The ZippyGamer Staff chooses their top gaming picks for the year 2002.

Jonathan – Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

It took me a moment to realize what we had to work with in 2002, but once I did, I felt surprised I forgot about many of the great games released. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was a huge hit, winning many “Game of the Year” awards. It added two new races and had a compelling story, which is now carried on by the World of Warcraft MMORPG.

We also had the release of TimeSplitters 2, which was one of my most-played Gamecube games. I had a blast (pun) with this game and I played many multiplayer matches with friends and the artificial intelligent bots. With the exception of online play and a little deeper story, this game had all you could ask for out of a first person shooter.

My personal favorite of the year was the Gamecube’s psychological horror, Eternal Darkness. It’s rare that I finish single player games, but I finished this one multiple times. It has a fantastic story and truly freaky moments. The sanity effects were revolutionary and literally made you feel like a part of the game. There were talks of a possible sequel for years, but the trademark for the game was recently canceled, which isn’t a good sign. If you’ve never played this game, pick it up for your old Gamecube or the Nintendo Wii and give it a try.

Honorable mentions: Soul Calibur II, Splinter Cell

Lewis – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I’m flying on a giant leaf, planning to land next to my magical talking boat where I will then conduct the wind east and head for the great fairy fountain. Ah, Zelda, you can do no wrong in my eyes… Despite controversy over the new graphical art style, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker blew my mind with its size and new ideas on exploration. Filled to the brim with charm, the exhilarating fights and treacherous dungeons made this Zelda feel familiar and yet somehow so very different. Despite an awful Triforce hunt towards the end, when Wind Waker was in full swing it was swinging like jazz monkey. Oh, and the graphics were nice too.

Honorable mentions: Warcraft 3, Metal Gear Soild 2: Substance

Joe – Kingdom Hearts

2002 gave us so many spectacular games. We had three consoles competing for our affection, and the gaming companies were pulling out all stops. After an eight-year hiatus’, the Metroid series returned with two new games in 2002. We also saw the birth of the Mega Man Zero series, which took place centuries after the Mega Man X titles. But even though I loved all of those games, there’s one title that was released in 2002 that I didn’t even get to experience until, 2008.

Kingdom Hearts had taken the story depth and some characters from the Final Fantasy RPG series and put them into one hell of an action game. Not only did Kingdom Hearts feature some of Final Fantasy’s most memorable faces, but it features a huge cast of Disney characters as well. The game still had its share of RPG elements that Square-Enix is known for such as leveling up and learning magic spells. But it did away with the turn-based fighting style of Final Fantasy and gave it much more of a Zelda-like feel. Kingdom Hearts is the perfect game if you love the epic stories of Final Fantasy but prefer hand-to-hand action over turn-based combat. And even if you love Final Fantasy, you’re probably going to love Kingdom Hearts too. It’s just one of those games that you can’t help but love. And if you don’t, you are just heartless.

Liam – Soldier Of Fortune II: Double Helix

2002 was the year of Dance Dance Revolution and Dave Mirra BMX games, which is where my choice comes in, BMX XXX what more could I ask for? The option to play as a topless girl on a BMX doing backflips? Check. Unlockable Stripper videos? Check. Awesome radical gameplay? …umm wait..nope. Not there. Guess BMX XXX won’t be my choice for this year. But luckily Soldier Of Fortune II: Double Helix is on hand.

Whilst it doesn’t contain topless girls on bikes, it does contain a solid story, and some very nice FPS gameplay. The game, aside from its solid story and believable character’s was also known for its gore. Heads will be rolling and it was graphic for its time, some times it was perhaps a bit over the top in the human body dismemberment department, but regardless it was still fun to blow arms and legs off your enemies.

Honorable mentions: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC), Metroid Fusion (GBA), Resident Evil:Remake (Gamecube)

Kelsey- Metroid Prime

As a child, I remember renting Super Metroid pretty often. I was never good at the game but I still loved exploring that little chunk of the world that I could explore and I thought the game was absolutely beautiful. Metroid Prime managed to recreate that feeling to me. I remember when I first played it at a little demo-station Nintendo of Canada had set-up in West Edmonton Mall. The only playable section was the space station which starts the game and that was enough to get me excited for it. The game looked nice, controlled nice, and when I finally got it I saw that it was well-worth the wait. The world is still fun to explore.