GameSided Top 10 Games Of 2013 | Daniel’s Picks

10. Winnie The Pooh Home Run Derby

One of the first games I played in 2013 (all the way back on January 2), Winnie The Pooh Home Run Derby has it all. In its essence it is an arcade baseball HR Derby game made for kids, but in reality there is so much more. WTPHRD, first discovered on a Disney Japan webpage, has varying pitching mechanics to hit off of, memorable Winnie the Pooh characters, RPG elements (skill progression) and relies on improving hand eye co-ordination.

It is no walk in the park. Starting out slow with Eeyore, things get increasingly hard with Rabbit (pitches start out slow, then speed up half way), Owl (pitches zig-zag mid-air) and Tigger (pitch vanishes mid-path). They all pale in comparison to the punishing dark lord that is Christopher Robin.

Don’t let his looks fool you. His pitching arsenal is all the other characters’ pitches combined, at random, at a MUCH higher velocity. Oh, and you have to hit 40 home runs out of 50 pitches thrown. Very few have passed this challenge, making the game a repeat play for days and weeks ahead.

Play it for yourself for free and tell me you beat it; I will be impressed if you can. As a fan of difficult video games with hours of replayability, Winnie The Pooh Home Run Derby combines the absurdity of an impossible challenge given to children and the fun of an arcade HR derby sim to create a memorable experience for many. Plus, the community fan art is fantastic.