The Third Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2009 - Part Two: #52 through #75

oh, i'm maximally irritated alright. maximally irritated LIKE A FOX

10 point and 1 vote logjam starts here: 11 way tie.

do it roger, do it

who's roger?

#61: Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box – DS – 10 pts – 1 vote

Official Game Site

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/06/custom_1244002920756_NTR_ProfLayton2_01illu_E3.jpg

Layton on Facebook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CjF3CFscUQ

Metacritic

http://dsmedia.gamespy.com/ds/image/article/989/989799/professor-layton-and-the-diabolical-box-20090602035032818_640w.jpg

Zappi: This was excellent; I enjoyed it more than the first game... apart from the chess puzzles. Grrrrrr...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLWqPB5NUpI

Wired developer interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrUZLZnh1cM

http://i.testfreaks.com/images/products/600x400/76/professor-layton-and-the-diabolical-box.3987532.jpg

Forksclovetofu: I know they added the Dragon Quest alchemy subgame and the hamster hunt and all that wacky stuff and the animation and music are just as sweet as they were in ’08, but for some reason this felt like more of the same. I need a button that says “OKAY, I GET THE PLOT TWIST, CAN WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT BIT OF STORY PLEASE?” I have every intention of returning to finish this sucker but it might be quite a while.

The First Hour

#61: Bayonetta – 360 – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/03/bayonetta2.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiFyMVblhRw

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tPN2NEmQ38

JimD: I maybe shouldn't really vote for this, I'm only about a third of the way in and it’s technically a 2010 release (ed. note – We’ll allow it; remind me to include this vote in the ’10 poll if I do it again). But it's ridiculous and audacious and hugely funny. And it feels like it manages to mock every stupid video game idea that's emerged in the last ten years, while simultaneously showing how cool those ideas could have been if they were handled less stupidly. I'm in love with it. I hope it stops kicking my arse soon.

http://www.analoghype.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bayonetta_butt.jpg

SexyVideoGameLand Discussion

Zero Punctuation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvEkMpue9Ew

Cozwen: u can play it w/one hand u know

http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/bayonetta-spalin-are-the-same1.jpg

Gamasutra’s “The Cultural Clash of Bayonetta”

Particularly icky costume customization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6UiZpVMaDk

JamesCobo: I love everything except the loading times. I’m PS3 btw.

Versus CluClu Land

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxE6H83Xw0s

Gay Gamer Review

#61: Wordjong Daily Challenge – iPhone – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6jPXR0LE2A

Eurogamer Review

http://www.frapstr.com/wp-content/gallery/wordjong/wordjong_01.png

Try it Free Online

http://www.doublegames.net/images/screenshots/wordjong_3_big.jpg

Euler: I like word games.

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/siteimage/scale/800/600/65707.png

#61: Style Savvy/Style Boutique – DS – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUItRRM17SI

Metacritic

http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/style-savvy/ds/tn_565_13.jpg

House of Dereon in Style Savvy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb6rc0pxrmE

Cozwen: style savvy > big world puzzle book

http://cache.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/183406_S/Style-Savvy.jpg

Gay Gamer Review

Forksclovetofu: I made the mistake of giving this to my girlfriend this weekend and she put in about thirteen hours on it over two days. I've created a monster; it's like pokemon, but with slacks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrSHqa1C2k

CNet Review

http://cache.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/183408_S/Style-Savvy.jpg

#61: Half Minute Hero – PSP – 10 pts – 1 vote – Top PSP game
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n2zF_VCmpg

Metacritic

http://pspmedia.ign.com/psp/image/article/954/954124/hero-30-20090213083340955_640w.jpg

Eurogamer Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaV16Zue6uQ

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/9/2009/10/500x_500hero.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6gIB0hksdU

Translated Famitsu interview

http://i.neoseeker.com/p/Games/PSP/Role-Playing/Fantasy/half_minute_hero_profilelarge.png

Hall of Half Minute Heroes

Goole: Thought this was TMI for a sec...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-CJXwQJZaM

I'll do the next six at #61 on Tuesday.

Ha, Bayonetta was on the noms list you know (not nommed by me), and it did come out in december in Japan, which is why I figured I'd better get my vote in this time round (I'm never sure which release dates we take as definitive here - US ones?). But if it's valid next year too then hey, that's cool.

