For years, summer drought has always plagued gamers, as very few games, let alone amazing games, released through June and August.
For the last two years though, AAA and indie titles have provided a refreshing flow of releases in the summer, even producing a handful of Game of the Year contenders.
So the question is: Which summer was better for games? Summer 2019 or summer 2018?
Below we’ll compare and contrast each game released in June, July, and August to see which summer was truly superior.
June Releases
June is usually seen as the slowest month of the Summer but 2018 and 2019 started off hot.
For 2018, the Nintendo Switch was the backbone of the month, porting titles like Limbo, Inside, and Wolfenstein II, as well as offering a lot of exclusives.
Of all the titles released on the Switch in June though, Mario Tennis Aces was the most notable original release, serving up aces with a creative sports experience.
With that said, it is hard to compete with this year’s stellar start to the summer for games.
June 2019 was responsible for a multitude of different genres, bringing their own distinct gameplay to the table.
Alongside an imaginative Crypt of the NecroDancer spin-off in Cadence of Hyrule, the month released three possible game of the year contenders already for this year: Judgment, Super Mario Maker 2, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
Considering the names listed above, it is pretty clear that 2019 wins this first round, winning with quality new IPs over solid ports.
Winner: Summer 2019
2018
- Fighting EX Layer: Metacritic – 73
- Inside (Switch): Metacritic – 91
- Limbo (Switch): Metacritic – 83
- Mario Tennis Aces: Metacritic – 75, Twinfinite – 4/5
- Mario + Rabbids Donkey Kong Adventure: Metacritic – 82
- Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion: Metacritic – 82, Twinfinite – 4/5
- Shape of the World: Metacritic – 72, Twinfinite – 4/5
- The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit: Metacritic – 75, Twinfinite – 4/5
- Unravel Two: – Metacritic – 77, Twinfinite – 4/5
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Switch): Metacritic – 79
2019
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: Metacritic – 83, Twinfinite – 5/5
- Cadence of Hyrule: Metacritic – 86, Twinfinite – 4/5
- F1 2019: Metacritic – 89, Twinfinite – 4/5
- Judgment: Metacritic – 80, Twinfinite – 4.5/5
- My Friend Pedro: Metacritic – 80, Twinfinite – 4/5
- Sega Ages Virtua Racing: Metacritic – 82
- Sega Ages Wonder Boy Monster Land: Metacritic – 74
- Super Mario Maker 2: Metacritic – 88, Twinfinite – 4.5/5
- The Sinking City: Metacritic – 64, Twinfinite – 4/5