The Wiire's Best Games of 2009

We screamed, punched, and kicked, but here is a list of 2009's best games updated

As 2009 has drawn to a close, it's time to reflect back on the year.  Maybe you bought a motorcycle.  Maybe you graduated this year.  Or maybe you got married.

If you're like the rest of us, you played a lot of video games.  While some folks have been telling me that 2009 was a boring year for the Wii, I couldn't disagree more.

2009 brought us innovation in Wii MotionPlus.  It gave us more room with the opening of the SD/SDHC card slot.  It brought Virtual Console Arcade.  It also brought the first home console 2D Mario game since Super Mario World expanded our ideas of platforming in 1991.

Wipe away those tears, friend, and embrace the new year with us.  As we look back on the best of the year, I want to thank you for sticking through it with us.  I look forward to bringing you more fantastic news about upcoming games in 2010, which already looks to be a promising year for Wii owners.  Safe travels, and a belated happy holidays, and happy new year to everyone!

Mike Suszek

Editor in Chief, The Wiire

We pulled all of The Wiire's staff together to vote for TWO games each, in two different categories: Wii Game of the Year and WiiWare Game of the Year.

We kept things simple and separate.  It gets too easy to score disc-based games higher than the downloadable titles (unless your name is Ian and the game is World of Goo).  Besides, there is a good variety in each category.  In the spirit of giving, we'd like to give recognition to these great games.

Here's the voting breakdown:

Disc-Based Wii Games:

WiiWare Games:

For those keeping count at home, our top games boil down to a blow-out win for New Super Mario Bros. Wii and for WiiWare it's a tie for the Bit.Trip series (which include Bit.Trip.Beat, Bit.Trip.Void, and Bit.Trip.Core) and WayForward's dark flashlight puzzler, Lit.

Keep in mind that some of us haven't had the chance to check out late 2009 releases like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers or Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth.  We hope to account for those in the 2010 releases.  Also note that we lumped some game series together for the purposes of simplification and similarities in gameplay.

What are your favorite games of 2009?  Did we pick the best games?  Do you hate us now?  Send a message to the podcast and let us know your top picks below.

UPDATE: During our recent podcast, there were changes not accounted for in our Top Games of 2009 list.  The changes have been made and, knowing our luck, completely affected the outcome.

WayForward-developed WiiWare game Lit crept on to the winner's stand to share the top spot for WiiWare Game of the Year with the Bit.Trip series with this final voting change.

Congrats to WayForward, and yay for recounts!