(Since I changed my name, I thought I might as well repost my last blog entry. Dunno why.)

So 2008 was a pretty great year for gamers. We got stuff like Everyday Shooter (in Europe), Lost Odyssey, Braid, World of Goo, Metal Gear Solid 4, Left 4 Dead, CTDS, TatsuCap... Man, the list is endless. And I thought this year would suck ass. I'm glad I was proven wrong.
Anyway, time to flog this dead horse some more.

10. Kirby Super Star Ultra



Oh lord. I've been waiting for an update to this game ever since I sifted curiously through a bargain bin in 1998 and found the original version of this gem. Thankfully, they haven't messed with much and it's still as fun to play as it was all those years ago. They've added some pretty nifty 3D FMV's and some minigames (as well as some new modes, which are fun but not really notable), and overall, I would say this is the definitive version, despite the lack of precision SNES control.

9. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix



I'm not gonna lie; I'm terrible at this game. I never was good at SFII, and (apparently) never will be. But I still love it. UDON did an amazing job with the graphics, redrawing all the models from scratch to fit the HD upgrade and they look fantastic. OCRemix were chosen to take of the soundtrack and the remixed themes of Ryu, Ken, and the rest sound great. I personally like Akuma's stage. Of note is the new dip switch menu, which allows you to alter minor things that may or may not affect gameplay (it won't be of interest to beginners), like certain invincibility frames and things of that nature. I hope Backbone are contracted to tackle Street Fighter III: Third Strike HD Remix, as I would completely rape at that.

8. Braid



Ah, Braid. How you taunted us with your indie art fag pretence and made us drool with your delicious painted visuals. How were we to ever know that there'd be a top quality game under all those layers of superciliousness? There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Most people's opinions tend to revolve around the notion that if you don't like Braid, you're not worth knowing. And I've got to agree.

7. World of Goo



A lot of people are gonna hate me for ranking this above Braid, but I genuinely feel that they're on the same level. I couldn't rank them as one since they're radically different games and I had just a bit more fun with WoG. To the uninitiated, World of Goo seems like a strange concept; you drag a bunch of goo balls into increasingly intricate structures to get to the exit. Which makes it all the more amazing that it works so well, and is immensely fun to fuck around with.

6. Metal Gear Solid 4



The game that receives consistently high praise, even from our resident cynic Anthony Burch. The game that raised the bar so ridiculously high for graphics that only Crysis manages to match it. The game that has possibly the most convoluted, most ridiculously complex story in any current medium. All this, and it works completely in the game's favour. The only criticism that reviewers seem to have is with the horrifically lengthy cutscenes, in which the characters tend to reiterate far too much, but we're fine with that as it's a story/character that most of us grew up with and need to see it through to it's conclusion. Shockingly, (I've played it through again recently for the first time since I've beaten it) it doesn't get frustrating knowing what's going to happen and sitting through (literally) hours of drivel. How Kojima managed to pull that off I'll never know, but hats off to the man; he clearly knows how to please his audience.

5. Chrono Trigger DS



SPOILER ALERT
Do I really need to elaborate?
Mention CT to any SNES-er and they'll go off on a tirade about how 16-bit was the golden age of gaming and how CT revolutionized the genre in terms of what a developer could really do with a story. Chrono Trigger incorporated numerous innovations for its time that included:
Activities you did (or didn't) do in the past having a significant effect on the environment when you skip forward to the future;
13 different endings, which was practically unheard of for a game at that time (later expanded upon with games such as Star Ocean 2, with 80+ endings), and this port actually includes a new ending that directly ties CT in with it's spiritual sequel, Chrono Cross;
A unique battle system in which you could combine character's techniques into more powerful, flashier moves which (awesomely) utilized Mode 7;
and a lot of other stuff that I can't recall right now. But basically, if you've got a DS, you owe it to yourself to get this game. Plus it's got a pretty great new translation, though Frog doesn't talk in his stereotypical Shakespearean medieval knight dialect anymore. :(

4. Castle Crashers



Fun.
An alien concept to most multinational/evil games companies these days. As Yahtzee puts it, "you could be forgiven for thinking that fun is optional in today's games" (if I recall that quote correctly). As most of us unfortunately know, developers often sacrifice fun in the quest for uber realism (see: GTAIV, Mirror's Edge, CoD:WaW) so it's up to companies like The Behemoth to inject pure, unadulterated doses of the stuff directly into our hardened, dry veins. Castle Crashers is an absolute blast to play, easily one of the best co-op games ever made and contender for best downloadable game ever. It's got tons of crap for your 1200 points. In fact, the only thing I ever hear people whining about is the cost (the three Dtoid podcasts discussed this before; Podtoid thoroughly), which is bullshit as I've spent more time on CC than I have almost every other big name 60 quid game that's come out in the last year. But anyway, to sum the game up for people who mightn't know, it's basically Golden Axe mixed with Alien Hominid. And it's amazing. Go buy it right now if you haven't; you'll thank me later.

3. Soulcalibur (XBLA)



Soulcalibur is the best 3D fighter ever made. (With the possible exception of Rival Schools 2)
Many of you will disagree; some of you may even suggest (wrongly) that the sequels are better. While I dislike relying on popular opinion to get my point across, just look at the scores. They don't lie, son. And it's still a real kick in the balls to play today, as it's still extremely precise even when compared to it's recent 4th instalment. I'm not entirely sure what it is that makes it great; the amazing graphics (for it's time)? The 60fps precision gameplay? The wealth of uniquely styled characters (not counting the clones)? I dunno. But I know one thing for sure, that I (and many others) hold it close to my heart as the first fighter I ever truly mastered.

2. Lost Odyssey



Once again, I'm not gonna lie; this game made me cry. Not just once, but several times. I don't want this to come across as douchebaggish, but I've never cried over a vidya gaem before this. People who've played it know what I'm talking about; this game is incredible. It's mechanics are rigidly adherent to the classic RPG formula of turn based combat with only a miniscule twist (the ring system), but it works solidly and needs no interference with. There are two reasons why you need to play this game; the main story, and the Thousand Years of Dreams sequences which tell you more about Kaim, your main character. Literally the first one I watched made me tear up; it was that emotionally engaging. They were (IIRC) penned by someone unrelated to Mistwalker, but that man deserves some sort of award for truly outstanding writing. Though the main story sounds formulaic on paper, in action it's a sight to behold.
In short, the best story driven game of the year. Even surpassing MGS4's incoherent babble.

1. No More Heroes



You had to have seen this coming. I LOVE this game, so much so that it's quite high in my top games of all time. Everything about this game screams auteur; the retro (i.e. not as good as it could've been) graphical style, the repetitive yet strangely addictive gameplay, the gaming satire... Ugh. Words cannot express how much I adore this game, so imagine if you will a young pasty faced lad hugging Suda51 til his bodyguards come tear me, er... I mean, "him" away. Yeah, then you'll start to understand just how freakin' awesome NMH is. It's sequel (Desperate Struggle) and the inevitable new Zelda are the only reasons I'm keeping my Wii. Oh and not-homebrew emus.

So there you have it. I know that a lot of people disagree with remakes/ports coming in GOTY lists, but I genuinely feel that they were significant and/or improved enough to warrant a spot. I mean, there're people out there who are picking up Soulcalibur IV for the first time and thoroughly enjoying it; and for them to miss out on the classic original would be a travesty. Same deal with Chrono Trigger; it never came out in Europe, after all.