![]() Wii was one of the biggest releases of the year. even while gleefully committing mass murder, and New Super Mario Bros. 'Splosion Man featured some of the best animations we've seen in a lead characters. PixelJunk Shooter was an inspired PS3 release. Capcom 2 saw a wonderful re-release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Shadow Complex was a great example of the Metroidvania game mechanics, and Muramasa on the Wii showed just how good 2D artwork can look. Street Fighter IV brought the venerable fighting game series back into the news, Marvel vs. Some of the best games of the year only used two dimensions. The Next Big Thing ended up being a frustrating, if still amusing, experience. We had a good time playing the game, and it's worth trying just to see all the good ideas put onto the cart, but the actual product falls very short of its promise and hype. The title was still innovative and original, but the interactions between objects were rather arbitrary, and the control scheme was maddening. Then we received our review copy of the game. Scribblenauts was the talk of E3, and was given breathless coverage in the weeks leading to its release. If you overlooked this one, we understand. ![]() Green Day: Rock Band is drawing snickers from the peanut gallery, and Guitar Hero: Van Halen redefines the idea of a lazy effort, but this one rhythm game showed just how much power is in the music of Metallica. The game was a cohesive look at the band's career that may have left a few people out-our apologies to Burton and Newsted-but was nevertheless worth your time and money. It sounded like a great mix tape created by the ultimate fan, and all the songs were as fun to play as they were to listen to. We were as skeptical as anyone, but the stages were epic, the songs were expertly coded, and the songs that weren't by Metallica were selected with care. The other game that got everything right? Guitar Hero: Metallica. It's a rare band that can handle an entire rhythm game dedicated to its music, and the Beatles: Rock Band proves that doing a band justice takes a whole lot of time, money, and love. ![]() If you're bored one afternoon and see this for $20 or so, do yourself a favor and slice some fools up. It was violent, fast-paced, and felt great to play. The game did have some problems, including a glitchy final act and some uninspired boss fights, but overall this is the Wolverine game we always wanted. The movie was a bloated, joyless wreck, but the game that tied into the movie wisely threw away everything but the voice and likeness of Hugh Jackman, went for a hard-M rating, and allowed Wolverine to do what he does best: kill the crap out of everyone who gets in his way. Advertisementĭid you see X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the theaters? Remember that part that was good? Yeah, me neither. In terms of price, features, and performance, the Tournament Edition stick was one of the best ways to get an arcade-perfect experience in your home, minus the cigarette butts and bad lighting. Capcom 2, and Pac-Man Championship Edition on the Xbox Live Arcade. It wasn't wireless, but who cares? It worked great on Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Shortages be damned, this was a beautiful, functional arcade stick that you could easily rip apart and modify to fit your needs. Mad Catz Fighting Stick Tournament Edition. It sounds weird on paper, and it is, but it's also an elegant love letter to years we "wasted" in the basement with our digital and real life friends while the world passed us by outside. In the game you play various 8-bit challenges that lovingly poke fun at the conventions of NES-era gaming, complete with gaming magazines you can read for tips. You're sent back in time by a man who simply wants someone to play video games with his younger self. Retro Game Challenge was one of the best surprises of the year. 2009 was crazy, so let's begin with the year-end Golden Ars awards. and then they head to the comments to duke it out.īut the holidays should be about caring, love, and inclusion! With that in mind, we're going to hand out a wide variety of awards, both good and bad, to show just what we loved and, well, didn't love this year. Since everyone has a different idea about what constitutes a game of the year, people invariably go into those lists with a firm idea of what they want to see. Everyone has a pick for game of the year, and many sites are giving us lists for game of the decade. The gaming staff at Ars Technica has spent the past few weeks trying to avoid the multitudes of gaming lists that have been flooding the RSS feeds.
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