Topic: Best eShop games of 2014

With so many fun eShop/indie game releases during 2014, how about a thread listing your favorites for the year? I thought the purpose of the thread should be as a "buying guide" for people looking for fun games on the eShop.

"Rules" of this thread:

• Rank and order your favorite eShop 2014 games.
• Your list must include at least 3 favorite games.
• Your list can include as many games as you want, but it should only include games that you would recommend to others.
• You must have played at least 1 hour of a game (which is the eShop limit for voting on a game) to include it in the list.
• The game should have a release date during 2014.
• The game must be a Wii U game. No Virtual Console games or DLC.
• The game must be an eShop-only game. If a retail release arrives at a later date (such as with Teslagrad or NES Remix 2), it's still considered an eShop game.
• If you want to, include some thoughts of why you like a specific game. If you have written reviews yourself to a game, feel free to provide a link.
• If you want to, include some video link to the gameplay or trailer.
• If you want, you can include an "honorable mention" section with specific games that for some reason didn't make the list.
• Edit your original list, rather than make duplicate posts.
• Include the eShop (US/EU/JP) you're using in the post.

Looking forward to your personal favorites!

Here's my list (EU eShop):

1. Stealth Inc. 2 - Brilliantly designed game/levels, with many fantastic Wii U features. A co-op mode that's really is different from the single player mode. The increasing challenges of the hub world is probably the thing that I liked the most.
2. Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails - A game with basically no story and pure gameplay. A quite unique, fun and challenging game. All levels have their own design, and the difficulty is rather equal between the levels after the introductory levels.
3. Steamworld Dig - A simple game idea, brilliantly executed and the Wii U implementation is perfect.
4. Shovel Knight - Great music, great story and level design (although the levels are quite long). Very few Wii U specific features, though.
5. Teslagrad - Great game with a great mood and art style.
6. Stick it to the Man! - Hillarious story writing.
7. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - A very fun Metroidvanias-style game.
8. The Swapper - Reminds a little about some of the gameplay elements in Stealth Inc. 2, but the art style is more realistic rather than cartoonish.
9. Art of Balance - Fun single player and excellent party multiplayer. One of the achievements (the 100,000 score goal) is extremely difficult...
10. Armillo - Probably the eShop game with the best sound design.
11. Tengami - This is more of an experience than a game. But an incredible experience that should be played at a slow pace. Soundtrack by David Wise.
12. Pushmo World - A polished Nintendo puzzle title with a nice price. Includes an editor that unlocks after a while. User-made levels are shareable.
13. Ittle Dew - I would rate this game MUCH higher if it didn't have bugs that froze the game before the final boss. The humor in this game is just brilliant.
14. Child of Light - Nice story, art style and music. I must admit that I'm not that much of a fan of turn-based RPGs, so I lost interest after a couple of hours. But it's a good game.
15. Spy Chameleon - Fun gameplay, but rather "dull" graphics. The game was released now at Christmas. I'm currently a level 58/75 and things starts to get really challenging.
15. XTYPE+ - Shoot-em-up game with nothing but randomly generated bosses.
16. Swords and Soldiers HD - Reminds a little of CastleStorm (a late 2013 title), but it's more humorous. Very fun local 2-player mode!

Honorable mention:
Squids Odyssey.

Good point. Include the eShop you're using in the post.

Best Wii U eShop 2D-Action Adventure 2014
1. Stealth Inc. 2 - Very clever action puzzle platformer. Can spend hours on that fantastic level editor. Great soundrack and 2p co-op as well.
2. Guacamelee! - Funny beat'em up adventure mexican style - again with a great soundtrack and 2p co-op, nice fighting and lots of detail.
3. Knytt Underground - Amazing soundtrack, weird story, but huge world, great puzzles and controls, nice art, perfect presentation.
4. SteamWorld Dig - Nice randomized underground - good for speedrunning but not very long.
5. Another World - Short and hard, but an old classic with a unique art style.

Best Wii U eShop Adventure Game 2014
1. Stick it to the Man! - All fantastic games, but this one was the funniest!
2. Master Reboot - All fantastic games, and this here has nice graphics, good puzzles, dark atmosphere, and a twisted story.
3. Costume Quest 2 - All fantas... you know, but this one is a poor port unfortunately.
4. Lone Survivor - The Director's Cut - A little too short, but very interesting survival horror sim/adventure.
5. Tengami - All fantastic games, but this one is the shortest unfortunately.

