World of Goo because it's so original and a truly great game.

Little Big Planet looks like it could also have been my choice for being original and I'd love to have played it, but probably never will.

its really hard for me to decide between mgs4 lbp and uncharted. wait... uncharted wasnt 2008 was it? i'm gunna have to say Little Big Planet

sonic chronicles stood out for being the worst sonic game of all time

Metal Gear because there seemed to be so much anticipation to see how it would sell and how many Systems it would sell. [1.3M+ Day one Bitches!!!]

Then LBP, for the same reason as MGS4 but to a lesser degree.

Then probably Fable 2.

Care to elaborate? What made SSBB stand out?

My choice is LittleBigPlanet from a gameplay perspective. Innovative, fun and really different than anything else i've played. The story levels provide a really good introduction, but the meat of this game is really in the user created levels. Add online/local mp co-op shenanigans to this and you've got yourself a winner.

In terms of quality:
MGS4
LBP
Valkyria Chronicles
Fable 2

In terms of Sales:
GTA4
Gears 2
MGS 4
Fable 2

This.  Braid blew me away more than I thought it was possible to get blown away.

Besides my own post, I can also agree with this.

LBP for it's giant leap forward in user created content, Fable II for the dog companion as it totally blew me away, Braid for showing how a small niche game by a Indy developer can capture an audience, and LFD/Gears 2 showing exactly how to do Co-op the right way.

Hats off to MGS4 and LBP both amazing games in their own rights.

Hats off to Braid and World of Goo both outstanding small productions that prove little developers still have an important role to fill and market to reach.

Also lots of other outstanding games of note from 08 from SSBB to GTAIV to GoW2 which excelled in that they did but they didn't do much to improve the proven formula.

But I would have to give my vote for most 'stand out' to Wii Fit for expanding the gaming market to a whole new audience with incredible success - outselling MGS4, GTAIV (combined), SSBB, and all other comers on the backs of middle aged women instead of young men. That's outstanding and a radical change to the industry that will affect it for many years to come.