[General Discussion] The Gamingforce Game of the Year 2009: Use Your Vote Time

Editting this as I go along.

Borderlands - 20 Points

The first thing that came to mind when I thought FUCK YEAH of the year. Despite some odd design choices and a lazy PC port, the core gameplay mechanic is fucking awesome and addictive as hell. One of the first games I've played in years where I immediately went to the NG++ right after the credits finished. Super.

Bionic Commando - 20 Points

Holy fuckshit this is awesome and everyone who didn't like it is a giant pile of dog shit. It's extremely satisfying and playing it is a rite of passage. Only afterwards are you a true man.

Mushihimesama Futari - 40 Points

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. Holy crap you are the greatest home Cave port ever. SO BEAUTIFUL. SO INTERESTING. SO AWESOME.

Bowser's Colonoscopy Adventure - 20 Points

I have nothing to say other than it more than makes up for Partners in Time. The funniest, most well rounded and generally flat out enjoyable thing that Nintendo's handheld has seen in FOREVER. Bravo, AlphaDream

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Left 4 Dead 2 - 30 points
blah blah should've been DLC fuck you. Everything L4D1 was and then some. Only bad part of the game is Rochelle.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 30 Points
About once a year there's a game on the wii that makes me glad I haven't sold mine yet. Muramasa was this year's game.

beatmaniaIIDX 16 EMPRESS + Premium Best - 20 Points
I had grown tired of IIDX games until this one. Fabulously pink interface, fabulously awesome mix of songs and fun notecharts.

Demon's Souls - 20 Points
Rageworthy, satisfying, awesome. Japs can make better WRPGs than western devs.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Left 4 Dead 2 - 5 points

Got it's predecessor for 25 bucks, got this one for 30. I only play when a friend invites me and only on the campaign because I suck at versus. I hate the majority of the characters except for Coach. Why is this even here? First of all, the melee weapons have gotten a huge upgrade and nothing is more satisfying then taking a samurai sword and slicing the shit out of the infected (haven't gotten a chainsaw yet). Secondly, well...

Coach: GRABBIN PUKE!!

It never gets old. XD However, the best time I ever had with the game was this part:

Friend (as Coach): Healing up, I'll grab the last med kit on the table.
Me (as Nick): Okay.
*Rochelle (CPU) takes the med kit*
Friend: Did that bitch just take my med kit?
Me: Yep.
*Coach revs up the chainsaw and cuts Rochelle with it*
Rochelle: AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
Coach: Hahahahahaha!!


Punch-Out!! - 10 points

Straight up fun and a tough workout with the Wii Balance Board. However in the later levels I had to dodge faster, so I stopped using the Board. Good graphics, circuit music is great, and the controls with the WiiMote and Nunchuk is flawless. This is Little Mac's greatest venture yet.


Sonic and the Black Knight - 20 points

Contrary to what others believe, Sonic and the Black Knight is a major improvement over Secret Rings and a helluva lot better than Unleashed. Everything is improved over its predecessors: the controls, the story, the FRIGGIN MUSIC IS AWESOME!! Sega should never make a game with Sonic using a sword ever again...but it damn sure worked well here. This is the most fun I've had with a Sonic game in years.


New Super Mario Bros. Wii - 30 points

You want to talk about fun? Look no further. New Super Mario Bros. Wii takes elements from its NES and SNES predecessors and wraps it all into one beautiful package. The nostalgia factor is off the charts, but it has enough freshness to make it feel like its own game. Bringing back the Koopa Kids was surprising enough, but the real kicker about this game is the multiplayer. Simultaneous 4-player action in a Mario game? Unheard of! The more players you have, the more difficult and chaotic the game becomes...but it also becomes much more fun. The game also leads you to believe it's easy at first, but as you get further...damn does it get difficult, especially at the last areas! With these elements, multiple power-ups, and unlockable hint videos that can either help or just make you sick to your stomach, NSMB Wii is the best title the Wii has in 2009!


Batman: Arkham Asylum - 35 points

GAME OF THE FUCKING YEAR! I was very worried when this game was hyped so much. Not only did it live up to the hype, it surpassed it. This game makes you truly feel like Batman as you face some of his greatest adversaries such as Bane, Scarecrow, and the Joker. The gadgets are great, the fighting system is fluent, and the visuals are amazing. Bringing back voiceover talents such as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill really added more to the game's dialogue. Seriously, I can't go five seconds without hearing Joker say something and just laughing my ass off to it. The game also has plenty of secrets to look for and the best part of it is you can actually find these on your own. You don't have to go online and look on where to locate them!