Diabolical box only got one vote? Surprising

I'll be surprised if I don't love it but I won't get to it for at least 8 more months. I'm terrible at year-end polls b/c I fall so far behind.

woah top psn game with 1 vote! that game looks great, wish it was on a system i owned.

well, top PSP game; it's played on the handheld. There's definitely higher PSN (the ps3 downloadable service) games on the poll.
But the PSP is hella underrepresented, yes.

I almost voted for F1 2009 PSP. And Final Fantasy Dissidia and Little Big Planet are both pretty decent. For PSP games.

About Layton, same here! I'm sure it would've gotten on my poll if I'd gotten around to it, but I won't for a long while.

I was pretty underwhelmed by the first hour of Layton 2, after loving the first. It felt like it had shifted from nice proper puzzles to rubbish lateral thinking tests, which I hate (that thing with the flags and stuff outside the windows was just a bag of shit). I never went back to it.

Bayonetta is my GotY 2010 until further notice (would have been in the top 4 of my 2009 ballot too), and the only game currently on the horizon which I can imagine unseating it is Yakuza 3.

my browser really doesn't like this thread :(

wish i knew how to make it more browser palatable.

maybe make some of the youtubes and pics into links with url tags?

I already templated this stuff out and REALLY don't want to retype this mess.
part of the desire is to make an interactive thread to browse. Try loading it with images off and it should be fine.

This thread works great for me in Chrome.

Chrome and Safari render it wonderfully with no hitches... it's Firefox unfortunately, which will still be my primary browser for some time. I guessing IE doesn't do well with it either.

#61: Tekken 6 – 360 – 10pts – 1 vote

http://www.blpgaming.com/userfiles/tekken6.jpg

JimD: Probably helps that I skipped Tekken 5, but I was amazed to find myself really enjoying the weird story mode in this. It's got plenty of what I always loved about Tekken: ridiculous characters, stupid plots and utterly mental cut scenes. As a fighter it's mashy, but mashy is kind of what I like anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggCxqRwhRhw

Developer interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwWpzzFXABQ

RIP Heihachi

http://www.dasgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/tekken-6.jpg

Cozwen: R U nominating tekken 6 from a future where it has good netcode?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWVTLLPwaQc

#61: Bookworm – iPhone – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://pressthebuttons.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452033569e2011571153030970c-800wi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjfmoO8tz04

"Bookworm Sets the Standard for iPhone Word Games"

http://iphonetop12.com/games/bookworm-for-iphone-ipod-touch/screenshot2.jpg

Euler: The interface makes it great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcvAIikP8Gg

Apple Blog Review

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/siteimage/scale/800/600/65737.png

#61: A Boy and His Blob – Wii – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://www.jeuxvideo.com/images/wi/a/-/a-boy-and-his-blob-wii-024.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdA-c-ZXWkk

Brainy Gamer’s opinion

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/a-boy-and-his-blob-hug-screenshot.jpg

Developer interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxgks6jXMGs

D-Pad Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jphqd9wVJ5w

Salsa Shark: From the wiki page: "Pressing up on the D-pad makes the boy hug the blob, which can be used to calm him down whenever he gets scared." AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Things I Learned from A Boy And His Blob

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/03/abahb_vids.jpg

Eurogamer Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvUSalba418

Original Theme Remix

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/gallery/9/2009/03/medium_3327969857_7ce273c028_o.jpg

#61: Ghostbusters – 360 – 10pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/ghost_busters_game_stay_puft_marsh.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrOpcpws-Uw

The long, torturous road to The Ghostbusters Game

Zero Punctuation Review

http://www.gamebump.com/images/upload/33o571n0lnmd6tr5bwca9tg9.jpg

Jjjusten: I almost rated this higher simply to get it boosted numerically on the list, because I think this game got slept on. It's way more fun than expected. Sure, getting the original actors to voice the characters and write the story is a huge plus, but that isn't what makes this game shine. Simply put, the gameplay is so good that it would be enjoyable if it were a Ghostbusters game or not. The graphics are stellar; ghost-trapping ghosts in particular. Unfortunately, as in Arkham Asylum there is a sad tendency to spend a lot of time using the alternate viewing mode (PKE sensor here, detective mode in Arkham) so you end up missing a lot of gorgeousness… let this be a heads up to designers to make these modes either integrated or timed in the future. Level design is great and smart; whenever you get in a rut the game upends your situation so you are suddenly in an alternate dimension or wandering the streets of NYC. To be fair, you still spend a lot of time in generic hallway/tunnel stomps, but it is juiced up enough to keep from going all Doom III on you. Default difficulty = u gonna die. A lot. This isn't a bad thing, but it does highlight the crushing flaw in this game, which is that the load screens are INTERMINABLE. Let me rephrase that: load SCREEN, as in only one, which by the time you finish the game you will have seen HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF TIMES. There is apparently a wealth of online coop/versus modes, but since no one else ever bought the damned game, that’s a sort of bittersweet fail.

