I should get something out of the way first: this is not the best games of 2009, in ranked order, out of all of the games that have released this year. This is instead my personal best of from 2009, out of what I have myself played. Most of these are games I have reviewed, but a few are games others reviewed here that I ended up playing eventually, or ones that we never reviewed but I loved anyways (usually, these are games picked up well after the fact). I would love to hear what you have enjoyed this year, but if there’s a game missing from this list, chances are good I haven’t played it, or I just didn’t like it quite as much as these titles. Voice your opinions anyways though, as dissent and discussions are welcome.

One other thing: I didn’t include ports or games with revamped controls. There is one exception, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, but that’s because it was completely revamped from the original Famicon version, unlike say, Dragon Quest V, which is the PSX version with a few new bells and whistles. That also means no New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, despite my kudos for that game.

Release date in parentheses:

  • Big Bang Mini (1/21)
  • House of the Dead: Overkill (2/10)
  • Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (2/17)
  • MadWorld (3/10)
  • Resident Evil 5 (3/13)
  • Bit.Trip BEAT (3/16)
  • Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (3/17)
  • Rune Factory: Frontier (3/17)
  • Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (3/17)
  • Pokemon Platinum (3/22)
  • Rhythm Heaven (4/5)
  • Excitebots: Trick Racing (4/20)
  • Punch-Out!! (5/18)
  • Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (5/18)
  • Boom Blox Bash Party (5/19)
  • inFAMOUS (5/26)
  • Mighty Flip Champs! (6/1)
  • Red Faction: Guerilla (6/2)
  • Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (6/8)
  • Legendary Starfy (6/8)
  • Ghostbusters: The Video Game (6/16)

There you have it. The list is very, very heavy on the Wii and DS (I’m the only one on staff with a DSi, so that puts a weekly load squarely on my shoulders) but that’s basically been my beat since I came on here, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. It also helps that the two have had a very robust release schedule during the first half of the year (one that helps to ease the pain of the next two months, where the number of releases for all systems is dwindling). There are plenty of games for the Xbox 360 and PS3 that I need to play–Killzone 2 is in my PS3 as we speak, which is why it doesn’t make an appearance here, and I haven’t played Street Fighter IV or [Prototype]–but I did manage to sneak a few in alongside my reviewing duties.

What do you think? Is there anything I need to play that I have not? Anything I love that you dislike? The second half of the year looks pretty full as well, so the end of year list could look radically different than this one. Then again, that’s not exactly something to complain about.

About The Author

Marc Normandin was gaming editor of Blast from 2008 to mid-2010. You can reach him via e-mail at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @Marc_Normandin

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