Curious what notable personalities in the scene think was great this year? So is TGEFM! So we reached out to some of our favorite luminaries ranging from musicians, label personnel, and more for their “Best of 2024” lists. Now, listen: TGEFM is not a taskmistress. Contributors can write these out however they want. So if it doesn’t actually look or read like a list… and sometimes it really is just a list with no other observations! Who cares?
New York’s Bad Mary brought their distinctive fun-filled sound to the masses r in 2024. They can be heard regularly on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM, and you can catch their weekly live stream on Facebook, YouTube, Patreon, and Twitch. In 2024 they celebrated the 10th Anniversary of their first album Better Days with the release of re-recorded and remixed versions of the songs, the Better(er) Days EP and also teamed up with Mega Infinity for the split Mega Bad Disaster Party on Ska Punk International. The band’s Mike Staub joined us to share his favorite video games of the year.
Watch their videos here.
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5. Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – 2D Zelda where you play as ZELDA!? Sign me up! This game is imaginative and beautiful, returning Zelda too its roots while uprooting the whole tree for something more creative and exploratory. Everyone will play this game differently as your playstyle is limited to the expanses of your imagination. You can summon Monsters, create beds, and make robots as you delve into dungeons and caves. A mixup of the classic formula and one of the better 2D Zelda games of all time.
4. Stellar Blade – Stylish Action at it’s MOST Stylish. A soulslike combined with a classic character action game pays off dividends. Developer Shift Up crafts one of the most memorable and exciting action games in years. A new standard for the modern “stylish action” game.
3. Astro Bot – What a surprise. Astro’s been around for just a few years, but never did I expect its newest game to be such a surprisingly solid smash. A straight-forward-yet-beautiful platformer – Astro Bot excels, being among the best games in the genre. Incredible controls, great music, amazing visuals create an amazing experience that can be enjoyed by anyone, though if you’re a long-time Playstation fan — it’s a celebration of 3 decades of Playstation!
2. Dragon Quest III HD2D Remake: I love RPGs. I love CLASSIC RPGs. Dragon Quest III is about as classic as they come. A classic story of sword and sorcery adventure, DQ3 shines in this HD2D remake from Square Enix. It’s an adventure spanning 40 hours of classic gameplay and fun. And while the world’s survival is at stake, the game is so comfortable and familiar – a cozy game. Complete with a graphical overhaul and quality-of-life improvements modernizing some of the more archaic aspects of the original game – DQ3HD2D is a must play for any classic fan of the Dragon Quest Series – and one of the best experiences I’ve had this year.
1. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: This game is fantastic. One of the best games I’ve played in a decade. As a pre-teen and teenager the original FF7 (1997) hit me like a wave, introducing me to everything fun and amazing Japanese entertainment had to offer. I had been a Final Fantasy fan before VII but that game was the first time I realized that it was something different. In a way this game introduced me to Manga and Anime, the beauty of video game music, and some of my favorite characters of all time. In this sequel in the “Remake” trilogy of FF7 games – I was hooked similarly to 27 years ago. I felt 11 years old again – wide eyed and ready for adventure. Rebirth is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, visually and encapsulates everything I’ve always appreciated about this series. It’s expansiveness and memorable events will stick with me forever. I never expected this game to get it so right, and It has, even better than expected.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