A history of Ghostbuster video games (spoiler: they mostly suck)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/580_ghostbusters__the_video_game-ps3screenshots22686gb_5966-copy-copy.jpg

"If we didn’t know any better we would have thought the Ghostbusters was developed on the Xbox 360 and ported, poorly, to the PlayStation 3."

Nhex: Surprisingly very hard! A total nostalgia trip for fans of the original movies; the sound effects (especially for ghost-trapping) are just so, so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjIY3EJO-Xc

Ghostbusters Porn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OOVoC0By48

S1ocki: It's a renter imo. I kinda hate all the PKE meter stuff and it gives me a headache putting the goggles on and taking them off.

#61: Killing Floor – PC – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://i32.tinypic.com/nleuiv.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN5CHA8p0u4

Forksclovetofu: MMO-LFD2 4 UK PC AFAIK

http://i26.tinypic.com/2r61sbb.jpg

Eurogamer Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP2b7H0mLuc

Gamer Limit Review

http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/04/64/46489_KillingFloor-05_normal.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P13AamsXZyA

Will M: I was going to put Left 4 Dead 2 up here until I played this game. I am so glad I have. Now, don't get me wrong, it’s chock full of things I HATE in games: stupid nu-metal/industrial music; awful, awful attempts at fiction; endless cliché; the tired "you vs. zombies" motif. That said, when you get six friends together, welding the doors shut on a cabin and shooting desperately out the windows is insane fun. Plus, you can play solo to six players, unlike L4D2, where you pretty much need either four or eight to have any fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHgCxZ0wc9k

#61: Shatter – PSN – 10 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XvAZ3LHR_8

Hamildan: Shatter is quite an addictive game.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Shatter-ps3-screenshot.jpg

Metacritic

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh166/freak_c/Shatter_008.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLUiPsU7D7E

Developer Interview

http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/143536-review-shatter/01-620x.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCbzekI9oaw

*smacks head*

we got a ways to go in one/two vote territory, tune in tomorrow for the same.

*questions head smacking*

i think i understand the y of mb 6 of the games listed so far itt & 1 of those is style savvy i mean

Jamescobo: I have now bought Bookworm for four fucking platforms.

Peggle, actually; so far I have only bought Bookworm ON IPHONE (and it owns too)

ppl r an unknowable mystery

whoops, sorry james. my misreading.

im using chrome

Two way tie for #59.

#59: Money Seize – Flash – FREE - 11 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://flashgametoday.jp/c/pic/2009/20090812050000.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNy0iClVpeo

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.flytrapgames.com/media/2009/07/moneyseize.jpg

Game discussion on Kongregate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Hkxn_aYFY

Abanana: An addictive flash platformer. The "gentleman" main character seems to be a running trend among these games (see also Braid and Hatsworth).

http://mattmakesgames.com/gamesimages/MoneySeizeC.png

#59: Games by JTMB02 (Achievement Unlocked, This Is the Only Level, Run Elephant Run, et. al. – Flash – FREE - 11 pts – 1 vote

Official Game Site

http://xspblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/thisis2a-640x457.png

Free Games News Cooney Interview

http://independentlyspeaking.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/runelephantrun.jpg

Cooney's artwork for Bob Ostertags' 'w00t'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvvnah3MpSM

ArmorBlog Cooney Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY8oA8tmwZk

Will M: The most genuine joy I have gotten from any Flash games this year, for sure. These games are ridiculously clever.

"Since 2002, John has pumped out over 50 games."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpWIe6U_dn0

Deviant Art page

http://armorblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/myphoto.jpg

#58: Suikoden Tierkreis – DS – 11 pts – 2 votes
Official Game Site

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/tierkreis_booklet_cover1.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti4tiOoo5jU

Developer Interview

http://guide2games.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/suikoden_tierkreis-5.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWdEq3ltyHk

Sound Director Interview

http://img.vidaextra.com/2008/09/260908_suikoden_03b.jpg

The First Hour

Will M: I can't be sure: are Suikoden games actually good, in their own right, or are they simply stupid time-wasting collect-a-thons? I can't be sure, but I always gotta catch 'em all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rNCbEtB1YU

http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/ul/103887-suikoden.jpg

Lamp: I think its fantastic. It’s pretty straightforward and simple and looks really lovely. Not very open-ended though.

