It’s day two and we’re pushing ahead with our great big list of games we most want to play in 2022.
As promised, it’s a pretty diverse rundown of games, fusing nostalgia arcade romps with promising sequels, featuring developers from around the world.
45. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
As one of the first truly great video game adaptations of a pop culture sensation, Turtles in Time has an unshakable nostalgic quality that remains many years after it took arcades by storm before finding success on the SNES. Shredder’s Revenge is shaping up to be a formidable spiritual successor to the 1991 classic.
DotEmu, who recently brought us Streets of Rage 4, is behind this project, with Tribute Games on development duty. The new TMNT will feature side-scrolling mayhem for up to four players as you take down familiar bosses in this vibrant beat ‘em up homage.
44. Mario & Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
One of the biggest surprises among Nintendo’s early lineup for the Switch was Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, an unlikely crossover that had Jumpman and his friends fighting alongside Ubisoft’s patently annoying mascots in turn-based skirmishes.
It definitely had an XCOM or Fire Emblem 101 flavour but was enjoyable all the same, Sparks of Hope pitting us against a new threat. This will hopefully serve as a more advanced sequel and is already touting bigger, more open environments, and revised battle mechanics.
43. Sonic Frontiers
It feels like an age has passed since the last truly great Sonic the Hedgehog video game. While Sega has had some wins with Sonic Colours, Sonic Generations, and the sublime Sonic Mania, the Blue Blur isn’t treated with as much respect as his platforming rivals. A lack of consistency is no doubt to blame here.
Sonic Frontiers could very well mark the beginning of a new era. Developed by Sonic Team, this is the Sega icon’s first proper open world video game that will have players exploring the gorgeous Starfall Islands. There’s no gameplay footage just yet though this new change in direction and Sonic’s recent surge in popularity has us intrigued to see what’s coming.
42. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Darktide won’t be the only Warhammer game to feature on our most wanted list going into 2022. It seems like every other week we catch a whiff of a new Games Workshop adaptation, but there are only a handful that are genuinely worth keeping an eye on in the new year. Chief among them is Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.
Created by Fatshark, the brains behind the superb Vermintide series, this latest game from the Swedish studio swaps swords and sorcery for co-op shooting with a gritty sci-fi flavour. As a ragtag group of Imperials, you’ll gun down hordes of Chaos horrors as you delve deeper and deeper into the hellish Hive City of Tertium.
41. Triangle Strategy
A strange name, and yet another experimental JRPG from Square Enix. The Japanese publisher continues to populate the genre with remakes and remasters alongside a small clutch of completely new titles such as Dungeon Encounter and Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars.
Leaning on the HD-2D style they created for Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy will launch in early 2022 but is inspiration from the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem. Turn-based with an emphasis on grid movement and strategically positioning units, there’s also said to be a focus on choice-driven narrative and environmental interactions in the heat of battle.
Our most wanted list continues tomorrow. If you’ve missed the previous entry, you can find number 50 to 46 here.
