Tearaway is brilliantly out of step with much of mainstream game development. It’s gentle, distinctly British brand of whimsy and imaginative visual style makes it an experience unlike any other you’ll have this year. The core gameplay isn’t exceptional, but it’s solid enough to let the brilliant puzzles, art, and level designs shine.

This is the most fun I've had racing in a Forza title, and yet it's not the most complete entry in the franchise.

Rather than simply port the current generation version of NBA 2K14, Visual Concepts deserves praise for drastically renovating its two most popular modes for its next-generation console debut.

Ultimate Team players will want to grab the Xbox One version of the game due to its exclusive Legend cards.

Path of Exile’s loot collection and combat looks and plays like others in the genre, but its innovations have widespread effects separating it from the competition. Its multiplayer longevity is difficult to predict, but as a campaign-driven action-RPG, Path of Exile succeeds.

Although the overall score is the same, the Xbox One version edges out the PS4 one because of its cool SmartGlass functionality.

As good as the player models are, their uniforms surprisingly don’t pick up dirt or grass stains. It is cool, however, to see clumps of turf get kicked up by players’ cleats.

FIFA 14 for the next-gen continues the good work done by the current-gen iteration when it comes to synching up players' footwork during shots to produce varied and realistic results.

Any Mario game runs the risk of the final encounter being too traditional or featuring a frustrating gimmick, but this one brought a smile to everyone’s faces on my co-op team from beginning to end. While it’s not the most difficult challenge, it is suitably epic and entertaining – an exceptional finisher to an excellent entry in the series.

Ghost Games has crafted an exceptional experience that captures the classic battle of racers and police in a new light for next-generation machines. The shared world concept is the driving force, making it easy for players to switch factions, team up, and continue making progress in their campaigns. I can’t stress enough just how great of a multiplayer experience this is for friends.

An impressive display of big, dumb fun, and a must-play for fans of the series. It’s also a great demonstration of the outstanding capabilities of next-gen hardware right out of the gate. Thinning out the undead of Los Perdidos is worth your time, but the bugs infesting the sandbox are an unwelcome scourge.

Zoe Mode is new to the golf scene, but Powerstar Golf plays a like a seasoned pro, nailing most of the fundamentals of the sport, and establishing its own identity by applying little magic to a gameplay formula we know well.

Lococycle isn’t complex, but I was easily sucked into its silliness. I wanted to see where this intentionally stupid story was headed, and it was worth the trip – even if the game itself isn't very deep.

Though Crimson Dragon has a slight next gen aesthetic, the controls are unintuitive and sluggish – proving that you can’t change the recipe after you’ve started cooking.

When you look past the gorgeous visuals, Killzone: Shadow Fall is a competent shooter in terms of both campaign gameplay and multiplayer offerings. It may not be the most innovative titles on the market, but it’s certainly one of the top stars of the PlayStation 4’s launch lineup.

It’s great for showing off your new system and acclimating to a new controller, but a dearth of content prevents Resogun from earning much praise beyond being a solid, fun launch title.

This isn’t just a tribute; as amazing as A Link to the Past is, I can’t think of a single thing A Link Between Worlds doesn’t do better...In every way, A Link Between Worlds is exactly what you want out of a Zelda game.

It's not the most innovative or the most visually dazzling game. This won't be the one you put in to show off your new console to your friends. However, when you're done with the prettied-up versions of the big franchises, you'll find yourself wanting to return to Knack. It's got charm and heart, and offers a whole lot of good gameplay.

Faulty and boring puzzles drag down a promising premise and an intriguing story.

Ghosts had potential to be more than it is. As the first series entry on new consoles and the first of what will assuredly be a new brand, I was disappointed to see it resemble its predecessors even more than the franchise typically does. Even without its own significant hook or sense of identity, however, Ghosts is still fun thanks to Call of Duty’s polished and reliable backbone that’s been established for years.

Into the Nexus’ gameplay holds true to what we’ve known and enjoyed for over a decade. Should we be demanding bigger and better things? Maybe, but there’s something about this formula that just works. I walked away from it hungry for more.

The game often throws you curveballs; you can easily have a rookie wander too deep into the battlefield and suddenly alert three units of enemies. However, dealing with the bad hands you’re dealt is what makes XCOM’s battles so exciting – and often leads to creative problem solving.

The game was so finely balanced that I thought adding to it would disrupt its strategic flow, but Firaxis has released an expansion that slides between Enemy Unknown’s cracks, filling in some gaps I didn’t even realize existed, further diversifying the tactics without disrupting XCOM’s delicate balance.

Enemy Within adds more troop customization options, fearsome enemy units, and new levels to explore. Anyone who loves an intense firefight should test their mettle on Enemy Within.

Instead of re-using all of the same assets from Infinite, the team recreated Rapture and found a way to meld successful elements from several games in the series. On the other hand, the additions are minimal at best, leaving players to go through the same motions with a different backdrop. For a world that invites infinite possibilities, I was hoping for less familiarity.

Ghosts had potential to be more than it is. As the first series entry on new consoles and the first of what will assuredly be a new brand, I was disappointed to see it resemble its predecessors even more than the franchise typically does. Even without its own significant hook or sense of identity, however, Ghosts is still fun thanks to Call of Duty’s polished and reliable backbone that’s been established for years.

Nintendo’s handheld systems used to be the last refuge for quality Sonic titles, but the series’ awful 3D gameplay has infected that lineage with Sonic Lost World. This portable version of Sonic’s latest adventure hits the same sour notes as the recent console games, while maintaining the subpar side-scrolling feel established in the 3DS version of Sonic Generations.

I wasn’t expecting to discover that one of my new favorite point-and-click adventure games would feature so little pointing and clicking, but that’s what Device 6 has done. I felt more than a little silly rotating my iPad around to read Anna along a new path, but her story was worth it in the end.