It’s been a long road. The smashing year 2009 came and went, and now here we are: choosing our favorites of the year. After a long month of arguing, fist fights, high fives, and liquor, we’ve come to the conclusion that we all have some pretty varied tastes here at the ‘Quest. We’ve managed to play great games across the majority of consoles, hand-helds, mobile, and PC, and have created our list of our Top 5 of the year.
A little inside baseball: For this list we’ve used the 5-4-3-2-1 grading scale for our picks. We realize that there are other methods, but in the end we utilized the simplest one. We also realize that this list may not have satisfied everyone on our team or even our readers. We’ve decided to list our editors’ and authors’ individual picks at the bottom, to allow our readers to see just what got us to the final 5 and to allow everyone to know what we’ve been playing and loving all year.
With that said, let’s begin with #5!
5. New Super Mario Bros Wii
The latest edition in the long-lasting Nintendo series should probably have been named “Super Mario Bros 5” to distance itself from the DS counterpart that many often mix it up with, as it is a completely new and fun experience. Containing all of the hard core flavor of the classic Mario games, for the first time the entry brought us 4-player co-op action that somehow managed to create enough chaos to keep the replay value at an all-time high. Oh, and it managed to end several friendships in the span of a weekend.
4. Modern Warfare 2
Modern Warfare 2 may not have been as ground-breaking as it’s predecessor, but it did provide an exceptional FPS experience. Some might say that it was a terrific iteration rather than an all-encompassing new game. Whatever you might think, it still stands as a wonderfully fun experience, and the additions to the multiplayer modes are what have made the franchise the best around.
3. Uncharted 2
Being the good sequel to one of the best games on the PS3 may be a tough act to follow, but Uncharted 2 did just that… and more. The game not only capitalized on the wonderful cast of characters that the series had already built up, but it also added an incredible story, gorgeous mountain and jungle visuals, and a surprisingly deep and fun multiplayer to boot. Nathan Drake is the only modern action hero you need to know, point simple.
2. Assassin’s Creed 2
The original Assassin’s Creed had a lot of promise, but failed to deliver. Falling victim to an incredibly repetitive mechanic doomed the game from the start. The sequel, taking place in Renaissance times, improves on the original’s shortcomings in almost every way. Assassin’s Creed II had lush visuals, an enigmatic lead, a supporting cast (including an uncle Mario and Leonardo Da Vinci), and a story filled with action, adventure, and medieval backstabbing… err, assassinatering. Assassin’s Creed II showed us what a good sequel can do to a franchise as we wait intently for III.
1. Red Faction: Guerilla
Explosions? Check. Jet packs? Check. MARS? CHECK! Red Faction: Guerilla may not have been the highest-rated game of the year. It didn’t sell the most. It came out at an awkward time (E3 week). Heck, it wasn’t even as great as other games in it’s open world sci-fi genre (inFamous is calling our names). But what it did do, it did great. The game managed to suck in more of our time over the summer than any other, providing both fun single-player and well-engineered multiplayer modes. RF:G wasn’t mind blowing, and it didn’t need to be. It was just plain fun. Who couldn’t fall in love with the incredible physics or the unique variety of weapons? Oh yeah, and JETPACKS ON MARS! It appeared on more of our lists than any other game. Red Faction: Guerilla, congratulations on being our Game of the Year.
Want to know how we got to the SQ top 5 of 2009? Our Editors and Authors have thought long and hard about their lists, which we’ve compiled most of below. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to let us know how wrong we are in our comments.
Ryan Gan:
1. Assassin’s Creed II
2. Uncharted 2
3. Modern Warfare 2
4. Flower
5. Battlefield 1943
Dali Dimovski:
1. Uncharted 2
2. New Super Mario Bros Wii
3. Red Faction: Guerrilla
4. Batman: Arkham Asylum
5. Shadow Complex
Yaniv Pereyaslavsky
1. Red Faction: Guerrilla
2. Episodes from Liberty City: The Ballad of Gay Tony
3. Modern Warfare 2
4. Uncharted 2
5. The Sims 3
Mike McGarrigle:
1. Borderlands
2. Modern Warfare 2
3. Red Faction: Guerrilla
4. Ghostbusters
5. Shadow Complex
Mike Wehner:
1. Red Faction: Guerrilla
2. Beatles Rock Band
3. Assassin’s Creed II
4. Retro Game Challenge
5. Modern Warfare 2
Aaron Kirchoff:
1. Assassin’s Creed II
2. ‘Splosion Man
3. Battlefield 1943
4. Shadow Complex
5. Flower
Doug Lang
1. New Super Mario Bros Wii
2. WiiSports Resort
3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
4. Punch Out!!
5. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
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