Welcome, welcome, GameCola fans across this great globe, to our yearly awards spectactular! I’d rather just get this underway without babbling too much in what is clearly filler text, but first:
You’ll note that several categories—such as “Best PS2 Game,” “Best DS Game,” and so on—are dead. This is because nobody makes single-platform games anymore, so it doesn’t make sense to have individual system categories anymore.
Got that? OK! Dive on in!
Best Use of a License
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PS2, GCN, MXB, X360, PC)
And lo, for the third straight year, this award goes to a Star Wars game! (And for the second straight year, this award goes to a Star Wars game that incorporates Legos.) Funny—I always thought these games had a sort of reputation. A sort of bad reputation. A sort of EA Games-esque reputation. But GameCola never lies. Except for that one year we gave the “Best New Character” award to a random seagull in Wind Waker…but shh, don’t tell anyone—we’re trying to pretend that never happened.
Board of Director’s Choice: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PS2, GCN, MXB, X360, PC)
Readers’ Choice: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PS2, GCN, MXB, X360, PC)
Last Year’s Winner: Lego Star Wars (PS2, GCN, MXB)
Best Game No One Played
The Shivah (PC)
I would’ve called this “Best Indie Game,” but then I realized that this was the only indie game I’ve actually played this year. Not to mention that calling the category that would disqualify “Sneak King” from the voting, and I think we can all agree that Sneak King deserves some kind of award. Alas, this is not that award, as the Best Game No One Played of 2006 is one of the only competent (and not only that, but good!) point-and-click adventure games released this year.
Board of Director’s Choice: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Sumoner (PS2)
Readers’ Choice: Sneak King (PC) and Sam & Max: Culture Shock (PC)
Last Year’s Winner: N/A
Best Remake/Re-release
Final Fantasy III (DS)
Despite its hideously, horrendously ugly 3D graphics that are somehow way worse than its original NES visuals, Final Fantasy III on the DS eked out a close victory over Final Fantasy V Advance on the GBA. Final Fantasy III was the only Final Fantasy game never to have been released in the United States, and now that it has been, nerds everywhere will have to move on and find something else to lament.
Board of Director’s Choice: Final Fantasy V Advance (GBA)
Readers’ Choice: Mega Man Powered Up (PSP)
Last Year’s Winner: N/A
Best New Character
Balthier (Final Fantasy XII, PS2)
Dubbed “one the most compelling Final Fantasy characters ever created” by GameCola’s Steve Hamner in his review last month, Balthier gained notoriety for being one of very few interesting characters in a game that, while featuring a brilliant plot and neato keen new battle system, didn’t have much in the way of character development, inasmuch as you would say frat boys don’t have much in the way of not puking all over themselves.
Board of Director’s Choice: Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, PS2)
Readers’ Choice: Balthier (Final Fantase XII, PS2)
Last Year’s Winner: Wander (Shadow of the Colossus, PS2)
Best Sequel
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PS2, GCN, MXB, X360, PC)
It could hardly help but be the Best Sequel of 2006, could it? After all, it took an already incredible game—its predecessor, Lego Star Wars—and removed its only bad bit—the fact that it’s based on the newer Star Wars Trilogy. That’s basically the definition of a great sequel, isn’t it? Building upon the old while getting rid of the lesser parts of the old? It also didn’t hurt that you can PLAY AS CHEWBACCA AND RIP PEOPLES’ ARMS OFF.
Board of Director’s Choice: Guitar Hero 2 (PS2)
Readers’ Choice: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PS2, GCN, MXB, X360, PC)
Last Year’s Winner: We <3 Katamari (PS2)
Most Deserving of a Sequel
Chibi-Robo (GCN)
Well that certainly makes sense! At some point next year there’s a Chibi-Robo game coming out for the DS, and I guess you could sort of call that a sequel, though it’s not on any of the big-boy consoles. The fact is that I’m just glad Chibi-Robo won something, as I was beginning to suspect that nobody on the GC staff but me actually liked it at all. C’mon guys, what’s not to like? You get to clean up after slobs! What could be better!
Board of Director’s Choice: Chibi-Robo (GCN)
Readers’ Choice: Gears of War (X360)
Last Year’s Winner: Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Most Innovative
Electroplankton (DS)
And speaking of games that nobody ever played! I’m pretty sure GameCola’s Elizabeth Medina-Gray is literally the only person ever to have purchased this game—especially since the darn thing wasn’t even sold in stores, really. You poke these little creatures and they make noises that can be considered music. Or something. I didn’t really get it, to be honest, but I’m pretty sure that videogames define innovative as “something most people won’t be able to comprehend.”