This trailer does a good job of letting you have a feel of what's to come.

YouTube Video

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Killing floor - 30 points
Well, it`s not exactly my type of game but design and outstanding soundtrack force me to give it 30 points

Dreamkiller - 30 points
It has normal single player then why just 30? Because some levels are so prolonged that you wil be tired of them (especially #4 & #9) and there`re only 12 levels, a small amount

I`d call more games that I played this year but none of them was released in 2009

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'll be fair; 2009 was not a banner year in gaming for numerous reasons:

• Was on disability for six months and didn't have money for shit
• Three consoles/portable systems took shits on me, not entirely of my own doing either.
• Access to other consoles was severely limited by having to share the television with a father who insisted that every fucking afternoon be spent watching recorded episodes of, like, fifteen identical cop drama shows featuring a gruff but fair sergeant with a heart of gold who bends the rules to get the job done and protect the innocent while coping with his messy alcohol/cocaine/divorce/post war trauma syndrome/progressive incurable illness issues. Not that I think he should branch out and watch something cheerful or anything.

So this list represents not the games I played and enjoyed, but the games I most wanted to play and thought I might enjoy. A couple, I did get to try but not even close to the amount that would've satisfied me, mostly because the fucking nine year-old brat with the My Chemical Romance t-shirt behind me in the Game Crazy wouldn't stop whining that I'd been there almost five minutes already, when am I going to let him play for an hour, sheesh!

10 Points: Street Fighter IV - I loved the look and feel of this game, and have always been a Street Fighter fan. Online play was a nice plus, and the series was long overdue for a true sequel. I actually own this game, since I found a used copy for good price. But three days after I bought it, Merv hid his 360 and connected it to his PC with a screen saver password. In before owned.

10 Points: Punch Out Wii - This was the game I looked forward to most, being a longtime fan of the first two. I managed to purchase and play this for a little while, so I can vouch for the fun and quality. It is seriously a wonderful, if mildly frustrating experience, and the little touches they put into the game - like each fighter having his own variation of the in-ring theme -made me feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, my dad interfered with the cop drama offensive described above, then further complicated matters by connecting the Wii to a complex system involving a channel selector, three different output channels, a television PC, three remote controls and the new digital cable box. Since I am not a fucking computer engineer, I never got to lose to Mr. Sandman again. But trust me, this game is totally worth the time, if only to hear Bear Hugger's thick Canadian accent shout "Timber!" when he falls.

10 Points: Scribblenauts - Yeah, there were flaws but this game gets points for ambition. A shame I never beat it because some fatass custodial bitch backed her enormous ass into my bedside hospital tray, causing my DS to fall off and into her bucket of ... whatever the fuck vomit-smelling cleanser they put in there. She didn't even speak English (conveniently) so I was unable to explain that she had to buy me a new one. And the administration claimed no responsibility for lost items, even ones destroyed by their own employees. Lost the Scribblenauts game too. Fucking banana-boat whore.

10 Points: Sims 3 - Another game that looked great. Pang's pre-meet Journal entries pretty much cemented my interest, even though I already had no doubts about the quality. My shit-tastic computer stood no chance of running it, since it could barely watch ten minutes of anything on Hulu without spontaneously giving up and shutting down, but Sims 3 is the #1 game on my list once my new computer arrives in a couple weeks.

10 Points: Torchlight - I am giving this points mostly because people say it's a lot like Diablo, and Diablo was a pretty awesome game. Fuck you. Nothing in the rules said my reasoning had to be rock solid. Not to worry, though, I'll have a Steam account shortly enough and will definitely be giving Torchlight a go. Consider this an award of good faith!

10 Points: Orbital - I am pretty sure 98% of you have no clue what this is. It's a game for the iphone and it's motherfucking addictive. You shoot balls that ricochet around. When they stop, they expand into spheres which must then be destroyed by subsequent balls you shoot. Each sphere must be contacted three times before it is destroyed. If you're sloppy, your screen will fill up with enormous spheres and nowhere to shoot without ricocheting the ball below the safety line. It's deceptively tricky. So yeah, I'm certain I'm the only person who loves this little game but whatever. It earned its points.

