Does a pretty good job capturing the tuner scene with fast races and flashy cars. However, some lingering A.I. issues and the excessive time it takes just to get where you need to go keeps this ride from shifting to fifth.

From the moment the first dragon, Nestor, tells you how to find the balloonist until the end of the Super Bonus World in Spyro 3, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy is an utter delight.

The City could have been much larger with more to explore, Garrett could have used a lot of new moves, and the optimization issues will almost certainly drive you a little nuts. Even though Deadly Shadows is a fun game.

Unless you’re rich enough to buy up a bunch of old machines, completely refurbish them, and open up your own private rec-center, Pinball: Hall of Fame is probably the closest you’re going to get to a true pinball arcade experience.

The Switch port is the best version of this all-time classic.

From its narrative to its world to its puzzles and combat, Control intrigues its players and invites them to think and rewards them handily for doing so; a true remedy for overly linear and coddling game design.

Pitting 2K's college game against EA's is a close call, but ultimately I suppose that this game's better price and A.I. give it the edge. Someone needs to fire the coach before it's guaranteed a tourney berth, though.

Taking the 2D online brawlers in the marketplace into account, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is easily the friendlier of the bunch in terms of new players jumping in.

It is a worthwhile adventure for 1,000 Wii Points that shouldn't be missed by anyone who appreciates a finely crafted, beautiful, and challenging game.

PES 2020 doesn’t feel like an evolution over 2019. It offers little in terms of new content and gameplay tweaks. Fans of the series will appreciate the Finesse Dribbling, manager interactions, and increased number of licenses, but you’ll find little to excite over what was already available in PES 2019. Despite it all, however, PES 2020 plays a glorious game of football that you won’t want to put down.

Despite some outstanding graphics and gameplay that recalls the best of Zelda, the story disappoints and multiple facets of the action fail to reach their full potential.

One of the finest examples of downloadable content that other developers should emulate.

Sadly, Bulletstorm's multiplayer features make it a mixed bag, but there is a solid and enjoyable single-player campaign mode in there.

Call of Duty 3 feels too much like a collection of outtakes from the other two Call of Duty games. It’s silly, fast and hilariously fun, but it’s also sixty bucks.

As with all fighting games, Tekken 6 - just like a certain something else - is fun to mess around with by yourself, but certainly more enjoyable if you can play with someone who knows what they’re doing.

The weapons can get a little overwhelming and frustrating at times, especially when you’re in the lead (and the frankly unfair brutality of the 150cc-class rubber-banding, curse-evoking A.I.), but most of what’s in place, both old and new, still makes for a romping good time, locally or globally.

Black Rock has proved the concept, shown what kind of polish they can muster, and given arcade racing fans a reason to get back in the game. The explosions and thrills will certainly last until the inevitable "Split/Second 2" throws a couple of different buildings at us.

One of the best written DLCs for a Fallout game ever. It plays a strong part in the post-New Vegas story that the DLC packs are building, With that said, it's also one of the worst paced, with some of the most boring fetch quests you're likely to find in any Fallout game. It feels like an excuse to deliver excellent dialogue and humor, but with very few instances of quality content to actually play through.

The frustrating linearity, at times crappy AI and dated graphics keep it from snatching a place in history as a markedly innovative title.

Not much else has been added to the experience, save for full trophy support on PS3. This is Stranger's Wrath. If you've played it before, you'll recognize it and appreciate the facelift. If you haven't, here's your chance to step back in time without the rose-colored glasses you might have grown accustomed to.

It's not perfect, nor is it flawed in that regard apart from being a tad outdated. Even though it is largely a remake, there is still plenty of fun to be had playing this title all over again.

Syberia will return as much as you are willing to invest.

Despite its better delivery, though, Major League Baseball 2K5 is not a better baseball game than "MVP 2005." Its offline content is simply not as deep and its play mechanics are broadly inferior.

A shocker of a shooter, providing PSP players with access to an experience unlike any they’ve ever held in their hands – tactical online fragging.

The lack of any online play hurts the Gamecube version only, once again making it the version to avoid if you have multiple consoles. The future looks good, but far from perfect.

The only notable downside to Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is the constant loading times.

The unresponsive controls, sub-par optimization and frustrating, extraneous gameplay elements shackle The Last Guardian to the past, while the emotional story and awe-inspiring imagery beg to be unleashed. It succeeds on the strength of its imagination alone, with no help from any other aspect.

This simulation arcade game is mostly for those who have had a liking for the game in past years, or maybe have become bored with FIFA and want something different. If the price went down a bit, I'd say it's worth buying outright. If not, save your time and dimes for the glitz and glamor of FIFA.

