Best of 2009 - Honorable Mentions, Part One

And now for those unfortunate games that just didn't quite cut the mustard. In some alternate universe these could be just as deserving of a slot in the top ten, but for some reason they got left behind. They are grouped here so they can at least get some shot at the recognition they so clearly deserve.

Fallout 3 DLC

The elusive definition of a “good value” in gaming is getting trickier and trickier to define in these times of inevitable downloadable content, dirt cheap iPhone games, and digital distribution that sometimes costs inexplicably as much as a physical product.

I have not lost sight of the fact that the downloadable expansions for Fallout 3 have cost me nearly as much as buying the game new in the first place. This on top of the fact that I paid extra for the Limited/Collector’s/Special/Suckers edition, which is an entirely different maddening variable in the value equation.

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Best of 2009 - Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Putting this list together has truly made me realize what a good year this has been for gaming, which is surprising considering that my reaction otherwise might have been to suggest that 2009 was a mediocre year.

Nowhere was this proliferation of terrific games more obvious, and more troublesome, than when attempting to choose the candidate for this very entry. I reserved it for those games I played only at the tail end of the year. 

The problem was, I was hit with more last-minute awesomeness than I expected. Some truly deserving games were left behind, relegated, perhaps unfairly, to the Honorable Mentions category. 

The other two candidates, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Borderlands, are both safer choices. I picked both up expecting them to be fun and they were. There were no surprises with either, but they were both quite fun.

But Silent Hill: Shattered Memories ultimately stuck with me the most because, frankly, it surprised me. In a year of sure things, Shattered Memories was an unexpected pleasure; a nice, refreshing dose of unique. 

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Best of 2009 - Street Fighter IV

Some games have gotten recognition from me on this rather insignificant list because of how individually spectacular they are. There was something amazing or addictive or original about many of the games discussed so far that put them on a level above other products released this year.

Street Fighter IV gets the nod for another reason. Sure it’s a terrifically crafted, well-polished game, but the real reason it stood out to me in 2009 is because it marked the first time any fighting game other than my beloved Soulcalibur series had ever managed to truly hook me.

That’s quite an accomplishment.

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Best of 2009 - Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

As one year transitions into the next, I find it a healthy and refreshing endeavor to look back upon the past year and reflect upon those experiences which touched me the most; to discover which games stood tall above the rest and, for one reason or another, made a lasting impression.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing my own personal list of the ten best games of 2009, followed by those that didn't quite make the top ten and even a few of my greatest disappointments of the year. These are in no particular order, but they are the games I found most worthy of praise. Reflecting upon them makes one thing clear: it was a great year for gaming.

It’s nice to be reminded in this age of grit, dirt, grime, and seas of brown that colors are occasionally fun as well.

A Crack in Time not only stands proudly by its use of colorful visuals, but it does so in a way that creates what is undoubtedly one of the prettiest games of the year.

Not bad for a game that practically flies in the face of current mainstream artistic preferences. 

Honestly I don’t really know what to say about this series that I haven’t said before except that it’s simply astounding that it’s still this much fun after so many iterations. No one other than Nintendo has managed to produce gameplay formulas that are this consistently entertaining. I’ve played and beaten every game in the series so far, making for eight games total including this one, and I’m still completely in love with it. That’s damn near a better track record than Zelda.

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Best of 2009 - F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

As one year transitions into the next, I find it a healthy and refreshing endeavor to look back upon the past year and reflect upon those experiences which touched me the most; to discover which games stood tall above the rest and, for one reason or another, made a lasting impression.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing my own personal list of the ten best games of 2009, followed by those that didn't quite make the top ten and even a few of my greatest disappointments of the year. These are in no particular order, but they are the games I found most worthy of praise. Reflecting upon them makes one thing clear: it was a great year for gaming.

Sometimes what a game needs to succeed is not oodles of originality. Sometimes all it takes for a game to work its way into my heart is for it to know what it wants to be and to work its little butt off being as good at that as it can.

Little about F.E.A.R. 2, or its predecessor for that matter, is original. The creepy environments you wander through in the game include, off the top of my head, a hospital, an office building, a subway station, and an elementary school. If there was an alphabet of horror environments, I bet these would be A, B, C, and D they’re so common. 

But it doesn’t matter.

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