By just about anyone’s measure 2009 was an amazing year, but that doesn’t mean that the year didn’t have its fair share of letdowns. Now that the year is over, we thought we would take a moment to look back at the games that rode in on a wave of hype and rode off into the bargain bin. So here they are in all their mediocre glory: the biggest letdowns of the year.

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"Memories..."

“Castlevania: Symphony of the Night”, “Super Metroid”, “Contra”, and “Super Mario Bros.” What do these games have in common? Well, besides being some of the best selling and most critically acclaimed games of all time, they were all in glorious 2-D.

These relics of the past still hold up remarkably well, even alongside today’s Unreal 3 powered behemoths. The reason is simple; 2-D games are able to capture a part of gaming that today’s games simply cannot match.

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There was a time, not so long ago, when I trusted Capcom to deliver high quality, fun to play games. That trust, however, has been betrayed by the Grin Studios developed Bionic Commando sequel for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The unnatural, frustrating control scheme and environments that force the player on a single, linear path teamed up with the simply brain-dead A.I. make Bionic Commando a painfully broken experience.

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"Like Redbull, Minus the Horrible Taste"

On a very special seventeenth episode of “Barrel Roll! - A Video Game Podcast”, we see the return of our very own prodigal son, Luke. We are also once again joined by our good friend and fellow gaming enthusiast Wesley Johnson. Together we discuss the pressing issues of the day, like what video games we have all been playing over the last week.

Wesley and Luke have both been playing inFamous, the PS3 exclusive super-hero romp with crazy electrical powers. They each give their thoughts on the experience. Luke also played, and finished, the new Bionic Commando. Did it live up to it’s predecessor? You will have to listen and find out.

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"The back cover of Mega Man X8"

It’s no secret that I love Capcom. I have even started following their official Twitter. But as of late, these “tweets” are doing nothing but taunting me. Capcom has mentioned that they are announcing 2 new games at this year’s E3. One of them will be playable while the other will just be announced.

Tweets like “Reactions to Capcom E3 mystery game #1 yesterday: surprise, delight, enjoyment, more surprise,” and “Making exclusive, cool t-shirts for E3 for Capcom Mystery Game #1,” drive me crazy with curiosity. I cannot help myself. I feel an intense need to speculate these mystery games as I am convinced that at least one of them is an installment in an existing franchise.

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