New Super Mario Brothers Wii looks to be just what Dr. Mario ordered.

1. Brutal Legend (Xbox 360 – October 13th)

In my number 3 selection, I praised the virtues of vintage LucasArts. This title is sitting pretty at number one for one main reason, Tim Schafer, inarguably The Man when it comes to game development.

Schafer is a LucasArts vet who single-handedly crafted some of the most unique game play experiences I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying – including Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle and Psychonauts. Those titles he built from scratch, but prior to that he helped craft the Monkey Island games, thus earning him the right to build his own dreams. This is the guy who furthers the argument of Games as Art. When Tim Schafer speaks there is no debate. Games can be Art.

Schafer’s genius is two-fold. He comes up with a great idea and then he fully builds a cohesive, compelling universe around it. Look at Manny Calaveras, Travel Agent for the Dead, in Grim Fandango. Schafer’s genius planted Manny’s agency in a Mexican Land of the Dead we’d yet to ever experience, not even in dreams. That’s Schafer’s job – dreaming new dreams.

In Brutal Legend, Schafer begins with a great hook and then composes a metal symphony around it. The title takes a roadie (played by Jack Black) who is thrust into a fantasy land drawn from all those heavy metal album covers that plastered 8th Grade Trapper Keepers and Dodge RAM vans alike. It’s a world where heavy metal co-exists with harpies, goblins and elves – essentially a RUSH fever dream. Then to underscore his genius, Schafer cast such rock luminaries as Rob Halford, Lita Ford and Ozzie Osbourne as…a Goth prince of darkness.

I implore everyone to support this title. Schafer’s cross to bear, thus far, has been unanimous critical acclaim, feverish fan support and weak retail sales. Psychonauts died hard at retail when it first released for the Xbox a few years back – and its death ended up being a big slap at creative development. Studios are less likely to bankroll something new when they know they can just churn out the next Call of Duty and call it a day.

I chose Call of Duty for a reason. Brutal Legend has had a long, strange trip to retail – which should hopefully end this Rocktober. The title, which was under development at Schafer’s Double Fine Productions, was originally set to be published by Vivendi. When that company folded, Activision picked up their properties and then began to jettison anything that didn’t have repeat commercial appeal. Essentially, if it didn’t look like it could be milked for sequels, it was dropped.

That led Schafer to beat his feet in hopes of landing a new publisher. Without a publisher, all of his work would be for naught.

EA swooped in and picked the title up, handing Double Fine additional money and time to further polish the title into a AAA release. And for months, there wasn’t a word from Activision about the title. They dropped it. EA picked it up. All seemed right with the world.

Then, at this year’s E3, Brutal Legend started scoring big press with many journalists declaring it one of the fall’s most anticipated releases. And suddenly, Activision comes roaring back with a lawsuit (aimed not at EA but the little guy, Double Fine) threatening to block the game’s release and sue for damages citing their hand in developing the property. Apparently, they’re not too happy that the ugly duckling has blossomed into a beautiful swan.

The irony to all of this is that EA has historically been treated as the villain in gamer circles – they hold the same “corporate” stature as Microsoft in their eyes. Sure, they play the games but they love to rip on the companies. Now this same fan base is rallying in support of EA and calling for boycotts of Activision titles – most prominently, Call of Duty. While, I don’t think it will make a dent, it is entertaining to see EA cast in the role of white knight and I do have to give the company credit. They realize that they make so much money on their established properties, that they don’t mind taking a gamble on niche titles. Activision could learn from them.

Hopefully Activision will do the right thing and drop this frivolous lawsuit. Seriously, this is making them look really bad. If they believed in this title all along, why didn’t they sell it (versus dropping it completely)? This smacks of meddlesome suits resulting from making dumb business decisions, and they deserve to get whacked for it.

And for once, Schafer deserves a little respect from the industry he’s given so much to.