action, it’s not unreasonable to suspect the game will be more action oriented. Let’s face it, today’s Zelda games are gobby and slow. They’re loaded with puzzles, boring boss fights, weapons that function more as tools, and little in the way of real exploration.

And I have to say, I think things are going to continue that way for now. Nintendo is still holding this one close to their chest, but nothing that’s come out so far really suggests this game will deviate a lot from the formula Ocarina of Time started.

Status: Worried and pessimistic.

The Nintendo 3DS

Yeah, yeah, it’s not actually a game, but it will certainly be one of the biggest gaming-related releases of 2011. Reactions from game journalists and the industry have been extremely positive. Heck, I’ve got mine preordered already. I’m not going to be a schmuck like I was with the Wii’s release! But let’s be honest here. I really don’t think 3D visuals are going to sell this thing.

With its greatly boosted power, prominently placed analog stick, and aforementioned trendy 3D capabilities, I almost feel the 3DS isn’t meant to please customers so much as it is to please a third party industry who largely overlooked the Wii. In fact, a lot of the initial offerings for the 3DS, like Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil, and Metal Gear Solid seem more geared toward core gamers, rather than the expanded audience that really helped the DS sell. Games like Nintendogs, Brain Training, and New Super Mario Bros. are what skyrocketed the DS. Good games, more than anything else, are what makes hardware sell.

Sure, the 3DS will have its Nintendogs and Brain Training games. But those have been done now, and an expanded audience gamer isn’t likely to pick up a 3DS for more of the same. Nor will they pick it up for core games. Nor will they pick it up for 3D. They may pick it up for the library of Virtual Console games, but the shoved down directional pad will be a detractor to some.

As a gamer stuck between the core and the expanded audience, I’m not really sure how I feel about it all. I do want the system, and I know it’s going to have games I’ll like. But I also can’t help but feel Nintendo is starting to move away from the values that helped them return to greatness.

I’m also worried it won’t release in that awesome shade of orange.

Status: Undetermined.

Tags: 2011, 3DS, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, feature, kirby, Mega Man Universe, Nintendo 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

This entry was posted on Monday, January 3rd, 2011 at 5:00 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.