The Games That Got Away: Faylor's Take

To describe my backlog of half-completed and/or unplayed games as "mammoth" and "shameful" would be accurate, but it really wouldn't convey the fact that said backlog spans hundreds of games, stretching all the way back to the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.

Fortunately, the slower holiday pace provides a brief respite from the constant flood of new releases, allowing me to go back and revisit some of the games that I, for whatever reason, put away too soon. Here's a glimpse of what I'll be playing.

Torchlight

Had Runic's amazing action-RPG arrived at any other time of the year, I would have lost both myself and countless hours in its wake.

But for all my love, ours was a short-lived affair, as late October and early November saw a ridiculous amount of other games debut.

Still, that's no excuse to overlook my vow to rid the Orden Mines of evil, especially with so much loot to collect and so many mods to try. And thanks to the Steam version's newfound Cloud support and server-side character save storage, my Vanquisher "Kitchen Aid" and her overgrown kitty "Mow Mow" are more accessible than ever.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure

Combining Mega Man, Tetris Attack / Puzzle League and proper manners, Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure proved to be one of the most distinctive games I played in 2009.

Once a foe is vanquished on the top screen, which packs Mega Man Zero-esque side-scrolling gun and swordplay, their spirit moves to the bottom screen, where three or more blocks of the same color must to be placed next to each other.

Undoubtedly, some were thrown off by the need to juggle the two gameplay styles, but I found it refreshing, as it kept me from getting bored with any one particular aspect. Toss in a giant robot power-up, upgrades, and some unlockable abilities, like wall-jumping, and you've got one of the best games to come from Madden maker EA Tiburon in some time. Now, if I could only beat the damned boss that's holding me back...

Shadow Complex

A modern-day Super Metroid, I was in love with Chair's (mostly) side-scrolling Xbox Live Arcade exclusive within the first few minutes.

The big map! The hidden secrets! Bosses! The constant flood of new items and abilities, mixed with the urge to go back and see what sort of secrets and other upgrades I hadn't been able to discover before.

Unfortunately, those few minutes would be all that I got. The day after receiving my review copy, I was off to QuakeCon, which was followed by BlizzCon, which was followed by PAX. And even though I wasn't in attendance at the latter two, the resulting news and media kept us busy for a long while, by which point another shiny thing had caught my eye. But I'll get back to you soon enough, Shadow Complex. Just you wait.