I didn’t want to just list off the five games that are at the top of all the game site lists. Yes, Bioshock is amazing. But everyone else already told you that. Gaming’s a lot bigger and more diverse than you might imagine. I’m going to go off the beaten path here a bit and come up with a few games that hit the sweet spot at my house over the course of the year.

Since my household runs older than many here, we’re going to have more to say about the higher ratings. I broke them out by Gamerdad Seal of Approval categories, with the hardware platform and the ESRB rating provided for your information.

ALL AGES
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii; E for Everyone)
This updating of a classic Sega game was a great leap onto the Nintendo platform. It’s really beautiful work with something new for everyone.

6+
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (PS3, Wii, Xbox360 versions are rated E10+; the DS version is rated E for Everyone)
A great mashup of concept and execution has been the hallmark of these games. This edition that brings them all together in one place just gilded the lily at my house.

Crash of the Titans (PS2, PSP, Wii, Xbox360 versions are rated E10+, the DS and GBA versions are rated E for Everyone )
At first my kids were annoyed by the changes to the Crash Bandicoot world. They were particularly annoyed with Crash being given a voice. But once they started unlocking new Titans and moves and got going there was no stopping them.

10+
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (Xbox360; T for Teen)
It was a banner year for games based on the TV series “Naruto”. There’s a game for every type of gamer and on every platform. Out of all of them, Rise of a Ninja stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of bringing the story to life and making a good game out of it.

Blue Dragon (Xbox360; T for Teen)
Shu and his friends gave the Xbox it’s first real RPG, and cast a long shadow for others to follow. Nothing revolutionary here; just classic gameplay fine tuned and presented in a gorgeous new way. It was a great game in it’s own right and it also gave RPG fans even higher hopes for “Lost Oddysey” – the company’s next outing that’s coming in a few weeks.

Wii Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training (Wii; T for Teen)
We always kind of giggled at all those little plastic clip-on thingies hanging on the wall in the gamestore for the Wiimote. They were just gimmicks. But when they packaged a game to let you head off to Hyrule again we had to get it. The accessory is a take-it-or-leave-it sort of thing, but the game alone was worth the price and then some.

14+
Sam and Max: Season One and Sam and Max Episode 201: Ice Station Santa (PC; T for Teen)
What’s to say here. Everyone’s favorite episodic canine gumshoe and his psychopathic lagomorphic buddy are solving cases with a huge dose of cartoony hillarity. And best of all you don’t have to wait a couple years between installments.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3; T for Teen)
Tomb-raiding hasn’t looked this good since Indy’s last adventure. We’ve been playing it over at a friend’s house, and this one nearly sold me a PS3.

Halo 3 (Xbox360; M for Mature)
All the marketing said it was time to finish the fight, but for some reason we’re still fighting. If you measure a game’s success by hours played and by the number and variety of people who crowd into my living room to play it weekend after weekend, this game is the best game ever made.

ADULT
Assasin’s Creed (Xbox360; M for Mature)
My oldest son told me I should just write the word “Awesome!” over and over but I think you guys deserve a little more explanation than that. This gorgeously realized stealth game added the depth of actual investigations. The setting gave my family a great starting point to discuss the very complicated real life issues of the region.

Tags: Misc