The 2009 GR Awards

For 2009, we decided to combine three would-have-been separate articles – GR’s Best of 2009, The Worst Games of 2009, and The Best and Worst Gaming Moments in 2009 – into one ginormous unapologetic wrap-up. Maybe it’s symbolic: For better or worse, gaming in 2009 felt like one big lump.

That’s pessimistic, of course. There were plenty of great games to go around, though they were spread evenly throughout the year and their novelty seemed to rise as quickly as they fell. Perhaps it was the number of high-profile sequels and revivals – only 3 titles in our top 10 are completely original – or perhaps it was because there are so many great titles in the B+/A- range that nothing really stood out too far from the pack, or perhaps it was because this is my second year as an editor and I’m slowly becoming jaded. (I’m turning into Duke. Help.)

But I can see you rolling your eyes at us. Oh, GR, you’re just lumping everything together so it would be easier. Hey, we’re not lazy, we’re efficient! And who said writing three features in a week is easy? Actually, I can’t believe we’re doing this. It goes against my ~~lazy~~ efficient nature.

We won’t presume, however, that you will read all three articles in one sitting and in our specified order. Instead, you can view which article you would like to read first, editorial a la carte, if you will. But since us Game Revolutionaries like to save the best for last, I’m going to place our Top 10 at the end of this feature ~~in the hopes that you will give us more hits by clicking on every page before it~~ because I’m evil like that.

Table of Contents

The 5 Worst Gaming Moments of 2009

The 10 Best Gaming Moments of 2009: 10-6

The 10 Best Gaming Moments of 2009: 5-2 and The Best and Worst Gaming Moment of 2009

The 5 Worst Games of 2009

The 10 Best Games of 2009: Editor’s Picks

The 10 Best Games of 2009: 10-6

The 10 Best Games 2009: 5-1

GAME REVOLUTION'S BEST AND WORST GAMING MOMENTS OF 2009

Author: Blake Morse

Not everything that happens in the world of video games is an actual, honest to god, video game. Nope, some of it is just related to the field. And some of it sticks out so much that it catches not only the attention of the gaming populous, but that of the world and mainstream media. What follows is a retrospect of everything that was totally kick-ass and what completely sucked that exact same ass. We even continue last year's tradition of our number one being a double-edged sword that can somehow magically kick and suck ass at the same time, like a well-trained Vietnamese hooker. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… THE BEST 10 THINGS THAT ROCKED AND THE WORST 5 THAT DIDN'T SO MUCH IN 2009!

The (4 OF) 5 WORST GAMING MOMENTS OF 2009

#5 The Best Games of 2009… Coming in 2010 – BioShock 2, Bayonetta, Darksiders, Mass Effect 2, and Alpha Protocol are just a few of the major titles that were delayed until 2010. It's almost as if no one wanted to go up against Modern Warfare 2 for Holiday dominance. Instead of getting lost in the flood that is the 4th Quarter games release list, most games chose to adopt the Resident Evil 5 method and hold off until after the season to test the waters with their new franchises, or give returning fan favorites a little breathing room and a chance at some last minute polish. Which in the long run might be good news for us gamers, but made for one hell of a lot shorter Christmas list.

#4 Everybody's Getting Laid… Off – Once again, the perpetual unemployment machine that is the gaming industry makes the list. This year's victims include the “Duke Nukem will be out soon, we promise…” 3D Realms and the consistently decent Pandemic Studios, makers of the Saboteur and Mercenaries 2. EA didn't stop with Pandemic either, firing an impressive amount of folks from all over their company. Gaming giants Midway went bankrupt and sold off all their assets leaving Mortal Kombat in the hands of Warner Brothers Interactive. It's hard to tell how much of this comes from standard business practices and how much is from the current down economy , but one thing is sure: It certainly does suck to lose your job.

#3 How Low Can You Go – Limbo of the Lost is the first game to ever blatantly rip off so many other games at one time. They even stole from the Beetlejuice poster for Christ sake! I mean, really, what the hell were these people thinking? Were they thinking? How much of a disappointment is it? It's so bad that it made this list and the worst games list (and it made us steal the picture from Destructoid). If the folks behind this are reading this article, I hope they feel shame and regret and perhaps a small bit of nausea. (Unless they meant to plagiarize.) Not enough to make them throw up, but at least enough to leave a very bad taste in their mouths.