Board of Director’s Choice: Electroplankton (DS)
Readers’ Choice: Wii Sports (Wii)
Last Year’s Winner: Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS)
Most Disappointing
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
I know, I’m surprised too. There are two things that are massively disappointing about this game (which is, incidentally, the sequel to a former GameCola Game of the Year!):
1) The fact that several of its levels are taken from the first game (for some reason, players were actually hoping to explore different movies than the ones in Kingdom Hearts).
2) The fact that, about halfway through the game, it just gives up on trying to be interesting and makes you play through all these worlds a second time, rather than giving you anything new to do.
Its focus on Organization XIII didn’t help things, either—it’s like Square didn’t realize that the entire appeal of KH is traversing old-school Disney movies from your childhood with big-shoed Sora, and thought instead that everyone’s favorite part was the boring story they came up with to string everything together.
Board of Director’s Choice: Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
Readers’ Choice: Bomberman: Act Zero (X360) and Zoo Tycoon DS (DS)
Most Disappointing: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare (PS2, MXB, GCN)
Best Multiplayer
Guitar Hero 2 (PS2)
Now, from what I’m told, the original Guitar Hero also features a two-player mode; the only problem is that nobody knew because nobody owned more than one guitar controller for the game. But even if it does have multiplayer, Guitar Hero 2 still does it better, because this time each of the players can play on different difficulties, meaning that newbies can play with experts and still have a good time.
Board of Director’s Choice: Guitar Hero 2 (PS2)
Readers’ Choice: Guitar Hero 2 (PS2) and Wii Sports (Wii)
Last Year’s Winner: Star Wars: Battlefront II (MXB, PS2)
Best PC Game
Sam and Max Season 1, Episode 1: Culture Shock
Telltale Games, somehow, did the absolutely impossible: They managed to bring back Sam & Max without ruining it. They actually did it twice, releasing two titles in this relaunched series toward the end of 2006. The original’s major selling point—its sense of humor—is as present here as it was there, as is the classic style of gameplay that’s virtually gone in today’s gaming landscape.
Board of Director’s Choice: Sam and Max Season 1, Episode 1: Culture Shock
Readers’ Choice: Star Wars: Empire at War
Last Year’s Winner: N/A.
Best Console Game
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (GCN/Wii)
This game could become famous for being the first Zelda game I actually complete. I have started—and absolutely failed to finish—no less than FIVE separate Zelda games, but I think this will be the one to break the streak. Mainly because I’m playing it on the Wii and get to use the controller as a sword, which makes me feel cooler than I have at any other point in my life. It gets bonus points, too, for having each of its versions be the visuals reverses of one another. (Seriously. The GameCube one is entirely backwards.)
Board of Director’s Choice: The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (GCN/Wii)
Readers’ Choice: The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (GCN/Wii)
Last Year’s Winner: N/A.
Best Portable Game
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
More a homage to the original series than an entirely original title itself, New Super Mario Bros. gave gamers what they’ve been wanting for years—a brand-new, good, 2D platformer. It doesn’t look like this is a trend videogame companies are going to follow, but we can deal with having one of these every several years, right?
Board of Director’s Choice: Monster Hunter Freedom (PSP)
Readers’ Choice: New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Last Year’s Winner: N/A.
Employee of the Year
Steve Hamner
One of our most consistent (in terms of writing at least one article a month) and talented (in terms of being awesome) writers in 2006, Steve won this year’s award in a near landslide victory. You know him for his reviews, his innovative The Vana’diel Diaries, and from his frequent appearances in Versus Mode (including this month’s edition of the column); with any luck, we’ll be able to keep him writing all of those things well into the new year.
Board of Director’s Choice: Travis Combs
Readers’ Choice: Elizabeth “Lizo” Medina-Gray
Last Year’s Winner: Zack Huffman
Reader of the Year
Genevieve Regan
For some reason, it seems like this award is always going to someone related to a member of the GameCola staff, and this year is no exception, as not only is the winner—”Captain” Eric Regan’s twin sister—related to one of us, but so were all of the runners up. I can’t tell if that means we have great families, or that we have no readers. Congratulations, Genny! Hope to keep hearing from you in 2007. And thanks for the cupcakes you brought to my birthday party.
Board of Director’s Choice: Genevieve Regan
Readers’ Choice: Richard E. Franzen
Last Year’s Winner: Richard E. Franzen
Game of the Year
Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy (PS2, GCN, MXB, X360, PC)
Could there have been any doubt, given that it won so many of the above accolades? There’s only so much more that can be said about the game, so let me just leave it at this: Storm Troopers in hot tubs. You heard it hear first! Unless you’ve already played the game yourself, that is.
Well, there you have it! Here’s to another great year of gaming—and, more importantly, to hope that George Lucas makes more Star Wars movies so we can get another Lego Star Wars game. I hear they’re making Lego Batman, but it just won’t be as cool.
