An addictive game that any fan of games like "Animal Crossing" will appreciate. It doesn’t take full advantage of the DS capabilities, but it’s still one of the better games currently available. Look above you for the hovering diamond and give it a shot.

If you need a fix of some classic run-and-gun action, both of the original Dooms are available for pretty cheap, $15 together (a fiver for the original, tenner for the sequel). If you still want the third, this will do, but you'd be better off buying an original Xbox copy. These three games for forty bucks? No frills or "making of" videos, no concept art or anything behind the scenes? For a poop-ton of extras I could see a full release, but this simply reeks of the combination of "let's fix minor prior mistakes", like the flashlight with a weapon and some other lighting bits, and cashing in on a 20th anniversary, minus any… you know, history. Wait for the price for this to drop, or just save your cash.

The film came out a year ago and we've already endured one tragic game offering. This one is far better than that mess (which admittedly isn't saying very much) and despite its fundamental flaws, the game delivers some decent fun.

Although its blend of stealth and action is clever, it's also derivative and boring.

True Swing Golf's attempt to revolutionize video golf swings and misses thanks to its oversimplified control, marginal delivery and uninspired play modes, so we recommend saving your cash for a cleaner, harder course.

It certainly has something going for it with the unique possession mechanic and clever puzzles, but the linear gameplay, mediocre delivery and short story makes it a house more cursed than haunted.

Completionists and series fans might dig nailing every single quest in a town and uncovering all the most powerful Artes, but the average gamer will find Radiant Mythology a pretty typical anime cliché.

It’s a solid brawler that hits hard and delivers a fun action movie good time for a few hours. However, that admittedly standard gameplay doesn’t make up for all the problems, and nothing from this equation makes it worth a $30 asking price.

The main challenge is actually having the will to keep playing until the end. The downloadable gaming space is already saturated with twin-stick shooters, and while Zombie Apocalypse tries to stir up the formula by adding the already decaying - no pun intended - cliché of zombies into the pot, it ends up being just another shooter.

Ultimately, what's exciting about Happy Home Designer is waiting for the enhanced touch controls, yard building, and item catalog to be included in the next main entry of Animal Crossing. Otherwise, Happy Home Designer feels like a standalone expansion that's inexplicably missing the solid foundation that New Leaf should have provided.

Shadowrun’s impressive array of skills and magic gives standard first-person shooters a run for their money, but its lack of game modes or rewards or even a rewarding feeling slows this game to a walk.

Really the big reason to check out 360 FFXI is to play a decent MMO on your big honking TV for the reasonable $13 a month. Just know there are no HDTV advantages to speak of.

A ho-hum game with some annoying AI and marginal presentation. Despite its plethora of modes, it's simply not very fun.

You have to credit Evil Dead: Regeneration for almost living up to its name by breathing some new life back into an abysmal video-game franchise. Still, this regeneration is a far-cry from a revolution and must be content with being familiar, satisfying, and diminutive.

Unless that person is solidly in the Naruto fandom, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 – Full Burst is not the game for them. For those inside the confines of the fandom, however, they will probably be able to overlook the things the rest of us see as faults and soak up the fanservice Namco BANDAI delivers.

Falls far, far short of its Xbox forbear in one critical area. The praiseworthy online support that helped the Xbox edition over the steep hill of monotony is as absent as a truant with a severe case of senioritis. They didn't even include split-screen.

Decent graphics and gameplay aside, it just isn't terribly fun, and we've already seen a lot of these gameplay ideas in better games like the "SSX" series.

Thanks to good controls and a truly imaginative take on the AvP universe, Extinction turns out better than expected. You can tell the developers really loved the movies. It's just too bad they didn't take it far enough as a game, serving up a short campaign and failing to offer any extra modes.

Considering Biomutant’s delayed and seemingly troubled road to release, I’m blindsided by just how good it is. Experiment 101 has clearly been afforded the time to see its vision through, something which is unfortunately far too rare in the cutthroat gaming industry. I did not expect this to be one of my favorites of the year so far, let alone one of the most enjoyable open-world games I’ve ever played. A true modern gaming miracle.

