Top Fifteen Games That DIDN'T Come Out in 2009

Since the decade just came to a close (not really, that will happen at the end of this year, but anyway) I figured some sort of list was in order. But I didn't want to do the typical list, so here are my Top 15 Favorite Games that Didn't Come Out in 2009. This is an extremely personal list (which means I'm gonna get called names and yelled at) and the only stipulation is that the games did NOT come out in the year 2009. Hit the jump for the list.




15. Comix Zone
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Year of Release: 1995
System: Sega Genesis

I was super pumped for this game when it came out for Genesis, and super bummed since I didn't have a Genesis at the time. Ah, youth. Anyway, it combined two of my favorite pastimes: comics and gaming. The game was a really cool work, with you playing as a comic creator who gets sucked into his own work. The game was a pretty standard beat-em-up, but it allowed you to navigate levels like pages of a comic book, jumping between panels and such. Character design was a little lacking, but it was enough fun to make up for it.



14. Gunstar Heroes
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Treasure
Year of Release: 1993
System: Sega Genesis

I was a latecomer to this game, and I kind of stumbled upon it accidentally. When I lived in Chattanooga, there was this pimp game store that sold all kinds of used games for every system (now its been demolished and replaced by a Fresh Market. Yay.) So anyway, I guy there hooked me up with a Sega Nomad, which was actually the first time I had ever owned a Genesis of any kind. He then recommended this game. I am both grateful and scornful for that. This game is so excellent, so fast-paced, that I never even noticed when that Nomad would suck 6 AA batteries dry after an hour and a half of playing. My budget noticed, of course. Anyway, the ability to combine weapons was innovative and made for some fun gameplay moments that even carried over into the excellent Bangai-O Spirits (which I will cover later).



13. Bangai-O Spirits
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Developer: Treasure
Year of Release: 2008
System: Nintendo DS

And by later I mean now. What's that? Why didn't I put the original Bangai-O for Dreamcast on here instead of this, this cheap imposter for what must be an inferior platform? Well hello, it must be because its a better game. And it is. Bangai-O Spirits took everything that was great about the original and improved on it. There are now several weapons to choose from (as opposed to two in the original) and you can combine them for numerous effects. The game is frantic fun, and its difficult. I'm still working on some of the levels on here. Oh, and did I mention a level editor? That's right.



12. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: AlphaDream
Year of Release: 2003
System: Game Boy Advance

Man oh man. This game is what got me back into gaming after my first hiatus. Its a quirky RPG. Its a challenging platformer. Its freaking hilarious. Seriously, I dare you to find me a funnier game than this one (maybe Bowser's Inside Story, but I have yet to play that one.) This game is the perfect balance of several genres. The graphics are crisp and clean, especially for a GBA game, and they hold up even today. I'm currently on my third play-through of this, it just never seems to get old. Plus Fawful is the best henchman ever. EVER.



11. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Year of Release: 1998
System: Nintendo 64

Ok, ok, so I've been told that Majora's Mask is better than this game. And I believe that. However, I've never played past the first dungeon of MM, so I can't speak for that game. I can, however, recall almost ever moment of pleasure I had while playing Ocarina of Time. It took the Zelda franchise in a whole different direction, paving the way for Majora's Mask and even Twilight Princess later. The combat system was excellent, and made the logical transition from the overhead Zelda experience to 3D a very pleasant experience. A great story, beautiful environments and graphics for the time, and stunning gameplay made this THE Zelda game for quite some time.



10. Kirby Super Star
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Year of Release: 1996
System: Super Nintendo

Ah, Kirby. You just had to show up late in the life of the SNES and show everybody that the little system still had it, eh? Not so much one game as a collection of shorter games, Kirby Super Star took the tried-and-true Kirby formula and tweaked it. You had your standard Kirby games (Spring Breeze and Dynablade), you had a Contra-esque run-and-gun game (Revenge of the Metaknight), and you even had an RPG-like game (The Great Cave Offensive). These are just some of the games included, each one excellent in its own right. Add in two-player co-op, and how could you go wrong with this one? Just a great experience all around.



9. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Year of Release: 1995
System: Super Nintendo

"Man, what did they do to Mario?" This is what everyone was saying when Yoshi's Island was announced. Surely this couldn't be the sequel to the classic Super Mario World? But it was, and it was excellent in every way. Well, almost every way. Except for the whole crying baby Mario thing. Anyway, Yoshi's Island pushed the graphics of the SNES in a whole new direction, and was one of those games that came out late in its life that made you put away the Sega Saturn for a little while and go back in time. And those bosses! They were fun and challenging. I would honestly rate this as the best platformer of all time.



8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Year of Release: 1992
System: Super Nintendo

I didn't play this game until it was on the clearance rack. I had played the original Legend of Zelda for NES, and I loved it, but I didn't know how much I loved Zelda until I popped in this little beauty. Fun, colorful graphics and a decent story improved on the original in every way. This game really taught me to think while playing video games. It also taught me how long I could go without a food or bathroom break. You can mention this game without mentioning the music as well. This game to date has one of the best scores to ever grace a game, even if it is a 16-bit game.



