Best Switch Game Soundtrack 2020

Winner: Hades

Runners-up: Dicey Dungeons; Ori and the Will of the Wisps; Kentucky Route Zero; Streets of Rage 4; Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (the new FFVII tracks)

It's been a fine year for video game fans with exceptional aural sensitivity. We were particularly taken with Darren Korb's work on the Hades soundtrack — another triumph following his work on Supergiant's previous titles. The game's audio and dialogue — including voice work from the developer's resident dulcet genius Logan Cunningham and Korb himself as the voice of Zagreus — is absolutely superb across the board.

Elsewhere, Chipzel can seemingly do no wrong and once again hit it out of the park with Dicey Dungeons. Ben Babbitt's evocative Kentucky Route Zero soundtrack finally arrived on Switch with the TV Edition, and Olivier Deriviere took on an unenviable task and succeeded in crafting Streets of Rage 4's sterling soundtrack (with support from a bevy of veteran VG composers, including — of course — Yuzo Koshiro).

And the addition of Sephiroth meant that Smash finally got some more Final Fantasy music. Truly epic they were, too, and they tipped the number of tracks in the game over the one-thousand mark. Blimey.

Best Retro Remaster Or Re-Release 2020

Winner: SEGA AGES Herzog Zwei

Sega Ages Herzog Zwei
Image: SEGA

Runners-up: Arcade Archives Sunset Riders; Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection; No More Heroes; No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

There were plenty of old games given a new lease of life on Switch in 2020, and you can't go wrong with any of the above, really.

We've put classic RTS Herzog Zwei as the winner because it's a favourite of Nintendo Life's editor-in-chief, Mr. Damien McFerran, and we're hoping to curry favour so he'll send us one of the spare copies of Soldier Blade he uses to prop up his wobbly desk. [Not bloody likely! — Ed]

If that's a bit too retro for your tastes, though, Suda51's pair of re-released No More Heroes set us up very nicely for the incoming No More Heroes III in 2021.

Best Worst Best Worst Game

Winner: Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise

Deadly Premonition 2 A Blessing In Disguise
Image: Rising Star Games

Runners-up: Nothing remotely close

As you play Deadly Premonition 2, you know that it's a woeful underperformer on a technical level. You observe the slowdown and pop-in and crude PS2-era animations and acknowledge them as objectively terrible...

And yet you keep playing. And you keep playing. You complete the game. You go back to the game when a patch upgrades the frame rate from 'laughably atrocious' to 'plain awful', and you carry on playing. Incredibly, your takeaway impressions aren't sullied by its myriad shortcomings; legitimate technical criticisms are like water off Deadly Premonitions' duck's back.

And like a duck, it's ungainly, unsophisticated and hugely unimpressive compared to the magnificent video gaming beasts in the wild... but there's something irresistible about it. We're not sure we agree that the jank in SWERY's off-the-wall horror series is somehow necessary or part of the charm, but the fact remains that we came away from Deadly Premonition 2 filled with a deep and warped affection for it.

Most Played Non-2020 Game

Winner: Rogue Legacy

Rogue Legacy
Image: Cellar Door Games

Runners-up: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

With Hades approaching back in September, it seemed like a good idea to put the roguelike we'd had sitting on our Switch for ages to bed before diving into another one. This writer picked Rogue Legacy up a long time ago after seeing it on sale and reading Mitch's enthusiastic review. What a fantastic video game! Had it released in 2020, it'd easily make our personal top three. Alas, that boat has sailed. If you too let this one pass you by, get to the Switch eShop pronto — it's on sale again at the time of writing.

The arrival of Byleth, Min Min, Steve & Alex and Sephiroth have also kept NL staff members busy with Smash, too. Nothing like DLC to keep an evergreen favourite ever-greener.

Best Game We Keep Blathering On About That You Really Should Play

Winner: Horace

Horace
Image: 505 Games

Runners-up: A couple of dozen indie games — watch this space...

Not much to say that hasn't been said, really. We awarded Horace a 10/10. It's something a bit special and unique, and absolutely worth paying full price for. On sale (as it is at the time of writing) it feels like you're committing some sort of crime getting the game so cheap.

Very soon we'll be looking specifically at 2020's most overlooked games, but do yourself a favour, get ahead of the game and download Horace this instant.


That's all for our awards today — we hope you enjoyed them. Check back soon for more GOTY goodness as we look back on a surprisingly great year (games-wise) and look forward to what's ahead in 2021.