GBA Game of the Year for 2005
5. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
4. Gunstar: Future Heroes
3. Wario Ware: Twisted!
2. Mario Tennis: Advance Tour
1. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
D Intelligent Systems | P Nintendo
PALGN Review: GBA
It's clear that Nintendo are keen to push the Fire Emblem series out of Japan, with two GBA titles and a GCN game within the last two years. About time - as you readers have indicated, you guys absolutely adore Fire Emblem - especially the latest GBA effort, The Sacred Stones, which now has the 'honour' of being your GBA game of the year. This game is no different to the rest of the games in the series, still relying on a terrific, branching story and fantastic turn based strategy battles. The Sacred Stones pushes the little Game Boy Advance to the limit, with some of the best visuals seen out of the tiny screen, and sounds which aren't justified by those little speakers. It beat out a pretty strong array of competitors, such as our GBA favourite, Ware Ware: Twisted!, among others. The Minish Cap was somewhat of a funny one, with release dates in 2004 and 2005, depending on your territory - but either way, Fire Emblem got the job done.
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PSP Game of the Year for 2005
5. Ridge Racer
4. Wipeout Pure
3. Burnout: Legends
2. Lumines
1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
D Namco | P Namco
PALGN Review: PSP
The PSP hasn't had the great start that Sony might of hoped for, but it still has its fair share of quality games - most of them involving some sort of racing. Places 5-3 in your voting were all out and out racing games, while the top spot at least has an extensive amount of driving in it. Oh well - we're definitely proud at you guys for voting the fantastic Lumines into second place, though. But, the little guy was always going to have a tough time against the might of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and, in this case, it came off second best. Liberty City Stories isn't the most inventive game in the series, nor is it the strongest. But, it does bring players back to Liberty City, with a new story and array of brand new missions to play. And, it does all this on a handheld console, making it that much more impressive. Great work, Rockstar.
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NDS Game of the Year for 2005
5. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
4. Animal Crossing: Wild World
3. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
2. Nintendogs
1. Mario Kart DS
D Nintendo | P Nintendo
PALGN Review: NDS
Nintendo DS owners have been spoilt for choice towards the end of 2005, regardless of various games suffering annoying delays to PAL regions. You readers have come up with a top 5 full of quality games - and to not even include puzzling powerhouse Meteos just shows you how good the DS line-up is right now. Like us though, you fell for sentimental favourite Mario Kart DS. It's 'just-one-more-go' factor, perfect handling, great online and offline multiplayer, and massive array of grand prix races made it your favourite NDS game of the year. Not even those pesky snakers online could make you put down the DS (although, admit it - you've turned the console off at least once when you've lost the race, haven't you?). Mario Kart DS just topped off a fantastic year from the DS, and we can expect more in 2006.
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GCN Game of the Year for 2005
5. Killer7
4. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
3. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
2. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
1. Resident Evil 4
D Capcom Production Studio 4 | P Capcom
PALGN Reviews: GCN, PS2
Well, who didn't see this coming? Resident Evil 4 won the reader's GCN Game of the Year vote by the most astronomical of margins, with even the second placed The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure left far, far, FAR behind. After writing so many blurbs spurting out various superlatives to describe Resident Evil 4 over the past week, we think we've finally ran out of ways to say how good it is. If you haven't, just buy the damn thing already.
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Xbox Game of the Year for 2005
5. Forza Motorsport
4. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
3. Burnout: Revenge
2. Jade Empire
1. Half Life 2
D Valve | P Vivendi
PALGN Review: Xbox
This was a close one, with not a whole lot seperating the top five games - 2, 3 and 4 were especially close. Our pick, Burnout: Revenge, wasn't as radical as we thought it might of been either, considering you all managed to vote it into third place. However, it was Half Life 2 which came out on top. Deservably so too, considering it is one of the absolutely best first-person shooter experiences one can have. In fact, it's arguably the best single-player FPS ever made. It's not particularly innovative, but it improves on the original Half Life in every possible way. The story is captivating. The controls are sublime. The graphics are sensational. Oh, and then there's the nifty little addition of the gravity gun, which allows you to pick up whatever piece of a equipment, be it a piece of wood or a saw blade, and fling them at the enemies in order to cause a whole lot of carnage. Half Life 2 - a most worthy winner for your Xbox Game of the Year.