#2 I Wanna Hold Your Handheld Console – Wow, the PSPGo and the DSi were both major upsets. First, the DSi took away backwards compatibility for GBA titles and thought it would be better to have a crappy little camera and SD slot. Not to mention the ability to play music in a retarded proprietary format that no one uses. Essentially, they took away half of the stuff that made the DS cool and replaced them with all the functions of a five-year old cell phone.

The PSPGo, while looking much sleeker than the PSP, forgot that people may have actually wanted a way to play their "old" PSP games. It completely lacks a UMD slot and expects you to download all your titles. Yeah. Thanks for that Sony. I totally want a system that can't play any of the games I already own. I give it three months before these things start showing up in a bargain bin.

THE 10 BEST GAMING MOMENTS OF 2009: 10-6

#10 MMO Minus RPG And For Free – For those rich enough to afford Internet access, but not rich enough to afford video games (let's face it, porn is more important than Halo), there were a lot of options in the form of free-to-play, micro-transaction MMOs that offered more than just your average WoW experience. Games like Battleswarm, Evony, and Heroes of Newerth gave gamers a chance to play games that were both engaging and unique in concept without having to pay a monthly subscription.

#9 Mormon Acts Rationally – In between picketing against gay marriage rights in California and doing bake sales, those wacky Latter Day Saints found time to pass bill HB 353, which “prohibits a person from advertising that a good or service will not be sold to a certain age group and then selling [it] to that age group.” They even got our old friend, Jack Thompson, behind the crudely phrased piece of legislature. So crude in fact that it never specifically mentioned video games in any of its guidelines and would have undone a lot of hard work that retailers had already into voluntarily educating parents about ESRB ratings.

Fortunately, Utah Gov. Jon Meade Huntsman, Jr. (who once dropped out of high school to be in a rock'n'roll band) is not an idiot. He vetoed the bill, which passed unanimously in the house stating ”…the unintended consequence of the bill would be that parents and children would have no labels to guide them in determining the age appropriateness of the goods or service, thereby increasing children’s potential exposure to something they or their parents would have otherwise determined was inappropriate under the voluntary labeling system now being recognized and embraced by a significant majority of vendors.” Yeah, what he said.

#8 E3 Didn't Suck (As Much) – The slowly dying behemoth that was the Electronic Entertainment Expo started to show signs of life this year, returning to something more akin to its original splendor. The public at large was allowed back (I'm sure much to chagrin of hard working game journalists) and that meant that companies put out some schwag and spectacle to attract enthusiastic fanboys to their booths. Even the booth babes were back!

On top of that, there were some exciting announcements, such as New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii and the only two living Beatles stopping by to endorse their Rock Band game. If E3 continues to add this kind of panache, it may just have a shot at regaining the glory of days gone by.

#7 Gaming Goes Mainstream – Gamers are getting older and as that happens the mainstream market starts to pander to us more and more. Probably the best examples of this are late night talk shows. A very observant or very, very high Conan O' Brian viewer noticed that his new backdrop resembled something out of Super Mario Bros. 3. Conan then reciprocated this by poking fun at the coincidence on his show. Even the eternally awkward Jimmy Fallon has gotten in on the fun and has pledged to incorporate tie-ins with games into his show… although I really, don't know if playing DJ Hero with Rosie O' Donnell is the right way of going about it.

#6 Duke Nukem 4 Ever Never – After trying to make the same game for years and years (and years), and failing miserably, 3D Realms had to shut its doors and call it a day for everyone's favorite trash-talking, cigar-smoking, alien butt-kicking hero. This is the darkside of indie development. Without anyone telling them how to spend their money or make a deadline, DNF became nothing more than an excuse for them to hemorrage money and piss off their distributors and employees.

Imagine making real progress on the game, only to be told it was all being scrapped for a new engine. Now imagine that happening over the course of several years. It's enough to drive even the most hardcore programmer insane.

The money finally ran out and fans were given a sense of closure that they deserved… at least we hope they have. With luck they'll just let sleeping Dukes lie.

THE 10 BEST GAMING MOMENTS OF 2009: 5-2

#5 Telltale Games Brings Back Adventure – Did you play the Monkey Island games?! Well, did you?! Telltale has been hard at work for quite a few years bringing us some of the best point-and-click adventure games out there, such as Sam & Max and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. But this year they showed just how much clout they had, scoring the rights to make episodic games for the popular British Claymation duo Wallace and Grommit and revitalizing the cult classic Monkey Island series. Telltale has already proven that it's going to be around for a while and knows its audience. Let's see if they can continue to be successful in 2010.

#4 The Single-Player Life – Dragon Age: Origins, Demon's Souls, Batman: Arkhum Asylum, Assassin's Creed II: What do all these games have in common? They're all single-player only. While there were some extremely awesome multiplayer games to play with your pals while tossing back some brews and talking smack that would shame your poor old mother, there was also a healthy dose of titles that were great for some “Me time”. BioShock may have paved the way but 2009 might have perfected the formula.

#3 PS3 Gets Competitive – The bulky system that cost way more than its competitor's consoles, and came with fewer features and had fewer A-list titles, took a step in the right direction last year. Sony slashed the price of the PS3 down to something comparable with the 360's and came out with a slim model for those who feel aesthetics are important to a gaming rig. On top of that, Netflix distributed special Blu-Ray discs that allow their customers to watch their instant queue using the system. Now if they could only do something about their online community, they'd be where the 360 was a year ago… [Don't worry, they've got surveys and stuff. ~Nick.]

#2 Project Natal Announced – The Playstation 3 wand kind of looks like a giant purple personal pleasure device for women, and everyone's already peeved about having to fork out even more money to get their Wii-motes to function properly. Would there ever be a motion control device that can live up the expectations of a tech-savvy generation of gamers?

Enter Microsoft with Project Natal, an odd, slim-lined device that rests on top of your TV and allows you to interact with your games physically. In order to demo the practical aspects of the new technology, Lionshead studios came up with Milo, a boy who lives in a virtual world inside your machine that you can interact with. Draw a picture of a fish and slide it in front of the camera, and he can compliment you on your extraordinary artistic skills. He can even remember your face and read your emotions.

Duke is already convinced that this is the future of gaming, and while I remain skeptical, we can both agree that this is something both unique and impressive. Hopefully, 2010 will bring more information forth about the new technology and maybe even a chance to fool around with it a little.

And The Best and Worst Moment in 2009 is…

#1 My Love/Hate Relationship with Capcom – In 2009 we were treated to a lot of fan pandering from everyone's favorite old school game corporation. Resident Evil 5 came out and so did the revamp of Bionic Commando and the much anticipated Street Fighter IV was the herald of a new era of fighting games.
While RE5 received a lot of slack for having a bunch of black zombies, even though that made perfect sense because it's in freakin' Africa, the real problem was the game just wasn't that great and felt nothing like a scary Resident Evil game. Bionic Commando… I don't even want to get into what was wrong with that.

But probably the worst of the bunch in the long run was SFIV. It arrived with so much promise and potential. Sure the roster was a bit thin by today's standards and there weren't too many modes. But it wasn't like they couldn't solve any of that with some well-timed DLC releases. And it seemed like that's exactly what they had planned and it was enough to tide us over.

Then, a little over half a year later and after only one paltry add-on that was more about fixing glitches than providing new content, they have the gall to announce Super Street Fighter IV. Basically it's everything you assumed you'd get out of the original SFIV, but you have to re-purchase the game again. For a company that has always pandered to a hardcore, dedicated fanbase, this is like a big giant middle finger in the face while taking one up the keester (financially). Way to alienate your customers, Capcom. That's why you're the best and the worst at the same time.

THE 5 WORST GAMES OF 2009

#5 Final Fantasy: Dissidia – Otherwise known as Final Fantasy: Fan Service, Dissidia is an unfortunate disease that causes Final Fantasy fanboys to hallucinate about flying through the air while carrying a sword four times his size and thinking that hitting other fanboys who have the same hallucinations via the PSP is actually cool and acceptable.

We suggest buying a buster sword made of actual metal and fooling them into thinking that it’s a gift… before hitting them over the head with the flat side of the blade. Repeatedly if necessary. It’s the only way.

Full review.

#4 Fairytale Fights – Once upon a time there was an ugly game-ling / It looked like a cartoon, but it was sad and boring / Its controls were slippery, its bosses were cheap. / Blood was everywhere, in puddles and heaps

But it knew that one day, a fairy godmother would come / And he would turn into a game-swan, so lovely and handsome / One week passed by and the fairy godmother came / Looked once at the game-ling and said, “You’re just fat, ugly, and lame!”

Full review.

#3 TMNT: Smash Up – I believe TMNT: Smash-Up was produced by no other than The Shredder himself. We have circumstantial evidence that he gathered his Foot soldiers and said to them, “You are here because the outside world rejects you. This is your family. I am your father. There is a new enemy: freaks of nature who interfere with our business. Together we will punish these creatures. These… turtles.” Déjà vu? You have no idea.

Full review.

#2 JU-ON: The Grudge – Hmm… what do you say after playing a game where you walk with the speed of a broken Roomba through pitch-dark warehouses, find batteries just to extend your life bar, and get berated by the game for completing a level? What do you think, Chris? Uh, Chris?

(…he’s not saying a fucking word… just staring into his monitor… hugging himself… shivering… holding a Prinny…)

Full review.

#1 Limbo of the Lost – Wait, Nick, doesn't this feel strange? Like you've seen this somewhere before? I can't put my finger on… yeah… yeah, this… this was the Worst Game in 2008!!!

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??!!!

True story: So there I was, in the back room with Blake and Duke, discussing what the worst game of 2009 should be. Duke suggested Limbo of the Lost, saying it was a double fail because it plagiarized. I nodded. Blake nodded too, adding it to his worst gaming moments of 2009.

Lo' and behold, come Friday, I'm editing this feature (as I'm writing this blurb) and I realize the truth, our collective tragedy.

Limbo of the Lost – the evil incarnate of plagiarism – has made us kind of plagiarize ourselves. It actually made us double fail, too.

Yeah… it's THAT bad.

Full review.

THE 10 BEST GAMES OF 2009: EDITOR'S PICKS

Blake's Pick – Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 – Yes, true believers, Avengers Assemble! and Flame On!, because It's Clobberin' Time and I'm The Best There Is At What I Do, and You Won't Like Me When I'm Angry. By The Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth and Odin's Beard, With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, so play Ultimate Alliance 2 responsibly. 'Nuff Said. ~Blake

Nick's Pick – Muramasa: The Demon Blade – A great Wii game is one that makes me forget that I own a PS3 and an Xbox 360. A great Wii game is one that has awe-inspiring graphics which belie the technical limitations of the system. A great Wii game is one whose simplicity is in its details, whose vision cannot be denied. A great Wii game is Muramasa: The Demon Blade. ~Nick

Duke's Pick – LocoRoco 2 – Nick here. Since Duke is in the middle of a Mexican jungle, finding his way to a mole sauce, and he completely trusts me (*evil smile*) to speak for him, I believe that this is what he has to say about LocoRoco 2:

Powapowa jyuijyui naparasu

Powapowa jyuijyui ma-mu-shi-ka

Powapowa jyuijyui naparasu

Parerra powadhiru yutte rakonte

Muimui muimui

I ma gona kila Niku wen i gete bake.

Jesse's Pick – Blazblue: Calamity Trigger – BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger kicked me right in my cel-shaded testicles. In a year filled with more intense 2D fighting action than a deadly tic-tac-toe tournament, BlazBlue stands out from its flat-faced peers. Its inviting cartoon exterior disguises a fiendishly complex and rewarding combat system and (*gasp*) story—even if it does take someone like Charles Minard to make sense of the combo charts and a tag team of Carl Jung and Stephen Hawking to make sense of the brilliantly convoluted plot. ~Jesse

Eduardo's Pick – Panzer General: Allied Assault – Panzer General: Allied Assault brought out the general in me this year in the form of a very addicting card game for XBLA. Even though it's set in one of the most clichéd settings in the past few years, it makes the most of it. Units are varied and interesting, and both sides – Axis and Allies – have their pros and cons. The campaign can also take props for being fairly lengthy for a downloadable game, taking place in various famous historical moments in WW2, like the Normandy Beach landing, the Battle of the Bulge, and even Operation Marketgarden. Worth a look if you are interested in strategy games! ~Eduardo

