TNL's GotYs: official voting thread

[bVork]

Contra 4 was released in mid-November. So yeah, it counts as a 2007 game.

[Pineapple]

ok, go ahead and replace Rock Band for me.

game was ass. but more fun than Pool Party

[Bacon McShig]

Protip: posts can be edited.

[magnifiedplaid]

1) Heavenly Sword (PS3) - I just want to say fuck the haters of this game, and fuck all the people who whine and bitch about this game being too short. This was actually my favorite game that I played this year. Everything from the graphics and fighting engine, to the voice acting in the cutscenes is top notch. I haven't played a better hack n slash since "Sword of the Berserk" on the Dreamcast. Plus, I absolutely love the 5 hour length of this game. I consider it a strength, rather than a weakness, because it promotes replay value and its the perfect length for somebody who works full time, like me. I wish more games were only 5 hours

2) Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3) - This was one of only 2 games that I bothered to play through twice this year. This game nails the Indiana Jones vibe perfectly, and I can't wait to see Naughty Dog release a sequel. Here's to hoping they don't fuck it up by adding a GTA style overworld...

3) Metroid Prime 3 (Wii) - I was one of the first people to claim that this series wouldn't work from the first person view point. I'm just glad that I actually gave this series a chance on day one, when the first Prime was released, because the Metroid Prime franchise is still the best translation of a 2-D franchise into 3-D. Metroid Prime 3 may not be the best in the series, but it still offers everything that a Metroid fan should be looking for.

4) Mario Galaxy (Wii) - Somebody FINALLY nailed what a 3-D platformer should play like, with this game. After more than a decade of playing colleect-a-thons, we finally get a game that stays truer to its 2-D platforming roots. Its not a perfect game though, as the main quest can be slightly easy and collecting the rest of the stars, after you beat the game, becomes very tedious. Still, this game is a starting point, and I hope to see Nintendo improve on this formula with their next Mario game. Perhaps they can be bold, and just remove the whole damn collecting stars bullshit altogether, and just make the player play through a set of 120 levels or something?

5) Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3) - This was my first experience playing through a Ratchet and Clank game. I played the demos for all the Ratchets on the PS2, and I skipped over the games because I thought the demos were fairly "BLAH." Well, I didn't like the demo for this PS3 version either, but I bought the full game anyways to justify why I spent $600+ on a video game system. After playing through this game, I wonder what the hell I was missing from the PS2 games, because this was fantastic. In fact, I could ALMOST make a case for this being better than Mario Galaxy...only if those damn Clank stages, and a tad bit of backtracking, didn't drag this down a notch. Still, this was good enough that I will pick up all future games in the series.

6) Hotel Dusk (Nintendo DS) - Somtimes, visual style really elevates a game to levels of greatness that it may not have acheived otherwise. Hotel Dusk is one such game. Yes, I'm a sucker for the visual style of this game. I don't really care for a lot of the adventure games that are coming out on the DS, but this one kept me glued to the edge of my seat the whole time. Granted, its more an interactive novel than a game, but its still the best thing that was released on the DS this year.

7) Stuntman: Ignition (Xbox 360) - Its a damn shame that THQ is killing off this franchise, because I really enjoyed this game. This could have definitely been a "sleeper hit" for the 360, because it offers that type of trial and error gameplay that was essential to mastering older games. Luckily, the trial and error gameplay only serves to make you want to keep coming back for mor, and the game never gets old. I still highly recommend this game to anybody who hasn't played it yet.

8) Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360) - The best graphics and fighting system that I've seen from a next gen RPG so far. Its just too bad that the story was absolutely nonsensical bologna. That being said, I really don't think you can find a better RPG on the 360, PS3, or Wii at the moment.

9) Sega Rally Revolution (Xbox 360) - Again, I'm going to have to say fuck all the losers who hate on this game as well. This and DiRt were both very solid entries into the rally racing genre this year. However, I'm giving Sega Rally the slight edge, this year, due to the fact that I love the vibrant colors in Rally, (as opposed to the almost monochrome browns and grays that DiRt employs) and I love the old school "Sega Arcade Racing" feel much more than a more sim like racing game. I still believe this is a hidden gem among the 360's ever expanding library and I think everyone should give it a whirl if you find it for about $20.

10) Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360/PS3) - Yes, Virtua Fighter. Not much can really be said here. The Virtua Fighter series has always been the best playing 3-D fighting game series, and nothing has really knocked it from that podium. I'll be playing this for a few years, while I take a pass on the far more inferior Tekkens and Soul Caliburs of the world.


The "TNL Gets Ripped Off For Shitty Roms" Virtual Console Game of the Year Award:
Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - Even though this game was praised by everyone upon its release, the re-release of DKC on the virtual console is enough to make the majority of the TNL community continue their bitching about the games' inferiority to all other 2-D platformers. After being ripped off for this shitty ROM, I had to put up with the horrible "plastic" looking graphics and "unresponsive controls" that the TNL crowd has been bitching about for over a decade. Luckily, I didn't know any of you around the time this game was released, so I still believe DKC is an excellent game.

The "WOW! Do You Mean It? Yoshi Actually Likes A Wii Game" 2007 Award"

TIE: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) and Resident Evil 4 (Wii) - I'm not sure if RE4 was actually released in 2007, but rumor has it that these are the only two games Yoshi has enjoyed on the Wii so far. Thats a really well spent $250. My prediction for 2008: Yoshi will sell the Wii and all his games, and then he will buy another Wii 6 months from now when a new re-designed "Wii Lite" hits store shelves Yoshi will then remember why he didn't like the Wii in the first place, and he will proceed to start complaining about Mario Kart Wii, and its use of snaking, for years to come.

[Dipstick]

1) Bioshock
2) Portal
3) Pac-Man: C.E.
4) Mass Effect
5) Rock Band
6) Etrian Odyssey
7) Super Mario Galaxy
8) Project Gotham Racing 4
9) Picross DS
10) Virtua Fighter 5

The Odin Sphere Memorial Award For Biggest Disappointment: Odin Sphere.
The Award for F-channery Excellence in a Fighting Game: Melty Blood: Act Cadenza and Arcana Heart (tie). Melty Blood is the better game, but Arcana Heart is just absurdly channed out while still being a honest-to-God playable game.
The EvilMog/SamuraiMoogle Award for the game with the most whored out achievements: that damn Avatar game on the zboz.

[Pineapple]

Protip: posts can be edited.

That does not help to increase my post count, which is by far the most important thing on this site to me, followed closely by getting mad rep from the homies.

[AaronChance]

1. Rock Band
2. Earth Defense Force 2017
3. Mass Effect
4. Crackdown
5. skate
6. Orange Box
7. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
8. Lost Planet
9. Blue Dragon
10. Bioshock

[Anthony]

1. Guilty Gear accent core
2. Mass Effect
3. Earth Defense Force 2017