Evil Uno wrestles for AEW as a member of the Dark Order. You can follow him on Twitter.
Hello, this is Evil Uno of the Dark Order. I’m a pro wrestler for All Elite Wrestling and now a Twitch streamer. It’s an honor to meet you.
2020, right? What a year. As shitty as 2020 has been, it's been a great year for video games. Last year I would have predicted some of my honorable mentions as being in my top three games of the year. The fact that they're not is a testament to the incredible line-up of games that released in this otherwise awful year. Remember that this list is subjective and there is no particular order to it; I’ve also included games that were released prior to this year. Please refrain from being angry if you’re game didn’t make my list, it probably sucked anyway.
Honorable Mentions: Among Us, The Last of Us Part II, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Doom Eternal, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Disc Room
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
I have never really been interested in city-life sim games. I never enjoyed improving a little tiny homestead, I never enjoyed interactions with villagers just for the sake of enriching a relationship, I never enjoyed farming or mining--that was until I fell in love with Stardew Valley. Since then, I’ve been anxiously awaiting a game that would give me a similar experience.
New Horizons was my very first Animal Crossing game and I was excited at the prospect of it. Then when March 2020 came around, I couldn’t work, I couldn’t see my friends and family, I was uncertain about my future and wondered if my life’s work was about to slip through my fingers, I was terrified of leaving my own house. I honestly don’t know what my life would’ve been like in 2020 had I not played this game. For about four months I played New Horizons religiously, it became my whole world. Can’t see my friends in real life? That’s fine, I’ll go visit their island. Not sure what to do with my free time? I’ll just chop wood, collect bugs, and fix up my own little island. This became my escape from reality, it became my therapy. I loved every minute I played of Animal Crossing. I loved seeing other people’s creations. I loved downloading custom clothing and hilarious paintings to hang in my house. I loved decorating every room. Most of all, I loved the daily routine that I had built within the game. It was a beautiful world to just disappear into for hours.
Eventually, I went back to work and my real life took precedence over my Animal Crossing life, and I have not logged back in since. I truthfully do believe that Animal Crossing: New Horizons saved a lot of lives this year, and while it isn’t my number one game of the year, it may very well have been the most important and impactful game of 2020.
Streets of Rage 4
While I don’t have much nostalgia for the Streets of Rage series itself, I do have a special place in my heart for beat-‘em-up games. So much of my childhood was spent playing TMNT Arcade on my NES or spending a ridiculous amount of pocket change on the X-Men & the Simpsons arcade games at my local Midway. Really good beat-‘em-up games are rare finds nowadays, but Streets of Rage 4 was just what I needed to fill that void in 2020.
The art style is gorgeous and really fits the Streets of Rage atmosphere. The soundtrack is filled with a lot of catchy tracks (“Funky HQ” and “The Streets” frequently pop into my head). The story mode is short enough that I can play it a few different times with each character without it feeling repetitive or stale. There are also a remarkable amount of unlockables and secret boss fights that’ll give you a reason to keep playing.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2
I really don’t have much to say about Tony Hawk that isn’t obvious; it’s a very polished remake of two games that I cherished as a teenager. Mechanically, it feels just like it did when I was just a little 13-year-old masked luchador; or at least, what I remember it feeling like.
The soundtrack features new songs that I wasn’t particularly thrilled about, and did not include every tune from the original games, but they did keep “No Cigar” and “Superman” on there, so that’s good enough for me. I would throw money at my screen if this game was updated seasonally with new maps, challenges, characters (Darby Allin?) and tunes (give me some damn Distillers). Heck, let’s remaster Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 while we’re at it!