Because May was such a good month for browser games, the monthly Best Of list couldn't be limited to just three releases. The following four games weren't quite as impressive as the Top 3, but they deserve an honorable mention.
Developer Exploding Rabbit gave the world its labor of nostalgic love Super Mario Crossover in May. The game is a faithful remake of what may be the most important video game in history, Nintendo's revolutionary 8-bit platformer Super Mario Brothers. The twist is that everyone's favorite Italian plumber has brought a few friends along for the ride. Several other heroes who made their debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System bring their special talents to the Mushroom Kingdom, including Link from the Zelda series and Samus from Metroid. The new controls can be a bit frustrating, but the game's charm and attention to detail make it more than just an exercise in copy pasting.
Square Enix's site Game Brain probably isn't familiar to most gamers outside of Japan. Those who have visited it will have to navigate a fairly English-unfriendly space. Thankfully, games like Time Paradox don't really require much explanation despite the inherent complexity of the title. Time Paradox puts players in control of an intrepid time-traveler who has to navigate mazes on a tight schedule. The key to making it to the goal in just a matter of seconds is to use the time machines distributed throughout the level. As long as the past versions of your character don't make eye contact with later, time-leaping iterations you'll make it out. Cross paths with your other selves and you'll rip a tear in space-time that forces you to restart the level. Clever but a bit hampered by lag and annoying sound effects, Time Paradox is a great idea with a shaky execution.
Toge Productions had a recent hit with its zombie-themed Infectionator and its two sequels. Following that same concept of controlling the forces of the evil undead, the considerably deeper and more strategic Necronator is a strategy/RPG that pits the player's necromancer against the forces of good on a quest for ultimate power. Using a variety of different units with special abilities, the player has to destroy each village before the villagers can destroy the portal to the underworld where the monsters are spawned. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure out how to best the mortal enemy, though by the endgame it's just about spamming certain super-powered units and getting lucky with the random distribution of human heroes.
Developer Louissi has been contributing to Armor Games for a while now, though none of his creations have been breakout hits. Planet Noevo comes awfully close, though. The game puts players in control of a futuristic marine who gets marooned on a desert planet inhabited by giant, hostile insects. He has to spend each day foraging for raw materials and each night fighting off hordes of hungry beasties. The foraging mechanic is simple and streamlined for time-management, and the item creation system isn't at all cumbersome. Planet Noevo is a bit too short and not all that challenging, but like a lot of good Flash games it shows a lot of potential for a much larger, more complex title using the same basic mechanics.
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