Our picks for the best of the best of E3 07.

Another E3 has come and gone, and while the show may have been dramatically different this year in terms of layout and presentation, the one thing that hasn’t changed about E3 is that it still presented us with a plethora of outstanding games for us to look forward to in the coming months, or in some cases in the coming years. While there were hundreds of games that were demonstrated both on the show floor and throughout the string of Santa Monica hotels, only a handful were good enough to receive our “Best of E3” awards.

Best DS Game:
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

This one was a no brainer due to the fact that there really wasn’t much else to be impressed about on Nintendo’s dual screened handheld this year. Still, even if the competition was rather slim, don’t let that take away from how impressed we were with our time with Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. We came in to E3 a little bit skeptical about how an entirely touch screen based Zelda game would turn out and was pleasantly surprised when we actually sat down, played it, and found out that it worked quite well. While our time with the demo only had us dipping our feet into the first dungeon, we walked away with a smile on our face, knowing that any skepticism we had about Phantom Hourglass not becoming the DS Zelda game that everyone has been waiting for was completely gone

Honorable Mention: Contra 4

Best PSP Game
God of War: Chains of Olympus

Also a no brainer, God of War: Chains of Olympus was not only the PSP game of show at E3, but it was also probably the best action games in general of the show, beating out both Heavenly Sword and Devil May Cry 4. What Chains of Olympus is able to do so brilliantly and so impressively, is take everything that made the God of War games so amazing on the PS2 and flawlessly transfer it over to a system that is not only markedly less powerful, but also doesn’t even have enough buttons or analog sticks to perform all of the essential moves of the game. It may not be God of War 3, but Chains of Olympus still is a brand new God of War game that any fan of the franchise would want to check out. It is also the biggest reason to buy a PSP since Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.

Honorable Mention: Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions