Probably the first truly great 2D Mario since World. The only real complaint I have about it is that one (just one!) secret level stinks, and the Search Party levels are ill-conceived. I love every other inch of this game. The music is great, it looks sharp, the playable characters are all fun except for Nabbit but he doesn't have a soul so he hardly counts, and the Wonder Seed sequences are surprisingly diverse and fun to play through. Can't believe a Switch game is taking home the Golden Gizmo. Read my review here.

I'm digging into a slice of Pikmin pizza right now. Cooked it myself in my own wood oven. Extra crispy crust, and cuts of Pikmin curled into little cups, edges lightly burned and centers pooled with oil. Delicious. Pikmin 4 came pretty close to taking the Gizmo, but it is just a little too long in the tooth, and long load times get in the way of the cave heavy structure of the game. Those tower defense sequences at night also feel crummy and lack depth. But I played this in bed every night with fan made runs of Toonami and Adult Swim running in the background, and there was something so cozy about watching Pikmin drown while the absolute god damn nightmare that is Reign: The Conqueror played in my periphery. Great game. Read my review here.

Every bit a subversive, witty, and action packed as the movies. Teyon has a better understanding of RoboCop than basically anyone who wasn't directly involved in either of the first two movies. Very similar in a lot of ways to Ghostbusters: The Video Game. I only wish Teyon leaned harder into the immersive sim aspects, and that some persistant bugs were smoothed over. Still, shooting dudes in the junk and cranking up the gore level on your Auto-9 felt so damn good, it was pretty much on lock for the top three in this years Gizmos the moment I set foot into Old Detroit. Read the review here.

The Resident Evil 4 remake is damn good. I'm sorry if you're upset they didn't perfectly translate the very early-2000s action movie humor of the original, line-for-line, but hey, you can play that game on literally every device released in the last 20+ years. I think Capcom did a good job of updating Resident Evil 4 to align with the current trajectory of their REmake series, even if it may (arguably) be the least in need of a facelift. Capcom says they'll be doing even more remakes in the future. Maybe they'll take another crack at RE3, make it good this time. That'd be nice. Read the review here.

Yeah, I'm a 35-year-old dude who looks about as washed up and bald as Max Payne, and I like cute shit with strong anti-capitalist messaging. It's got its own Columbo analogue. My hands are fuckin' tied, it's going in the top 5! Read the review here.

Let me see you shake that ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS ASS. P R E C I O U S T H I N G. Read the review here.

Plenty to critcize about this one, but I think Final Fantasy XVI is overall very enjoyable, especially if you ignore 80% of its side content the way the story ignores Jill. It's a shame that Square does not view turn-based mechanics as being financially viable (and I don't think their assessment is wrong), but this more action oriented take on Final Fantasy is a lot of fun, so I can't complain too much. I just hope they survive as a company long enough to figure out what the hell to do about their roman numeral system come Final Fantasy XXX. Read the review here.

Seasons greetings from T-Posing Greez. Remember to put blue milk and Life Day cookies out for Greez, or he won't leave you any scazz steaks under the tree! Read the review here.

Twice as many Spider-Men and 3 times the budget of the last game. Is any of it perceptible in the finished product? Uhh... I mean at least one or two hundred million dollars of it are, I guess. As far as extremely expensive AAA games go, I think Spider-Man 2 is pretty good even if it is mostly the same as the previous game with some worse story beats and marginally better mechanics. I don't think Isomniac's writers really "get" Kraven the Hunter, and Tony Todd is severely underutilized, but unlike noted gliding hater Larry Davis, I had a great time soaring through New Yawk as Peter and Miles. Read the review here.

Wo Long nearly stole this spot at the 11th hour, until it was rendered borderline unplayable by bugs introduced in a recent patch. Super Mario RPG is safe. Plays it pretty safe, too. About as pure as a remake can be, with minor QoL changes and a smattering of new mechanics. If you liked the original, which I did, then you'll like this. Read the review here.

Best retro game of the year. To qualify for this category, it must be a game I have never played but picked up and beat for the first time during the current year, and it must be sixth generation or older. I might say seventh gen next year, feels about time. I thought Doom 64 was incredible. Shooting demons feels every bit as good as it did in the previous two games, but the obtuse nature of the level design is toned way down. I really like the atmospheric music and use of fluorescents, it's definitely moodier and a bit more frightening than the previous entries, and it looks damn good for an N64 game. Read the review here. Yes, it's the 2020 release, yes that might somewhat go against the spirit of this category, but I'm going to allow it.