For better or worse, my sensibilities have changed with the times, and likely, so have yours. But if you’re the type to obsess over increasingly difficult crossword puzzles, Myst IV: Revelation is more than a nod to history - it’s your future.

Anyway, SASRT can be dug if you're charmed by the casual racer subgenre, and if you're a Sega fan especially. Ah, and I've forgotten to address the last word of this game's damn long title. Your rig can change into a boat or a plane once you go through the right rings. I'm only addressing this because I have to. It's done well and adds a nice layer of complexity (especially since you can seek out these rings early on for an advantage). Does it really transform the game? Sure. More importantly, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed could have stood alone without it and still be a fun $40 ride.

Most of its success relies on the existing design of the pinball machines instead of any design elements it adds, but it doesn’t really need to do more than let the machines speak for themselves.

Does a pretty good job capturing the tuner scene with fast races and flashy cars. However, some lingering A.I. issues and the excessive time it takes just to get where you need to go keeps this ride from shifting to fifth.

While it’s not flawless, Pirates! still delivers a lot of replay value and a lot of fun. And for my money, that’s a baarrrrrgain. Ahem.

Ether One would still prove itself a touching story, but it is doubtless that the crux of the game I played was restoring the projectors and learning more about Pinwheel.

Neversoft has refined the gameplay to the point of it being almost a meditation exercise, letting you grind, manual, revert and flip with a Zen-like calmness.

The shock of change is overwhelming at first, but give the game enough time to develop and you'll soon appreciate its intricacies. A few problematic design choices aside, there's a lot of fun to be had in this newest and most Final-est of Fantasies.

The story, the full narrative, is relevant to a lot of children like Ethan Carter and is steeped in sobering realism. For that, I would encourage you to discover it and find him.

At $10 or whatever that translates to in Microsoft fun money, you're looking at at least another eight hours of gameplay (maybe more if you don't work on the brain-hunting missions while doing all the other ones). At that price, Zombie Island just may be the perfect place for your next vacation, and for your next level up too.

Red Alert 3 is a great deal of fun. If you like RTS games, and are not scared off by a little campy ridiculousness, you should give it a try.

A nice, though hardly necessary, expansion to one of the most innovative games yet to come down the pike, and a must-have for any true Sim fanatic.

An A-list, big budget, mass market, entry level MMORPG. It's simply terrific for a while, and the easiest-to-play massively multiplayer game so far.

More attention to the graphics and gameplay issues would secure its place as the preeminent college basketball game. Right now, though, it’s still on the bubble.

Is it better than NBA 2K3? Well, no, not really, though some of you will find the faster-paced gameplay to be more enticing, and even doubters should check it out for the Freestyle control alone.

The attention to detail, from the realization of 43 cars to the breadth of 23 tracks, should make any NASCAR nut proud.

Online play could have done wonders for some of the repetition. But if you stick it out, you may be too drunk off the inebriating style and intense action to notice your 20th play-through. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System does what it does very well.

The Delta release features some gorgeous animations and character designs, although the biggest addition is the Grim faction.

Rock Band Rivals has once again iterated in a way that makes it unquestionably the most attractive rhythm game so far this generation.

The simple, albeit underdeveloped, combination of gameplay styles is brisk enough to carry the inspiration behind its characters, setting, and story.

With Gears 5, there’s a lot to love. The campaign is solid, making bold pushes in brave directions, and continues to be a hoot with friends. The story ultimately failed to fulfil its potential, but compelling gameplay keeps things moving. Horde continues to be a brilliant binge of violent goodness, with new mechanics and rewards that help boost longevity. Escape is a worthy addition to the roster of modes, oozing potential for more creative players to realize. Versus is back in a big way, helping newcomers find their feet, while keeping loyal fans of the franchise happy with classic game types and the thank-god-it’s-not-terrible shotgun. If you’re any kind of shooter fan, this game has earned your attention.

While Halo Wars is a RTS that's been dumbed down exactly the right amount, it's still been dumbed down. While a good game, compared to some of the intricate tactics of its PC counterparts, it just feels rather thin, and with only two sides, battles always seem to follow familiar patterns.

Currently the best of its kind with great graphics, a wealth of weapons and vehicles and solid play mechanics. Fans of online military fragging need look no further.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift might be the game its progenitor wanted to be, but it isn’t quite the game it could be when compared to its peers. Pacific Rift is a competent, robust, and fun racer, but not a particularly deep or innovative one.

Gnosia isn’t a game for everyone. You’ll likely loop over a hundred times before you reach the conclusion, and the repeated dialog and loops where nothing happens will infuriate impatient gamers. However, this unique blend of RPG, visual novel, and social deduction game hits like nothing else and is one of the Switch’s hidden gems.

Despite some rough patches in difficulty, SSX manages to modernize itself with realism, course variety, and seamlessly integrated multiplayer. Even with the courses littered with pits and darkness, they can either be avoided or faced head-on with the same intensity as an epic boss battle. it doesn't have as bold of a personality than before, but ready or not, SSX is here to stay.

If you’ve never played the first Resident Evil, then purchasing its HD remaster is a no-brainer. However, there’s enough here to convince old-timers to explore the Spencer Mansion once again.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the game's delivery is the sound, which is some of the best ever.

The questions are as bizarre as ever, and it reminds me of the good ol' days of trying to wrap my head around questions that all make some sort of twisted sense.

The Vita library is still lacking in major-major titles, but this one can take a few hours of your time.

Year Walk is one of the gems of the year. Developer Simogo worked with Dakko Dakko to produce what they call the "definitive edition" on Wii U. I’m gonna say this is probably the best version too as the visuals look great on a big HDTV, along with the haunting sounds through a stereo, and the all those extras features on the GamePad.

Despite minor complaints and moments of awkwardly forced titillation that nearly wreck its somber and engrossing atmosphere, Last Light proves exhilarating, haunting, and one of the best-looking games ever.

Easily the best way to enjoy NCAA Football 12 comes from Road to Glory mode, where your player can go from high school to senior year, all the while earning every step of the way through in-game accomplishments.

For either system, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is a portable addiction, and while I recommend the PSP version, the DS game is almost as good.

A collection of hard-as-nails platforming levels capped off by a boss fight where you get more gear so you can tackle even more hard-as-nails platforming levels and boss fights. However, its new Gear System and difficulty settings simultaneously make it more accessible and deeper while not sacrificing its core identity. The Blue Bomber may stick to his blueprint but, when it has been modernized this well, it’s hard to argue that Capcom blew it.

If you loved the original Joe Danger, you'll get more of what you loved here.

Its mature themes, both sexual and religious, never step beyond the bounds of vulgarity and are treated respectfully and provocatively: It's actually mature. For that alone, and paving the way for a new modern hybrid of video games, Catherine should not be forgotten to the lamen silence of the lambs.

What's here is just as wild and wacky as the original and it's a benchmark game for the Wii. If you own a Wii, this is one game you don't want to overlook.

The Battle for Middle Earth will not make you a part of the films any more than you were when you watched them, nor is it an RTS of incredibly epic scope. Instead, it is a solid, fun, slightly dumbed-down RTS.

A paradox. Equipped with a purring, powerful new under-the-hood upgrade, the game delivers a pure driving experience that is on-par with many of its contemporaries in the looks and feel department. Unfortunately, it’s also running on well-worn tires. Some of the quirks, acceptable in 2008, haven’t been ironed out, and the game can feel sparse and comparatively tiny when scaled against later titles.

Saints Row 2 isn't going to be the next Godfather, but it's not trying to be. If you want class and moral dilemmas with your gang warfare, then look elsewhere. But if you want explosions, revenge, sex, money, drugs and rock and roll, then a trip to Stilwater is just what the doctor ordered.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga providing such a huge toybox of characters, worlds, vehicles, and more to unlock and play will make it essential for many Star Wars fans. In terms of sheer scale, size, and scope, this is far beyond anything Traveller’s Tales have put out before with the LEGO brand. Unfortunately, some of that ambition is undermined by the lackluster implementation of certain ideas that are supposed to be its big selling points, such as its improved combat and new camera angle. This is arguably not quite the Star Wars game you’re looking for, but it does more than enough right.

Overall, Severed does a lot of good with its excellent and challenging combat, intricate dungeon maps full of collectibles, unique and visceral upgrade system, and a fantastic presentation.

Even though its brand of battlefield warfare is by no means new, it’s still plenty of fun and a must for Star Wars nerds. Just don’t be fooled by any claims that Battlefront contains a viable single-player experience. This is an online game, period, and if you can’t get online, then this isn’t the game you are looking for. Move along.

Even though Star Trek Bridge Commander has some wicked crashing issues and the single player is a little too linear, there's a very cool game in here. If you have the patience and a great rig, give it a shot.

While NHL Hitz is definitely an easy game to pick up and play, the simplicity also makes for a game with a limited interest factor. After a few hours of checking and one-timers, it starts to get a bit dull.

