My Game Of The Year

Red Dead Redemption was great but let down by its glitches; Mass Effect 2 had an amazing plot and much improved game-play, yet the quality of the final boss battle was a downer; Halo: Reach had a great campaign, near-endless replay value and refined the shooter formula fully, however the lack of a true ending for Bungie's sci-fi masterpiece did leave the plot feeling somewhat hollow at times. No, for me it had to be Super Mario Galaxy 2 that stole the show in 2010: the soundtrack was beautifully orchestrated, the visuals were the Wii's absolute best (surprising given how impressive the original graphics were), the game-play was exactly what Mario should be in 2010 and much more balanced than before and the 240 Power Stars to collect each felt like an individual challenge (challenge being the key word- it's hard enough that I've yet to beat it 100%) but equally individually compelling. Nothing I saw before or after Super Mario Galaxy 2 this year truly matched the astonishment of how flawlessly side-scrolling and open-world gameplay was merged throughout, and as for the plot? Once again, it was the iconic plumber through and through, not venturing out of the safety zone but all the same letting the levels do the talking- which they did perfectly.