Game Of The Year 2010

WINNER: SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2
In 2007, the original Super Mario Galaxy would have narrowly lost out to Halo 3 for the Game of the Year award, but last year it was clear that Nintendo had crafted a masterpiece of a sequel, the game that was truly worthy of such a title. Miyamoto and co managed to draw all of the best bits of the first game, yet packing in even more innovative galactic setpieces, twisting the traditional plot of the franchise and best of all bringing back Yoshi into the equation. That there were over 240 Power Stars to collect this time around, each putting new light on their respective galaxies, really boosted the replay value and general value for money posed by Galaxy 2. Will Nintendo's iconic Italian plumber ever reach such a franchise hallmark again? I doubt it, but this is by no means the first time Nintendo would have proved me wrong...

RUNNER UP: MASS EFFECT 2

Deciding 2010's Game of the Year award was quite possibly the hardest decision of the year. We had Halo: Reach, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Red Dead Redemption for starters, but if anything came close enough to topping Galaxy 2 it was Mass Effect 2, the piece de resistance of all science-fiction shooters that took the role-playing genre to magnificent new heights. What stopped it from winning GotY? ME2 was a little reliant on you having played the original game to truly feel its consequences, and its final boss battle was a major sorepoint in an otherwise flawless campaign,. With any luck, though, those complaints should be easily addressed by BioWare with the release of Mass Effect 3 next March, promising to be an epic conclusion to the trilogy and an early Game of the Year 2012 contender to boot. Nevertheless, Mass Effect 2 made one of the biggest impacts of 2010.

COMING UP...So, now I've taken a look back at the last four years of video gaming, it's time for me to choose my Game of the Year. I've already got my choice ready, but I'll be revealing my Top 15 Games of 2011 in the next week to build up to its reveal! What about your choice, though? Here are the nominees for Game of the Year 2011:

• LittleBigPlanet 2
• Marvel VS Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds
• Portal 2
• LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Video Game
• LA Noire
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Resistance 3
• Gears of War 3
• Forza Motorsport 4
• Dark Souls
• Batman: Arkham City
• Battlefield 3
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
• Rayman: Origins
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Super Mario 3D Land
• Saint's Row: The Third
• Mario Kart 7