10 Points: Ghostbusters (PS3/360 - fuck the animated Wii crap) - Sooooooooo wanted to play this, if only for the fact that they got the fab four to do the voice acting. The cake was the fact that it turned out to be a truly great game. Well, the first level is, I know that much. I thoroughly enjoyed running around the hotel, blasting walls and chandeliers, until that little fuckwad kept kicking my calves because his drunk mama never taught him how to wait his goddamned turn. Damn kids. Get off my lawn!!

10 Points: A Boy and His Blob - This gets points merely because someone had the brass coconuts to propose remaking this game, and someone else had even bigger coconuts to say "Sure, why the fuck not make nine people happy? Let's do this thing!" But yeah, surprise remake of the year and a game I'd love to play if I ever figure out how to work the technological maze of channel selectors and remote controls.

10 Points: Borderlands - I honestly don't know a ton about this game since it seems to be one of a number of "world is fucked so let's run around, kill scavengers and mutants, collect some leftover shit just to survive, and also stumble across an inscrutably high volume of usable weapons and ammunition" type of games. But after having watched Merv shoot countless scavengers and mutants, and scour what must've been the lost continent of Howitzer, Borderlands appears to be a rather good iteration in the genre and something I'd like to try for myself.

10 Points: Machinarium - Soooooo fucking gorgeous. I long for more developers to place such an emphasis upon the unity of story, presentation and the sheer magic of imagination. Few games achieve this for me - Braid, Aquaria and Ico are great examples. I was absolutely heartbroken when I first saw this game and knew my computer could never handle it. But soon, soon I shall experience its wonder and it's something I eagerly look forward to.

There ya go. I think that's 100.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I guess I should post my votes up, and after some deliberation here they are:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 30 points

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first Uncharted I was excited for the sequel, but even so Uncharted 2 blew me away. The first game was an assured title but every aspect has been improved for the sequel and the game does everything so well and with such confidence that you can't help but get swept up with it. The story may be fairly silly at heart, but this is a big fun adventure romp with the emphasis on the fun. This is also a game that is near impossible to put down: the pacing is top-notch and flows so well, keeping the story compelling throughout that it's far too easy to lose track of time whilst playing. Oh, and let's not forget that it's also simply gorgeous, a vibrant and stunning looking game.

Given that the amazing package also includes a load of interesting behind the scenes stuff, some fun unlocks and a pretty excellent multiplayer mode (showing how well it can be done on the PS3), Naughty Dog delivered an embarrassment of riches that everyone owes it to themselves to sample. Uncharted 2, for me, was the best gaming experience of the year without a doubt.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 points

The previews always looked fairly cool so I gave it a chance with a pre-order, but man I was not expecting the bundle of excellence that this ended up being. Anyone who uses the phrase "This is a good Batman game" is doing the title a disservice as this is just a great game period, it just happens to feature Batman. The exploration, the combat, the way locations change subtly as the game progresses and the way new areas become available as your arsenal changes, the challenges and puzzles integrated to each area, it all makes for an incredibly solid core experience. Then you add in the fact that it is a Batman game that has an incredibly well realised location (perhaps the best atmosphere in a game since Bioshock) and some fantastic characterisation (that's expertly voiced too) then it's all elevated to a new level.

Sure some of the boss battles are a little cliché but when the rest of the game is so expertly put together and is so much fun can you really complain? Plus once you're done with the main story you have the Challenge Rooms to play which are ace and a fun challenge. This was definitely the biggest surprise of the year and it 100% deserves to counted amongst the very best of the year's offerings.

Borderlands - 15 points

Until a few days ago this wouldn't have featured on my list of top games, but after just a handful of days in Pandora I'm a convert and I now understand why people were raving about this game. Gearbox have absolutely nailed the feeling of a satisfying shooter, which on that level alone is a ton of fun to play. Add in the looting and chance of finding some new toy or upgrade just around the corner and there's always motivation to go exploring and the addiction level ramps up. On top of that there's a really neat class system which allows some nice tailoring of your character and it's delicious icing on an already tasty cake. Oh and the game also looks fantastic and has a lot of amusing little touches here and there. Kudos to Gearbox they really pulled off something special here.

