The Best Game of 2009 Tournament was hosted by Raven in early 2010. Only two games would make any upsets, which were #11 seeded GTA: Chinatown Wars beating Brutal Legend, and #11 seeded Madworld beating #6 seeded Halo 3: ODST and #3 seeded Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Other notable feats included Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box beating Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story in double overtime, as well as Resident Evil 5 beating Borderlands in double overtime as well. It was the first Game of the Year tournament in which all four #1 seeds would make the final four. The contest was won by Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which defeated Batman: Arkham Asylum in the championship match. This would be the first GotY victory for a PS3 exclusive.
2009 Ultimate Loser: Uncharted 2 > Batman > RE5 > Borderlands > New Super Mario > Excitebots > Killzone 2
Best Game of Each Month in 2009, according to Board 8[]
| Month | Game of the Month |
| January | Skate 2 |
| February | Street Fighter IV |
| March | Resident Evil 5 |
| April | Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier |
| May | InFamous |
| June | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor |
| July | Wii Sports Resort |
| August | Batman: Arkham Asylum |
| September | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story |
| October | Uncharted 2: Among Thieves |
| November | Dragon Age: Origins |
| December | The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks |
| Best Game of 2009 Tournament | |||||||
| Shangri-La Division | Uncharted 2 Professor Layton |
Uncharted 2 Dragon Age |
Uncharted 2 Batman: Arkham Asylum |
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves | |||
| (1) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (16) Patapon 2 |
Uncharted 2 Dissidia |
Uncharted 2 Spirit Tracks | |||||
| (8) Dissidia: Final Fantasy (9) Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles | |||||||
| (5) The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (12) The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena |
Spirit Tracks SMT: Devil Survivor | ||||||
| (4) Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (13) Suikoden Tierkreis | |||||||
| (6) Muramasa: The Demon Blade (11) The Saboteur |
Muramasa Professor Layton |
Professor Layton Bowser's Inside Story | |||||
| (3) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (14) Rhythm Heaven | |||||||
| (7) Wii Sports Resort (10) Scribblenauts |
Wii Sports Resolt Bowser's Inside Story | ||||||
| (2) Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (15) Plants vs. Zombies | |||||||
| Ferelden Division | Dragon Age Street Fighter IV | ||||||
| (1) Dragon Age: Origins (16) Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure |
Dragon Age Fat Princess |
Dragon Age Demon's Souls | |||||
| (8) Red Faction: Guerrilla (9) Fat Princess | |||||||
| (5) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (12) Silent Hill: Shattered Memories |
Modern Warfare 2 Demon's Souls | ||||||
| (4) Demon's Souls (13) Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 | |||||||
| (6) Halo 3: ODST (11) Madworld |
Madworld Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days |
Madworld Street Fighter IV | |||||
| (3) Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (14) Star Ocean: The Last Hope | |||||||
| (7) Tekken 6 (10) Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier |
Tekken 6 Street Fighter IV | ||||||
| (2) Street Fighter IV (15) WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2010 | |||||||
| Arkham Division | Batman: Arkham Asylum Assassin's Creed II |
Batman: Arkham Asylum Resident Evil 5 | |||||
| (1) Batman: Arkham Asylum (16) X-Men Origins: Wolverine |
Batman: Arkham Asylum UFC 2009 |
Batman: Arkham Asylum Left 4 Dead 2 | |||||
| (8) UFC 2009: Undisputed (9) The Beatles Rock Band | |||||||
| (5) Left 4 Dead 2 (12) Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon |
Left 4 Dead 2 BlazBlue | ||||||
| (4) BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (13) Forza Motorsport 3 | |||||||
| (6) Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (11) The Conduit |
Ratchet and Clank Future Assassin's Creed II |
Assassin's Creed II InFamous | |||||
| (3) Assassin's Creed II (14) Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony | |||||||
| (7) Skate 2 (10) Prototype |
Prototype InFamous | ||||||
| (2) InFamous (15) House of the Dead: Overkill | |||||||
| Uroboros Division | Resident Evil 5 Borderlands | ||||||
| (1) Resident Evil 5 (16) Klonoa |
Resident Evil 5 Dragon Quest V |
Resident Evil 5 Punch-Out!! | |||||
| (8) Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (9) Little King's Story | |||||||
| (5) Shadow Complex (12) Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? |
Shadow Complex Punch-Out!! | ||||||
| (4) Punch-Out!! (13) Big Bang Mini | |||||||
| (6) Brutal Legend (11) Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars |
GTA: Chinatown Wars Borderlands |
Borderlands New Super Mario Bros. Wii | |||||
| (3) Borderlands (14) Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica | |||||||
| (7) Excitebots: Trick Racing (10) Killzone 2 |
Excitebots New Super Mario Bros. Wii | ||||||
| (2) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (15) Retro Game Challenge | |||||||
Zero's Final Thoughts[]
While not as popular as the 2008 tournament was, 2009's tournament still had a great turnout of voters. Only one match in the entire contest finished with both games getting single digits for votes and that was UFC 2009 vs. Beatles Rock Band. That's a win to me, considering the following...
