Well I have to say, even though I’m a video-game reviewer, many of the big titles passed me by this year. I have these darn “professors” who expect me to “read” so I can get “grades.” Totally cut into my play time, if you ask me. So when I think of games, I really put them into two categories: those I can play with people, and those just for me to jump in solo-style have some fun.

The multiplayer one for me is easy: Left 4 Dead 2. One of the things I love about gaming is the interaction, the camaraderie. Well, no, the trash-talking. But really, I see gaming as a social experience, and L4D2 gives me everything I need from a game. I can jump in and play through the campaigns on a survivor team or bust some heads as the infected. It’s fast-paced and simply tons of fun if you’ve got friends to tackle it with. I can pop it into my machine over and over and continue to have fresh, new experiences. I applaud any game that has the ability to do that. I don’t think this really needs more explanation. If you’ve played it, you know what I’m talking about.

My single-player game choice is likely to raise a few eyebrows, but I’m going with Ghostbusters: The Video Game. I have doubts you’ll see this on many (if any) other critics’ lists, but there’s something about GB: TVG that really struck a great chord for me. You see, I love “Ghostbusters.” Everything about the movie makes me smile: the characters, the dialogue, the music; it’s just a classic in my mind. So for me, nostalgia plays a huge role in this opinion, but I still maintain there’s something special in the game.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game so incredibly captures the mood and the world of “Ghostbusters” in every piece of art direction and its fantastic script. It’s the “Ghostbusters 3” movie people would have paid great money to see. The developer did a remarkable job of not just getting all of the actors together again, but bringing their characters back to life as if they had never aged at all. The chemistry is right there, oozing off the screen. So for me, I played the game for the story. I continually wanted to see how the plot would unfold and what snappy, witty lines would be delivered next. Sure, the gameplay isn’t fantastic or groundbreaking, but it made me have pure and simple fun.

As someone who holds the Ghostbusters franchise close to his heart, I was nervous that the gaming industry was “meddling” with greatness, as it happens with so many film-to-game crossovers. I feel like creating Ghostbusters: The Video Game was a tough sell, with the bar set so high for something to compliment the series rather than detract from it. But it didn’t detract at all, and for a difficult venture that ultimately resulted in a fun, enjoyable game that brought me back to my childhood, it wins a top honor from me.