by Jody Anthony - 01.26.09
2008 was quite a year for gaming. We saw the PS3 and Wii through their terrible twos, as well as the 360 going through it’s third year. Not to mention the handhelds. 2008 was chock full of great releases on all fronts, from Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii, to Metal Gear Solid 4 and Little Big Planet on the PS3, to Fable 2, Fallout 3, and Left 4 Dead on the 360. On the DS side of things, we had Chrono Trigger DS, Castlevania, Order of Ecclesia, and about 896 other games. And then there was the PSP, which had some games as well, I think.
The only thing I picked up was Star Ocean. But I digress. Us on the staff had a hard time picking our favorites for the year, so we did the next best thing: We came up with our top 5 in a myriad of categories, and let you, our dear readers, pick what you thought were the best of our choices. We laughed, we cried, we ate some tacos. So read on to see what you picked to be some of the best of the best for 2008!
Best Art Design:
Prince of Persia
Little Big Planet
Mirror’s Edge
Okami
Mother 3
Winner - Little Big Planet, with 30.35% of the voteBest Sound and Music:
Chrono Trigger DS
Left 4 Dead
Dead Space
Super Smash Bros Brawl
LittleBigPlanet
Winner - Smash Bros Brawl, with 52.26% of the voteBest “Extended Audience” Title:
Personal Trainer: Cooking
Professor Layton
My Spanish Coach
WiiFit
My Japanese Coach
Winner - Wii Fit, with 50.00% of the vote (editors note: Personal Trainer: Cooking was totally robbed)Best WiiWare Game:
Mega Man 9
World of Goo
Orbient
Tetris Party
Strong Bad Season 1
Winner - World of Goo, with 45.77% of the voteBest XBLA Game:
Braid
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Geometry Wars 2
Portal: Still Alive
Castle Crashers
Winner - Braid, with 35.64% of the voteBest PSN Game:
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix
Penny Arcade Adventures Episodes 1/2
PixelJunk Eden
Mega Man 9
Winner - Mega Man 9, with 34.44% of the voteBest Virtual Console Release:
Super Mario RPG
Secret of Mana
Star Tropics
Phantasy Star II
Cho Aniki
Winner - Super Mario RPG, with 60.30% of the voteBest PC Game:
Wrath of the Lich King
Fallout 3
Left 4 Dead
Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria
Winner - Left 4 Dead, with 40.45% of the voteBest Handheld Game:
Mother 3
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Chrono Trigger DS
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Winner - Professor Layton, with 30.05% of the voteBest PS3/PS2 Game:
Little Big Planet
Fallout 3
Valkyria Chronicles
Metal Gear Solid 4
Persona 4
Winner - Little Big Planet, with 37.63% of the voteBest 360 Game:
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto 4
Prince of Persia
Rock Band 2
Left 4 Dead
Winner - Fallout 3, with 39.69% of the voteBest Wii Game:
de Blob
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Animal Crossing
Okami
Wario Land: Shake It!
Winner - Smash Bros Brawl, with 66.50% of the vote
Thanks to everyone that voted! Of course there were many games people felt were missing from our list. Keep in mind that the nominees in the different categories were just our staff choices, and don’t necessarily reflect the absolute best games of 2008, just the ones we enjoyed the most. Don’t agree with our choices for the categories? Let us know what you think should have won!
No, no… not “Left 4 Dead on the 360.” It’s, “Left 4 Dead on the PC.”
Simon - 01.26.09 1:31 pm
I personally would have gone with Lost Winds as the best Wiiware release and de Blob for best Wii game, but that’s just me.
EdEN - 01.26.09 1:34 pm
Brawl had the potential to be so much more. I’ve been back to Brawl now that the Brawl+ project is really taking steam.
Also: Want real internet play, Nintendo.
Shadic - 01.26.09 5:13 pm
Meh, while I do like Little Big Planet, I think it’s pretty overrated. Also, despite Mega Man 9 being awesome, I think the Penny-Arcade games should’ve won best downloadable PS3 game.
Juja - 01.26.09 5:48 pm
Meh, while I do like Little Big Planet, I think it’s pretty overrated. Also, despite Mega Man 9 being awesome, I think the Penny-Arcade games should’ve won best downloadable PS3 game.
Juja - 01.26.09 5:49 pm
Mother 3 won every category it was in in my opinion, though to be fair it came out in 2006 (2007?), not 2008.
Also to be fair, don’t even put it in competition. It’s easily the best and most important game of the past 5 years, if not the best and most important game since Earthbound/Mother 2. I’d say it should even be put above Grand Theft Auto III if it weren’t for GTA 3’s effect on the entire console market, whereas Mother 3 has just shown how absolutely perfect a game can be.
Baramos - 01.26.09 11:13 pm
I just beat Braid and I must say I got far more enjoyment from Bionic Commando: Rearmed.
Braid was great and all, just really easy and short. It did exactly what it set out to do, but it wasn’t as satisfying as I hoped it would be. I kinda regret buying it. I don’t see how everyone here put it ahead of the other games on the list.
DAMO SUZUKI - 02.01.09 9:13 pm