Assassin's Creed II - 10 points

I was a fan of the first Assassin's Creed and loved the world Ubisoft Montreal created for me to play in. However, it was a bit of a divisive game and I could certainly see where the complaints came from and how the repetitive missions could rub people up the wrong way. And I would certainly understand why those people would be sceptical about giving Assassin's Creed II a chance as on the face of things not much has changed. But the work done with this sequel, structuring the mission in a cohesive story, tweaking the gameplay slightly, a few new abilitys and adding new side-missions and stuff to do and suddenly things are transformed.

As with the first game Assassin's Creed II delivers a luscious playground to enjoy and some incredibly fun toys to play around with (killing two guards with your hidden blades by leaping off a roof never loses its appeal) all wrapped around a story that keeps driving things forward to the extent that I just wanted more of it. Colour me excited for number 3.

Orbital - 10 points

I was incredibly pleased to see Crash mention this game as it means I'm not alone in my love for this little title. It'd be incredibly easy to dismiss iPhone(/iPod Touch) games, but there's a few fantastic titles out there that can easily eat your time and make excellent use of the device. Orbital is one of those games and has held my attention for a considerable amount of time over the last month or so since I picked it up. Like any such game it has that just-one-more-go nature to it as you try and push your high scores ever higher. It's also a fantastic looking little game with some really neat effects. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch you won't regret spending the 59p on this one.

Flight Control - 10 points

Yep, a second iPhone game; between this and Orbital I put a rather large number of hours into game playing on my iPhone, which is something that rather surprised me this year. I grabbed Flight Control on a whim and thanks to being a great game, plus some superb support from Firemint, I spent a lot of time playing it trying to best my high scores. The gameplay works wonderfully with the touch controls (you draw lines mapping out a landing path for planes and helicopters) and each map offers a slightly different challenge to keep things interesting. Fun, addictive, challenging, great art style and, again, all for 59p; it's hard to think of many games that deliver quite as much bang for your buck. Another must have for any iPhone/iPod Touch owner in my book.

Street Fighter IV - 5 points

It'd been many years since I was excited about a Street Fighter game, and it'd been a while since I was in properly excited about a fighting game of any kind, but SFIV lit a fire inside me and really captured my imagination. It's easy to forget about titles that came earlier in the year, but it's near impossible to forget the anticipation for this game and just how much it delivered. Now I look forward to SSFIV.

Honourable Mentions:
Brutal Legend
Canabalt
DiRT 2
Forza 3
Halo 3: ODST
Killzone 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Modern Warfare 2
Need for Speed: Shift
Resident Evil 5
Scribblenauts
The Beatles: Rock Band

FELIPE NO

Wow, I hardly bought any new games this year it seems.

GTA - Episodes from Liberty City - 40 points

I was seriously disappointed by GTA IV. Sure it was technically incredible but in making such a technical masterpiece, it seemed to me they forgot to make the game actually fun. With the episodes however, needing to spend no time on the engine or city, they concentrated on making a really good, fun couple of games. The missions are so much more varied, the characters are better realised, riding in a convoy of bikers is wicked, the new weapons in Gay Tony are hilarious, if a little OTT and the world they created in GTAIV just seems so much better realised. Having played the episodes, I once again have hope for the series. To be fair, I thought GTAIII was pretty dull too whereas Vice City and San Andreas were both great so I'm optimistic for the future.

Sacred 2 - 30 points

Loot 'em ups are all about endless farming, something a lot of people find pretty dull but I rather like them when they're done well and Sacred 2, though light on originality and suffering from a few technical flaws, delivers a ridiculously large game world and hundreds of quests, meaning the potentially boring task of killing monsters forever is made 100 times more interesting as you explore Ancaria. I played this for 180 hours, managed to finish it once and didn't really explore the last two chapters properly. Massive, massive game and a hugely enjoyable time-sink.

Gran Turismo PSP - 20 points

Yes it's at least four years late and yes it has it's limitations but as a way to pass the time on long journeys, for my money GTPSP takes some beating. Huge variety of cars, all the tracks you could wish for and the legendary GT physics model. There are better racing games certainly but no better driving games in my opinion.

