The ZippyGamer staff pick the best games of 2008.

Lewis – Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Bravery comes in many forms. Resident Evil 4 was brave to re-invent itself. Warioware was brave to take a whole new approach to gameplay. But Banjo did the unthinkable. It took the opportunity to make a straight-forward, highly anticipated sequel and ditched it. RARE threw it to the wayside, ignored the possibility of a huge 3D platformer on 360 (something the console is actually quite lacking in) and it did something entirely new.

Cars aren’t exactly new, and neither are planes or boats. But a car-plane-boat-blimp is something you won’t see anywhere else. Now that’s pretty unusual. Or perhaps a rocket powered laser dreadnaught appeals more. In Banjo, you can make pretty much anything you want. And it’ll work every time. From the absurd to the ridiculous, you have to complete a set of amusing and occasionally imaginative challenges in order to get Jiggies and special new parts to complete your quest of stopping Grunty from taking over Spiral Mountain! Filled with self-referential humour and an extremely funny opening, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is chock-a-block with fresh, fun ideas. At first it’s tempting to stick with the familiar, but when confronted with some truly difficult tasks, your creativity kicks on, and it’s not long before you have a plane with a built in eject-a-copter.

And to think it could have just been “another platformer”.

Kelsey – Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV seems to be a relatively unpopular game in the series. It’s not as tongue-in-cheek as the previous three entries into the series, but the humour is still there. It doesn’t have the humour Grand Theft Auto III had, nor the setting of Vice City, or the scope of San Andreas, but all of that is still there. GTAIV sought to retain the over-the-top nature of the previous games while being more constrained. The city is huge, and feels like an actual city, while the cities of San Andreas all felt too small. At night you can see the bright neon lights that made Vice City’s setting stand out. The humour of the radio stations is not as envelope pushing as GTAIII’s radio was at the time; however, the humour is still there and feels the same. GTAIV, to me, was the natural next step for the series. You can see San Andreas moving in this direction, but IV took the plunge. The game feels much more cinematic, the characters are much more fun (and for all you complainers, the game has an option to turn-off the in-game cellphone for anything not story related!).

Space Invaders Extreme is worth a quick sentence or two. It was also in this year that gamers were treated with a refreshing take on a classic series. The gameplay feels more like a modern shm’up, while still being a Space Invaders game, and the use of music and sound make the game feel like a forum for the creation of techno music.

Jonathan – Grand Theft Auto IV

Like all of the games in the series, Mario Kart Wii was another great hit for Nintendo, with over 21 million titles sold to date. The game introduced 8-player online, 24 characters, 32 tracks, and a new way to steer. The steering wheel helped newcomers get into the game by offering a very familiar control style to non-gamers. Mario Kart Wii didn’t offer an extreme amount of revolution, as it’s the same classic gameplay we recognize from Mario Kart Double Dash, but the extra modes and polish make it a lot of fun to play.

My pick of the year goes to Grand Theft Auto IV, which holds a special place in my heart. Playing GTA IV together is what my girlfriend and I chose to do on our first date. I showed up at her place, pretending I forgot the game at home. Just when I saw the look of disgust on her face I pulled it from behind my back. She laughed. Cheesy, I know, but that’s what I do.

Okay, enough with the personal anecdotes. Although I was a fan of the series before, GTA IV is my favorite of them all and is what really got me into the series. I love the stories and the characters and of course the classic GTA sandbox gameplay. Online gameplay allowed my friends and I to run around online and terrorize each other. When your friend asks you to “stand still for a second”, you know something funny is about to happen. 2008 was a great year for gaming and GTA IV still stands as one of the best games for the Xbox 360.

Honorable mentions: Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet

Liam – Lost Winds

This is the year the almighty Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released, along with a revival of a certain bear and bird, in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts N Bolts, overall, this year was a solid one, apart from the tide of Guitar Hero & Rock Band games that came out and set a new popular trend.

I had a hard time with this year, mainly Fable II or LostWinds. In the end, I went with LostWinds; a Wiiware release.  It’s a game that could be completed in less than 3 hours. But what’s so special about LostWinds is how unique it was. By using the Wiimote, you create gusts of winds to move your character over ledges or to solve puzzles. It had a remarkable presentation and the style of the graphics was a nice change, which I really enjoyed. LostWinds is a mini-masterpiece, and most will question my choice for best game of 2008. But there’s just something so special and beautiful about LostWinds that despite its short gameplay, makes it my favourite game of ‘08.

Honorable Mentions: Fable II (Xbox 360), Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360, PC) No More Heroes (Wii), Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

Joe – Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I can’t say that I’ve played to many games from 2008. But there is one game that I have played plenty. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the one single game made for all of Nintendo’s fans.  It took everything that made the past two games great and made them even better! The Subspace Emissary is a vast improvement over Melee’s Adventure Mode. Before and after each stage, you are treated with a cutscene that helps tell the game’s story. That’s right; Super Smash Bros. Brawl actually has a story. It’s not the most epic of tales, but it is a nice addition to the series. The story is told entirely by visuals; none of the characters speak in the cutscenes. But it is pretty cool seeing your favorite characters interact with one another.

Even though it is more story-driven then its predecessors, Brawl is still all about the fighting! The veteran characters have new and improved moves and most have 3 different taunts each. The game also introduces a nice roster of new characters too; although some past contenders are MIA. Characters like Pit, Metaknight and Wario are long overdue for their appearances.  But that’s not all; Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the first game in the series to feature non-Nintendo characters. Sonic and Snake are two very nice additions to the fight. Hopefully they’ll stick around for the next title.

One of the new addictions that makes Brawl so great is the Smash Attacks! Smash attacks are powerful moves that you can only do after obtaining a Smash Ball. Each character has a smash attack related to the games they are from; although some are much better than others. Samus’s smash attack has her shooting a giant energy blast causing her suit to fall off into pieces. Then you can play as Zero Suit Samus, which plays like a totally different character. Getting another smash ball will cause Samus to put her armor back on. If anyone is close to her while doing so, they’ll be knocked flying. Sonic transforms into Super Sonic and flies around the stage at high speed knocking anyone out that’s in his way. And one of my favorite smash attacks belongs to Snake. He jumps into the air and then comes down in the foreground on a rope latter with a grenade launcher. Then you can shoot whoever stands in your way.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is even online compatible for those of you who want to play against some of the best and worst players in the world. This game has a variety of different play modes that will keep you playing for a very long time.  As you can see, I can talk about Brawl all day. And that right there is why it’s my pick for the best game of 2008.

Honorable Mentions: Mario Kart Wii, Grand Theft Auto IV

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