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[Vex_]

Aces Wild is a real hidden gem of a brawler that kind of takes what Bayonetta did with free movement and a great dodge-into-attack mechanic and puts it back in a side view 2D space. High skill ceiling, very difficult if you want it to be, and has a couple extra characters for variety.

wow wtf? Where did this come from??!

 

[blurr]

Aces Wild is a real hidden gem of a brawler that kind of takes what Bayonetta did with free movement and a great dodge-into-attack mechanic and puts it back in a side view 2D space. High skill ceiling, very difficult if you want it to be, and has a couple extra characters for variety.

Haha, came to this thread to post this, 3 pages too late

Really awesome game, lots of button mashing involved.

 

[Who]

Mark of the Ninja is a 2D action/stealth game with a ton of variety in playstyles.

Came here to say this. So much fucking fun.

 

[petran79]

Bunny Must Die! - Chelsea and the 7 Devils

 

[Corpekata]

Bleed is great and was mentioned a couple times. I am terrible at finding gifs for it but it's like Twin stick action platforming shooting with bullet time. Some killer bosses, variety of weapons too. Developers are making a sequel too.

Nuclear Throne if isometric 2d counts.

 

[ArjanN]

Wings of Vi

Amazing and incredibly challenging.

 

[popyea]

Aces Wild is a real hidden gem of a brawler that kind of takes what Bayonetta did with free movement and a great dodge-into-attack mechanic and puts it back in a side view 2D space. High skill ceiling, very difficult if you want it to be, and has a couple extra characters for variety.

This gif doesn't even really demonstrate why the game is so good. It's a brilliant distillation of character action goodness using simple and unique ideas.

 

[ElTopo]

Odallus: The Dark Call. On par with the NES Castlevanias (well, 1 and 3. You know what I mean).

They Bleed Pixels is another good one. Plus Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge.

 

[Lord British]

Another vote for Bleed. One of the most overlooked games ever.

Conversely, I hated They Bleed Pixels. But I still finished it, so... can't have hated it THAT much.

 

[ElTopo]

Bleed was good but very short. I beat the entire game at the hardest difficulty in about 4 hours. Not bad for $5 but it's not very replayable. Still undeniably a good game of course.

 

[kagamin]

Dunno if they've been mentioned, but I really liked Momodora III (you don't even need to play the first two ^_^) and Fairy Bloom Freesia.

 

[Elixist]

did nobody say spelunky yet? the blasphemy.

 

[patapuf]

Love the suggestions in this thread. The first time in quite a while where i've discoverd some really interesting looking stuff i never knew existed.

 

[FloatOn]

Risk of Rain is hard as fuck but pretty fun. Especially in multiplayer.

I haven't played it yet but maybe also look into Teleglitch

 

[d00d3n]

This!

 

[hersheyfan]

Damn, all of these games look fantastic! I already have Fortune Summoners from the Carpe Fulgur collection but have ignored it as I assumed it was a JRPG... Will play it when I get home, as soon as I buy the hell out of all of your picks.

As for my contribution, +1 to Mark of the Ninja. Absolutely amazing game, it's a stealth game with plenty of twitch 2D elements. Not frustrating at all!

 

[mnz]

- Bloodrayne Betrayal

Aw man, that looks really cool, but the reviews are not great.

 

[ArjanN]

Bleed was good but very short. I beat the entire game at the hardest difficulty in about 4 hours. Not bad for $5 but it's not very replayable. Still undeniably a good game of course.

Arcade mode in Bleed requires you to beat the game with one life, and easy arcade mode is harder than very hard story mode.

Aw man, that looks really cool, but the reviews are not great.

IMO Bloodrayne Betrayal was pretty underrated.

 

[More_Badass]

wow wtf? Where did this come from??!

Been out since 2013

 

[Lord British]

Wings of Vi



Amazing and incredibly challenging.

Tell me more.

 

[TheOnlyMook]

Came here to cast my vote for Super House of Dead Ninjas, Spelunky, Mark of the Ninja, and Guacamelee. Some of the other games people have been mentioning look really great as well, and I'll have to check those out.

 

[jeemer]

just backing up the recommendations for mark of the ninja, hotline miami, guacamelee and ori.

 

[Tizoc]

Tell me more.

I watched a streamer play it and it is one tough game. Don't let the steam page image turn you off.
If you want a difficult action game this is one to check out.

 

[ArjanN]

Tell me more.

"Wings of Vi is a 2D platform game created by Grynsoft, a danish indie developer team led by Jesper "Solgryn" Erlandsen. The game, a spiritual successor to I Wanna Be The Boshy,"

You have to be willing to put up with Super Meat Boy type death counts, but (IMO) the game actually is fair and once you beat a really challenging section or boss it's immensely satisfying.

Couple of pulls from Steam's community artwork page:

There's a demo on Steam I think.

 

[More_Badass]

Catacomb Kids

Super Time Force Ultra

 

[Renoir]

Valdis Story https://youtu.be/MK0wkXNcuK4

 

[Dachande]

Wow, some of these look great. Aces Wild especially, I had a coworker walk past my desk while I was watching the video on the Steam page and stop to watch it with me because it looked so impressive.

Some people are recommending some weird non-action games in this thread as well though. Like, Spelunky? Terraria? Shantae? I wouldn't class those as action games, they're platformers if anything.

 

[AntiFacebook]

Doom 2

 

[Lord British]

Beware: Aces Wild will break you over its knee if you don't knuckle down and learn the systems. It is as hard as absolute balls. Very, very good though.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

No mentions of Intrusion 2?

