Last year, I thought there were too many great games coming out all at once.  Now, after this E3, I’m pretty sure that I can say that last year is about to be annihilated.  Okay, so this year won’t have some of the bigger names like Fallout, Metal Gear, Mario Kart, Smash Bros. or Wii Fit (the soccer moms have spoken!) etc. (hey, last year wasn’t so bad), but there are TONS of supposedly high-quality games coming out this year.  Don’t get too angry if I miss your favorite game, but this is a short list of some games I’m most interested in for this year (sure I could tell you about next year, but that would spoil the point of new year’s day, and Seacrest would be upset).

—————-New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii…you get a virtual slap if you thought this was on any other system)

This is the one game that I know for sure that I will purchase day-one.

Why do I want it?

Sure I played Contra, 2 players back in the day, but it’s been a long time since coop was the “it” thing.  Coop is back in a big way with many games, and I can’t wait to cooperate and also kick the crap out of the other players.  I love Nintendo’s main games, because I am rarely disappointed.  This is a new 2d platformer, the likes of which have not been seen for quite some time.  Also, I can jump off of Yoshi, let him fall into the lava, and pretend to hear Mario say: “It’s a Yoshi Bar Beh Que!”

What’s in it?

New suits: Penguin (slide, throw snowballs to freeze enemies and make platforms), propeller hat (spin around in the air and dive bomb enemies)

80+ levels of goodness

4-player coop:  Trickery abounds when I help my teammates one moment, and knock them out of the way for a coin the next.  Tee hee.

Koopa Kids!!  These guys are back, and they’re bosses!  Their last major game was Super Mario Bros. 3.

Motion control:  take control of things in the world, like the lights on the boat you’re riding down a river through a dark cave.  Feel free to change the direction of the light when your buddies are jumping around.

New way to die:  If everyone is out of lives, or if everyone is dead at the same time, the level will restart.  Players get about 5 lives each.  When a player dies, they reappear in a few seconds in a bubble, and the bubble must be popped in order for them to play again.

—————–Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3/Xbox360)

Why do I want it?

Despite some gripes about repetition (pick-pocketing, sword-fighting, and interrogating was the main part of the gameplay), and minor gripes about control (why in the hell can’t I just drop down a building without Altair catching the next hand-hold down!?), it seems as though Ubisoft will be fixing the “errors” of AC, and making a game that is shaping up to possibly be a game of the year contender.  There are around 15 sub-missions now (instead of 3), flight, swimming, and lots more abilities.

What’s in it?

New Ways to Kill: grab opponents from the hay, leap from pillars, fly on a hang glider and kick, kill and make the person sit on the bench as if there were nothing wrong ala Weekend at Bernie’s.

More Variety in the missions

Leonardo da Vinci:  He helps you out by giving you inventions such as the hang glider.  Sorry, no broke-back-Italy action confirmed yet.

———————Other Notables

Xbox360:  Brutal Legend (varied gameplay), Splinter Cell (3ps), Bayonetta (beat-em-up), Shadow Complex (side-scrolling shooter/platformer, xbox live DLC), GTAIV: Ballad of Gay Tony, Max Payne 3 (3ps), Singularity (fps), Mafia 2 (3ps), Red Dead Redemption (3ps), Batman: Arkham Asylum (beat-em-up/stealth).

PS3:  Brutal Legend, Bayonetta, Max Payne 3, Singularity, Mafia 2, Red Dead Redemption (possibly 2010), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (3ps), Batman: Arkham Asylum (special PS3-only Joker challenge mode).

Wii:  Wii Sports Resort, Muramasa (2d side-scrolling platformer/action), Cave Story (special levels, graphics etc. for Wii verison), Metroid Prime Trilogy Box Set (new Wii control support for the first two games), Red Steel 2 (fps), Dead Space: Extraction (gun game with coop), Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (gun game with coop).

Did I miss anything?  I’m sure I did.  Let me know what you’re looking forward to this fall, and why.

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