Guitar Hero Metallica - 5 points

The only GH game released this year I own, GHM is awesome, assuming you're a Metallica fan. I know it's cool to rag on Guitar Hero and suck the Rock Band cock but the only difference between them really is the song selection and when I'm with a bunch of mates, pissed up and wanting to pretend to be in a band with plastic instruments, we want to pretend to be in Metallica because singing harmonies along to the Beatles is gay. I'm not actually that good at GH so Medium mode presents something I can play along to comfortably whilst needing to concentrate and hard mode presents a genuine challenge. Nobody can really sing like James Hetfield and the drum tracks are ridiculous on anything above easy but that's kinda why it's fun when you're drunk.

Soul Calibur PSP - 5

The best beat 'em up on PSP. Classic Soul Blade gameplay, loads of retarded outfit customisation options, tons of blocking challenges to hone your reactions and Soul Blade has always and will always be better than Tekken.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Bionic Commando- 40 points
Had a hard ass time creating this list as this was pretty much the one game I can remember loving from 2009. The only things I can hold against BC is the lack of more awesome boss fights and a ton of screen tearing. Everything else is gravy.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 ponts
BATMAN UNDER PRESSURE: THE GAME. I can't even begin to express how much I think the combat in this game is the most visceral and rewarding combat system I've had the pleasure to enjoy in an adventure/action game. I feel like Bats through out the entire thing. The gadgets are awesome, the voice acting is great, the atmosphere rocks and setting makes me feel like a rich playboy who wears masks and kicks ass.

Dragon Age: Origins - 30 points
My favorite fantasy rpg in recent memory not named "The Witcher." It doesn't do dark fantasy quite as well as that other game but man is what here amazing. Great characters. Majority of my 76 hours was probably spent sitting in camp talking to just a handful of them! I never messed with Shale, Zevran or Sten too much as much as I wanted to (saving them for another run). I restarted pretty much as soon as I finished, just couldn't wait to talk more about it. Great quests and side quests, amazing voice acting, just awesome. Man, I could listen to Leilana talk ALL GOD DAMN DAY.

Prototype - 10 Points
I might have been one of the few people looking forward to this enough to have pre-ordered it. I loved the actual game so much I made a couple youtube videos for it via fraps. The feeling you get, from divebombing into a crowded NYC street and killing hundreds of people, blowing up cars and body surfing dudes is unmatched by any other game. I fucking love my murder simulator.

Honorable Mentions:
Brutal Legend, 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand, Fight Night Round 4, UFC 2009, L4D2, Shattered Horizon, Assassin's Creed II, Ghostbusters, Killing Floor, Dawn of War II, Forza 3, Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3: ODST

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

I guess I should post my votes up, and after some deliberation here they are:

No mention of Beatles: Rock Band? FROM YOU? Stunned.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Shin

I thought GTAIII was pretty dull too whereas Vice City and San Andreas were both great

Me too. But maybe because I played it after SA and VC...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

No mention of Beatles: Rock Band? FROM YOU? Stunned.

Damn it, knew I'd forgotten something. I don't think I can justify taking points away from anything in my top few, but yeah, that was a damn fine game and one that deserves and honourable mention at least (edited in ). Whatever anyone else might say or think I'm willing to say 2009 was a good year for gaming.

How ya doing, buddy?

Borderlands - 35 points

Borderlands is seriously one of the best games to come out in a long time. In a year full of sequels, rehashes, and tired genre games, Borderlands represents a company trying to put two seemingly separate genres together (Shooter, RPG) and coming out with a game that is more than the sum of its disparate parts.

It is fun to play, has one hell of a personality and art style, and has been one of my favorite games of the past year and of the past generation of games. I love it.

Dragon Age: Origins - 20 points

It's a gigantic fantasy RPG with a shitload of things to do, a world that's deep without being daunting, and a rather interesting overall combat system. Their consistent and rapid support for the game after release, while being rather expensive, is a nice touch; Oblivion got barely anything until that one expansion, and then nothing.

Torchlight - 15 points

While I did just go on about games sticking to genre traditions, the fact of the matter is when a game sticks to genre traditions REALLY FUCKING WELL, it can overcome how stale the genre itself is. Torchlight does everything about a Diablo-style action RPG right and only screws up little inconsequential bits like the narrator being overbearing. It is incredibly resource light while still looking fantastic, and I really hope that in the future more games will take this "Do something simple but right and cheaply" philosophy in the future.

