4. Shadow of the Colossus
Even if it’s a bit frowned upon for remakes and remasters to be included on Best Of lists, Bluepoint Games’ ground-up remake of Shadow of the Colossus breathed incredible new life into Team Ico’s PS2 action-adventure masterpiece.
Like the best video game remakes, it provides a much-needed graphical and performance update to a game that struggled immensely with the PS2’s dated tech while retaining the soul of the core experience.
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Shadow of the Colossus here
Felling the sixteen Colossi is just as satisfying-yet-haunting as it was back in 2006, and thanks to re-worked controls and a consistent frame-rate, the frustration factor of the original release is mostly diminished (bar a few nagging camera issues).
This should be the blueprint for how to remake a game, because whether you’re a returning die-hard or completely new to Shadow of the Colossus, this was one of 2018’s sure-fire masterworks.
3. Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PSVR)
Following the rapturous response to Playroom VR‘s charming platformer demo Robot Rescue, SIE Japan Studio developed a full-fat VR expansion of the proof-of-concept, and it’s not only the year’s best PSVR release, it’s simply one of 2018’s greatest games.
With its spectacular visuals, endlessly creative platforming mechanics and thoroughly endearing, pint-sized protagonist, Astro Bot Rescue Mission proved the potential for substantial, deep VR experiences that can be more than, well, experiences.
The comparisons to Super Mario 64 are better-founded than they might seem, because this indeed felt like a watershed moment for VR platformers, throwing down the gauntlet for other developers to match its level of adorable ingenuity.
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