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	[quote name="Mischief Maker"][quote]I thought for this one instead of still images or youtube links, I'd compromise with animated gifs (where applicable)[/quote] 10. <A HREF="http://www.gonnergame.com/">Gonner 2</A> <IMG SRC="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d2e3538259b5396832afe3/1590568237785-NMP2L6QM9Q8Z5PGTMPOR/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kPO5XMMIuL2GYkYkxnCIBbBZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwYzyDQ3nMeW-CUqcjk14ZFC653Hu-_mJd75UjYkaTwiElEhhZ9DzyZ77wsogKQmhU/gif4.gif?format=750w"> The Gonner games are Contra-style run'n'gun platformers with random levels and a scoring system that rewards moving fast and maintaining an unbroken kill streak. The twist is that they're made to look incredibly trippy, with the music and the colors changing to get even trippier the higher your combo multiplier gets. While Gonner 1 had 8-way shooting and a linear level progression, Gonner 2 has Abuse-style mouse/WASD freeaim plus an invincibility dash that doubles as an attack, and branching levels. 9. <A HREF="https://iratus.org/">Iratus: Lord of the Dead</A> <IMG SRC="https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/807120/extras/clip0122.gif?t=1603733256"> If you haven't played Darkest Dungeon you'll probably miss the wink and nod of Iratus' gameplay. This is a reverse Darkest Dungeon where YOU play the horrifying undead horde driving the heroes insane. It's a 4 vs 4 turn-based individual-unit-initiative RPG blobber combat game where formation position decides which of a unit's moves they have access to. Superior to Darkest Dungeon in every way except aesthetics. 8. <A HREF="https://ibol17.wordpress.com/2020/07/09/i-quit/">Approaching Infinity</A> <IMG SRC="https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/38088504/01e61e974d0cdf838e0bdf64f1070a88cd6b8de8.gif"> A real comeback-kid story of an indie programmer who signed a devil's bargain with one of the worst publishers in indie gaming and had his game trapped behind a prohibitively ridiculous price tag and draconian DRM, only years later to get the rights back, re-release on Steam, and see wildly better success at a lower price point. Approaching Infinity is a mouse-driven roguelike version of the old Starflight games, that see you exploring an infinitely long galaxy complete with planet landings. While the game is feature-complete from its original version, the author has reclassified it as Early Access because he's furiously adding new features like planet-scanning and elemental weapons and active skills now that the game's a success. This is how I <I>expected</I> No Man's Sky to play, not like the farming game it ended up being. 7. <A HREF="http://www.croteam.com/serious-sam-4/">Serious Sam 4</A> <IMG SRC="http://www.croteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SS4_Mob.jpg" WIDTH="1024"> Still a little technically shaky (protip: play on DirectX 11 and turn Depth of Field off), starts off on the wrong foot (lots of "comedy" cutscenes with closeup zooms of primitive face models), and ends on a whimper (a clearly unfinished final boss battle). But from level 3 to just before the end it is the best of the Serious Sam series with the best weapon balance, the best enemy variety, and the largest and craziest battles to circle strafe your way through yet. 6. <A HREF="http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld4/cw4.php">Creeper World 4</A> <IMG SRC="https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/848480/extras/CustomAnim.gif?t=1607018306"> An asymmetrical base-building RTS where your enemy is (mainly) a deadly liquid modeled with realistic 3D fluid dynamics. It's not enough that you build weapons, they need an energy grid to transport the ammo to keep them firing, and your power mainly comes from total surface area controlled, so even a little creeper liquid leaking around the edges and into your base could have terrible domino-effect consequences. Note that for all these CW games, the story campaign is meant as an easy tutorial and the real challenge comes from the aftergame content. 5. <A HREF="https://store.scourgebringer.com/">Scourgebringer</A> <IMG SRC="https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1037020/extras/Key_Features.gif?t=1607373155"> Fantastic little sidescrolling ninja dash-brawler roguelite. Shoot slash and scream your way through a randomly generated maze complete with a Devil May Cry-esque combo meter. My one big complaint is pretty much all the unlock cancer is actually core gameplay traits, so you'll have to do a lot of grinding before you get the real game. 4. <A HREF="https://www.themonstertrain.com/">Monster Train</A> <IMG SRC="https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1102190/extras/out__new.gif?t=1607633763"> A much more generous deck-builder in the spirit of Slay the Spire, but with a different kind of combat system. You arrange units on a three tiered train, then have them do turn-based non-RNG combat against waves of angelic invaders each turn while you provide support with spells. A HUGE improvement this game has over Slay the Spire is it tells you the type of powers the final boss will have from the very start so you won't build an awesome deck over a half hour only to run into a boss that hard-counters your strategy. 3. <A HREF="https://www.streets4rage.com/">Streets of Rage 4</A> <IMG SRC="https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/985890/extras/ezgif.com-resize_(4).gif?t=1608741550"> The music and art style go in unexpected directions for the SoR series, but once you dig in you'll find that this is one of the best belt-scroller brawlers ever made. Enemies can't slide outside the playable area, there's a designated "pick up" button to avoid grabbing a pipe when you meant to punch, special moves instead of costing health incur a "debt" of HP that you can earn back through hitting enemies, the combo meter is based on enemy health bar drained instead of number of hits so slow powerhouses aren't at a disadvantage and throwing enemies into pits is actually GREAT for your score! Even a great game like Fight'n Rage I can't go back to after SoR4's innovations. 2. <A HREF="http://starrenegades.com/">Star Renegades</A> <IMG SRC="https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/651670/extras/newcombo.gif?t=1608877237"> If Monster Train is the heir to the deckbuilding half of Slay the Spire, Star Renegades is the RNG-free combat half. You control a team of up to 5 Star Wars-y dudes fighting against Borg-like baddies in excellent non-RNG combat with heavy emphasis on controling the initiative timeline and using moves that shift enemies back and leave them open to critical hits from faster moves. Screenshots don't do this game justice, the animations use every trick for maximum excitement, yet execute fast enough they don't outstay their welcome. 1. <A HREF="https://ghostrunnergame.com/">Ghostrunner</A> <IMG SRC="https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steam/apps/1139900/extras/Ghostrunner_01.gif?t=1608227815"> Cyberpunk 2077 may have been a dud, but Ghostrunner gives me all the cyberpunk flavor I want married to a fast first-person platformer crossed with the instadeath combat of Hotline Miami. Very few games truly deliver on the fantasies of being a cyber-ninja that went through my childhood brain reading Shadowrun sourcebooks. Ghostrunner delivers. And the synthwave soundtrack absolutely SLAPS! Note that you don't actually reach the cyberpunk city until the halfway point of the game. My only complaint is for some dumb reason it blurs out your high scores if you play the GOG version without Galaxy running. PS: Yes I know everyone's going gaga over Hades, but I'm still waiting on the GOG release so I can't very well write a review now, can I?[/quote]