1) There aren't many adamant UFC fans/gamers on Board 8
2) While there are adamant Beatle fans on Board 8, not many of them care for Rock Band, as proven by previous (and future) tournaments.
Seeding wise, only two true upsets happened in round 1, and that was when Brutal Legend and Halo ODST proved they were overseeded, losing to #11 seeds Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Madworld. Madworld would take it a step further and upset #3 seed Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days in round 2, before getting tripled by Street Fighter IV. To be fair, however, Modern Warfare 2 (you know, the one that won Game of the Year on GameFAQs) almost joined it in the upset pile, as it scraped by 17-16 against Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. If I had known Modern Warfare 2's single player was going to end up massively disappointing (I was playing it at the time of this contest), I'd have voted Silent Hill in a heartbeat and made the upset happen (though Silent Hill has been quite the letdown in the past decade as well, so the loss was almost justified).
Otherwise? This was the first Game of the Year tournament where all four #1 seeds made the final four, and only two of them made easy work out of it. Uncharted 2, the tournament's overall #1 seed, had easy wins over Patapon 2, Dissidia, and Zelda: Spirit Tracks (outscoring the three 49-15), before narrowly escaping Professor Layton 28-24 in the quarterfinals. Resident Evil 5, despite its criticism by Board 8ers, still managed to make the semifinals, though it had the hardest route. After a decent 21-8 win over #16 Klonoa, it fails to double #8 seed Dragon Quest V, escapes with a 13-10 win over #4 Punch Out, and then needed double overtime to take out #3 Borderlands, with a score of 54-49 to get to the semifinals.
As for the other two #1 seeds? The closest thing Dragon Age would have to a tough match on its way to the semifinals was a 13-8 win in round 3 over Demon's Souls; otherwise its wins over Henry Hatsworth, Fat Princess, and Street Fighter IV were all in a convincing manner. And that's nothing compared to Batman: Arkham Asylum, who took out X-Men Origins: Wolverine, UFC 2009, and Left 4 Dead 2 with a combined score of 51-10, and then just managed to come short of doubling #3 seed Assassin's Creed II 25-13. In the final four, Batman laid Resident Evil 5 to waste with a 22-7 beatdown.
The #2 seeds would suffer again this contest, as only Street Fighter IV would make the quarterfinals, and then respond by getting put away 24-10 by Dragon Age. The others once again fell in round 3, though at least two of them did it with dignity. First was New Super Mario Bros. Wii, losing 19-18 to Borderlands. Then there was Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, which took Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box into double overtime, and falling short 29-28. InFamous, on the other hand, proved it was completely undeserving of its #2 seed as it got pasted in round 3 by #3 seed Assassin's Creed II by a score of 16-2. Ass kickings like that are reserved for the first round, not the third, and it guaranteed House of the Dead: Overkill last place in the X-Stats as it lost 20-3 to InFamous.
On the other side of the final four, we had a respectable bout between Uncharted 2 and Dragon Age, with Nathan Drake coming out on top 25-21, setting up Uncharted 2 vs. Arkham Asylum for the 2009 Championship. Personally, this tournament couldn't have gone any better, as those were my top 2 for 2009 (and plenty of other users' top 2 games as well). Also, like the 2005 tournament, this final had no Nintendo, no Square, and neither of the two games were RPGs, truly in a rare league of their own. In a closely contested match, Uncharted 2 got the nod, beating Batman 28-22 and beginning what would be a great run for both series in these contests in the years to come.
For some, it would be the end of the road. This would be Capcom's final appearance in the final four until I started going backwards in time (and even then, it only appears once more in the semifinals), and it shows when the company hasn't released anything of even decent quality since Super Street Fighter IV in 2010.