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Sports Legends gives out its 2008 awards, from Game of the Year to the Best Trailer!
With the year winding down, the Sports Legends' staff has discussed, distilled, and dissected the top games of 2008. Here are the winners of Sports Legends Awards, in every major category ... and a few new ones!
Here's a quick briefing on our voting process. We gathered all the editors and came up with the categories and contenders before voting. If an editor didn't play the majority of titles in any category, he or she would abstain from voting. Any nominee that received zero votes is not listed in the final results, which is why a few categories only have one or two games listed. Any tiebreakers were settled with a revote amongst all editors featuring only the tied candidates. Now, without further ado, let's get to the awards!
Console of the Year: Xbox 360
For the second year running, the Xbox 360 is the king of consoles. Barely edging out the impressive PS3, the swanky new dash and the amazing exclusives like Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 put Microsoft over the top. The Wii's casual focus didn't garner it any votes this year.
FINAL RESULTS:
Xbox 360- 58%
PS3- 42%
Game of the Year: LittleBigPlanet
Creativity trumps carnage. Despite the deluge of ultra-violent shooters, our favorite game this year was the user-fueled platforming fun of LittleBigPlanet. The epic adventure of Fallout 3 carried it to a close second.
FINAL RESULTS:
LittleBigPlanet- 29%
Fallout 3- 21%
Metal Gear Solid 4- 17%
Dead Space- 12%
Gears of War 2- 8%
Smash Bros. Brawl- 8%
Grand Theft Auto IV- 5%
Xbox 360 Game of the Year: Dead Space
The multiplatform title Dead Space won a squeaker for the Xbox 360's best game. The Resident Evil-esque shooter felt the most natural on Microsoft's shooter-friendly system. Gears gave a valiant effort but fell just short.
FINAL RESULTS:
Dead Space- 38%
Gears of War 2- 33%
Fallout 3-21%
Grand Theft Auto IV- 8%
PS3 Game of the Year: LittleBigPlanet
Turns out LittleBigPlanet had a tougher time amogst the tighter crop of PS3 titles. The new-gen debut of Solid Snake truly impressed us, but it couldn't quite match the amazing innovation offered by Sony's new platformer.
FINAL RESULTS:
LittleBigPlanet- 35% (Winner via tiebreaker vote)
Metal Gear Solid 4- 35%
Resistance 2- 10%
BioShock- 10%
Grand Theft Auto IV- 5%
Fallout 3- 5%
Wii Game of the Year: No More Heroes
Here's a telling sign of the Wii's fortunes of late; all of the vote-receivers were released before June. The winner was UbiSoft's M-rated action-slasher No More Heroes. We can't wait for the sequel, which has a decent shot at winning... whatever year we get it.
FINAL RESULTS:
No More Heroes- 36%
Super Smash Bros. Brawl- 27%
Boom Blox- 18%
Wii Fit- 9%
Mario Kart Wii- 9%
PC Game of the Year: Fallout 3
Spore put up a great effort, but our voting ended up with a tie between multiplatform titles Call of Duty: World at War, and Fallout 3. Ultimately, Fallout's PC roots pushed it over the top, as the title took the tiebreaker vote.
FINAL RESULTS:
Fallout 3- 30% (Winner via tiebreaker)
Call of Duty: World at War-6- 30%
Spore- 20%
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King- 10%
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3- 5%
Far Cry 2-5%
Portable Game of the Year: Patapon
This hasn't been the best year for portable systems, but there were a few bright spots. The PSP, surprisingly, garnered 75 percent of the vote, with Patapon almost carrying a majority of the votes.
