GAME OF THE YEAR 2007: SUPER MARIO GALAXY

I can't believe I'm giving this award to this game. I mean... a childish, Wii-exclusive platformer? Being my Game of the Year? I must have lost my marbles. But Super Mario Galaxy is the only game that perfects all of the criteria I listed below. I mean, the game consistently blew me away. The graphics are absolutely perfect -- both artistically AND technically. The music is just phenomenal. The game is entirely innovative, yet combines the right amount of old and new. The cinematography is spectacular, the level designs are the best i've seen in a platformer... the list just goes on. When a game released in a genre that i don't like manages to captivate me, i give it special praise (much like Oblivion). But when it manages to captivate me for hours, and end up being the best game released all year, i give it love.

There's not much to say that hasn't already been said. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, The Orange Box, and Mass Effect were all outstandingly amazing games, but Super Mario Galaxy rises above them in more ways than one. It's the game that proves you don't need to use all the polygons in the world to look amazing, that you don't need to spend half your budget on voice actors, and that you can't judge a book by its cover. It looks childish, it looks crazy, but by God is it fun. In a year full of the most high-quality gaming releases, Super Mario Galaxy stands out as the best game released all year, and a game that can only make one wonder how Nintendo can significantly improve on it.

It's a game you should buy a Wii to play. A game you should place next to you in your coffin.