Of course, why post later when you can post now?
I dug through the past year of this thread to come up with a list, but I wasn't quite prepared for what a journey it was going to be. At the start of 2021, I was halfway through Invictus. I started the year with Lake Bodom and Cemetary Bloom. Mike was a few exits behind me, and Snake was wrapping up Take it Easy World and the original Akogare. And now, here at the end, we've all beaten Grand Poo World 2 and moved onto things we never could've imagined in January. Mike's got a podium speedrun time! Snake's about to be the first non-playtester to beat Toadette's Kaizo Tuesday (if he hasn't already)! I beat Mostly Harmless and can occasionally clear shorter hacks in one sitting. It's been said before, but it feels appropriate to bring it up again one last time before the calendar rolls over: we've all come ridiculously far this year, and I'm proud of us.
Okay, onto my favorite hacks of the year. In chronological order (of my playing) since that's how I reread the thread:
Hark 2 - a fantastic game to play after finishing Invictus, but over time it's proven itself to be a fantastic game overall. Underscores really set a new high bar for himself with this one.
Akogare 2 - I don't remember as many individual levels from this hack as I do from other games on this list, but I know I really enjoyed playing through it. Wouldn't mind a runback of the 1.1 update at some point.
El Dorado - what more needs to be said about this one? Just an incredibly solid game from start to finish, even more impressive that it's the creator's first hack. I really, really hope he makes another one. This is probably my overall pick for favorite hack of 2021. To date, the only hack I've ever immediately run back after beating it the first time.
Kibeth Takes a Walk - outside of a small group of speedrunners, this hack didn't get the attention it deserved from the wider kaizo community. It was great, but it came out right before Hark 2, Riff 2, and Akogare 2, so it got overshadowed. I haven't seen bsolt make anything since, but just like mmBeefStew and El Dorado, I would love to see another hack from him.
Purgatory - this one did get the attention it deserved, and rightfully so. Much like El Dorado, it's a super creative and polished effort from a first-time creator. I know FYRE contributed to a HackJam project recently, so hopefully we'll see more from them soon too.
The New Comfort Zone - another game that I feel didn't quite get the attention it deserved. Maybe it's because Orka had already made a splash this year with Titan Mario (and the original Comfort Zone before that), but this one felt really noteworthy to me. It's not easy for a creator to look back at their past work and mercilessly edit it into shape, yet Orka did an amazing job of distilling the best parts of Comfort Zone into this incredibly polished gem. I enjoyed this one almost as much as El Dorado, which is saying something.
Luminescent - I'm so glad I decided to give this a second try, even though the overall style is different from what I tend to like. Outside of two gimmicks in particular that I really didn't care for, this hack is a real treat. Another unbelievable entry from a first-time creator.
Honorable mentions:
Nightmare Cafe - the series that made Lush_50 a household kaizo name! A bunch of fun and weird snack-sized hacks. Worth playing for anyone who wants a breather in between other hacks.
Super World - just a fun, breezy time from start to finish.
Memory Lane - another under-the-radar hack for most people, this was a quick but very solid vanilla hack.
Memento Mori - if not for a few chocolate gimmicks I really didn't like, this would be on the other list. Generally very fun, very readable levels, felt great to clear sections. Worth a play for everyone.
Super Amethyst Rocks - probably the most joyful hack of 2021.
Boogie Wonderland 2.0 - when it was good, it was great, but I ultimately felt it got bogged down by being too long. I was ready to be done before the hack was over. Loved it for more than half of the hack, but lost steam after that.
Man, writing all of that down really put into perspective how incredible 2021 was for kaizo. I'm constantly amazed by how people find new ways to make a 30-year-old SNES game fresh and exciting. And there were so many other hacks that I didn't even play! I have a feeling that I would've loved Riff 2 if I wasn't so immediately turned off by the slow retry. Maybe I'll try Titan Mario at some point, too.
I've been playing other games for the past couple of weeks, but I think I'm gonna try Darkanine's brand new hack Day in the Life after this.
As for 2022, I really have only two things I'd like to see, and they're the same two things everyone wants to see: Quickie World 3, and Grand Poo World 3. Anything else along the way will be a delightful surprise! If 2022 is anything like 2021 was, it's going to be great. (NB this statement applies to kaizo SMW and only kaizo SMW, as if I needed to clarify.)