Bayonetta 2 is a game whose gargantuan barrage of sex, violence, and surrealism sets the mind on fire in the best possible way.

This is the sort of game that people buy a new console for. It’s just that good. Sunset Overdrive celebrates the things that set us apart as gamers, and it draws strength from those differences. It never loses sight of the fact that fun trumps all in this sort of escapist fantasy.

Advanced Warfare is extremely unfriendly to the newcomer, with busy, text-laden menus that aren’t explained well and speedy play that is difficult to keep pace with. The campaign is a worthwhile training ground, but it’s hard to apply lessons and feel progress being made when crack human snipers are gunning you down seconds after a respawn.

Lords of the Fallen is a very good game, but its struggle to escape the shadow of the better games that preceded it colors every minute of the experience.

The higher resolution leads to a sort of spatial uncanny valley, leaving the world feeling a little cold, a little off.

The Master Chief Collection is a testament to the cult of fandom that Halo-lovers established around the series. Every map from every included game and their add-on packs is available in the multiplayer mode, and each runs in its originating game’s engine.

Assassin’s Creed Unity may be an incredible piece of architecture, but that’s sadly all it is.

As you delve further into Rebirth, you begin to realize that almost every facet of the game has been improved.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is BioWare’s strongest effort to date, but the massive scope of the world comes at no small cost.

Though enjoyable, Assassin’s Creed Rogue plays like a greatest hits version of previous games in the series.

After seven years, with myriad studios steering the ship in different directions, LittleBigPlanet 3 feels torn between wanting to be a toolbox and a colorful little platformer. If it wants to just be a platformer, it needs to think bigger and expand what it lets you play with. And if it wants to just be a toolbox, it needs to either think of a better way to teach how to use those tools or stop breathing so hard down the player’s neck.

Whether it bests past entries like Super Smash Bros. Melee or Brawl doesn’t matter; it’s a spectacular work unto itself.