Legions is one of the most fiercely competitive multiplayer games on XBLA.

While some people might complain about being fatigued by the seemingly endless stream of similar music games, when they're tied to each other like Band Hero is tied to GH5, I see that as a positive direction for Activision's franchise. It's one of the strongest points of the Rock Band series, and is a very smart move for Hero as well.

GTA IV's final expansion sends itself off in style in some of the most ridiculous ways possible; I think that's why I like it so much.

Avalanche Studios has broken the movie-game stigma for me by releasing the awesome Toy Story 3.

The real attraction here is the game's Sticky Fingers-like bulge of music.

Overlord 2 offers a lot of options for customization, be it in the form of minion upgrades, spell specializations, and purely aesthetic options like how to decorate your fortress and which of your mistresses you choose to favor.

With hundreds of puzzles, even more available for download over wi-fi, and an editor to make and share your own, Picross 3D is just too clever for a DS puzzle game fan to pass up.

By all counts, Mass Effect for the PC is essentially the "definitive" version of the game; it runs much smoother on decent machines and just generally plays better...even if it still suffers from some of the original's fundamental flaws (along with a few new ones).

Serious Sam 3 is a game that deserves to be played, because it shows what shooters were and could have been. It shows that there's more to the genre than what AAA developers have shown us in the past decade.

An interesting, engaging, witty game that takes full advantage of its portable platform's strengths.

It's a game that takes a handful of seemingly unrelated genres and forms a union between them that exudes impossible amounts of charm. It's also a game that provides irrefutable validation for adopters of Kinect.

The performances and animated cut-scenes are still as terrific as always, though; it's just a subpar script that brings it down slightly.

An exceptional game despite that one controversial decision, and is still an experience that guarantees hours of fun and enjoyment.

Simply put, every time the Director brings down a swath of Infected, who then pound me into hamburger, and every time my team and I manage to survive against incredible odds until the end, and we hoot and holler about besting the Director, I do the same thing: I jump into another lobby and wait for a match to start. I love this damn game.

Red Alert 3 seems to have been designed entirely by Internet geeks, as hilarious Easter eggs abound. I won't ruin them for you, but I will say that at the end of one campaign, you'll witness the greatest, most unexpected cameo in videogame history.

Guitar Hero delivers exactly the things I want out of a rhythm game: great peripherals and fun-to-play music. It's not perfect, but I have a great time whenever I turn it on -- and that's what's most important.

Zeno Clash remains the same gorgeous, grotesque, unique experience it was on PC, and a game well worth its $15 price tag on Live. If you've already played the thing on PC, well, you could probably skip this edition, but anyone new to this strange new world is in for a treat.

Avalanche Studios has broken the movie-game stigma for me by releasing the awesome Toy Story 3.

With the addition of MotionPlus, Woods 10 on the Wii is a fantastic golfing videogame, besting its console counterparts because of its control options, extra courses, party game modes, and Frolf. Not to mention, it's casual friendly for anyone to play, but with enough difficulty options for the hardcore to stay interested. It's almost hard to imagine it getting better than this for the foreseeable future.

All in all, it's amazing the amount of content that's packed into this game -- this is more than a sequel, even while including a redux of the first game's three movies.

The amount of mileage Nintendo squeezes out of Rhythm Heaven Fever's two-button gameplay is remarkable.

Kirby and company are just too damn cute and cheerful. If Smash Bros. piqued your interest, Ultra's your next step.

Though it occasionally stumbles, there's one thing that Bad Company 2 clearly demonstrates: DICE has graduated from the, "can only do a multiplayer FPS" class, and is perfectly capable of making a great all-around game.

It's been great to put NHL 10 through its paces and I would love to go on and on about it, but to put it succinctly, if you thought NHL 09 was great, you'll love '10. And for the uninitiated hockey fan looking for a near-authentic experience on the ice, you can do little wrong by picking this up.

Conviction's stylish presentation and intuitive cover mechanics prove that Ubisoft can make a highly polished product, but for the amount of game you get, the price seems sorely inflated.

Let me reiterate: this is a fantastic game, with so much fun to throw your way you'd think you were playing wide receiver with Santa Claus as QB.

With this game, series director Koji Igarashi proves that he can still breathe new life into this long-running, often self-cannibalizing franchise.

But it's a refined experience, and HeartGold/SoulSilver is easily the best Pokémon game yet.