1. Blur ; I never imagined a silly commercial about a surrogate Toad wanting to drive licensed cars would constitute a serious gaming promise, but Blur is unquestionably the best Mario Kart game Nintendo will never make. Bizarre does style as substance racing better than anyone, with a d&b soundtrack and urban infused aesthetic pulsing through the framework of smart, balanced gameplay featuring dynamic power-ups and Call of Duty perks. If it's Mario Kart for adults, it's because Bizarre responds to the culture around them, and not just gaming culture, but car culture, music culture. They synthesize and reinvent and make new. They don't have the luxury of falling back on hermetic brands. The racing fence in that silly commercial appears to me now as a prison wall, Toad trapped and helpless and watching the world pass him by.
2. Lost Planet 2 ; Ambitious but flawed, the confidence with which Lost Planet 2 pursues its goals nevertheless propels it near the top of my list. A co-operative shooter that demands real co-operation, a branching and dynamic adventure that encourages replayability and variation in player decisions. Even on my third time through the game, I discovered new paths or secrets or optional mission objectives I didn't know previously existed. The many weapons and creative mech designs help constitute this game's embarrasment of riches. Moreover, I admire Lost Planet 2 because, contrary to the popular understanding of modern Capcom's modus operandi, this game knows its audience. The Red Eye boss battle sent many gamers running to return their copies, but for me, it was the gaming highlight of the year.
3. 3D Dot Game Heroes ; The Legend of Zelda franchise, synthesized, reinterpreted and contextualized as a monument of memory and nostalgia, and a fundamental part of our gaming identity. The game's patchwork plot and pixel art aesthetics render familiar retro gaming motifs not as they really were, but as they exist today in our collective conscious and culture. The game takes stock of the medium, most obviously in the joking intro featuring a 2D kingdom renovating itself into 3D to attract more tourists. 3D Dot Game Heroes is not simple homage or pastiche but a knowing product of cultural texts, an assessment both of the classic games in question the way they shaped the people who played them. If you don't believe me, look for the developers themselves to appear in the game in a secret cave, making their thematic intentions more explicit. Also, you know, it's fun. Refreshing to play a Zelda game that sends the player through the first dungeon within the first hour, as opposed to the nonsensical busywork of a Twilight Princess.
4. Perfect Dark ; Rescued from the legacy of memory packs and poor framerates and blurry textures, Perfect Dark XBLA is an interesting reminder of the forward thinking design principles that informed many of Rare's best games. In this new light, it is once again obvious just where Perfect Dark Zero went wrong, how it misses some of the original's most important lessons, the non-linear and dynamic approach to mission design, the focus on replayability and player empowerment. Perfect Dark continues to do things most games today seem too timid to even consider, but I'm afraid it may look nothing more than archaic to gamers weened on the focus tested, market driven blockbusters that polish away any semblance of personality or identity. Perfect Dark XBLA is a relic of the past, but it speaks of the future.
5. Kinect Sports ; And even today, despite their arguable success or failure with recent titles, Rare seems to house a group of technical wizards who code circles around other developers. Of all the games in Kinect's software launch line-up, Kinect Sports is the one that delivers best on promises (alongside Dance Central, perhaps, though I've only played the demo of that one). The tracking is better than I've seen in other titles, the games are better conceived and executed, the online is fun and addictive. Rare's humor even shines through at times, most notably in the hilariously deployed licensed soundtrack. However, the game does admittedly put Rare in a bit of an awkward position moving forward. The game is good for what it is, but is this the kind of software on which Rare should be devoting its talent and time? I'm not even talking about Kinect development specifically, but rather the thematic content of such games. We're on the other side of the world from the artistry of a Viva Piñata.
6. Mass Effect 2 ; Probably the most disposable piece of software on my list, but I have to make some room for pure entertainment. Mass Effect scratches the same kind of itch for which I often turn to television serials and police procedurals. It features relentless plot and character and scene building, wrapped in lightweight and fun sci-fi ideas. I don't see much imagination in the overarching narrative, to be honest, but the focus on character and interpersonal drama this time around provided an engaging sense of inner space in the midst of ridiculous galaxy wide threats.
7. Pinball FX 2 ; A fun pinball game with good production values and a great social atmosphere. The leaderboard integration and stuff like wizard scores helps to foster a competitive spirit while also retaining a sense of community and collaboration. Simply a hell of a good time, and one of the better pieces of software I've seen leverage the social nature of the Xbox Live service.
8. The Path of Go ; I haven't spent much time with this to be honest, but so far it seems like a solid simulation of Go, and the single player mixes puzzles and middlegame challenges with standard games to teach new players about different aspects of the game. The only thing it seems to lack is instruction in opening theory.
9. Costume Quest ; Another game steeped in nostalgia, echoing childlike imagination with the wisdom of adulthood. The gameplay itself is overly simplistic, but it's nevertheless refreshing to play something with a strong thematic core, and not merely a solipsistic retread of the usual gaming juvenilia. Double Fine's games feed on the world around them, and reflect that world back, and Costume Quest features the same sensibilities for writing and humor I've always appreciated from the studio and Tim Schafer's previous games. "Your costumes celebrate SCIENCE and THE MONARCHY. How is that patriotic?"
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops ; The single player is the usual exercise in wrongheaded political spectacle, and I'm at the point where endless stat screens and experience bars amount to communicative nonsense, but the raw mechanics and design of the multiplayer experience are a reminder of the smart ideas that made the series great. An opponent takes cover behind a wall. I spray bullets into said wall, kill opponent. Every shooter needs soft cover.
So I'm still trying to make sure everything is added to it. Thanks .