57: MLB 2009: The Show – PS3 – 12 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/940/940642/mlb-09-the-show-20081222045140999_640w.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUsPYKWHID4

Jamescobo: You basically just have to learn to love the difficulty. It's like Demon's Souls with pitchers instead of giant spiders.

http://www.myps3.com.au/img/game/large/MLB-08--The-Show-6.jpg

NYT Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdfOGmMZKro

Polyphonic: I'm sure it's fun if you're good at it, but I never figured out how to hit. :(

http://ps3thevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mlb01.jpg

The Noob Guide to Hitting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CeB19h6GUo

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/940/940642/mlb-09-the-show-20081222045135327_640w.jpg

JeffLevine: I guess this is the Gran Turismo of baseball games? Hitting is quite the challenge - I already appreciate the practice mode. Developing patience seems important. I'm not totally sold on the betting mini-game before each pitch. The extra hint helps, so it's hard not to take advantage of it, but it's the one aspect that feels less sim. 09 looks so good in the standard batting view and in any long or medium shot, but some of the close-up stuff can look pretty monstrous and strange. If they can't get it right, maybe they should take out those close-up views from the next game. All the cut scenes give it a very relaxing TV broadcast like feel, but I feel a little bit like it makes things too slow and/or I have to hit X too often to skip thorough that stuff. I don't know how pitching could be better.

#56: Saint’s Row 2 – PC – 13 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76olGfJP91Y

Antexit: The crappy graphics engine looks decrepit after GTA IV but this is a way more fun place to just be in. I turn it on to fuck around and play side missions for a half-hour, which I never do with GTA IV. It's not quite as mean as the first one just because it's SO RETARDEDLY SILLY. You’ll be rescuing your friend in the middle of a trial and when you start to kill the security guards, the judge rushes out with a pump-action shotgun. There’s ‘cop missions’ where you’re told "These factory workers are protesting unsafe working conditions! Take this chainsaw and go kill them!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBfBtC3QMpk

Webinar: It’s quite a nasty and hateful game and it has less charm or beauty than GTA IV but there is LOADS to do and see in this game; lots of unlockables spread out really evenly, so there’s a nice feeling of progression. Unfortunately the engine looks the same as the prior game and it is creaky as all hell, seriously last gen and buggy. Worst of all are the game crashes, which come randomly and often; I've had six in twenty hours of play. I find it so hard to recommend this game because it's just flat out broken. I've had players disappear, cars disappear, people and cars fall out of the sky, you name it... but despite all this it is very addictive and very fun and very recommended!

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1861/1197586055.jpg

Stevie: I always felt Saints Row felt like playing with crappy action figures that weren't even as well painted, detailed or articulated as GI Joes. SR 1 actually bummed me out when I played it; it seemed nasty in a way that GTA rarely deigned to be. I missed whatever surface morality lingered in the game; in Saint's Row, your character seemed like one of the NPCs in a GTA game that you were suggested to find faintly reprehensible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt2zB0qKd6A

Polyphonic: It's really weird to hear people complain about this game's morality. I can't tell you how many times I've murdered some poor random stranger in GTA in the most heartless, evil way. What makes this any worse? In Saint’s Row 2, I made an obese Latina protagonist, dressed her in granny panties and an ill-fitting bra and turned on a lot of cheats. I made it so that it rained people then turned on the cheat that made bodies ascend to heaven once they died, so what you get is a continuous hail of people splatting to the ground and then immediately rising back up into the sky. This game is bizarre, cheaply made and hilarious.

http://www.vx50.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/756_saints_row_2_dlc.jpg

Euler: Fucking awesome! The missions are actually fun instead of as gritty and difficult as GTA IV. So far (and I'm just a few hours in) it has been hard to die… unlike in GTA IV where I have to try the same boring mission twenty times cause I keep getting killed.

We'll get to 52 tomorrow and march interminably to the top 50. GODDAMN this is more work than I thought it would be. Remind me next year to just do a top fifty.

I almost felt a little bad for voting for SR2 since it did make #35 last year, but it's still pretty underlooked - probably because the first one was supposedly pretty awful (never played it), and because at release it was horribly buggy. And the PC release was in January so it technically just made it eligible. But damn it, I just had to - it was just so ridiculous and fun.

