End of the Year Awards for 2k9

Since everyone else is doing it here are my videogame awards for 2009.

Best download-only console game - Virtual On: Oratario Tangram XBLA - There have been a lot of great original titles this year like Splosion Man, Shadow Complex, and so on but for me at least a high quality port of one of the best games ever made is enough to take the top spot.
Honorable mention: Streets of Fury. This twisted combination of Pit Fighter and Guardian Heroes combines a great combat engine with solid controls, good music, and enough good-natured cheesiness to make any beatemup fan smile.

Biggest Disappointment - Way of the Samurai 3 - I really enjoyed the first game way back when and even not too long ago. This game however just adds far too much and refuses to balance any of it out. There's a job system where you can take on tasks for money but it's horribly implemented, there are hundreds of swords to earn and thousands of moves to learn but most of them aren't worth the trouble. To add to this the character designs are very bland and the game drags far too much and loses the pick up and play appeal of the first game.
Dishonorable mention: Raiden IV. Overall it's an improvement over Raiden III but that's not saying a whole lot and after Raiden Fighters it's impossible for me to go back.

Best game I wish I played when it came out - Breath of Fire 5: Dragon Quarter - I guess I was scared off by the various sub-systems the game employs so I missed the boat when it first came out. Playing it back then might have re-shaped my outlook on videogames and led to me not focusing on collecting DVDs for several years.
Honorable Mention: Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land - This game is a class act in every sense of the word. I think it was partly due to titles like the Dark Spire and Etrian Odyssey 2 that I gave this game a chance. I'm certainly glad I did.

Worst game I wish I played when it came out. - Eternal Ring - I probably would have been a lot more tolerable of this game if I had picked it up when the PS2 launched. Then again I was still into the Dreamcast at that time so it was probably for the best.
Dishonorable mention: Nanobreaker. At the very least I could share my frustrations with other forum members.

Best game I wish I was playing instead of the one I'm playing at the moment - Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - There's a lot to like about Ninja Gaiden 2 on the 360. There's also a lot to dis-like. Due to my lack of a PS3 I can't rectify this by buying a version that apparently fixes a number of problems I'm having with the original. It's a darn shame really.

Best Xbox 360 game - Mushihime Futari - No doubt about it M2 put together quite a port of an absolutely excellent 2D shooter. While this game is so intense that I need therapy sessions in-between 1CC attempts it's still a serious improvement over the first game and one of the best titles Cave has ever produced.
Honorable mention: Red Faction: Guerilla - I don't usually play multiplayer games but this one was incredible and very addictive. Problem is of course nobody is playing it anymore thanks to Modern Warfare 2(boooo hiss).

Best Wii game - New Super Mario Bros....Wii - As far as 2D platformers go this is the one to beat. It's certainly up there with the likes of Mario 3, World, Yoshi's Island, and so on.
Honorable mention: Onechanbara. Yeaaahhhh..I didn't play many Wii games this year.

Best DS game - Retro Game Challenge - While none of the games stand out as exceptional on their own the package as a whole comes out to be something rather special. Shame we'll probably never get the sequel.

And uh...that's it!