In a year with so many ports and re-released RPGs, we thought it best to award the top in this area instead of constantly highlighting these games over and over throughout the rest of the awards. This just includes games that were not drastically changed from their initial release and excludes ports that we never received in North America before. Here are our top games coming back for seconds or in some cases even thirds.

Best Port/Re-Release Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES

Persona 3 is addictive. Ask anyone on our staff who has played the game and they will all agree to the game's addictive nature. Every time I pick up Persona 3 I find it increasingly difficult to put the game down because the universe and characters are so engrossing. With the re-release this year of Persona 3: FES, it gave fans a lot of extra unique bonus content such as new costumes and quests, but the most significant addition was the continuation story, "The Answer", starring everyone's favorite robo-chick, Aegis. "The Answer" is a whole new universe of its own, boasting over 30 extra hours of gameplay. "The Answer" acts almost like a sequel to the original game, which upon completion provides the "true ending" to Persona 3.

Missed Persona 3 the first time around? Well Persona 3: FES gives you the opportunity to summon your persona once more.

Releasing at the very end of the GBA's life cycle, Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone proved to be the system's swansong for fans of new RPGs. It provided a unique tactical RPG setup that diverged from the standard gameplay of the subgenre and packed in visuals and audio that were some of the best on the system. We were ecstatic, then, when Atlus USA announced that it would see new life, and hopefully find new fans, on the PSP. Not content merely to port the excellent game, Sting improved the graphics and fit them to the PSP's aspect ratio. Combat was altered to tone down the frustration and improve the strategic thinking. Voice acting was added. The re-release of Yggdra Union on the PSP with all of these improvements makes it great for those who missed it the first time while providing enough newness to appeal to gamers who played the original version.

When I first played Chrono Trigger, I was so entranced that I just had to play it over and over searching for the many endings. The game's appeal has not dimmed in the years since. The new DS features are inessential and the music sounds slightly degraded, but these are nitpicks. Chrono Trigger on the DS is a lesson in how to properly port, without the reputed loading issues on PlayStation. The game on DS thus loses nothing from its original incarnation and gains a few extras. Chrono Trigger was a splendid game in 1995 and it remains splendid for 2008.

by Glenn Wilson, Sam Marchello, Mike Moehnke, Michael Cunningham