7. Beyond the Beyond
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Camelot
Year of Release: 1995
System: Playstation

Beyond the Beyond is one of the first RPGs I ever played. Its not very well known, and its really not anything special. I loved the game, however, due to its quirky characters and the fact that it was one of the first games to implement a sort of "timed-hit" system, which kept the battles interesting. It also had a lot of puzzles to solve, something that kept the Zelda fan in me entertained. The graphics weren't so great, being a first-gen Playstation game, and it really looked more like a very late-gen SNES game. But that was ok. It was fun, and it kept me occupied for many an hour.



6. Golden Sun
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Camelot
Year of Release: 2001
System: Game Boy Advance

This is the game I bought a GBA for. Colorful graphics, an excellent soundtrack, and the promise of many puzzles to solve brought back memories of the above Beyond the Beyond. With good reason, too, since Camelot is the developer of both games. I played this game straight through, only taking breaking for food, bathroom, and sleep. I never beat it (the final boss is HARD) but one of the great incentives for beating this game was the fact that you received a password afterward that allowed you to take your current character into the beginning of Golden Sun 2. That was pretty groundbreaking. Too bad I never got to experience it.



5. Final Fantasy IX
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Year of Release: 1999
System: Playstation

This is not the game that got me into RPGs. That title belongs to Beyond the Beyond, and a game that has yet to appear on the list. However, it is safe to say that Final Fantasy IX is the game that made me love RPGs. I wasn't impressed by the steampunk world of FFVII, and the battle system of FFVIII just got on my nerves. FFIX took it back to basics, and did it in such a way that encompassed everything that is good about an RPG. a fantastic story, great graphics for its time, and the return of Yoshitaka Amano to character designs just put this game over the top for me. If I still had it, I would be playing it right now.



4. Bomberman 64
Publisher: Hudson
Developer: Hudson
Year of Release: 1997
System: Nintendo 64

Wait a second. What is this game doing on a Top Anything of Anything list? I'll tell you what. Bomberman 64 was a blast (pun intended). Hudson took the world of Bomberman into the realm of 3D with a vengeance. Beautifully crafted worlds and characters were complimented by devilishly simple gameplay. But I will tell you, for a game based around blowing crap up, this game was hard. Not only did Hudson up the ante graphically, they did so with the gameplay, and in the process created some of the most difficult puzzles to ever grace a video game. The game also benefited from the N64's four-player capabilities, and multiplayer was just plain fun.



3. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Year of Release: 1998
System: Nintendo 64

Here's another quirky title for you. This was the first Goemon game to see light of day in the US since the excellent Legend of the Mystical Ninja for SNES. And with good reason. This game is Japan-tastic, from the opening theme song (that threw me off the first time I heard it) to the actual world of the game. Sure, it didn't have the best translation team ever. Sure, lots of the humor was lost on us Yanks. But c'mon now, the game had a laugh track. A laugh track! So those of us not in the know at least knew when something would be funny in the East. Anyway, the Zelda-esque gameplay and the sheer oddness of it all made this a must-play.



2. Final Fantasy Tactics
Publisher: Sony CEA
Developer: Square Enix
Year of Release: 2008
System: Playstation

Oh, tough decisions. I wanted to put this at number 1 for so many reasons. This is one of the few games I've played through multiple times. And that's part of the charm of the game. Every playthrough I've experienced has been completely different. There was never a Final Fantasy game like this before, and there hasn't been since. (I'm not counting those Tactics Advance games, which were decent but nothing compared to this.) Crowning moment: trudging through the Dark Dungeon to teach Ramza (the main character) the Ultima ability, then taking him and a team full of Mimics into the final battle. Cheap? Yes. But one of the many possibilities this great game presents.



1. Super Mario RPG
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Square EA
Year of Release: 1996
System: Super Nintendo

Let me start by saying that I've beaten this game 31 times. Yes, really. I'm currently working on number 32. Why is that, you ask? Well, simply put, this game is just plain fun. Featuring one of the most interactive battle systems in an RPG ever, a great cast of characters, and an epic story that delves into every corner of the Mario mythology (yes, I'd say it has a mythology now), Super Mario RPG is just great. Plus, it gave us the greatest Mario character ever in the form of Geno, the doll brought to life by the power of the Star Road. And where else can you really, I mean really, play as Bowser outside of the new Bowser's Inside Story and Smash Bros.? Its because of these things that I rate Super Mario RPG as my favorite game of all time.

Well there you have it. Like I said, this is a personal list, and has nothing to do with technical feats or sales figures, so feel free to rip it apart as you like. It won't change for me. And in parting, here are some honorable mentions that didn't quite cut it.

Honorable Mentions:

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES
Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2)
Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (Sega Saturn)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)