Modern Warfare 2 - 10 points

The multiplayer is broken as hell and yet incredibly addictive, the singleplayer is hilariously ridiculous, and the whole game reeks of Infinity Ward sitting on their laurels and doing next to nothing to the first game.

They only get away with it because the first game was so goddamn amazing that they didn't HAVE to do much to it.

Bionic Commando - 10 points

It's a shame GRIN went under, because this game is severely underrated. Sure, the game was short, and sure the multiplayer was pedestrian at best, but the gameplay was just so god damned FUN that I can't help but think a lot of people missed the forest for the trees on this one. The reviewers seemed to miss the fun factor in lieu of "hurrrr 4 hours? fuck that" and that's a damned shame, because now we'll never see what GRIN could've accomplished on a longer game.

Groov - 10 points

Groov is emblematic of what can be done right with the Indie Games service on Xbox. It's a short little game, it's a dual-stick shooter, but the aesthetic and music syncing are neat ideas, and the whole thing is executed competently and looking good. As I said in my Prime Gamer review ages ago, it's a diamond in an extremely rough rough.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Does it count if I don't have a current-gen console?

I guess not but, still:

Originally Posted by Tokubetsu

50 Cent: Blood On The Sand

I always want to say that the concept of this game is awful but every time I talk to someone who has actually played it, they tell me it's a fucking fun and hugely underrated game.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Colonel FuckFaggot

Bionic Commando - 20 Points

Holy fuckshit this is awesome and everyone who didn't like it is a giant pile of dog shit. It's extremely satisfying and playing it is a rite of passage. Only afterwards are you a true man.

I actually really liked this game at first, but then the story took a massive fucking nosedive and all but ruined it for me.

Spoiler:

When the game arbitrarily decided that Super Joe was gonna go ahead and be a traitor for absolutely no reason, I knew it could only get worse. And then the whole revelation about Spencer's arm being made of his wife...

FELIPE NO

You were playing a game called "Bionic Commando" for the STORY.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

The whole thing is an homage to terrible 80s action movies.

"This is like a terrible 80s action movie!" is subsequently the entire point, see.

Perhaps the tongue-in-cheek thing wasn't handled correctly. Only about half of the people who played it seemed to pick up on it, so I don't blame you.

How ya doing, buddy?

"Woaaaah! IS that a long health bar or are you just happy to see me?"
"Spencer! There's no way out, you'll just have to fuck it!"
"...umm"

Bionic Commando is fucking great. Looking back on it, I REALLY REALLY enjoyed it. Also, fuck the haters, the ending was BADASS. Spencer ain't taking no shit. It also has the best score of 2009, right up there with ODST and the score for Neotokyo. Glad I gave it 40 points.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Alright, time to dodge Skills' wrath (or further incur it) by voting.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 25 points

Sure the story isn't as coherent as it could be, but the game looks gorgeous and plays fantastic. This is one of the few games that's a joy just to look at, and on several occasions I've actually stopped playing for a minute just to look at the backgrounds. Besides, you get to bathe with wild monkeys. That alone is worth some points.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 points

I was worried about this one right up to its release. All signs pointed to it being good, but a good Batman game? Could it be possible? Oh my, yes. The announced VAs clenched it, because for me Kevin Conroy will always be the best Batman and Mark Hamill will always be the best Joker. There's just no contest. Arkham Asylum was not only a fun game that really felt like Batman, but the Riddler challenges also provided a nice way to tie together multiple sidequests that encouraged thorough exploration without being impossible to find.

Retro Game Challenge - 10 points

Despite Rally King sucking, the rest of the fake retro games are all pretty fun. I still pop it in once in awhile to play a bit of Haggleman 1&2, Cosmic Gate, and Star Prince. Guadia Quest, the RPG on par with early Dragon Quest games, is surprisingly good once you get into it complete with secret bosses and everything.

