Guacamelee! feels welcomingly familiar but still manages to bring something new to the table through excellent combat and a whole lot of charm.

Some hit detection problems can't hide the fact that Neon's an awesome tribute to a bygone era-and it'll bring a smile to the face of anyone who grew up playing beat-em-ups in the '80s and '90s.

The best representation of the action that happens inside the Octagon yet. While it’s not simple, the control scheme is still easy enough to learn that it takes the experience to an entirely new level as you break your opponents down standing up, in the clinch, or on the mat. With outstanding next-gen visuals, EA Sports UFC is good enough to carry around a championship belt.

Civilization V: Brave New World is a stellar addition to an already excellent game that goes beyond the standard additions of new countries and Wonders by including additional game-changing paths to victory.

While Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse could easily have been a lazy reuse of content from its predecessor slapped together to make a quick buck, a different perspective on the story, a host of improvements, and the return of Shin Megami Tensei IV’s quality gameplay come together for a pseudo-sequel that’s a worthy experience.

Despite not deviating too far from its series' 30-year long formula, Mega Man 11 is a reminder that Capcom's Blue Bomber still has more life in him. The new Double Gear System and subweapon Rolodex provide enough of a modern upgrade to make the game stand out from the pack, while the tight controls and familiar story make it feel wholly Mega Man. A misstep in the sound design keeps it from perfection, but it's only a small blemish on an otherwise fantastic entry in the series.

PopCap maintains the addictive tower-defense gameplay and cheesy humor that made the first Plants vs. Zombies such a phenomenon, while adding a plethora of new features that ensure this game will consume every free second you have—if you let it.

While it’s still impossible on a personal level for me to admit that any of Dark Souls’ siblings could better it, when taken as a whole, complete experience, Dark Souls III may be the best chapter of the Souls series that From Software has crafted. A fitting way to end, if that will indeed be the fate of the franchise.

Best of all, the game is undeniably a BioWare production. The story progression for each class-eight in all-would make a respectable standalone game. Put together in this massive shell, it's a revelation.

The queen of stylish action has now made her way to the Nintendo Switch, and along with Bayonetta herself comes two of the best action adventures money can buy. While both games have minor nitpicks and there, overall they’re fantastic experiences enjoyable by casual and hardcore players alike, giving form to quality re-releases on Nintendo’s latest platform.

If you care about The Walking Dead, zombie games, or just spectacular storytelling, The Long Road Ahead will hook you to this series if you weren't already. And if you were hooked to begin with, then you're like me probably, begging Telltale to get on it and release the next episode already!

Like most successful license-based games, Aliens: Colonial Marines is much more than a loving homage; it serves as one of the most robust story-driven co-op experiences to date. The concept definitely has room to grow, but as maiden voyages go, Colonial Marines is a clear winner.

In Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, players familiar with the original Naughty Dog games will be welcome back into the vibrant world inhabited by Crash, Coco, and their journey to defeat Neo Cortex. However, developer Vicarious Visions has done more than slap a fresh coat of paint on the games by creating a cohesive platforming system and visual language across all three titles.

Kirby Star Allies hits all the perfect nostalgia notes you expect from a full-blown Kirby adventure, and adds just enough new twists to make something so familiar at this point feel fresh and fun again. The pink puffball has never played so well (particularly with others) before.

With new and re-imagined maps, the return of Guardian mode, and some new weapon and character skins, the Forces of Nature DLC maintains the streak of high-quality DLC that Epic has already delivered to us for Gears of War 3.

After the misstep that was Mario Party 10, Nintendo has gone back to basics with Super Mario Party. The competitive boards and minigames are back, along with a few welcome gameplay twists that make this party game feel like a fresh start for the series. From two-console minigames to the Joy-Con motion controls, the new Switch features elevate the entire experience, making Super Mario Partythe best in the series so far.

You’ll go into Team Ninja’s latest project thinking it’s Dark Souls with samurais and ninjas, but come out knowing it to be its own unique experience. Nioh is an enthralling adventure, filled with great combat, characters, monsters, and locations, and only really stumbles when it tries to be a little too much like other games out there.

Some technical shortcomings aside, this is a tremendously fun experience that will appeal to LEGO and comic book fans young and old alike.

Nex Machina is another fantastic arcade-inspired retro homage from the folks at Housemarque. I think it may be the most stressful of the trio of such releases from the studio so far, but that’ll give more hardcore players an added push to get good and improve their scores. Lesser-skilled players, however, may feel even more lost among the madness.

A refreshing experience, one that reminds us of why people make games-and why we, in turn, play them. Combining quaint, charming elements with highly executed gameplay, Dust would be an impressive adventure even without the fascinating story behind its development.

Though we've seen this formula before, New Super Mario Bros. 2 finds a way to keep itself just fresh enough while still hitting platfroming perfection.

It’s taken me a long time to experience the Yakuza series, but Yakuza 6 makes me so thankful that I finally have. The insurmountable badass Kazuma Kiryu is surrounded by a fantastic cast of characters and some gripping drama—it’s just a shame that the “game” portion of this video game isn’t quite what it could be. Still, this is a superb adventure from beginning to end, and further proof of the magic that Japanese developers can weave when they put their minds to it.

For those who expected a straight 3DS rehash of the series’ 2D entries, think again. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan moves the preeminent first-person dungeon-crawler forward in ways that longtime, hardcore fans will appreciate—yet novice would-be adventurers won’t be overwhelmed here.

Blacklist’s bitingly topical campaign, huge selection of co-op missions, and wildly enjoyable update of the Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer make for the best, most ambitious Splinter Cell of this generation.

I was really pleasantly surprised at the tremendous amount of content I was able to get for such a small price and even more pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had with it. If you're looking for something to workout your mental muscles and don't want a plot driven game, then I can't more highly recommend Quarrel.

Guild Wars 2 fine-tunes much of what we've come to expect from an MMORPG (crafting) while turning other aspects on their head (dynamic level adjustment), resulting in possibly the most refined, enjoyable game the genre's ever seen.

A riot of color, emotion, and sea life wrapped up in a stellar soundtrack and stunning visuals; Abzû walks a fine line between being a game and being a near-spiritual experience.

While Metroid: Samus Returns is technically a remake of a 90’s GameBoy game, it’s truly a rallying cry for Metroid fans to gather and enjoy how fantastic Samus’ journeys can be. Despite a few hiccups, the fresh combat mechanics, addicting exploration, and wonderful cinematic tone make this one of the best Metroid games ever made.