The 5 Best Video Games of 2008 (of the small percentage I got to play)

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (XB 360) is a kludgy game about building kludgy Lego-style vehicles. The learning curve is rather steep, mostly because the tutorials are so confusing. If you give it a chance, the awe-inspiring possibilities slowly reveal themselves.

Braid (XB 360)—This postmodern work of art overestimates its importance. Nevertheless, the puzzles are magnificent; they make your brain work in unique ways.

Chrono Trigger (DS)—Can I put this on here even though I haven’t played much of this version? It’s a perfect port of the Super Nintendo game, which happens to be the greatest role-playing game ever made.

Mega Man 9 (XB 360) is to "Mega Man 2" as "Superman Returns" is to "Superman II" (and it's good, to boot). Capcom ignores the “advances” of the later games to make a strict NES-style sequel to a classic. Once upon a time, games used to be this difficult—and this forgiving with enough practice.

The Orange Box (XB 360)—Five games in one, from play-test-it-until-it-gleams developer Valve. “Half-Life 2” is still unstoppable. The revelation here is “Portal,” a first-person puzzle game that plays like the door-chase climax of “Monsters, Inc.”