Video Game Awards 2016: Best Gameplay

There is no greater attribute to a great game than gameplay itself. After all, even the most profound video game narrative would be pointless if the game itself were a stinker. Similarly, a game entirely void of narrative can be made into a masterpiece through gameplay alone. Gameplay is the heart and soul of game design. The glue that holds a great game together. I admit, 2015’s Best Gameplay was a tough call, but in the end, there had to be one.

Winner: Super Mario Maker

This award was really a coin toss between Super Mario Maker and Undertale. But while Undertale may be one of the most fun RPGs I’ve played, I have to give the edge to Super Mario Maker due to the fact that it made level editing itself fun.

Let’s be honest, as awesome as the idea of making your own video game is, most games that allow you to create your own piece of the experience tend to be pretty demanding and tedious, to the point that it can take away from the fun of making your own levels.

That’s not the case with Super Mario Maker, which implements simple drawing and drag-and-drop mechanics to make the process of creating levels as fun as playing them.

Not to mention that Mario Maker features gameplay from some of the best platformers of all time. So there’s that.

Still, I have to give Undertale a special mention for giving a sense of interactivity to turn-based battles that’s usually reserved for the Mario RPGs, and for making every encounter a unique experience.

Runner-up: Undertale

Author: themancalledscott

Born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining, the man called Scott is an ancient sorcerer from a long-forgotten realm. He’s more machine now than man, twisted and evil. Or, you know, he could just be some guy who loves video games, animations and cinema who just wanted to write about such things. View all posts by themancalledscott