Toni Schwartz, Staff Writer:

5. Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure: Ok, if you have issues with a platformer/puzzle hybrid in which the main character, a stuffy old British gentleman, can transform into a giant anime robot and smash his opponents while the Union Jack is proudly displayed in the background, then I don't even want to know you.

4. Bookworm Adventures 2: PopCap should seriously start thinking on renaming their company PopCrack, because nearly every game they release is so damn addictive. Yes, even a game about spelling. Because this isn't just a game about spelling. It's a spelling game with RPG elements, and I love me some RPG -- even when the main character is a worm.

3. Punch-Out! for Wii: This game brought back so many memories of being 10 years old and throwing the NES controller against the wall because I got knocked out by Tyson in a single punch. Again. Regardless of my rage-filled childhood, it was awesome seeing the old crew from the original Punch-Out! We meet again, Glass Joe you namby pamby wuss. Great seeing ya, King Hippo ya blubber butt. I know I got ya'll humming the theme now, and envisioning the training scene with Doc riding his bike and Little Mac running behind him. Oh wait, what's that? The old opponents have new tricks up their boxing gloves? Well bring it on fellas!

2. Plants vs. Zombies: Sure, it's just another Tower Defense-type of game, but the title says it all, people. You have living plants defending your house against waves of nonliving zombies. You cannot possibly dislike this game, especially when you have bobsled team zombies, crabby middle-aged zombies who get mad when you knock the paper out of their hands, and swimming zombies in wetsuits riding a (wait for it) zombie dolphin.

1. The Sims 3: Is it wrong for me to often spend more time designing my house and decorating it than actually fulfilling my Sim families' hopes and dreams? Nope, I didn't think so.

The Sims 3

Todd Brakke, Staff Writer:

6. Guitar Hero: Metallica – Just kidding. I can’t stand Metallica.

5. Blood Bowl - Oh my stars and garters is this game hopelessly flawed. In fact, the single player game, thanks to horribly predictable and repetitive AI, borders on unplayable, and yet I cannot turn away. This is my first foray into the Blood Bowl universe and the love and attention paid to the original board game mechanics is so obvious and accurate that it’s impossible not to keep playing this game, especially when you take it online. Yeah, the online matchmaking lobby is also an unforgivable mess, but you haven’t known joy until your Rat Ogre knocks some puny gobby cold and your Gutter Runner scoops up the ball he had and scampers into the end zone.

4. OOTP X – It’s not flashy. It’s not exciting. But this incredibly deep and involved baseball universe (yes, universe) simulator remains the one of the best games of its kind. Run a modern day MLB league with all the trimmings. Run a historical MLB sim. Make everything fictional. It’s all up to you. If you can, find yourself a good multiplayer league in which to play this game because that’s where it really shines. Now, if only they’d do something about the user interface.

3. Red Faction: Guerrilla – I don’t like this game quite as much as everybody else (on planet Earth), but one cannot deny the childlike glee that comes from knocking s$%* down with a giant Thor-like hammer. In fact, from time to time I will yell, “By Odin’s Beard!” just for the heck of it. (Also because I’m a colossal dork. But then, if you’re reading this, so are you.) If only they had taken the time to really let the story shine, this might’ve been a real game of the year contender.

2. MLB ‘09: The Show – Look, this game offers the best on-field baseball action of any game in existence. Period. If you don’t like that then I question your patriotism. (Relax, everyone else questions mine at least five times before lunch.)

1. Left 4 Dead – Yes, this was a 2008 game, but I didn’t start playing it until January and there’s not another game that has seen more action on my consoles or PC than this one. And to think, there are people complaining about getting a Left 4 Dead 2 this year? That’s just crazy talk.

So that's where we stand as of late August. Check back for the End of the Year Awards to see just how much these end up changing...

Questions or comments? What games are on your Best of 2009 list? We'd love to hear from you .