From a design standpoint it was miles over the GTAs for not hassling you with stupid stuff like garage management or losing your ammnunition on death and telling you from the very beginning where 90% of the wacky side missions were - it even encouraged you to do those over the main story missions, which were very leisurely paced, and you had a good degree of choice about what order to take them in. Compared to GTA where you're generally railroaded into a path, and then you're kind of either goofing around and ignoring the plot or you aren't, this game was a lot better about mixing it up.

lol sum1 else voted for suikoden tierkreis and it still didnt make the top 50!

what the hell, nobody else voted for The Show? that shit is amazing.

'cozwen'? tht's worse than the kids on xbl tht call me conezy

forks, conezy's gonna let u finish but MW2 is one of the best games of all time

Is there a Cozen and Cozwen on here? Or are my eyes going bad with age?
Cozen, let me know where you're misattributed and I'll fix.

nah it's fine I'm just grousing; don't really follow ilx polls but sterling effort here john

quit frontin

hey somebody remembered their old password

Aw, no update today?

Two way tie for #54.

#54: Fallout 3: Broken Steel – 360 – 15 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://images.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/145414_S/Fallout-3-Broken-Steel-Impressions.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y83_jcXwTkA

Jordan: Broken Steel adds a "Puppies!" perk so that if your dog gets killed you can just grab a new one from the litter.

http://www.perezstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/fallout3-dlc-broken-steel-5.jpg

Ars Technica Review

Goole: BS raises the level cap to thirty and extends the main story. If you're gonna get only one bit of DLC for Fallout, I'd get this one.

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/thumb/9/95/Broken_Steel_liberty_prime.jpg/800px-Broken_Steel_liberty_prime.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H7HGuvDYrw

MH: I'm amazed by the power of the Tesla Cannon; it completely sucks in a close-quarters firefight but if your character stats are reasonably high, you can pick off Enclave guys from what seems like a half mile away.

http://images.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/145416_S/Fallout-3-Broken-Steel-Impressions.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xbkDASiMGU

CraigG : Fallout was the game I played most in '09, but it's an '08 game. Hooray, then, for the DLC. Broken Steel was a good, tight bunch of missions with a fairly linear story line which would normally be a bad thing, but I think it's exactly what the DLC needed to be. I think it was made all the more enjoyable because it raised the level cap, so your character was leveling up, plus you are killing so much enclave that you just keep filling your pockets with great armor and guns. I did have a few embarrassing moments though where I would be repairing my armor with some newly acquired armor and end up with my dude running about in his pants for a while accidentally, but I think that's a Fallout staple. My only criticism of this expansion was the albino radscorpions.

#54: Madworld – Wii – 15 pts – 1 vote
Official Game Site

http://joerayw.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/mad-world-1-wii_0081.jpg

Metacritic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3fT-dQHk4Y

Designing for the Wii remote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdACMvxcuvM

Jamescobo: It reminds me of both Jet Grind Radio (though way more violent -- it's pretty much more violent than everything) but with same use of directional input and, of course, God Hand (the slightly clunky tank controls, the camera woes, the basic design principle of advancing by wrecking everyone's shit). Admittedly MadWorld's kill-motherfuckers-creatively mechanic isn't anywhere near as deep as God Hand's seizure-inducingly deep combo system, but it's plenty of fun in its own right. My only complaint is that I keep accidentally pressing the pause button while I'm wildly gesticulating with the Wiimote, but I guess it's not fair to hold game designers accountable for my spazziness. Think of this as No More Heroes without all the "LOL, production values" shit or God Hand for people who thought it was too hard and with all the in-jokey stuff replaced with an immediately accessible aesthetic.

http://otakuplus.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/jack2.jpg

Zero Punctuation Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3fT-dQHk4Y

Only twelve bucks!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Llxf0Z81zHA/SWVDNzMlhPI/AAAAAAAADJs/1XZmBkPFgkk/s400/marv.jpg

”Sega sticks by Mature Wii releases"

http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blog/games/uploaded_images/madworld-753339.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx9V10PsLuw

Jeff LeVine: My major complaints: while the black and white artwork looks really good, it doesn't serve the gameplay. It's hard to see the tires and signposts and spiked walls you need to kill guys with to rack up the points because of the monochromatic color scheme. The 3D movement and camera is awkward. The Wii motion controls are lame; as in No More Heroes, the movement choices just feel arbitrary and don't immerse you any more into the game than standard button presses would, but are more unpleasant and harder to remember than just pressing buttons.

http://darkzero.co.uk/asset/2009/04/madworld_02.jpg

"More Madworld in Wii’s future"

