Reflecting back on 2009, we found that it was a really great year for gaming. Not only did we see the return of beloved franchises and a resurgence in classic gameplay styles, but some games we originally hadn’t been following or maybe just didn’t hear much about ended up being amazing.

So take a look at our biggest surprises of 2009 and let us know in the comments what yours were.

Red Faction: Guerrilla (Xbox 360, PS3) [Full Review]

The Red Faction series was on the verge of irrelevance. The first two games were fun but I don’t think anyone really expected a third game in the series. Guerrilla released with little fanfare but those that did play it were greeted with some of the most awesomely destructive weapons in gaming. The main game was a blast but the multiplayer destruction contests, where you compete to blow up as much stuff as possible, are where we spent the majority of our time.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)
[Full Review]

People expect certain things from the Final Fantasy name. Crystal Bearers turned most peoples’ expectations on their head. A semi-open world, action/adventure title where you never level up? A hero whose hair obeys the laws of gravity? A mission in the main story that forces you to chase a bunch of monks around a monastery “Benny Hill style” as you yank their hoods off to find somebody in disguise? Crystal Bearers delivers all these things in a package only those with an open mind will appreciate.

Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) [Full Review]

Every Batman game that had come before had sucked harder than the Dyson DC24 with ball technology. It was an unwritten rule that Batman video games were supposed to suck. So when Arkham came out not only did it break the unwritten rule about not sucking, it had the gall to be exquisitely amazing. Combining the atmosphere of a Bioshock with the Metroidvania style and coating all of it with the best stealth this side of Sam Fisher, Batman shattered everyone’s expectations.

inFamous (PS3) [Full Review]

Given the developers pedigree, I should have expected great things but this one crept up on just about everyone. The idea of an electric super hero sounded a little cheesy and Prototype (which was releasing around the same time, looked like it was going to be amazing. Not only did inFamous blow Prototype out of the water with tighter controls, superior graphics, and electricity grenades, it managed to worm its way into the discussions for game of the year.

Borderlands (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

This is one of those games that after hearing the premise, I had no interest in. An FPS that uses a Diablo style loot system? The promises of hundreds of unique, randomly generated guns? I was very skeptical that anyone could make a coherent gaming experience out of that idea. The shooter/RPG hybrid genre has picked up speed, but still has a ways to go. I was very happy to see after just a couple hours spent with Borderlands that the leveling and loot systems worked so well with the FPS elements. Both added to the other in fun and interesting ways. Borderlands manages to be a high energy experience that is even better when played with friends.

Lego Rock Band (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

The pairing of two titans can often result in this. So when Lego Rock Band was announced the resulting scoffs reverberated around the internet. But what seemed like a desperate money grab actually ended up being a fun and entertaining music game. Besides it has freaking Ghostbusters.

Excitebots Trick Racing (Wii) [Full Review]

When it was revealed that Monster Games was working on a new Wii title, everybody’s first thought was Excite Truck 2. When we found out how secretive they were being (even dimming their monitors when the water delivery came), people started to suspect a new F-Zero. I think the last thing anybody expected was a racing game in which you control a bunch of robotic animals as they try to make sandwiches, catch fish, and score soccer goals while fighting for first place. Surprisingly, Excitebots Trick Racing is exactly that.

Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

While Bioware’s science fiction games have had my full attention since KOTOR, their fantasy stuff has never really appealed to me. On the surface, Dragon Age: Origins looked very generic to me. From the drab, Lord of the Rings inspired fantasy world, to the character designs. Going in, my hype level was zero. What I found was that it was a highly addictive experience that combines interesting characters and a story with plenty of hook with an interesting strategic battle system.

Tales of Monkey Island (PC, Wii) [Full Review of Episode 1]

Some games of yesteryear are thought to be dead and gone. Even if they did somehow bring them back, would they still be relevant, or would a new developer ruin your beloved franchise? Long time adventure game fans were blown away when they heard that LucasArts had teamed up with Telltale Games to bring back Monkey Island. Telltale had proved they had the chops to successfully revive a franchise when Sam and Max went episodic. It was a match made in heaven and the results were as fantastic as we had hoped.

The Metroid: Other M Trailer at E3 (Wii)

With the Metroid Prime series coming to an end in 2007, we no longer knew what to expect for the Metroid franchise or when to expect it. With virtually no foreshadowing, the Metroid: Other M trailer dropped at E3 revealing the game was being developed by Team Ninja. If anybody predicted that developer would ever work on a Metroid game, they probably worked for Nintendo, Team Ninja, or are a psychic. The trailer managed to seemingly show lots of gameplay while at the same time leaving us all clueless as to what kind of game it really is. The only sure thing is that it is a game I must play.

“Can I have that bucket?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s there.”

“Tales of Monkey Island: The Siege of Spinner Cay”, the second episode in Telltales new Monkey Island episodic series, picks up immediately where the first game left off. While most Telltale episodic games can be played out of order without leaving the player completely lost, this is not the case with Tales. These episodes are written along the lines of old movie serials.

The first game left off with a cliffhanger that put Guybrush in a tight spot. This one picks things right up from there, starting with a sword fight. Rather than the insult sword fighting of the older games, this one has you solving a puzzle during your duel.

"And I've got a TIP for you. Get the POINT?"

The game controls exactly like episode one. You point and click to interact with objects, but move Guybrush with either the “WASD” controls or by dragging the mouse. You can also run when moving with the mouse by holding down the right click. This feels incredibly awkward, but the increased walk speed is worth it. I am still of the opinion that the old point and click interface works best, especially since you are already using it for a majority of the game.

