2009 was one of the more surprising years in gaming history, and it took a long, long time to decide what deserved the most attention. So many good games, so little space! Looking at everything that hit the shelves during 2009 was overwhelming. Capcom, SNK, and Sega got back into putting out quality titles in consistency from 2008, and in 2009 it didn't stop. 2009 was also full of surprises; some good, some not. Capcom released several high-caliber titles to the dismay of wimpy editors everywhere, Sega made Quentin Tarantino look bad at what he does best, Nintendo and Konami honored memory lane by resurrecting their best IPs, and the industry lost one of its Taito greats. Overall, 2009 was nostalgic (with retro-style co-op titles across the board), but turbulent at the same time. It seemed like even more high-caliber, quality titles went unnoticed and/or unnappreciated in 2009 than in previous years...

Title: Punch-Out!! (Nintendo)
Back before his fall from grace (and the recent, saddening loss of his daughter), Iron Mike kicked my ass. On a daily basis, in his own game: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Man, even in the game, he was nothing short of frightening. I didn't lose to him because I was bad at the game, no. I lost to him because I was terrified. I never did beat him, but the memories are still fond. Then came Super Punch-Out!!, and since there was no Iron Mike in it, I kicked a lot of ass. The game was great, and I always wondered why Nintendo hadn't ever made one for the Nintendo 64. It always seemed like a great fit, but it never happened. So, when I saw that a new one was coming to the Wii, I beat the shit out of Poke'mon dolls everywhere (to tell them they lost). It's good to see Nintendo putting out good games, again; the animation is right up with Tatsunoko VS Capcom, and the overall feel of the game is great. I hear even Donkey Kong was put in! It would have been cool if they would have secured licensing to put boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in it and called it Pacqui-Out!!

Title: Contra -ReBirth- (Konami)
Gradius was remade on the Wii, and when they did it, Konami took the utmost care in not offending all the self-proclaimed "fans" who protest evolution. They went on to do the same with Contra, and it was good to see! As long as it's 2-D with throwbacks to the older games, demanding "fans" won't get their panties in a bunch, right? Self-proclaimed "fans" are never happy with what they got, so regardless of what they say, I say that Konami did a great job worth noting. I liked every Contra before it (yes, even Legacy of War), so embracing Contra -ReBirth- wasn't hard for me. Then again, I wasn't out demanding the game...

Title: Ghosts 'N Goblins - Gold Knights (Capcom)
Too much attention was paid to Mr. Redfield's awesome biceps in Resident Evil 5. RE5 is not perfect, but it deserves to be in a legitimate category for 2009; not "having the character most likely to fail a performance-enchancing drug test," or some other contrived bullshit category. "Massively multi-media" idiots doing what they do best! Resident Evil 5 is still one of the best games of 2009, but it is Capcom's return to survival horror form with Ghosts 'N Goblins - Gold Knights, however, that deserves the recognition more. We expected RE5 to kick a horse's ass, but GNGGK was a real surprise. Based on the original survival horror series, GNGGK features all the boxer-leaping, ladder-climbing, lance-firing, demon-slaying action that the series is praised for, but with customization options, a new character (Lancelot!), unique play mechanics, and new modes, to boot! This time it's actually enjoyable, though; like Maximo: Army of Zin, GNGGK ditches the ridiculous difficulty that plagued previous entries in the series! Before the game was released, everyone saw it running on iPhone and claimed it'd be the least playable game in the series, to date; funny, because it's one of the most playable in the series, to date. Booyay!

Title: Bust-A-Move Neo (Taito)
The year had two notable puzzlers. One from Taito (Bust-A-Move Neo), and one from Capcom (BombLink). Both were surprises, and both were tons 'o fun! You can't go wrong with any version of Bust-A-Move, so its HD debut was a welcome addition to the series. BombLink, on the other hand, was a game that nobody had heard of. Capcom doesn't make many puzzlers, but it's easy to see why they thought BombLink was profitable; it's a puzzle game with touch control, and it's good! Magical Drop Touch was also another touch-based puzzler, and it's every bit as good as BombLink. So then, with two other impressive, innovative titles in the same year, what made Bust-A-Move Neo so special? Not long after its release, the Bust-A-Move series creator passed away. This is a tribute of sorts to him, and a showing of thanks for creating a series with such memorable characters that brought joy to so many. It may not have made "massively multiplayer media" headlines, but the games industry has lost one of the greats.

Title: House Of The Dead - Overkill (Sega)
Goodness! Can it be? Sega of America was in charge of a House of the Dead game and actually did better with it than the almighty Sega of Japan? Yes. The fourth entry in the series was released sometime earlier, but due to hardware reluctance on the part of Sega Japan, it was never brought home. Instead of even trying to bring the disappointing HOTD4 to American homes, Sega of America instead chose to bring fans more. And more they brought, in the form of a completely new entry...for the Wii! Yeah, Quintin Terantino is a stupid, overrated asshole who makes shit movies, and I don't like him. So, when I heard that this new HOTD took inspiration from his shit movies, I was disappointed. That is, until I buckled and had to see what all the talk was about. Even half-way through the game, it was quickly apparent that they did better with the game than he ever did with any of his movies. This game will make you dump your Terantino DVD collection of overrated "cult-classics" right into the trash!

Title: Mushihime Sama Futari Ver. 1.5 (Cave)
It's impossible not to give Cave the respect they deserve. Regardless of worldwide recession, misguided "gamers," and a diluted scene, they continue to pump out quality titles, year after year. While all the big guns go on and on about the recession and its effects on the industry, Cave has their head turned the other way (working on their next big project). And if you haven't heard about it yet, the game is region-free, so fans of the genre have absolutely no excuse not to buy the game. Cave, represent!