Prototype - 10 points

You can punch an old man through the chest, eat him, become him, and then glide through the air fighting Infected as an elderly superhero. You can slaughter 2,000+ Infected in 3~ minutes with a thermobaric tank. Tentacles. Whatever failings this game may have are redeemed and then some.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - 10 points

I haven't had it long, but it's one of the best puzzle RPGs I've ever played. There's something very satisfying about pulling off a successful combo strategy to quickly take an enemy from full HP to death or close to it, especially when that combo involves BEARS. The 5 very different races manage to stay balanced once you understand how they work, aside from the humans. Humans kinda suck.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - 10 points

Ordinarily I'm not a fan of fighting games. This is partially because I'm not very good at them, and partially because I dislike everything relying on memorizing combos. BlazBlue manages to stay simplistic as far as combos go without being overly so, and the characters are pretty neat. I'll take a black blob of sentient, insect-filled goo over Ryu any day.

Rune Factory Frontier - 10 points

This took everything Rune Factory 1 did right and made it better. There's really not a whole lot to say here aside from that, since you either like Rune Factory/Harvest Moon games or you don't.

Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure - 5 points

The levels get a bit too long and are kind of repetitive in design, but it deserves some points for being hilarious fun. Any game that shouts TEA TIME to summon a steam-powered robot suit to the tune of the British national anthem is okay by me.

Honorable Mentions, Now With Less U

- New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Haven't played it enough to accurately proclaim it a GOTY, but what I did play was some of the best multiplayer action ever.

- Borderlands

I considered this for the actual list since it's great, but as much fun as it is, it just didn't feel like a GOTY to me.

How ya doing, buddy?

Not going to have the time to do good writeups on most of these, but just to get my votes in:

30 Points - Borderlands - The game doesn't excel in any one area, but the way of the disparate elements come together still works quite nicely. Still has some flaws and other issues that are frustrating, but I still kept coming back more and more even while complaining about it.

15 Points - Shadow Complex - Super Metroid for a new generation (although let's be clear, not as good as Super Metroid). Also really like that it's an Arcade/downloadable title, among other games this year it really raises the bar for that space.

10 Points - Modern Warfare 2 - Having never played MW1 online, this is a weird one for me. The fact that with all of it's XP and progression hooks you always feel like you're doing something seals it for me. Especially as opposed to games like say Halo, where all that matters is if you win or lose, in this it doesn't matter nearly as much. Also single-player is completely ridiculous and nonsensical, which I'm all for.

10 Points - Left 4 Dead 2 - Left 4 Spreadsheet 2.

10 Points - New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Holds up well as a single-player game, but playing this with 4 people people was honestly probably the most fun I had multiplayer this year; if it had good online support for that it'd probably be in my top 2 or 3 games.

5 Points - Halo 3: ODST - Campaign is pretty great, and I really enjoy the overworld area. Firefight is also fantastic, if it had freaking online matchmaking for Firefight this would have placed a hell of a lot higher.

5 Points - Resident Evil 5 - Ultimately despite it's flaws this was a pretty fun co-op game. As a single-player experience I would still give it to RE 4 over this, but co-op pushes it over that.

5 Points - Sacred 2 - A really good console hack/loot/Diablo game that seems to have sold pretty well, but was generally overlooked. There's really nothing else like it on the consoles that's not crap (Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom anyone?). The world is HUGE, and with 4 player drop in/out co-op and world consistency across 5 difficulties, you could spend a long ass time with this.

5 Points - Dragon Age: Origins - Truly, the Age of Dragons.

5 Points - Trials HD - Would have placed higher if the difficulty didn't scale so dramatically so quickly. Don't get me wrong, I beat it (FUCK YOU INFERNO 2), but on replaying it I would always go back to earlier levels. DLC didn't do a whole lot to address that either -_-.



Honorable Mentions:

Phantasy Star Portable - A very streamlined portable version of PSU that eliminates almost all of the bullshit it's console cousin has. Lack of a proper online mode kicks it out of the top ten for me.

Battlefield 1943 - A great multiplayer shooter to jump in and out of, but some technical issues (especially early one) and the lack of post-launch support drop it for me.

Excitebots - SUPER SANDWICH. This game is completely insane and I love it, it just has a hard time competing against top-tier games of this year. Also the fact that local 2-player is only the two of you and not AI as well is a major bummer, but they do get props for having proper online.

Street Fighter IV - I was really torn between this and Trials HD for my #10 slot. I think ultimately the fact that an improved version of this is coming in a few months dampens my enthusiasm for this one. Even though there are very few fighting games that I've ever gotten into, SF4 just felt really good and solid to play.