Simply put, adventure games just aren't meant to be so narrowly (literally) limited within the confines of a train. On the other hand, anyone who's played this can't argue the fact that tremendous amount of effort was put into the game design and production.

Battlefield 1943 is an impressive feat - it's a fun and gorgeous-looking downloadable game. If its rigid online structure can somehow be made more user-friendly in future patches, it'll be even more of a sure-bet that many of us will be playing for a long, long time, especially if this type of co-operative unlocking of features becomes a standard in future content.

This is that rare title that sort of defies grading, seeing as how the game isn't really a game at all.

With a steady stream of content planned, a solid framework for housing, and a commitment to hardcore seriousness and silly humor, WildStar is more than the sum of its parts, and every MMO player should at least give a fair shake.

A Plague Tale tells a tale about human cruelty, the loss of innocence, survival, and family via its beautiful visual and imaginative level design, but it feels like near the game’s end confidence was lost in this vision. It gets in its own way by deciding that something bigger was needed to keep the player’s attention. It’s a sour end to an otherwise great game.

With the PC version, you can tweak Final Fantasy 7 until practically every aspect is improved. The other editions of the game,including the Switch version, just can’t compete with that amount of flexibility.

Blur is fast, chaotic, and flashy. It may not be particularly original or memorable, but it could make for some great post-bar silliness with your friends on par with a bad kung fu movie. Like a skittish commitment-phobe, as soon as you start to take Blur too seriously, it all falls to pieces.

Those few gripes aside, Resistance: Retribution is fairly long, and after getting accustomed to the awkward use of the face buttons as a supplemental stick, it feels pretty damn nice.

Few titles succeed without having your brain go into overdrive or your character constantly be on the verge of death, and this is gladly one of them.

The result is more sad than monstrous, a beast you’ll put down not with hate, but pity. You’d be far better served dipping into the likes of F.E.A.R. than treading down this overgrown path again.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX is currently available for the Playstation 3 for a suggested retail price of $39.99. Without its predecessor, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, it doesn't make much sense, but it may be worth the purchase price for the truly excellent Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep alone.

Though the Gamecube version of Chaos Theory suffers from tricky control and is missing online play, it's still an involved, mature game.

Some shallow gameplay mechanics and weird environmental limits keep this corpse from the most elite graveyards, but that shouldn't scare you away from grabbing this awesome, and awful, thriller.

The streaming content is impressive, but no matter where you go, the rickety framerate comes with you. Still, this is a great big game that lands more tricks than it misses, and is worth a spin on your Xbox 360.

If Grand Theft Auto is drama, then Saints Row is comedy. Both have similar sandbox designs, but their aesthetics are wildly apart. Yet just like drama versus comedy, the former is lauded as superior and the latter is seen somehow negatively as a farce. Those people don't know what they're missing. Saints Row IV is exaggerated fun in the loudest, proudest, awesomest, most fu.kingest way possible.

Under the right circumstances, Messhof has established a new and shocking blood sport that’ll captivate audiences and players alike.

It's not quite as satisfying as the Celtics adding Kevin Garnett and, Ray Allen to support Paul Pierce in one off-season, but what is?

Is Battlefield 4 worthy of a brand new integer? Maybe not. Maybe they could have called this Battlefield 3 Next-Gen Edition, but increased destruction (which still holds back from turning multiplayer maps into flattened pancakes after one match), increased fidelity, a new campaign, and engaging multiplayer progression make this a worthy heir to the PC shooter throne.

The PS4 version has seen some slight increases to audio fidelity, resulting in an incredible auditory experience whether you're out exploring the wilderness or speaking to an NPC. For some unknown reason the Xbox One and PC versions are not only unequal in this regard, but their files have been compressed to a point where the quality suffers.

It’s not the greatest playing horror game, and some aspects feel extremely dated. However, Yuppie Psycho is undeniably worth playing for anyone that is looking for something weird and wants art to actually have something to say.

It’s a well-executed set-up with a wondrous payoff. Whereas the fun in a game like For Honor comes from physically learning how to play, the fun in Tides of Numenera comes from achieving encyclopedic knowledge of a whole new universe through truly meaningful choices.

I can’t say NHL ’14 is a perfect game, but its beauty is well-polished and fans of the sport can lean on EA’s version with a gleam of puppy love.

It's not quite as satisfying as the Celtics adding Kevin Garnett and, Ray Allen to support Paul Pierce in one off-season, but what is?

Square Enix’s direction with FF7 Remake has impressed me with how the extra worldbuilding and tweaks to the plot have enhanced a game I already cherished. I can’t wait to play the second part, and this DLC was a great morsel to tide me over until then.