GRADIUS V

No ifs, No ands, and No buts aboot it :p...
Konami and Treasure went all out with this one and while the music isn' t as good as it could have been (I had suspected as much before the game' s release) the rest of the game is an amazing and Incredibly challenging experience. Incredibly challenging but never unfair as there' s always a way around something.

Gradius V amazingly pays homage to not only the entire Gradius series (1,2,3,4, and Gaiden), but also has a bunch of Salamander 1 & 2 references as well, there' s also a bit of Ikaruga in there somewhere also. It' s like getting some of the best elements of each of those games..

For me this is definitely the best shooter released within the last few years and right now my personal pick for Game of the year.