Choosing our favourite games of 2010 was no easy task, with arguments, witchcraft and mathematical equations all being used to take hundreds of games and whittle them down to just 10. Read on for our thoughts on why each game deserves its place and head to our Game of the Year 2010 hub for access to video features and loads of other content.
Mario Galaxy 2 probably suffered a bit due to being released so early in the year, with lots of my best memories being cemented over by more recent triple-A monsters. Thinking back, though, it's so clearly the best game on the Wii, with level after level of pure imagination and exquisite platforming. It might look cute, but later levels are ridiculously punishing, really testing your gaming skills. As far as 3D platformers go, this is undoubtedly the finest on the market.
For some reason I can't quite pinpoint, I don't tend to play Galaxy for anything longer than about 30 to 40 minutes at a time. I never binge on this the way I used to with the older Mario games; instead I consume it in glorious bitesize chunks, working through two or three stars in a session. Has any game, ever, managed to deliver such consistently entertaining, original levels? I don't think so. Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't just the top of its class - it's one of the all-time greats.
I have to make a conscious and metered effort to not fly off the handle at other games when discussing Mario Galaxy 2, but Jesus Christ this makes almost all other games look like tiresome, homogenous blurs of washed-out metal textures and grubby brown textures. Playing Mario Galaxy 2 makes me feel like I'm seeing in colour for the very first time. And also the platforming is very good and there's a lot of variety and yadda yadda yadda yadda.
For more end of year content, head over to our Game of the Year 2010 hub. Amongst other things you'll be able to watch videos in which we talk about each game in the Top 10.
