Bit.Trip Runner
Reminded me a lot of the good old C64 games where you played the same level over and over again untill you finally managed to beat it. Others might think the lack of checkpoints in the levels is frustrating, I thought it was very entertaining (and very rewarding once you reach the finish line). Had to switch to "easy" difficulty (which is still not easy) for the last three levels though to keep my mental sanity.

Complete list of finished games in 2014

IIRC all the easy difficulty did was remove the gold bars - the levels were the same otherwise. I actually found the gold bars helpful to tell me which way I should go occasionally.

Btw, BTR2 is easier and has mid-level checkpoints (which you can skip for a score boost if you like).

If that's the case my mental sanity was already gone at that point. Because I had to replay 33 levels on easy to get to the last three ones (beating the levels on normal don't unlock them on easy). I'm not completely sure if they really only removed the gold bars. Last levels were still hard, but felt easier to me. But maybe that was just because the gold was gone and didn't distract me any longer.

Just now, Singularity.
I really like this FPS.
It's a simple linear FPS with some time manipulation powers, with a little backstory to explain why you can't just use it on everything. You can upgrade your character and weapons with stuff you find in the world and it uses a checkpoint save system. In such a linear game as this, I don't think that's terrible.
It was too bad that there were no subtitles though, I prefer playing with low volume and subtitles.
And there are two endings, which is always nice. They even let you use the checkpoint just before the end to let you check them both out without having to replay the entire game.
All in all, a fun game with some minor flaws.

I thought Singularity just felt so flaccid. A sloppy attempt to imitate BioShock (with some Half-Life 2 thrown in) without figuring out what it was exactly that made those games special. The story sections were few and far between (and not particularly compelling). You have the ability to manipulate time - and all you do is fix crates and staircases. I did like the way the sniper rife worked, but beyond that, I found it to be pretty bland. Also, I felt the opposite to the multiple endings - Yes, you don't have to replay the game - but what a lazy way to implement multiple endings, and they lacked any kind of nuance.

Dragon Quest V (DS remake) and Wild Arms (PSX game on my PSVita)

I've been playing a lot of portable games, even though I have a huge PC backlog as well, but I can't help it. Sitting around in one of the local coffee shops playing my games there is just so much nicer then being glued to my computer in my cramped, dingy apartment. Anyway:

Dragon Quest V--Some fun twists and good characters. The party dialog option gives everyone a lot of personality, and it's a shame that the game that introduced that system, also introduced recruiting personality-less monsters as a major game-play mechanic.

Wild Arms--It was alright, I guess? One of the worst professional translations I've seen, and not very well-balanced, but the pseudo-Western setting was different.

I prefer it to the original Bioshock actually.
The story of the original Bioshock is better, but gameplay-wise it just doesn't feel as good.
The combat is a bit clunky, the situations are predictable and it just doesn't have the 'flow' a good FPS has.
They could've done more with the manipulation mechanic, that's true.
But I like what they did do with it and the explanation behind it. And they tried adding some interesting weapons with fun secondary fire which are more fun to play around with than the BS1 weapons.
The multiple endings could've been a bit more fleshed out, but some of the more revered titles like Deus Ex also didn't really do much with that.
It's a fun little bonus, no more. It's not like I bought it because of that, it's not even mentioned as a selling point.
I also liked the whole soviet era vibe, that doesn't get used as much.

Privateer 2 - Still a weird game... Good story, strange style (those videos... Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas could learn a lot from Privateer 2). Good flying, strange missions. Great sound effects, very quiet dialogue with horrible accents. If you don't love it, you'll hate it.

Full list

Keep trying. First boss is the hardest. You have to memorize the stuff he drops and perfectly time the UFO jumps in the third wave of obstacles (start jumping shortly after the first UFO reaches the ground).

After that boss things get easier again for quite a while.

I'll have to give it another go some time. I've done 3 stints and I have to do all the levels again just to get my skill built back up.

Did you use keyboard or a gamepad? I'm using a keyboard but I tried a gamepad. It felt like I had more control on the keypad, but more than a few times I'd hit the wrong key.

Used a gamepad. This kind of game is usually a lot easier using one (at least in my oppinion). Can hardly imagine beating it using the keyboard.

I took it. Thank you very much, OvaltineJenkins! :)

I love platformers (though I beat them more because of bloody-minded tenacity than reflexes :D), so it got a cozy home. :)

Finished Jazz: Trump's Journey that I got in a bundle. I was going through Desura games and quickly removing them from my todo list (i.e. try them and decide whether I continue to play them or drop them) and was surprised by this one. It was a good platformer with original gameplay stuff and the difficulty was really good (starts easy and progressively becomes harder).

If you have some time, I'd recommend you to vote for it on Greenlight (here).

Full list here.

Would've loved to play it. But for me it always crashed right at the start (when playing in full screen) or when you get the trumpet (when playing in windowed mode). May I ask you on what machine (OS, graphic card, etc.) you played?