Best Wii U eShop Action Game 2014
1. Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails - Great action. Very good.
2. Cosmophony - Hardcore rhythm action.
3. KickBeat - Special Edition - Neat package.
4. XTYPE+ - Nice bullethell boss shooter for cheap.

Best Wii U eShop 2D-Puzzle Platformer
1. Teslagrad - Exploring a tower with magnet physics, awesome audiovisuals, and narrative.
2. Pullblox World - Nintendo's colorful and contentpacked home version of one of the best 3DS eShop titles.
3. The Swapper - Finding the mystery of an abandoned spaceship, awesome atmosphere, hard puzzles. Great plot!
4. Thomas Was Alone - Steer shaped blocks with a conciousness through 120 interesting stages.

Best Wii U eShop RPG
1. Squids Odyssey - Unique 90-stage underwater RPG. Beautiful graphics, fresh gameplay, many items and characters to collect.
2. UnEpic - 2D RPG with tons of items, weapons, and magic, a fun story and nice 2D platform gameplay.
3. Child of Light - 2D RPG with handdrawn art and people talking in rhymes. Nice atmosphere and music too.

Best Wii U eShop Platformer 2014
1. Shovel Knight - Best Indie 2D Platformer of the year.
2. Armillo - Best Indie 3D Platformer of the year.

Best Wii U eShop Puzzle Game 2014
1. Art of Balance
2. Color Zen
3. FlowerWorks HD: Follie's Adventure

Best Wii U eShop Strategy Game 2014
1. CastleStorm
2. Swords & Soldiers
3. Cubemen 2

As said in the other thread I want to get Pier Solar, Gaiabreaker, How To Survive and Tetrobot&Co. when they're on sale.
And I couldn't get Gravity Badgers and Ittle Dew as they're not available in my region.

Here's my game time for each of the games December 2013 - December 2014:

40:26 CastleStorm
37:02 Squids Odyssey (Still playing.)
30:43 Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones (Still playing.)
30:02 UnEpic
27: 55 Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
25:09 F1 Race Stars - Powered Up Edition
22:59 Knytt Underground
19:48 Armillo
16:31 Shovel Knight
15:04 Wii Sports Club
14:47 Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails
14:12 NES REMIX 2
13:44 Costume Quest 2
13:02 Pullblox World (Still playing.)
12:22 Swords & Soldiers
11:25 RUSH
11:22 Child of Light (Still playing.)
10:20 The Swapper
10:07 Thomas Was Alone
9:43 Teslagrad
9:41 Color Zen (Still playing.)
9:35 Art of Balance
9:16 Master Reboot
8:53 Stick It to The Man!
7:42 SteamWorld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt
6:40 Paper Monsters Recut
5:45 Lone Survivor - The Director's Cut
5:17 KickBeat - Special Edition
5:00 Cubemen 2
4:59 Another World - 20th Anniversary Edition
4:44 Star Wars Pinball
4:38 Ice Cream Surfer
4:21 Darts Up
3:58 Monkey Pirates
3:54 XTYPE+
3:38 Abyss
3:16 Rock Zombie (Still playing.)
2:52 FlowerWorks HD: Follie's Adventure HD (Still playing.)
2:48 Tengami
2:31 Turtle Tale
2:26 Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party!!
1:35 Pikmin Short Movies HD
1:32 99Moves
1:29 Cosmophony (Still playing.)
1:27 Color Zen Kids
0:48 Dr. Luigi (Still playing.)
0:42 99Seconds

Oh here's something I can actually contribute to!

1. Shovel Knight - Obvious. Not quite one of the best games I've ever played, but probably one of the most flawless. Just a great, great retro title, probably at least on par with the NES retro Megaman games from a few years ago.
2. Lone Survivor - Technically two years old but, eShop 2014, whatever. One of the only legit horror games I've actually enjoyed. Was actually able to take the awkwardness of horror games without making the gameplay awful. Fantastic atmosphere and some cool ideas too, even if based on the ending I got, the story didn't lead to anywhere that compelling.
3. Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails - Even though I didn't play a lot of new games this year, I feel confident in saying that this is probably the most underappreciate game of the year. I have never played a game in my life that is the same as this, that alone practically deserves praise. The only comparison I can make is the game is like if Treasure thought of another strange idea for one of their levels in their games....except they then made an entire game out of it. It's strange and takes a bit to get used to but is really, really fun once you get used to it.