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PC Game of the Year for 2005
5. The Movies
4. Call of Duty 2
3. Civilization IV
2. Battlefield 2
1. F.E.A.R.
D Monolith | P Vivendi
PALGN Review: PC
There was some real quality on the PC this year, so picking a winner was always going to be tough. Call of Duty 2, Civilization IV and Battlefield 2 are all terrific sequels - but in the end, it was the new game, F.E.A.R. that caught your attention. Pushing a horror aspect, F.E.A.R. was always just a littttttle bit different. Noises in the distance, caused by something unseen. Radio static. Brief spots of slow down, accompanied by a loss of control and radio static, to make you uneasy. People thought to be dead appearing on screen, then disintergrating into dust. Oh, and then there's the fact that the big bad is a little girl, complete with red dress. The whole thing is a bit wacky - but, that's why we all love it so much. Combine this unique and unsettling atmosphere with all the other standard requirements of a great first person shooter - brilliant artificial intelligence, fun multiplayer and a captivating story - and it's not hard to see why you voted First Encounter Assault Recon as your PC game of the year. Now if only they didn't put an oxymoron in the title...
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PS2 Game of the Year for 2005
5. Burnout: Revenge
4. Gran Turismo 4
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
2. God of War
1. Resident Evil 4
D Capcom Production Studio 4 | P Capcom
PALGN Reviews: GCN, PS2
We're actually quite surprised by the complete lack of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening in your top five, dear readers. We're also surprised that you put Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater at about the same position we did, too. Still, we aren't quite as surprised with the top two. It was an extremely close battle too, with Resident Evil 4 coming out in front of slasher God of War with just a couple of extra votes. The PS2 version of Capcom's opus has generally played second fiddle to the GCN version, thanks to being released much later, weaker controls, down-tuned visuals, and the fact that the PS2 has a much stronger 2005 line up than the GCN, meaning it doesn't quite stand out as much. Still, Resident Evil 4 is still an utterly superb game - it even sports a few rather nifty extras over its older GCN brother. We cannot really fault your choice here at all, readers.
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Overall Game of the Year for 2005
5. God of War (PS2)
4. Battlefield 2 (PC)
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
2. Mario Kart DS (NDS)
1. Resident Evil 4 (GCN/PS2)
D Capcom Production Studio 4 | P Capcom
PALGN Reviews: GCN, PS2
We had some questionable results in our Staff Game of the Year awards - but there is at least one we definitely got right. Like us, you readers thought that Resident Evil 4 was, hands down, the best game released in 2005. It has received endless praise from the gaming media, enthusiasts, and average punters alike - and there's a good reason for it. Resident Evil 4 really is the total package. It has a perfectly judged single player mode, with just the right amount of hours required to knock off the main story and a great learning curve. There's a wide variety of weapons at your disposal, all of which are well-balanced and fun to use. Boss battles are another highlight - no two are quite the same. Then there are the various extras, which keep pulling you back to the game. Visually, Resident Evil 4 has very few equals this generation, thanks to some fantastic attention to detail and brilliant lighting effects. Resident Evil 4 really does have it all - if you're one of the few to check it out yet, make sure you do so.
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Most Anticipated Game of 2006
5. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
4. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
3. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)
2. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC/Xbox 360)
1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)
D EAD | P Nintendo
PALGN Review: GBA
What else? Link's next adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is something almost every gamer wants a taste of, after patiently waiting for the game ever since that first E3 trailer. But, it seems Shigsy and his team are intent on keeping this one under wraps until its good and ready - whenever that may be. We're reasonably confident it will be 2006, at any rate. But, behind Twilight Princess are some other sure-fire gems - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion looks absolutely first rate, on both PC and the Xbox 360. Shadow of the Colossus is fantastic, if reports on the NTSC version are anything to believe, and Dragon Quest VIII and Kingdom Hearts 2 should be a couple of great RPGs. Combine that with the (probable) unveiling of the first Revolution software, and, fingers crossed, the release of that console and the PS3, and we should be in for a great year of gaming.
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And that's that - PALGN's 2005 awards done and dusted - aside from one thing. The lucky winners of our competition are:
thebigm, who scored Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil on Xbox.
NismoR34, who grabbed a PS2 version of The Incredible Hulk.
mrcivic, who receives Xmen: Legends II on the Xbox.
NismoR34, who grabbed a PS2 version of The Incredible Hulk.
mrcivic, who receives Xmen: Legends II on the Xbox.
Congratulations to those winners - and, comiserations to those who tried to pass their email addresses off as a PALGN username. We'll see you all next year for our 2006 awards!
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