FINAL RESULTS:
Patapon (PSP)- 45%
God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) - 30%
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)- 10%
Final Fantasy IV (DS)- 10%
Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)- 5%
Best Downloadable Game: Mega Man 9
Capcom had a stellar year in the downloadable realm, taking over 50 percent of the vote with its three retro revivals. Ultimately, the NES-style goodness of Mega Man edged out the modern HD beauty of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
FINAL RESULTS:
Mega Man 9- 26%
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix- 22%
Braid- 13%
PixelJunk Eden- 13%
Geometry Wars 2- 9%
PixelJunk Monsters-9%
Penny Arcade Adventures- 4%
Bionic Commando- 4%
Best Online Game: Left 4 Dead
Who would have thought it'd take this long for a good zombie-themed first person shooter to come out? Left 4 Dead gave players the unique opportunity to blow away enemies as either the walking dead or humans. And boy is it fun.
FINAL RESULTS:
Left 4 Dead: 39%
Call of Duty: World at War: 25%
World of Warcraft: 12%
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix: 12%
LittleBigPlanet: 12%
Best Shooter: Call of Duty: World at War
Proving that the World War II subgenre of shooters is not dead and can still be approached from a fresh new angle, World at War gave gamers a blisteringly intense and grisly WWII experience that is every bit as great as the acclaimed Call of Duty 4.
FINAL RESULTS:
Call of Duty: World at War: 40%
Gears of War 2: 30%
Dead Space: 30%
Best Fighter: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
This one's a shocker. Going into the year, we would have expected the long-awaited Soul Calibur IV to win this category. It got zero votes. Instead, the winner was a downloadable title. Granted, it's one of the most addictive, enjoyable, and gorgeous downloadable titles ever. This new-school look for an old-school classic is a perfect match. Or is it round?
FINAL RESULTS:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix: 78%
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: 11%
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe: 11%
Best Action/Adventure Game: Metal Gear Solid 4
When it comes to delivering top-notch action and adventure, Metal Gear Solid has always been a stellar choice. In it's fourth installment, new additions made the stealth sweeter and the shooting action more hard-core. Some may say this game belongs in the shooter category. To them, we say, you're not experiencing the entirety of Metal Gear.
FINAL RESULTS:
Metal Gear Solid 4: 50%
No More Heroes: 30%
Mirror's Edge: 10%
God of War: Chains of Olympus: 10%
Best RPG: Fallout 3
The long-awaited third installment of the FallOut franchise definitely delivered. Fresh off the amazing Elder Scrolls IV, Bethesda hit another one out of the park with this post-apocalyptic hit. Real-time enough to satisfy shooter fans, and deep enough to cater to hardcore RPG lovers, Fallout 3 is a gaming treasure that you'll love losing hundreds of hours in.
FINAL RESULTS:
FallOut 3: 60%
Chrono Trigger: 20%
Persona 4: 10%
Fable 2: 10%
Best Game With No Genre Competition: Boom Blox
Some games have almost nothing in terms of competition in their genres. How many great racers can you count from this year? Are we really going to pick a "Best Music Game" when there's only two of note? For those kinds of games, we have this grab-bag of a category. The best game that lacked competition in its own genre was the divine EA-Spielberg production known as Boom Blox. As you can see in the results, it dominated a diverse selection of great games.
FINAL RESULTS:
Boom Blox: 67%
Rock Band 2: 11%
Mario Kart Wii: 11%
Spore: 11%
Best DLC: Bioshock challenge rooms
Too many companies have angered us of late by charging for content that should have been free... *cough*SoulCalibur4*cough*. Bioshock's unique and enjoyable challenge rooms were the cherry on top of the game's extremely professional PS3 port.
FINAL RESULTS:
Bioshock challenge rooms- 55%
Stardust Solo add-on pack- 36%
Foo Fighters "The Color and the Shape" in Rock Band- 9%
Best Boss: Revolver Ocelot
Even in his old age, Snake is still crushing terrorists in a game that somehow manages to improve upon the classic Metal Gear Solid formula. We'll avoid major spoilers, but needless to say, in Kojima's fourth MGS game, you finally get to literally beat your brother Liquid to death with your bare hands.
FINAL RESULTS:
Revolver Ocelot, Metal Gear Solid 4- 50%
Leviathan, Dead Space- 38%
Bad Girl, No More Heroes- 12%
Best New Character: Sackboy
Talk about your lopsided victories. There's a reason Sony's adopted Sackboy as its mascot--it's cute as the dickens. The other other vote-getter, geeky badass Travis Touchdown, couldn't even compete.
