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Best of 2009

So there's some kind of Best of Giant Bomb Reader's Choice Top Ten...thing, and I thought that I would chime in with my personal Top 10. Of course I felt like a tool for excluding a few games so I transformed it into a Top Fifteen. I figure that only the top ten games will be counted when the charismatic GB staff count the votes, and that's fine; House of the Dead Overkill needs all the help it can get in the voting. So without further ado, here is a random stranger's Top 15 personal favoritist games of the year.

List items

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum

The Batman game is pretty damned great, if I say so myself. Part of it may be because it's not the sequel to another game and thus the whole experience is all fresh, but oh well. Any flaws and complaints one makes with Arkham Asylum feel like such petty nitpicks, false fears and ideas placed in your head by the Scarecrow in a faint attempt to mislead you, stray you from the path of justice. But Batman will prevail, and Batman gets my vote for 2009's best game.
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10

The recent Tiger Woods scandals have done little to deter my affection for this year's Tiger Woods game. In fact, knowing that a wholesome EA Sports game is endorsed by sports' most unfaithful man (to be caught anyways) makes me enjoy the experience even more. I am specifically talking about the Wii version, which was the first great MotionPlus-supported release. In turn, any chance I had of finding novelty out of Wii Sports Resort died a cold death.
4. Punch-Out!!

Punch-Out(!!) on the Wii is great for several reasons. The gameplay is simple enough that anyone who can comprehend the benefit of not getting punched in the face can pick up and play. Each fight is a challenging brawl that rewards players who practice and gut out each fight. And most of all, Punch-Out understands the power of personality; bosses take each chance to hop around, bragging and yelling to the player "hey, look at me, I'm French, I'm gonna get my ass kicked." Political correctness is not this game's strong point, but then again, neither is the life of Tiger Woods.
5. Demon's Souls

December 24th 2010: Even though a year has passed since this list has been relevant, I feel obligated to make one late, last addition. Between the harsh punishments for death and how the only assists given to the player are in the forms of random warnings from other, untrustworthy players, Demon's Souls feels very cruel. But that cruelty also fills you with a sense of dread and danger as you explore dangerous areas filled with things that want to kill you. This is the only dungeon crawler that actually feels like you are crawling through real dungeons...on your knees because you are on the verge of death!
6. The House of the Dead: OVERKILL

No, I'm not trying to be "edgy" by placing three Wii games ahead of the likes of Assassin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age, let alone whatever other big games I neglected on this list. But I sure as shit loved The House of the Dead Overkill. Old movies that you were too young to have seen get spoofed, zombies get their brains blown out, and the American Flag waves with pride if you get a high enough kill-streak. Sure, the combined game experience is about as long as Assassin's Creed 2's tutorial, but you'll be too disgusted to care.
7. Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed 2 is the reverse turd sandwich. The beginning tutorial process is slow, plodding and almost insulting. The ending is SHITE and so far-fetched that it kills buzz for Assassin's Creed 3, Matrix Reloaded-style. But the middle part of the game, where you're thinking more about killing people followed by more killing people, is a whole lot of fun and well worth the investment. It's also a fun little history piece, presenting the greatest depiction of 1800s Italy ever designed by French programmers.
8. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

Blazblue is a game that hates newcomers. I find that to be a bit of an awkward situation being that this is the first installment of a new franchise. Had the Special Edition with the tutorial DVD not been the last copy of the game available at the store then I would have surely choked under the pressure of learning this new game. But learn I did, and Blazblue is as fun and deep and demented a fighter as any Guilty Gear before it.
9. UFC 2009 Undisputed

I've said this many times over, and I'll say it again. It's amazing how Yukes creates such a deep, properly-presented and accurate UFC game with a great online system on the first try, and have struggled to do so on all fronts with the Smackdown games for almost ten years. Next year's game has a tough act to follow. We'll find out if additions like Kimbo Slice's beard and Roy Nelson's belly are enough to carry UFC 2010.
10. Dragon Age: Origins

So I'm about halfway through Dragon Age right now...or at least I think I'm halfway, I'm not too sure, the game's so damn big. It's like Bioware felt inadequate because people finished Mass Effect in only ten hours...not regarding that "ten hours" is a whole lot of time in the Blackberry-generation of people working multiple jobs and neglecting loved ones for business trips and their subsequent infidelities. Back to Dragon Age, it's a pleasant revival of the Bioware RPGs of old, by with a story that pushes boundaries...perhaps to a point of ridiculousness. Dwarves with a caste system? That's a bit comical.
11. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

I feel as though at least two or three people close to me will attempt an assassination if I at least don't place Modern Warfare 2 in the top ten. The campaign is still oodles of fun and Spec Ops is a neat way to kill a weekend or twelve with a friend. But I will never, EVER, wrap my mind around the online multiplayer. I like to win from time to time, you know.
12. Trine

Trine is fine. It's a fun little platform-puzzle thingy with such a reliance on physics that you can get by inventing your own "solutions" to problems. Either you'll have a fun time thinking that you're defying the developers' intended logic, or the game is just great at faking that feeling. I can't decide.
13. Deadly Creatures

If anyone wants to know why I think so highly of Deadly Creatures, I can explain in a simple sentence. "This is a game where you play as a scorpion and a tarantula." Anymore elaboration is unnecessary.
14. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

Or rather "The Lost and Damned" because I haven't played The Ballad of Gay Tony. Curse the Xbox and its small hard drive. Call it a testament to how well Grand Theft Auto 4 has aged that the gameplay is still civilian-killing fun. The biker theme was also fully realized in a manner that made you feel macho without any Village People association.
15. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The opposite of Bowser's Inside Story, the Wolverine game is very gory. Limbs get sliced, blood splatters, and organs are exposed as Wolverine's healing factor gets pushed to Jesus-like levels. As far as God of War clones go, it's a solid, underrated entry that makes no attempt to present any religious or moral implications like the soon-to-be-infamous God of War clone "Dante's Inferno." You play as Wolverine and things that are in front of you have a habit of perishing. Simple premise, eh?
16. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

One year after watching Sonic the Hedgehog fail spectacularly at a serious-toned RPG, Nintendo rebounds by creating the goofiest and strangest "quest" in a good while. Mario and Luigi find themselves exploring the innards of Bowser in what is also the most PG-friendly rendition of anatomy ever presented in a game.