Once again, the writing is top notch. From start to finish, the game provided plenty of laughs. Now that I have finished the original Monkey Island (and Special Edition), I can see that they are really building off of the existing MI universe in these new episodes.

The voice actors also turned in great performances. Since this one allows Guybrush and Elaine the chance to interact more, you get a much better feel for the characters and their relationship. The secondary characters are off the wall, as you would expect, and the actors do a great job bringing the universe to life.

"Two Unsavory Pirates"

Without giving away any spoilers, I have to say my favorite parts of this episode were the interactions between Guybrush and LeChuck. I’ll leave it at that, because I really don’t want to spoil anything.

They also mix up the locations more in this one, as you go island hoping between several tiny islands to solve many of the puzzles. While it did make the game feel a little bigger moving from island to island, this was counterbalanced by the fact that most of the islands are very tiny; so tiny that the screen barely has to scroll over for you to have walked across the whole thing.

Like the first episode, the majority of the puzzles made enough logical sense, at least within the game universe’s twisted logic, that you can get through this episode in just a few hours. If you do get stuck there is, once again, a built-in tip system to help you out. If you aren’t progressing, Guybrush will randomly say helpful things to clue you in on the next puzzle.

“The Siege of Spinner Cay” is a nice continuation of the story and I am looking forward to the twists and turns they take us through in episode three.

You can get the entire season of “Tales of Monkey Island” from Telltale’s official site.

This review is based on the PC version of Tales of Monkey Island: The Siege of Spinner Cay provided to us by Telltale.

On a very special twenty-fourth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we are joined by our good friend Wesley Johnson as well as our number one super-fan, Russ “The Bus” Walsh for another extra special livetacular recording of the podcast.

Sure, there may be Millie Vanillie related distractions. Discussions of the Brazillian Mega Man comics and Pokémon themed N64′s may have occurred, but we also talk about stuff. Specifically our piles of shame. You know, those games we know are awesome that we own but just haven’ had a chance to finish?

But before any of that, we talk about the games we have been playing. Jesse has still been playing Mega’Mon Red (Mega Man Star Force 3:  Red Joker), but also had a chance to try out the new “Wipeout HD Fury” DLC  and the “Final Fantasy Dissidia” demo. Jonah recently became addicted to the job system in “Final Fantasy V Advanced” for the GBA, while Wes has been trying to make his way through “Tales of Monkey Island” episode one. Meanwhile, Russ has been digging into the fan made patch for “Smash Bros. Brawl” called “Smash Plus” which re-balances all the characters for tournament play.

We listen to a cover of Weezer’s “El Scorcho” from the new 8-bit tribute album put together by Pterodactyl Squad, and then talk about the news. All this and so much more on episode 24 of Barrel Roll.

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Show Links:
Outro Music – “Fortuna (Star Fox)” by The OneUps
Brazilian Mega Man Comics
Mother 3 Handbook
Weezer: The 8-bit Album
Retro/Grade
Idiot Sues Sony After Being Banned
I Come to Shanghai

"Here There Be Monkeys"

Can I first start by saying, seeing the Lucasarts logo at the front of an adventure game again really gave me a warm fuzzy feeling? Because it did.

Now it is time to come clean. While I love Lucasarts’ classic adventure games, pirates, and comedies, I have never actually played a Monkey Island game. This gave me a unique perspective going in to the new “Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal”, the first in a new episodic series from Telltale games.

In a way I’m glad, as the game did not have to live up to some high bar it’s predecessors have set for many gamers. I have played several of the Telltale adventure games already, so there is the second bar, another high one, that I’m sure many will be judging this game by.

You will be happy to note that the game lives up to the hype you may have built up for yourself. In that I mean, it is a clever point and click adventure game that is laugh-out-loud funny.

The basic plot is that LeChuck is at it again, this time trying to use some crazy monkey based voodoo to bind the seven seas to his will. You, once again taking on the roll of Guybrush Threepwood, are attempting to stop LeChuck and save your wife Elaine when things go horribly wrong.

This kicks off the start of what is to be a larger story that spans all five episodes of this new series. After this initial encounter, Guybrush is stranded on the mysterious island of Flatsom. Here all the winds are blowing inward toward the island, making it impossible for ships to leave. His hand has also been cursed, so he’s got that going on too. The story is well presented, the characters are charming, and as mentioned above, it had me laughing hard for most of the game.

The play control is a little different than I was expecting. In most point and click adventure games, you click where you want your character to move and they do it. Here that mechanic only applies if you are clicking on something you want Guybrush to interact with. To walk, you have to use the good old “WASD” or you can hold the left click and drag him around. It is a little strange at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Being an episodic game, it is fairly short. I was able to get through it in just a few hours. The difficulty curve was a little lower than I was expecting. This is either because they wanted to ease people into this new adventure or that after playing many of the other Telltale games, I have started getting into the mindset of how their puzzles work.

There is a built in hint system, like most of their games, where the character will say things to give you clues as to what to do next. You can adjust this higher if you find yourself getting stuck. The folks at Telltale seem to want you to enjoy the game and not get frustrated and quit like what would often happen in old-school adventure games. I think they have struck a pretty good balance with this one.

There isn’t a lot more I can say without spoiling the plot or the puzzles, so I’m going to cut this review a little short. I would definitely recommend this to fans of adventure games, comedies, or pirates. If you are new to the genre, this game will ease you in and make you smile while it’s at it. If you are veteran, there are some references thrown in just for you.

Personally, I can’t wait for the second episode.

This review is based on the PC version of Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal provided to us by Telltale.