The Best Game of 2010 Tournament was ran in early 2011 by Raven. The nomination period would revert back to monthly polls to determine the monthly winners/at large bids, followed by a separate topic to fill the bracket up to 64. Notable moments in the tournament included upsets by Valkyria Chronicles II and VVVVVV, as well as #6 seeds Heavy Rain and Nier making it to the quarterfinals.
The winner was Super Mario Galaxy 2 as it defeated Mass Effect 2 in the finals. At the time, it was the fifth championship won by Nintendo in this tournament's history and the second for the Mario Galaxy series.
Best Game of Each Month in 2010, according to Board 8[]
| Month | Game of the Month |
| January | Mass Effect 2 |
| February | Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth |
| March | Final Fantasy XIII |
| April | Nier |
| May | Super Mario Galaxy 2 |
| June | Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker |
| July | Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies |
| August | Metroid: Other M |
| September | Sid Meier's Civilization V |
| October | Kirby's Epic Yarn |
| November | Donkey Kong Country Returns |
| December | World of Warcraft: Cataclysm |
2010's Ultimate Loser: Galaxy 2 > Mass Effect 2 > DKC Returns > Heavy Rain > Red Dead Redemption > BioShock 2 > Vanquish
2010 Bracket[]
| Best Game of 2010 Tournament | |||||||
| Yoshi Division | Mario Galaxy 2 Nier |
Mario Galaxy 2 Final Fantasy XIII |
Mario Galaxy 2 Mass Effect 2 |
Super Mario Galaxy 2 | |||
| (1) Super Mario Galaxy 2 (16) Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I |
Mario Galaxy 2 AC: Brotherhood |
Mario Galaxy 2 Professor Layton | |||||
| (8) Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (9) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | |||||||
| (5) Super Meat Boy (12) Darksiders |
Super Meat Boy Professor Layton | ||||||
| (4) Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (13) White Knight Chronicles | |||||||
| (6) Nier (11) Just Cause 2 |
Nier Metroid: Other M |
Nier Dragon Quest IX | |||||
| (3) Metroid: Other M (14) Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light | |||||||
| (7) 3D Dot Game Heroes (10) 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors |
3D Dot Game Heroes Dragon Quest IX | ||||||
| (2) Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (15) Enslaved: Journey to the West | |||||||
| Hope Sucks Division | Final Fantasy XIII Kirby's Epic Yarn | ||||||
| (1) Final Fantasy XIII (16) Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light |
Final Fantasy XIII Alan Wake |
Final Fantasy XIII Mega Man 10 | |||||
| (8) Fable III (9) Alan Wake | |||||||
| (5) Mega Man 10 (12) Monster Hunter Tri |
Mega Man 10 Valkyria Chronicles II | ||||||
| (4) Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (13) Valkyria Chronicles II | |||||||
| (6) Dead Rising 2 (11) Rock Band 3 |
Dead Rising 2 AAI: Miles Edgeworth |
AAI: Miles Edgeworth Kirby's Epic Yarn | |||||
| (3) Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (14) Modnation Racers | |||||||
| (7) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (10) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction |
Scott Pilgrim Kirby's Epic Yarn | ||||||
| (2) Kirby's Epic Yarn (15) God of War: Ghost of Sparta | |||||||
| Jungle Division | DKC Returns Heavy Rain |
DKC Returns Mass Effect 2 | |||||
| (1) Donkey Kong Country Returns (16) Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale |
DKC Returns Sin and Punishment: SS |
DKC Returns VVVVVV | |||||
| (8) Sonic Colors (9) Sin and Punishment: Star Successor | |||||||
| (5) World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (12) VVVVVV |
VVVVVV StarCraft 2 | ||||||
| (4) StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty (13) Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit | |||||||
| (6) Heavy Rain (11) LIMBO |
Heavy Rain Civilization III |
Heavy Rain Red Dead Redemption | |||||
| (3) Sid Meier's Civilization III (14) Resistance of Fate | |||||||
| (7) BioShock 2 (10) Vanquish |
BioShock 2 Red Dead Redemption | ||||||
| (2) Red Dead Redemption (15) BlazBlue: Continuum Shift | |||||||
| Reaper Division | Mass Effect 2 God of War III | ||||||
| (1) Mass Effect 2 (16) Split Second |
Mass Effect 2 Lords of Shadow |
Mass Effect 2 Peace Walker | |||||
| (8) Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (9) Gran Turismo 5 | |||||||
| (5) Halo: Reach (12) Castlevania: Harmony of Despair |
Halo: Reach Peace Walker | ||||||
| (4) Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (13) No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle | |||||||
| (6) Fallout: New Vegas (11) Call of Duty: Black Ops |
New Vegas Bayonetta |
Bayonetta God of War III | |||||
| (3) Bayonetta (14) Lego Harry Potter: Years 3-4 | |||||||
| (7) Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (10) Epic Mickey |
Birth by Sleep God of War III | ||||||
| (2) God of War III (15) Dante's Inferno | |||||||
Zero's Final Thoughts[]
Inbetween the 2008 and 2010 tournaments, I had decided to go retroactive and do tournaments for 2000-2004, to wrap up the decade. So after I wrapped up the 2004 tournament, that gave me a seven month break before preparing to do the first one for the new decade. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was poised to repeat the performance of its predecessor. Final Fantasy XIII was looking to finally bring the championship home to Square. Mass Effect 2 was riding off its win as GameFAQs 2010 Game of the Year. Even Donkey Kong Country Returns and Red Dead Redemption were looking forward to making noise.
