This is, simply put, the single greatest twin-stick shooter in the entire world. It has more flair than Geometry Wars, is easier to pick up and play than the best shooters of yesteryear, and will continually. Kick. Your. Flank.

There's no enemy or level patterns to memorize here. In fact, your memory of anything that isn't on screen is irrelevant. The game continually adapts to your skill level and generates new waves of enemies to fight. The better you are, the harder it gets, and before long you'll be taken aback by some of the most brillant 2D effects and shaders imagineable. The game is a sight to behold when the entire screen is littered with chaos, and it brings even well-equipped machines to their virtual knees.

Man, I don't even know what to say here. Words can't comprehend how awesome this game is. Worth every bit that Boss Baddie and Co. ask for it. But in the name of Celestia play it with an XInput compatible device, like a 360 controller.

Incidentally, blarg.

If you have obligations, such as a family, a job, school, or any number of other commitments, make sure you're fully caught up or at least a few days ahead before digging into Terraria.

This is one of those games that just continually unravels into something larger, no matter how far you go. Simple 2D platforming and action set to gorgeous spritework with an unbelievable amount of crafting. There are literally thousands of things to create, and its overworld just scratches the surface of where you can go and what you can do. Do you like action? Do you like adventure? What about crafting? Building? Exploring? Or maybe just annoying people and stealing their stuff? There's something for everybody here.

Remember the good old platforming days, when A was jump and B was shoot? Unless you stopped with Mega Man 6, that feeling is all but a faded memory. Cave Story will yank you right out of your quad-core, GeForce SLi-fueled FPS online shootout and give you that nostalgic feeling all over again, without digging out that giant hunk of plastic from the depths of your closet and praying to Luna it still works.

Retro graphics are the in-thing right now, so we'll stop that 16-bit discussion there. What sets Cave Story apart from the pack is everything else. The controls are tight and intuitive with a great feeling of physics. The levels are huge, brilliantly designed, and carefully constructed pixel-by-pixel. The story has multiple endings, and how you handle certain events will drastically affect the endgame difficulty. If you play through this just once, you're missing out.

Now that the game is finally available on Steam, you have no excuse not to play this scrolling-shooter masterpiece.