THE 10 BEST GAMES OF 2009: 10-6

#10 Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – This is the perfect case of a fantastic hardcore title that just didn’t get enough love by the masses simply because it was on the family-friendly Nintendo handheld platform. Somewhere deep inside my dim sum, drunk chicken, green tea American-Chinese heart, I’m actually offended. Where’s my phone? There's someone I need to call. Because you know I’ve got connections to… I think I’ve said too much.

#9 Street Fighter IV – Anyone’s whose read my review of Street Fighter IV know my peeves for this game. I hate Seth. I hate the lack of hometown stages and mini-games. I hate “In-des-truct-ible”. And Blake hates Super Street Fighter IV for not being DLC, though it hopefully amends everything that I just said. But on the flip side, I care now. I actually think about Street Fighter, as more than just that 2D fighting arcade thingamabob from an oh-so long time ago. I remember wishing I could throw hadoukens when I was a kid. Don’t lie, you wish you could too.

#8 Demon's Souls – Critics apparently like games that are mean. Very mean. Like “have a dragon breathe fire down your ass as you run across the last bridge before reaching the boss so you can die and start at the beginning again with all of your souls gone into the digital ether” mean. I’m not sure what that says about us. (In bed or otherwise.)

#7 UFC Undisputed 2009 – There came a point last year when Ultimate Fighting Championship calmly walked up to the video game industry, grabbed it by the neck, threw it to the ground, locked it in a triangle hold, and whispered into its ear, “I think it would be great if there was a UFC game that didn’t suck.”

The rest is history.

#6 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Mmmm… multiplayer. Killing people with random grenades. Sniping poor aggros that stupidly come down the same alleyway over and over again. Laying on the floor and camping. Finding a corner to flip open Mr. Predator Missile laptop. What, there’s a single-player campaign? Umm… really? Whatever, n00b-face.

THE 5 BEST GAMES OF 2009: 5-1

#5 Borderlands – Let’s be perfectly honest, Borderlands is the only game that Duke, Blake, and I played, at the same time, sometimes together, for at least 20 hours. That has never happened before. For a game that doesn’t really have much of a story, it brought us closer to one another. Like one happy family. Yeah, I think I’m going to be sick.

#4 Dragon Age: Origins – If we were to base this list solely on humor, Dragon Age: Origins would win hands down by virtue of its witty banter. Its combat system may be a tad old-fashioned for a Bioware title and its graphics on the console are questionable, but that it keeps you laughing through to the end is impressive and memorable. For imaginatively reinterpreting a fantasy setting that is steeped in Tolkien-esque lore, Dragon Age: Origins sets a high standard for original story-world adaptations.

#3 Assassin's Creed II – Can anyone really deny their innermost desire to leap about 15th century Italy – killing, thieving, swimming, killing, climbing, spying, and more killing – all while wearing a tailor-made cloak and a stylish hoodie? I hope not. Even if you twitch at the thought of murder, think of this as an interactive history lesson of the Renaissance where you can pay your respects to Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci. No, seriously, you don’t want to piss them off.

#2 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Uncharted 2 is a brimming example of modern video gaming and how sequels are supposed to be made. Edge-of-your-seat firefights, gameplay that sensibly avoids the Sixaxis sensor, a dynamic script, well-developed dialogue, flawed but likable characters, strong multiplayer modes – what else do you want? Treasure? A third installment? More climbing? Clowns? Hey, Drake, where are you going?!

#1 Batman: Arkham Asylum – So why did the Bat win over Drake when Uncharted 2 received the only ‘A’ this year? Well, not only can Batman kick his ass anytime, anywhere, anyplace (not how we judge things, of course, but it's worth something), but he has also single-handedly elevated the superhero genre to a new level, the highest echelon of spandex-clad heroics. Video games based off comic books no longer have an excuse to be gimmicky, run-of-the-mill interactive product placements. No, not even if they talk like a pissed off Christian Bale with laryngitis.