Here's my top 2014 EU eshop games in order,

Shovel Knight
SteamWorld Dig
Nes Remix 2
Scram Kitty & His Buddy On Wheels
Armillo
Guacamelee
Stick It To The Man
Master Reboot
Knytt Underground

bear in mind, I haven't played Shovel Knight yet!!

1. Stealth Inc. 2: I bought it on release day (something I rarely do) to show a bit of support for an european developer. I had no idea what I was getting into, but the idea of a stealth based game that worked way faster than the stealth games I am used to was interesting. Turns out the game is not really based on stealth, but more on gadgets. It's a very good game - it's fast, balanced and at times surprising, which make it addictive. It's celebral without ever being boring or frustrating. It's rather long aswell, which is great because it's not exactly a cheap game, and it's packed with content (the level editor alone is worth the price of admission, not to mention the co-op mode!). It also does a much better job at being Metroid-y than most Metroid clones, including modern Castlevanias, because backtracking is not a heavy cross to bear but it's something that happens very naturally.

2. Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails: the older I get, the harder it is to find games that make me think "Ehi, I haven't played anything like that before". Scram Kitty is really really new, from the structure to the controls (hell, even the nervous cat is something I had never seen before!!). But it's not just new, it's also very solid, fun to play and tough as nails, something hard to come by in experimental products. If Stealth Inc. 2 wasn't that good, Scram Kitty would have been my eshop game of the year, without a doubt.

3. Guacamelee STCE: the fighting mechanics make this game worthy of being purchased alone. It is just fun to brawl and when you're done, you can't wait to get into the next brawl. I also enjoyed the "switching world" mechanic and the resulting platforming sections were good. Plus the whole art style - everything in this game is just polished and shiny.

4. NES Remix 2: I must say, NES Remix 2 is better than the first because the games are better, but they got really lazy and uninventive with the remix stages, which is disappointing, because with the material at their disposal they should have done a much better job. Still, I have played it way more than NR1 simply because the pure challenges are more fun and the games control much better and are more sophisticated.

5. SteamWorld Dig: Steamworld Dig is good, but just when you think it's too good to be true...it ends. Every mechanic works to perfection here - the physics are perfect, the ambience is great, the sound design is spot on, but it ends right when you're starting to enjoy it the most.

6. Master Reboot: this is a very decent adventure game. The good thing is that it tries to convey certain feelings through atmosphere and ambience and it succeeds. Some sections are genuinely likeable. The bad news is that the "levels" have puzzles in them, and they are not of the highest quality. Actually, most of them require you to search for items scattered around or roll cubes until they match. I liked the "spiritual" vibe and the bittersweet plot, but I felt miserable when I was asked to roll the cubes or put geometrical shapes into geometrical holes.

there's more I have bought this year, but either I haven't played them enough (Shovel Knight, Child of Light etc) or I didn't like them enough to put in a EOTY list (Dr.Luigi, XType Plus etc). I am also confident I will hate Pullblox World as much as I hated the 3DS games (pretty deeply, if you ask me).

No time for explanation, will add later. May shuffle a few as well.

1. Stealth Inc. 2
2. Teslagrad
3. Shovel Knight
4. X-Type Plus
5. Lone Survivor
6. Guacamelee
7. The Fall
8. Unepic
9. Scram Kitty
10. Sportsball

1. Stealth inc 2 (32 hours)
2 Cave story (25 hours)
3 Scram kitty (25 hours)
4 Shovel knight (20 hours)
5 Retro city rampage DX (12 hours)
6 Thomas was alone (5 hours)

1. Shovel Knight (Maybe it doesn't count because although I have bought it I have only played 30 mins on the Wii U version but all the Steam version).
2. Scram Kitty
3. NES Remix 2 (I prefer the first because I never played more of the games previously and I think the Remixes are better and the Rainbow Star times are a more worthy goal).