What better way to start a new year than by talking about the previous one?

10. Tatsunoko vs Capcom

It's been way too long since we've had one of these delightful over-the-top fighting games, and TvC fits the bill quite nicely, incorporating tons of Capcom characters (both familiar and obscure) and the entire gamut of Tatsunoko heroes and villains, as well as some fun new mechanics and even "giant" characters who, while extremely powerful and difficult to stun, have the disadvantage of not being able to select a partner. The online play even works quite well, and has the nifty feature of punishing frequent match-droppers by pitting them against other frequent match-droppers until they learn to knock that shit off.

9. Dead Rising 2

A substantial improvement over the original game in just about every way, providing a larger game environment, boss battles that don't border on impossible, tighter controls and, of course, the ability to combine items together into hilarious, deadly contraptions (Boat oar + Chainsaw being my favorite). Perhaps the greatest improvmeent, tholugh, is the online mult8iplayer function, which allows two players to co-op their way through the story mode or up to four to compete for cash in a collection of minigames (which transfers over to your single-player save - very handy way to save up for the ultra-expensive car keys). It's silly, zombie-killing fun at its best.

8. Persona 3 Portable

Each iteration of this game just gets better, and P3P is thankfully no exception. Being able to control every party member, rather than just the main, is a welcome feature, and the game also has the option to play as a female main character (which changes numerous events through the story). A lot of the animation had to be trimmed to fit the game on a UMD, but still, it's pretty damn impressive that they got the whole thing on there (complete with voice acting). The only downside? They didn't have enough room for the "Answer" chapter from FES.

7. Super Mario Galaxy 2

There's no doubt that Super Mario Galaxy is a masterpiece - easily one of the defining games of the Wii, and a fine example of Nintendo's undying creativity. Mario Galaxy 2 probably won't be remembered in quite the same light, largely because it feels like a mission pack for the original game rather than a wholly original title. But hey, I was having too much fun to care. The only thing I hated were the damned bird-gliding stages.

6. Ys III: The Oath in Felghana

An action RPG that plays up the "action" part to an amazing degree - you earn more attack bonuses, health powerups and experience points the longer you maintain a single killing spree, and the bosses are fast and intense, at times resembling an overhead shooter or a pattern-dodging Treasure boss. It's a damn good time with an amazing soundtrack, go pick it up today! (Grab Ys Seven and the Chronicles compilation too, while you're at it).

5. Sonic Colors

Yeah, I'd never have guessed that a Sonic game made this year would be GOOD. But I got a pleasant surprises with Sonic Colors. Sega finally listened to the fanbase and did away with all of the things that dragged Sonic down - the camera doesn't get snagged on things constantly, the physics and hit detection are solid, the story and gameplay are simple and intuitive, and best of all - NO MORE FUCKING SHADOW. Actually, no more of any of the superfluous extra characters; the series got back on track by just paring the cast back down to Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, and a slew of minor robots. This is the best Sonic game in fifteen years, bar none.

4. Scott Pilgrim vs the World

An excellent tribute to both the source material and classic games in general, combining solid River City Ransom brawler-RPG hybrid gameplay with a ton of references to other classic titles. Everything from Double Dragon to Sonic to Golden Axe to Mega Man 2 shows up here. The only achilles' heel of this excellent piece of neo-nostalgia? No online co-op!

3. Starcraft II

It took us thirteen years to finally get this sequel, but it was worth the wait. The story is as engaging as ever, the new units are well-balanced and fun to use, and the interface is significantly improved, incorporating useful things like auto-casting and being able to swap between unit types within a groups with a simple button press. Even the campaign is fun and challenging, always keeping you on your toes with weird challenges like a stage where lava floods the whole map every few minutes. I pity the fools who let their PCs collect dust just so they can play crappy Call of Duty games on Xbox Live with 11 year olds.

2. Bayonetta

A surprise hit for me, especially since it immediately drew so many comparisons to Devil May Cry, a series which I never liked in the slightest (nor did I like any of its countless knockoffs, for that matter). Like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the game throws in a few elements from every recent action title. Unlike Lords of Shadow, however, it does all of it well. The gameplay provides a perfect blend of frenetic combat (with very well-designed mechanics that discourage button mashing, greatly lessen cheap hits from enemies and encourage chaining together intricate combos), puzzle solving and gigantic boss battles. Hell, even the challenge stages (something I normally despise in games) were fun - they're tough enough to keep you coming back and trying again, but never so frustrating that you eventually get fed up and quit. Top all that off with a ton of hidden secrets to find and even some surprisingly funny characters, and you have a game I was all too happy to play until I maxed out my Gamerscore on it.

1. Fallout: New Vegas

New Vegas combines the best of both worlds - Fallout 3's fun RPG-with-shooter-elements gameplay with the excellent writing staff that worked on the previous Fallout games. The result is everything a Fallout game should be - an immersive game environment with creative characters and genuinely funny humor. Sure, it doesn't break a lot of new ground for the franchise on any front, but I was having way too much fun to care. Hell, any game I can play for a week solid and never get bored of in the slightest is instant gold in my book.