It’s the beginning of a new year, which means that it is time for that sacred ritual that we celebrate every January. Gaming bloggers the world over crawl out of their caves, shake off the crust in their eyes, and make boastful proclamations about which games were the best of the previous year. They declare which games will live on, and which will sink into the Gamestop bargain bins.

Well, why should Brian “The Oracle of the Rocky Mountain” Crecente have all of the glory? We have opinions too! Over the next few days, we’re going to call out all of our favorite games of 2009, divided by platform.

So, click through the link, read about our favorite Wii games, and tell us yours’ in the comments!

[Edgar Doiron - Boom Blox Bash Party]

The first Boom Blox was a blast to play with friends, and EA only improved with the sequel. This game has it all - online level sharing, new multiplayer modes, and more levels. Bash Party is a must-have this year for everyone that likes multiplayer on the Wii.

Did I mention that its use of the Wii controller actually makes sense?

[Jody Anthony - ExciteBots]

It was a tough call for me between House of the Dead: Overkill and ExciteBots, but I think in the end ExciteBots is the one for me. ExciteTruck was one of my favorite launch games ever, and to me ExciteBots is even better. It took all the frantic fun racing from ExciteTruck and intensified it with all sorts of mini games. It’s kind of like WarioWare meets racing. In the end, while there were a ton of great Wii games this year, nothing quite beat the rush I got from playing ExciteBots.

I still need to get back in and get the S-ranks on all of the races. Highly recommended.

[Gregory Gay - House of the Dead: Overkill]

How can you not love a game about two zombie-slaying motherfuckers?

I may feel like an old coot when I hear kids talking about their Halos and their Modern Warfares, but I was still a little too young to really grow up in the arcade. My coin-op years weren’t spent on scrolling shooters or chasing ghosts through a maze, but rather on fighting games and light gun shooters. Games like Area 51 and the first House of the Dead were like a revelation for me. Even with their primitive 3D, the fact that I was standing there with a hefty gun in my hand was amazingly immersive. I loved my Super Nintendo (well, Nintendo 64 by this point), but there was something insanely cool about blasting apart aliens with a real-ish weapon in my hand.

With all of this love for light-gun shooters, you would think that I’d be in heaven on the Wii - I haven’t been. Link’s Crossbow Training was nothing more than a quick distraction and Umbrella Chronicles was just bad. I ended up with House of the Dead: Overkill on impulse and, wow, I’m glad that I picked it up.

There are few things that I love more than an awful B-movie, and Overkill apes that aesthetic perfectly. From the Grindhouse-like movie trailers to the bad motherfucker, Isaac Washington, Overkill bleeds the blood of the 70’s exploitation flick. Anybody who had drunkenly cheered along with a movie like Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter should buy this game based on style alone.

That same style drips into the game design - House of the Dead: Overkill is a game that knows what it wants to be. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and it doesn’t try to be “art.” It’s a cheesy, low-budget game for the Wii, and it is perfectly comfortable to be just that. Overkill is a short game - with seven levels that take about thirty minutes each. That’s it. Minor gun upgrades are as deep as the gameplay gets, and you know what? That’s just fine. Grab the game, a friend, a couple of Perfect Shots, and a case of beer, and you’ll be set for the night of your life.

Let the PS3 and the Xbox have the Uncharteds and the Dragon Ages, those big-budget games that push the boundaries of the medium. For me, the Wii has always the system for fun, simple games. I feel like I’m twelve years old again and standing at that same House of the Dead machine in the mall arcade. There are “better” games on other systems, even on the Wii, but no other game this year has given me that same pressure-free, nostalgic fun.

[Nick Luckett - Madworld]

First, let me state that I feel blessed as a gamer every time a unique game like Madworld comes out. Games that have their own personality and are free from any kind of franchise. I almost always run out and buy them just for the fact that I fully support game makers trying new stuff and I have this fear that the game will be produced in such limited numbers that I’ll never get to play it.

A lot of times these games end up being severely flawed. And I’m fine with a bit of a flawed game for a great experience. Luckily, MadWorld manages to be simply a great game.

The real shock to me upon booting up MadWorld was just how much love and attention had been poured into this game. I’m not sure why, but I expected a much more bargain bin experience. Or even a No More Heroes type of experience. You know the one; cool concept, unique graphics, sorta fun to play, but gives you a bit of buyers remorse. With MadWorld I felt none of that.

MadWorld is my Wii game of the year because it blew my mind. It provided an experience unlike anything I have had before which comes from the whole package being more than the sum of its parts. Now I just wish we could get an animated series (or at least a Machinima series).

[rbelmont - Metroid Prime Trilogy]

There’s not a lot to say about this game, since all of the individual components have been previously released. So, I’ll keep this short and just show you some numbers - 97, 92, 90. These are the aggregate scores of the three Metroid Prime games released on Gamecube and Wii. Another number - 45 - is the hours of total gameplay among the three games. Finally, 50 is the number of dollars that this fantastic trilogy costs.

There is no reason for every Wii owner not to own this game. It is up there with Brawl and Galaxy as a must own. Not only do you get all three of these games on one disc, but you get to play all of them with the beautifully implimented Metroid Prime 3 control scheme.

If you, for some reason, do not already own this game, go out and buy it immediately.

[Nick Rumas - Wii Sports Resort]

This game was made for me. It may have been a fun-but-forgettable romp for many, but I love it so much that I’m sure I’ll look back on it ten years from now and call it one of my favorite games of all time. I love every single activity, and I adore Wuhu Island, which totally reminds me of Super Mario Sunshine’s Isle Delfino. I do believe this is intentional, and it makes me very happy.

I realized from the first time I played Wii Sports that I was very much in tune with Nintendo’s philosophy behind the ‘Wii Something’ line, and Wii Sports Resort was the game that really cemented this for me. I love how Nintendo is encouraging people to enjoy games in a casual and physically active way, not as a time-sucking obsession, but as a refreshing accent in life. I’ll never stop loving the hardcore games that keep me up all night, but it’s great to have material like this from Nintendo that’s such a vivid contrast to such ‘traditional’ experiences.

I said I was going to buy Wii Music way back when, but I ended up getting cold feet. Wii Sports Resort has given me so much joy, though, that I’m going to take that leap of faith and pick it up sometime soon. I have a feeling I’ll like it.