Miner Dig Deep - An awesome little Xbox Indie game. Almost kinda like Dig Dug with RPG elements? It's 2 or 3 bucks, everyone should go check it out.


Games that would probably be on this list if I had played them yet:
-Uncharted 2 - Probably the big one looking at basically everyone's list. Got it for Christmas, just haven't gotten to it yet.
-Assassin's Creed 2 - Same, got it for Christmas.
-Batman - Playing this right now actually.
-Torchlight - Picked it up on the $10 sale a few weeks ago and love it, but haven't had the time to really get into it yet.
-Bowser's Inside Story - Haven't gotten to it yet.
-Demon Souls - Haven't gotten to it yet.

Daravon's 2008 game of 2009: Tales of Vesperia
Yeah, love this game. Actually spent the time to 1000/1000 it. Arguably the best Tales game in my opinion.

Biggest Disappointment: Star Ocean The Last Hope

Seriously, fuck this game. Possibly the worst RPG I've played in 10 years, without exaggeration. I'm the only one of the group that bought it that beat it, and that was out of pure spite for paying $60 for it. The combat and graphics are passable, everything is total dog shit. Most of the cutscenes actually made me embarassed to be a gamer, and this is coming from someone who will gladly tell you that he beat and enjoyed games like FFX-2. The plot makes no fucking sense; hell, at one point YOU DESTROY A PLANET which winds up only to be a plot device to make a character emo for about 5 hours until they snap out of it, and then IT IS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN. If you're looking forward to the PS3 version, fuck you.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

25 borderlands: it is a good game, but I can't get past the many flaws it has, they keep churning out DLC after DLC and they don't bother to fix the bugs it had from release day.

20 Street Fighter 4:some could say it is a prettier street fighter II, I say it does a great job at it.

25 Dragon Age:Origins: The game is just another iteration of a winning formula some would say, I didn't care much about this as my warrior was killing darkspawn left and right, I would have hoped for some actual innovation.

15 Machinarium: I honestly don't think I can add much about this game, though there are much bigger games out there, they aren't any better or more entertaining than this is, to be honest I can never say why this happens... I found all the puzzles to be challenging enough and it was strange having the answer right there and fighting so you don't use it.

honorable mention:
World of Goo: too bad only the linux version was released this year, but since I got it this year I have fresh fond memories of it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I just wanted to take the time to get my votes in for this. The only thing that I wanted to say is that in terms of all the games that have been released for 2009, I didn't get a chance to play a lot of them. I've been playing a lot of retro-titles, and kind of put a lot of the newer games on the backburner, but there have been some games that I have absolutely enjoyed this year.

King of Fighters XII - 40 pts

I know this game will come to a surprise to most people. When you compare this game to every other fighting game that has been released this year, this would probably rank as the worse one in terms of replay value. The fact that this game had a lot of flaws such as the lack of a final boss, no story mode, not a lot of characters, and not a lot of replay value didn't really help this game. In my eyes, the reason why I love this game so much, is that it was one of the most beautiful fighting games I have ever played. I thought the character designs were incredibly beautiful, and the backgrounds were so beautifully animated. I thought the fighting engine was incredibly smooth, and the fighters were also beautifully animated. SNK, please take note, what you did with King of Fighters XII is that you made a very beautiful and very smooth game, but next time try to add a little more depth to it.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 35 pts

I love this game for pretty much the same reasons as I loved Odin Sphere. Just good ol fashioned 2D hack and slash in such a beautiful and rich environment. It is games that like these that show the beauty of 2D games on current gen consoles. It has a beautiful soundtrack and it is just a game you just have to sit back and appreciate all the beauty this game had to offer. Vanillaware you can go ahead and put out titles like this anytime.

Street Fighter IV - 25 pts

It doesn't matter how long I have played the Street Fighter series, I will never be good at it, but it doesn't stop me from trying. This game proves one thing, that Street Fighter will always set the benchmark of what makes a great fighting game and this game is no exception. You have a ton of characters, an excellent soundtrack, and just so much replay value with this game. Even if I was not fond of the art-style of this game, most of the characters are very evenly matched and you absolutely get your money's worth when you get this game.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Voting is now closed. I'll sort out the votes and get something put up tomorrow.

FELIPE NO