My first regret in this contest was making Super Mario Galaxy 2's division the way I did. When compared to the rest of the games on the bracket, this division had 7 out of 16 games look great on the X-Stats. Along with Galaxy 2, we got respectable performances out of Nier, Dragon Quest IX, Just Cause 2, Metroid: Other M, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and Enslaved, all from that division alone. Just Cause 2 was an #11 seed that lost by one vote against Nier, and I'm willing to wager it would have beaten Dead Rising 2, New Vegas, or Heavy Rain if it had been paired up with one of them instead. Lara Croft benefitted from playing a bad Metroid game and lost also by one vote (to be fair, I couldn't see Lara Croft beating #3 seeds like Bayonetta or Ace Attorney Investigations. Civilization V, maybe...). Finally, as a #15 seed, Enslaved: Journey to the West almost beat Dragon Quest IX, losing by 2 votes. This was more of Dragon Quest being a weak #2 seed, as Enslaved was never beating Red Dead Redemption, Kirby's Epic Yarn, or God of War III. Regardless, the two stars of this division were Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Nier. Galaxy 2 made easy work of every game it faced up to the quarterfinals, while Nier beats Just Cause 2 and Dragon Quest IX by one vote each (and Metroid by 5), before losing respectfully to Galaxy 2 only by a score of 21-15.
Only two true upsets occurred in round 1. First was Valkyria Chronicles II, the PSP exclusive title knocking off #4 seed Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and then almost doing the same to Mega Man 10 in round 2. Then there was VVVVVV, an indie game that truly benefitted from being in an easy fourpack. In round 1, #12 seed VVVVVV wasted World of Warcraft's Cataclysm. Its next opponent was StarCraft 2, a #4 seed who had just scraped by one vote against Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (and NFS NEVER does anything relevant in these contests, which says a lot for how disappointing StarCraft 2 is). VVVVVV beats StarCraft 14-10, then loses as expected to Donkey Kong Country Returns, a game that nearly dominated its whole division, before beating #6 seed Heavy Rain 19-15 to go to the semifinals. Speaking of Heavy Rain, it didn't leave the contest before shaking the bracket either, as it knocked off #2 seed Red Dead Redemption in round 3 15-13, when many picked RDR to possibly meet Galaxy 2 in the finals.
In the last division, it was the Mass Effect 2 show, as ME2 made easy work of Split Second, Castlevania, and God of War III on its way to the semifinals, with its only true challenge being a 15-11 win over Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Not even Donkey Kong could stand up to Commander Shepard as Mass Effect 2 advanced to the finals with a 29-19 win over it.
Then there was Final Fantasy XIII's division. In due time, this entire division would get squashed on the X-Stats thanks to FF13 itself. Right off the bat, 13 failed to live up to its expectations as a #1 seed, barely doubling a #16 seed Final Fantasy game, then only beating #9 seed Alan Wake by 2 votes and #5 seed Mega Man 10 by six. Finally, the quarterfinals saw Final Fantasy XIII against Kirby's Epic Yarn, where I express my second regret in this contest. I voted for FF13 in that match, because with the progress I had made in both games at that point, I liked 13 more than Kirby. However, if I had played both games to the end before voting in said match, I'd have voted Kirby's Epic Yarn over and over again. The final result? FF13 goes to the final four with a 24-23 victory and we prepare for the most one-sided semifinal match ever.
To say Super Mario Galaxy 2 beat Final Fantasy XIII is simply an understatement. Galaxy 2 murdered Final Fantasy XIII in the semifinals. SMG2 started off on what felt like a 15-0 run before 13 even got one vote, and it continued to be that way until the 24 hour mark hit. If any match needed a mercy rule, this was it, as Mario Galaxy 2 advanced to the finals with a 40-12 win. This made Final Fantasy XIII's entire division look terrible by comparison. While I don't believe Kirby's Epic Yarn would have beaten Galaxy 2, I do believe it'd have put up a much better fight. The only silver lining in all this is that Fable III was bound for last in the X-Stats, having been whipped 19-3 by Alan Wake (who lost to Final Fantasy XIII, as mentioned earlier).
So this set up Mario Galaxy 2 vs. Mass Effect 2. Despite Commander Shepard's best efforts, the Normandy was taken down by Nintendo's fanbase as Mario Galaxy 2 claimed the championship with a 24-20 victory. This upset a select number of B8ers, mainly myself, Vlado, and Ulti. While I enjoyed Mario Galaxy 2, that's still nothing compared to how much I enjoyed Mass Effect 2, which now sits as one of my ten favorite games ever.
But nevertheless, another tournament was wrapped up in the books, and we'd never see Square come this close to winning again until I started going backwards in time.
Though let's be honest, Final Fantasy XIII was never that close to winning in the first place.