Favorite 2D games from this generation

[blipcs76]

There were a great number of fantastic 2D games released this generation, which was great to see after they were nearly dead in the PS2 era.  I've bought quite a few and here are my favorites.  I'm curious what everyone else thinks:

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
Extremely polished fighting system and beautiful graphics.  Might be neck and neck with Bioshock for my favorite art style this gen.  The biggest problem is the level design and backtracking, but the allure of collecting all 108 swords in the game is a great incentive to keep playing after you've finished it.

A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
A great looking and fun remake of the NES classic.  The levels are designed well and the use of the beans to get around puzzles is often clever and always fun.

New Super Mario Bros (Wii)
Not much to say about this one.  It's classic SMB updated with more stuff to do, new powerups and better graphics.  And multiplayer, which is a blast if you can get three friends to play along.

Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Not entirely 2D, but enough to list it here.  I've always liked this series and it was fun to see it go in a new direction.

Rayman Origins (360)
A really well-designed platformer, with beautiful and colorful graphics and a weird sense of humor.  Easy at first, but halfway through it becomes really hard to collect all of the goodies if you want to rank higher and open up more unlockables.

Deathsmiles (360)
A cute bullet-hell shooter that loves to punish you with screens full of bullets and enemies.  It feels like a game that would be comfortable along the best shooters on the DC like Mars Matrix or Gunbird 2.

As a collector, I generally try to avoid downloading games, but there are just some games that wouldn't survive as a retail release that flourish on services like XBLA.

Shadow Complex (XBLA)
A great-looking and fun game heavily influenced by Metroid and Castlevania.  Exploring the levels and acquiring new abilities is an absolute blast.

Cave Story (WiiWare)
Feels like a classic but forgotten 16-bit game.  Strange characters and fun addictive gameplay make this a must-have for any 2D fan.

[scott]

I second Deathsmiles.

Also:
Raiden iv
Bionic Commando ReArmed 1&2
Otomedius Excellent
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Limbo

[jobocan]

Can I count 3D Dot Game Heroes as 2D? I mean, it features 3D models, but it's played on a strictly 2D plane.

I'll add a couple to that because there were great 2D games this gen so far.

Most fighting games (UMvC3, Skullgirls, SFxT, BlazBlue, Arcana Heart 3)
Otomedius
Raiden 4
Gundemonium Collection
Recettear
Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 (9 being the better of the two)
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game
Spelunker HD
Shank (Shank 2 was okay, but I found it less interesting than the first)
Sonic 4 Episode 1 (I hope episode 2 will be as good)
Sonic Generations sort of counts
'Splosion Man
Bionic Commando ReArmed 1 (2 was super disappointing)
Half-Minute Hero
Shadow Complex
CLADUN: This is an RPG
the "What Did I Do to Deserve This?" series
Donkey Kong Country Returns
both Kirby games on Wii
The Binding of Isaac

I don't play favorites, so these are just a bunch that I thought of off the top of my head that I found to be solid. I didn't even mention anything on DS, which had a lot of great stuff too.

[jcalder8]

Limbo
Super Meat Boy
N+
Trials HD and Evolution

I am sure there are more that will come to me.

[darko]

My favorite by far is Limbo.

[blipcs76]

I was mostly talking about 2D retail releases.  While I've loved quite a few digitally distributed 2D games this gen, it's not the same as actually owning the game on a physical disc or cart.  But there has been a LOT of amazing 2D games distributed on WiiiWare, XBLA, and PSN that never would have gotten a retail release today (who would have ever expected Mega Man 9 and 10?). 

Thankfully, a handful of games did get full retail releases.  I forgot about Donkey Kong Country Returns and also Kirby's Epic Yarn.  The Wii was a great console for 2D games.  I still need to pick up Wario: Shake It and Batman: Bold and the Brave.

[darko]

Does this count as a physical release?



EDIT: Thanks for this post, it reminded me that I've been waiting for the price to drop and it did! $12.99 shipped is an EXCELLENT deal for 3 awesome games