FINAL RESULTS:
Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet- 92%
Travis Touchdown, No More Heroes- 8%
Best New Weapon: Ripper
Again, another near-unanimous vote. Taking cues from Gears of War's epic chainsaw bayonet, Dead Space's Ripper shot razor blades at alien limbs, and smiles onto our faces.
FINAL RESULTS:
Ripper, Dead Space- 92%
Beam Katana, No More Heroes- 8%
Best Story: Fallout 3
Give Metal Gear Solid 4 credit--it tied up the many loose ends and complicated twists presented in the previous three titles. We gave the award to Fallout 3, though, since it did what a sequel should and told a great standalone story that caters to series newbs and vets alike.
FINAL RESULTS:
Fallout 3- 50%
Metal Gear Solid 4- 25%
Dead Space- 17%
Grand Theft Auto IV- 8%
Best Comeback: Street Fighter
Prince of Persia's reemergence from the shadow of Altair shocked us, but Street Fighter came back in a much bigger way. The one-two punch of the XBLA-PSN HD remake and the arcade release of the devine Street Fighter IV put the series back on the fighting game map. Watch your back, Tekken.
FINAL RESULTS:
Street Fighter- 42% (Winner via tiebreaker)
Prince of Persia- 42%
Mega Man- 16%
Biggest Risk-Taker: Sony
A 2D platformer powered by the creativity of gamers isn't the usual MO for Sony, creators of God of War and Resistance, but LittleBigPlanet won us over. Nintendo had a creative megahit in Wii Fit, but in the end, Sony beat out the most creative company in gaming. Kudos.
FINAL RESULTS:
Sony, LittleBigPlanet- 67%
Nintendo, Wii Fit- 25%
Capcom, Mega Man 9- 8%
Best Trailer: BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams
Raising more questions than answers, the BioShock 2 teaser trailer showed us an older Little Sister holding a makeshift Big Daddy stuffed toy while watching the sun set on the Atlantic Coast. A metropolis made of sand then rises out of the ground that resembles the city from the first game. So is Rapture really destroyed? Only time will tell.
FINAL RESULTS:
BioShock 2- 35%
Mirror's Edge- 22%
God of War 3 Debut- 11%
I Am Alive- 11%
Gears of War 2 Music Video- 11%
Best Band Game Song: "Eye of the Tiger"
With dozens of songs on the Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour discs, and hundreds released online as downloadable content over the last year, there have been plenty of amazing tracks to pick from this year. When it comes down to it, nothing is better for a music game than pure cheese-rock. The winner was Survivor's "The Eye of the Tiger," a tune best know for being played over a Rocky training montage. Our guess for why it was so loved? You can't sound any lamer than the original singer when you belt out the tune.
FINAL RESULTS:
"Eye of the Tiger"- 56%
"Any Way You Want It"- 11%
"Everlong"-11%
"Back in Black"-11%
"Ride the Lightning"-11%
Biggest Disappointment: Wii Music
Even after the game's poorly-received E3 debut, we held out hope Wii Music would be a chart-topper. While the game does encourage creativity, Wii Music's tendency to turn into a musical mess made it a critical flop. Resistance's continued failure to topple Gears of War should also be noted.
FINAL RESULTS:
Wii Music- 58%
Resistance 2- 24%
Legendary- 8%
Need for Speed Undercover- 8%
Worst Game: Golden Axe: Beast Rider
While Wii Music almost captured both of our lesser-regarded categories, (some of) our editors recognized that the game at least tried to do something new. The worst game of the year ended up being Golden Axe, which exhibited nothing in the way of new ideas, unless you count ripping off and crapping on God of War's gamplay mechanic a new idea.
FINAL RESULTS:
Golden Axe: 40%
Wii Music: 30%
Alone in the Dark: 20%
Castlevania Judgement: 10%
