This week we’ll be announcing the results of all the game of the year categories: both the reader’s choice and the editor’s picks. First up — the Handheld/Mobile game of the year for 2012.
Reader’s Choice
Pokemon Black/White 2: 10%
A bit surprised at this, but congrats to Nintendo nonetheless. People still care about Pokemon and they voted in droves. Pokemon Black/White 2 was a clear winner.
Runners up
Persona 4: Golden: 7%
Rayman Jungle Run: 6%
Editor’s Choice
Rayman Jungle Run
I bought Rayman Jungle Run for decoration. It was wallpaper, a new piece of furniture for my living room. Turned out that piece of furniture had the ability to run up walls, change direction, navigate complex mazes and punch bad guys in the face with tremendous velocity. I did not see that coming.
When I picked up Rayman Jungle Run I just wanted something pretty for my new Nexus 7. Something remotely HD, something I could imagine myself playing. I did not expect to play the most rewarding ‘runner’ I’ve ever had the good luck to play on a mobile platform.
Rayman Jungle Run is the game I call to mind when people start talking the talk about how people expect more from mobile gaming. But unlike other mobile titles with solid production values, Rayman Jungle Run has a control system that makes sense. It also manages to take a pretty flaccid, done-to-death genre and kickstart it with a real energy.
It would have been enough for Rayman Jungle Run to be a dull, soulless endless runner, the fact it’s managed to become my favourite mobile/handheld game of 2012 almost feels miraculous.
Runner-up: Ziggurat
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