[Zebra_Fact_Man]

I have personally experienced the 2006 game and after, so I can't say much about before that other than what recorded matches I've seen on the internets.

2007 - My absolute favorite all-time has always been Rack'n'Roll, not just because of how simple the game seemed (score tubes), but how the game allowed different skill-level teams to have different but equally important impact on the game. And the post-game mandated teamwork to work. Plus, I still feel like that was the last true year of defense.

2009 - I love Lunacy because your robot WAS the scoring device. You had to protect yourself, as well as you teammates. Also, the Regolith made driving particularly fun that year.

Honorable Mentions
2005 - Love watching youtube videos of this game. Am completely disappointed I missed this entire season. Robots playing contact Tic-Tac-Toe is awesome!

2003 - Something about knocking down a giant wall never gets old. This was still in the more "rockem sockem robots"-esk era of FIRST, in my opinion.

2001 - Get the highest score possible and stop the time. I also kind of like how there was no opponent except the clock.


The Bad
2011 - still dislike the minibots. Also hated how almost half the field was restricted to one alliance or the other. WAAAY too many driving rules.
2010 - didn't like the zone restrictions. And even what rules didn't restrict, gameplay still seemed very isolated. An open field would have made the game MUCH better.
2008 - Defense (for all intensive purposes) was illegal this year. I was excited when it sounded like it was going to be like NASCAR, but my excitement didn't last long.
2002 - Became a giant pushing match of who had the best tred. Not much fun to watch.

Really hate to complain on fav boards, but FIRST's recent games just don't live up to their predecessors. If you go back and watch '99, '02, '03, '04, '07, so much was left to grit and determination. Now it's all about skill and team talent. Not saying that's bad at all, just different. '12 was no different than '11 or '10; the teams that could score the most (with a few exceptions) were going to win.
Since the beginning of autonomous ('03), I'd rank Rebound Rumble 6th; '07, '05, '03, '09, '06, '12, '04, '11, '10, '08.