Yes! Intrusion 2 is definitely worth mentioning!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJZAzNKZBew

yes. intrusion 2 is totally and completely bad ass


love those sidescrolling mech games too. armored hunter gunhound ex and gigantic army.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI9nZoVpprU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgztPYKHQto

nyu media has some really fun straight shoot em ups too, nice discount on these right now http://store.steampowered.com/search/?publisher=Nyu Media

 

[epmode]

Thread needs more Duck Game. One of the great local (AND REMOTE!!!!) multiplayer games. There's an in-game level builder too!

 

[Jintor]

didn't realise aces wild was so highly revered. good! i like it a lot.

Not a huge fan of valdis story - something about the combat feels off to me, not to mention the overwhelming RPG interface

 

[Manoko]

Freedom Planet is a great Genesis-style game. Easily one of the best indie games out there.

Also stuff like Shovel Knight, Guacamelee (pick up the original, not the "definitive" edition though).

Why is that ?

 

[WarRock]

Echoing Valdis Story, They Bleed Pixels, Mark of the Ninja and Aces Wild recommendations, and gonna add Momotora III.

I need to check Wings of Vi and see how Joylancer is doing nowadays.

 

[mnz]

A few games that have been mentioned, like Hotline Miami and Broforce, are on sale this weekend: http://store.steampowered.com/sale/devolverweekend2015

 

[threelights]

Why is that ?

The definitive edition adds a new area and a new boss (which are great additions), but then it also adds a bunch of stuff that are unnecessary and makes the game a lot less fun. Stuff like teleporting enemies that can break your combo at will, a bunch of attacks that are completely unblockable/undodgeable, etc. Stuff like that basically made the game cheaper (and is not just relegated to the new area/boss, they put those throughout the entire game).

The combat in the original is a lot more fun and actually being able to combo the enemies is very satisfying in that game (which makes it even more baffling that they put in enemies that can teleport out of it at will).

 

[Manoko]

The definitive edition adds a new area and a new boss (which are great additions), but then it also adds a bunch of stuff that are unnecessary and makes the game a lot less fun. Stuff like teleporting enemies that can break your combo at will, a bunch of attacks that are completely unblockable/undodgeable, etc. Stuff like that basically made the game cheaper (and is not just relegated to the new area/boss, they put those throughout the entire game).

The combat in the original is a lot more fun and actually being able to combo the enemies is very satisfying in that game (which makes it even more baffling that they put in enemies that can teleport out of it at will).

I understand, thanks for the informative answer.

 

[stuminus3]

+1 Super House of Dead Ninjas.

 

[Soltype]

What's up the movement in all these new 2D games, everything is too loose.Do they all run on the same engine.

 

[Shmuppers]

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds

Aces Wild is another great pick.

 

[JimmyJones]

I own and highly recommend all of these.

Axiom Verge
Spelunky
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
La-Mulana
Guacamelee
Super Meat Boy
Castle Crashers
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
LIMBO
Shovel Knight
Cave Story
1001 Spikes

 

[texhnolyze]

Trine series!
And play it in co-op or multiplayer!

 

[DaBargainHunta]

Three pages and no mentions of two of my favorites?

Sacred Citadel



Insanity's Blade

 

[evilchicken]

Wings of Vi



Amazing and incredibly challenging.

Seconded. It's some of the most fun boss battles I've played in a 2D action game. It's extremely satisfying to finally beat them.

La-Mulana is just a little too over the top in the obscurity department but I really like it.

Volgarr the Viking is a favorite. Once you start being able to rip through levels, you feel like a badass.

Ori is easier than the games above, but it's really solid in every category.

 

[More_Badass]

Aces Wild is a real hidden gem of a brawler that kind of takes what Bayonetta did with free movement and a great dodge-into-attack mechanic and puts it back in a side view 2D space. High skill ceiling, very difficult if you want it to be, and has a couple extra characters for variety.

Off topic but We Shall Wake is looking like a sci-fi 3D version of this

 

[EricB]

What's up the movement in all these new 2D games, everything is too loose.Do they all run on the same engine.

I understand what you're saying and agree to a certain extent. The attacking can also be really unsatisfying (think Terraria) in its speed and airiness. It feels like attacking with a pencil or something - there is no weight. As if the creators were working based off of a picture of a 2D game from the past without really understanding what made it enjoyable in the first place.

However, they are most certainly not all like that and there are plenty of games in this thread alone that control tightly and satisfyingly.

 

[QisTopTier]

Valdis Story https://youtu.be/MK0wkXNcuK4

This x1000 Sooo good.

 

[nextgeneration]

Two of my favorites of all time:

Outland - This will go down as one of my favorite games of all time. It's a 2d platformer meets Ikaruga, with some of the most epic and fun boss encounters in any game.

Electronic Super Joy - Crazy fun, hard platformer with absolutely awesome rocking soundtrack. I prefer this over Super Meat Boy.

 

[carbonbased]

I have been all about Teleglitch lately. Super atmospheric, with some very tight and rewarding gameplay.

 

[derExperte]

Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe

Looks cute but gets hard fast. Rarely unfair though and it's a really unique genre-mix.

Nimbus

Another very unique game where you have to fly to the exit by building up momentum (plus puzzles). One of my favorite games released that year.

[Not action] Tetrobot and Co.

Use blocks with different properties to solve puzzles. Fantastic. Same goes for Blocks That Matter from the same dev.