Title: KOF XII (SNK)
SNK's highly-anticipated KOFXII was deemed a failure by the very same scene that over-hyped it and made it an "E3 pick." SNK has made progress in addressing overexaggerated cries of "bad netcode" (mostly by "copy/paste" idiots who don't even know what it is), but it was too little, too late. Even though a lot of players have had good connections overall, bad news travels faster than bad news, and so the game's fate was sealed. The series was once rated solely upon its innovative design and animation, but now that it has acheived perfection in those areas, the scene has "moved on" and rated it on sex appeal and "netcode" alone. Even the new Samurai Shodown got more praise than KOFXII, and it's 3-D! You know the scene is overreacting when they break their strict "2-D > 3-D" code by using a 3-D game to "prove" a 2-D game is bad. True, I've always liked Samurai Shodown more (as a series) than KOF, but KOFXII really deserved more than it was given.

Title: SpyBorgs (Capcom)
Alien VS Predator and Captain Commando were two of the best side-scrolling games in their genres, ever. Striking design and gameplay similarities show how Capcom looked to the past for inspiration when they made SpyBorgs, and that's what makes it cool. Moreover, it was made for the commonly underestimated Wii, which made it even better! Quality titles like MegaMan 9, MadWorld, The House of the Dead - Overkill, and Punch-Out!! kept the hardware on a streak, and SpyBorgs kept it going strong. As far as I know, SpyBorgs is the first to implement motion controls into the side-sccrolling action genre, and with great results for a first attempt. To the shallow onlooker, the game comes off as "just another button-mashing brawl-fest," but the implementation of motion controls make the age-old assumption more baseless than ever. Motion control gestures correspond with the various moves that the game's spectacular team attacks are composed of (from slashes and stabs to slams and aerial assaults). Not only that, but the boss battles are a nice mix of fighting and quick-time events (something that was previously only in Capcom's action games). All of this white-knuckle fighting combines with polished multi-tiered fight locales, great facial expressions, and nostalgic audio to make SpyBorgs one of the must-have titles of 2009. For fans of the "Golden Age" (1990s) era of gaming, I cannot stress enough how fulfilling this game is; it comes very close to being the perfect co-op experience.

Title: Street Fighter IV [Championship Update] (Capcom)
Like last year (with SSFIITHDR), this is where I say what every other site has already said; SFIV is virtually perfect. Lush, brilliantly-modeled visuals in HD, stylish animation, added moves, new modes, and virtually seamless online play (even across the world). And, again, these things did more than just make it a great game; it all showed what Capcom USA was capable of. After all, it was Capcom USA who pushed Capcom of Japan to do it, and SFIV took even longer than SSFIITHDR to come out (eleven long years)! Instant classic to most, but qualms with balance, combo timing, and BGM keep it from attaining true perfection. Disappointingly, even amidst added characters, modes, and a Championship upgrade, these issues were not fixed. They could have easily patched over that horrendous "Destiny" song, too, but they didn't (to the dismay of fans everywhere). With more characters, modes, and better netowrk play, SFIV [Championship] is better than the original version of SFIV, but the questionable BGM is something that's impossible to ignore. It has got to be the worst, ever, in the history of video games. It's not that SFIV is a bad game, it's just that it could be a perfect game with some tweaks.

Title: TMNT: Turtles In Time Re-Shelled (Ubisoft)
Readers who remember the article we did on the old TMNT games probably remember how much we love them. I'm a huge Street Fighter fan, and like all the other fans, I think SFIV should be game for the year (especially with the stellar upgrades it got). But the element of surprise got me. For years, SFIV had been rumored, and was finally revealed. A re-make of TMNTTIT, however, was not. Nobody saw this one coming. Random sightings were reported, and it was completely unexpected. Nobody could have predicted a re-make of Konami's best side-scrolling action game, ever: Turtles In Time! And the resurrection would not have taken place without the help of Ubisoft; from top to bottom, they did incredible job on the game. Why? What big media sites fail to mention is how the game perfectly emulates the distinct, early 90's audio and visual style. The lush, lively animation and design of TMNTTITRS gives it the character and soul that too many recent games lack. No other site on the web probably made this game their game of the year, but I have (and with good reason). The development staff should be praised for successfully re-making a timeless classic. Get it, play it co-op with friends, and experience absolute gaming bliss.

The Gift Of Free Thought
So, there it is. Games I thought deserved to be noticed in 2009, for better or for worse. Most of the lists on other sites look the same. That would be fine...if we were all robots. We are human, though, and the thing that separates us from robots is that we can think on our own. So, then, why do we need mass-media "reviewers" to program "game(s) of the year" into our heads? We have brains, and we can use them by coming to our own conclusions. Not just in seeing what we think is our own game of the year, but in remembering that recent scandals have proven misconduct on the part of mass-media "reviewers." Our brains are capable of telling us that their misconduct renders what they say as highly questionable (to say the least). This was my 2009 best. Not GameSpot's, not GamePro's, not Game Informer's. With the exception of one or two titles anyone could easily predict, none of the titles on my list would be on any of their lists. SpyBorgs? No, because it didn't have a huge advertising campaign behind it. Mushihime Sama Futari Ver. 1.5? God no; Cave can't afford to buy a spot in the top ten of any magazine. And we all know what a great job they've did in brainwashing everyone that only old TMNT games are good. Apparently, we can't like anything that didn't take millions of dollars to make and advertise. Unless, of course, we think on our own. Think of what you (as an individual with your own taste and preference) enjoyed in 2009, and leave pre-programmed, pre-paid mass-media lists behind...