Top 5 Game Releases For 2009

This past week has mostly been about the game announcements that have been made for the rest of this year, but mostly what’s to come next year. In light of all the news that was released at the Fall conferences in Japan, and North America let’s take a look at the Top 5 Game Announcements for 2009.

5. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle – It says alot about a game’s art style, and story when I include it in my Top 5 list, even though I think the gameplay is bland and repetitive. That being said, I absolutely can’t wait to see what happens to Travis Touchdown in the sequel to No More Heroes.

The ending of the first game was definitely left open to continue in a sequel. I’m actually glad because I think this is the perfect opportunity for Grasshopper to improve some of the gameplay decisions that held back what could have been an epic experience. I can’t wait for 2009 to roll around. Travis Touchdown looks to have his hands full with what looks to be a six armed, beam katana wielding hottie. That alone should have everyone excited.

4. Little King’s Story – Marvelous Interactive is marketing their latest title as a ‘RPG’, as is evidenced by the trailer I’m about to post. From what I’ve seen in the few trailers released, and the previews I’ve read it looks to play out more like a Simulation/Strategy game than a RPG. Of course this would make it a hybrid game, which isn’t anything new. Looks like we’ll just have to wait and see before any judgements can be made.

Whatever ‘genre’ it is, Little King’s Story looks to be oozing with charm. The game also looks to bring a breath of fresh air, as the gameplay elements look to offer a wide, and dynamic experience. You have to take care of your kingdom, keep up with maintenance, while also exploring and battling your way to new places. It looks like one of those games where you’re always staying active, therefore it will always be engaging.

Little King’s Story has a lot of hype to live up to, but with Cing Inc/Town Factory at the helm I’m willing to have a little faith. Cing Inc is the dev company behind the acclaimed Hotel Dusk, and Trace Memory games for the Nintendo DS.

3. MadWorld – SEGA has been pretty quiet about its MadWorld information ever since the Game Convention conference back in August. There was a brief mention at the Fall Conference from Nintendo, which gave us a release date, March 2009. Other than that, no gameplay videos have shown up at TGS at all. That shouldn’t have anyone worried though, as the videos released for E3 and the GC should suffice for now.

In case you haven’t heard about it, MadWorld looks to bring us some over-the-top violence (Human Darts), all with a black/white/red Sin City-esque graphical style. For those who don’t enjoy nonsensical video game violence like I do you might steer clear of MadWorld. But if things like impaling heads with street signs, or dicing up someone through an airplane motor sounds like a good time then enjoy these screenshots.

2. The Conduit – I think The Conduit could be the winner of “Most Mentioned Game On WiiBlog”. There’s good reason for that, as it could mark the first ‘great’ FPS released on the Wii. Most could say that I’d be leaving out other games with that statement. To clarify, I didn’t think MOH: Heroes 2 was all that great, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption had FPS elements but wasn’t a true blood for the genre. No, The Conduit for me looks to bring the first pure, grand-tastic (yes I made up a word) FPS experience to the Wii.

As proof of why The Conduit is #2 on the list, here’s a list of past articles I’ve written concerning the High Voltage title. I’d write more, but it would just be adding more noise to what I’ve already written:

Top 5 Reasons For Wii Owners To Smile

The Conduit – First Party or First Person?

High Voltage Wants Fan Ideas For The Conduit Controls

The Conduit Might Utilize Friend Codes

The Conduit Gets A Publisher (Rumor)

The Conduit

The Conduit Was Nintendo Wii’s Best Showing At E3

Top 5 2008 E3 Moments

The Conduit – What We Know So Far

1. Punch Out! – Besides The Conduit, Punch-Out! is probably the game I’ve talked about most on this blog. The different between the two, is that when I talk about Punch-Out! I tend to come across like a giddy school girl posting about her new b/f on MySpace. There’s good reason for it though.

Back in 1989 when I received my first NES, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! was one of the first games I’d ever played. I remember getting so frustrated at that game, but equally as joyful when I finally would down one of the colorful opponents. It would also probably be the game that had the longest gap of time between me starting playing, to me eventually beating the game. I think it wouldn’t be until either 1992 or 1993 that I would be good enough at video games to down Tyson.

Fast forward to 1994 when Super Punch Out released on the SNES. The sequel would take the Punch-Out formula and great improve upon it. Adding flashier animations, even more colorful opponents, and a faster sense of speed in its gameplay. It’s still the game that I’ve logged more hours into than any other. There would be spans during college, where I’d play for hours on end between classes. Mostly I was trying to break reputed world records for different opponents. As it stands today, I’ve downed Piston Hurricane in 9.32 seconds which I believe is a record (if you’re to believe online video game records).

It’s now 2008, and it has been 14 years since a Punch-Out game has graced us. I don’t think any other game announcement at the Fall Nintendo Conferences could have made me happier. There’s still a lot of questions to be answered. Namely, “How much balance board support will there be?”, and about as equally as important, “Will this game utilize 1:1 controls with the Wii Remote MotionPlus add-on?”. With the comments made from Miyamoto about Punch-Out being the perfect game for MotionPlus, I’m pretty optimistic.

For those who’ve yet to see it, here’s the small yet saliva inducing trailer:

What games are you all looking forward to coming out next year? I’m guessing Sin & Punishment 2 will be mentioned, and would definitely get a spot in a Honorable Mentions list from me.