Jjjusten: I make no attempt to hide how angry a Wii owner I am. I'm one of those guys that look at this particular console with a little more bile rising in my throat every week that a new fitness program or pet management simulator falls like a turd onto the new release list. So when MadWorld rolled out, I was very glad to see it. The game has its faults: there are times where the wiimote works against you rather than for you; songs are AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL and the game is SHORT. All those caveats fall away the first time you impale someone with a signpost, necklace them with a tire, jam firecrackers down their throat and THEN bisect them by slamming their body in a dumpster. Boss battles are even more insane. Anybody who whines like a baby about the lack of hardcore games on the wii that didn't buy this is a jerk and a traitor and I hope they realize that I will hold them directly responsible when "Wii Play Tamagochi Fitness 3" sells 40 billion copies.

to this day, I have MadWorld envy

Two way tie for #52.

#52: Big Word Puzzle Book – DS – 15 pts – 2 votes
Official Game Site

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dqpPG3A_WnU/SgQE4Vunc3I/AAAAAAAAAV8/l6Dk7bhBzHg/s320/3658c.jpg

Forksclovetofu: This game is as good an argument for importing/R4 for US DS players as you’re likely to find. It’s also woefully under served on the web; even Metacritic doesn’t list it. So here’s the skinny: BWPB is eight word games bundled in a fairly simple but spectacularly effective package. There’s hangman, find-a-word, several variations on coded crossword puzzles, a solitaire game that’s a lot like Wordjong and the game’s true killer app: “guess what word the DS is thinking of” which I’ll talk about more in a second.
There’s running statistics to show how well you’ve done on each of the game’s four difficulty levels (expert is a bitch almost every time) and when you beat a game, you get a hint chit that can be used to get an in-game clue. Every win also scrolls through a list of the game’s dictionary words, reeling the entire English language backwards from Z to A. I’m on “wrangles” now; the game offers multiple saves so that multiple users can compete for most playtime wins.
Back to “guess the word” here: you touch type in a word, any English language word. The game pushes the word to the top of the screen (signifying that the word the DS is guessing is alphabetically following the word you’ve typed) or to the bottom (the word the DS is guessing falls alphabetically before). The next word gives you a proscribed range. So let’s say you start with “manic” and follow up with “zygote”. Okay, now you know the word falls alphabetically between “MA” and “ZY”. “Rabbit”? Okay, between “manic” and “rabbit”. And so on. The goal is to guess in as few tries as possible, but more often you’ll be happy just to figure out the secret. As origin, origins, originally, originator, originate, originates, origination and so forth are all read as different words, the endgame can be maddening… but the sense of accomplishment is great when you nail it.
On separate occasions, I played BWPB with small children on easy, my girlfriend’s seventy-year old parents, through a three hour plane trip, at dinner parties and in the hospital. It’s the perfect swiss army knife of a time waster for groups or for single play. It’s nothing spectacular but it the few things it does, it does incredibly well.

http://www.romulation.net/files/screenshots/roms/NDS/26763/s441e5c76491714df37de2ce2e2f21fdf.jpg

Jamescobo: Every time anyone bashes the majestic and unassailable Big Word Puzzle Book, I resolve to send in another socko C&P ballot with it at #1.

#52: Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes – DS – 15 pts – 2 votes
Official Game Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6NggJUPQfY

Metacritic

http://www.hookedgamers.com/images/838/might_and_magic_clash_of_heroes/screenshot_nds_might_and_magic_clash_of_heroes019.jpg

Developer Interview

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/05/mightandmagicclash.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV2ohHRC5jE

Forksclovetofu: Capy, makers of this year’s underrated Critter Crunch, brought most of the same gameplay and approach to the new DS Might and Magic, turning what anyone might rightly assume to be a Puzzle Quest or dungeon crawl clone into something unique, complex and engaging. The gameplay can occasionally get frustrating but the surprisingly deep RPG elements and brief “battles” keep new characters and challenges incoming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A14GD4diwg

Nathan Vella Interview

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kuav3o43vE1qzp9weo1_400.jpg

YAY MADWORLD

ugh my computer just hates this thread, no matter what browser i use. forks can i respectfully request that the next ones be not so flash-heavy? as it's pretty much unusable for me.

We're moving here tomorrow S1ocks:
The Third Annual Coint and Plick Poll: ILG’s Best Video Games of 2009 - Part Three: #51 through #21
I didn't intentionally add any flash? Is it maybe the youtubes?