You can't really call yourself a proper gamer if you haven't drawn up a list of the top games of the year yet, whether it be scribbled down on a left-over pizza-stained serviette, or ordered to stand still and get in line in the colourful mush of your subconscious.

Naturally we're not going to stand back either, so we rallied together some of the contributing reviewers of the year to give the official iafrica.com Best Games of 2009 pat on the back:


Best action/adventure game:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
While it's true that on the surface at least 'Uncharted 2' doesn't bring anything new to the series, it does improve on every single aspect of the first game to deliver arguably the most cinematic and enjoyable experience to be had this generation. It's even worth dropping R4k on a PS3 just to play this game.


Best shooter:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" ? as the old cliche goes ? and Infinity Ward sure listened. The studio focused on making a bigger and better sequel to the genre-defining 'Call of Duty 4' and succeeded with jaw-dropping set-pieces and stunning visuals.


Best role-playing game:

Dragon Age: Origins
Supposedly the spiritual successor (whatever that means) to 'Baldur's Gate', 'Origins' is deemed by seasoned RPG players to be one of the best titles to hit this genre in a good long time. It's developed by the same people who brought us the awesome 'Mass Effect' so it shouldn't be much of a surprise.


Best sports game:

FIFA 10
A stellar example of how to polish an IP until it's as close to perfect as a sports game can be ? and then next year polishing it even further ? EA's soccer (sorry, I mean football!) game is a remarkably good simulation of the Beautiful Game. Maybe not as fun as 'PES 2010' but very, very good.


Best racing game:

Forza Motorsport 3
Was there ever really any doubt? With 'Gran Turismo 5' still some way off, the spotlight was on Turn 10 Studios to give us an awesome racing simulation ? and boy did they craft an exceptional racer! With 400 beautiful cars (each with modelled interiors) and 100 track variations, the bar for current-generation racing games has been raised.


Best beat-'em-up game:

Fight Night: Round 4
You have to be into boxing games to like 'Fight Night', but the fourth round not only brings a very enjoyable boxing simulation experience, it also looks absolutely superb!


Best platformer:

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Far from perfect and in serious need of a major overhaul, the 'Ratchet and Clank' trilogy come to an end with a final title that is still highly entertaining.


Best strategy/puzzler:

Halo Wars
The 'Halo' series finally made the transition to real-time strategy with a great game tailor-made for the Xbox 360 that featured arguably the best-looking cutscenes ever created in a game. It's a pity that Ensemble, the development team, was closed by Microsoft after the game's release though, especially as 'Halo Wars' was the first RTS game where the control scheme actually worked on a console.


? On page 2: And the Game of the Year is...