The Last Remnant is better than Infinite Undiscovery if you’re looking for a long, easy-breezy romp through fantastical lands, but RPG fans who care about a challenging combat system or characters who are worthy of your empathy will be disappointed.

Blue Reflection is a hidden gem that any anime and JRPG fan will not want to miss this year.

Kinect Sports Season 2 is really only worth it if you're a brand new Kinect gamer and need something general to justify your purchase. Friends and family will get a kick out of it too, but you won't be compelled to play the game again on your own.

It’s like an ironic mustache or mullet. Like having a Steven Segal DVD in your collection. You’ll never get any real use out of it. You just have it in with your other games to show you friends you have a sense of humor.

Playing through the campaign cooperatively and online multiplayer also aren't as fleshed out as they could have been. Apache Air Assault is an overall enjoyable flight simulator, but its lasting appeal is as short as your joystick.

In the end there’s no denying that there’s fun to be had in Civilization Revolution 2. If you’ve played the original, you can safely avoid this one.

Backbreaker Vengeance is so far from a sim, it's hard to say any given gamer couldn't enjoy it, no matter their tastes.

NeoGeo Battle Coliseum looks old and sounds old and plays in 2D - all things that will deter most modern-day gamers, but old-school fans of NeoGeo fighters and newbies interested in discovering where 3D fighters originated will not be disappointed.

The music rocks. It's a combination of jungle, pop and a barbershop quartet and is thoroughly weird and catchy. The quirky approach to the composition helps give the game its attitude.

Sadly enough, I just can't see this as anything special. The cinematics are nicely done, and the voice acting isn't terrible, but it's not worth the hours of running on foot and wandering over the same areas multiple times to see some odd body language with forced English dubs.

While the concept is good and the presentation is at times outstanding, the core gameplay isn’t strong enough to separate it from the swarms of mediocre kart racers that have come before it.

Although Auto Modellista does an outstanding job in its visuals and customization, the racing aspect certainly did not get enough attention.

It flexes its muscles with artistic creativity, much like "Ico" and even "Rez" before it. But those two were much, much stronger in the gameplay department.

Beyond its core, though, The Final Challengers’ value prop is pretty bad, and with no real modes outside of Arcade to makes this edition particularly appealing, there’s little reason to need it. It’s true there’s online play, which does feature a clever point-based ranking system, but the former is not new and the latter is not so compelling as to drive player investment. Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will make a fine gift for a youngster or acquaintance Street Fighter celibate, but it’s probably not worth your time until the price goes down otherwise.

Paradise Lost doesn’t have any gameplay systems to keep players engaged and loses some of its potential because of it, but it does use its space well for its storytelling. It creates an otherworldly setting designed to simultaneously wow and disgust players as they make their way through gorgeous, yet heinous structures designed for evil. The stories within these structures are elegantly told for the most part as they reflect and strengthen each other along the way. Shooting Nazis in the face is almost always a blast, but Paradise Lost doesn’t resort to violence to make its point. Instead, it explores these horrors and wraps that inhumanity around the tragedy of a grief-stricken orphan, a rarity in the medium that demonstrates that how gaming can portray such evil needing to shoot at it first.

Unless you're a completionist, I see little need to spend your precious sovereign on this one.

Failing to hit previously established highs encapsulates a lot of Super Meat Boy Forever. Although the game oddly hides its interesting seeding system, its levels are designed well and repeatedly introduce new tweaks that allow for an even difficulty curve that always tries to spice things up. Fluid controls even make that difficulty curve a welcome challenge. But the light detachment intrinsic to the auto-running genre is more of a shackle than the key to a better game. Going meatless for an entire decade inevitably raises the steaks stakes for the next Meat Boy game, and even though Forever doesn’t fully meet those expectations set upon it, it does narrowly avoid meaty-ocrity through its tight controls and level structure.

Sadly, the best thing about this game is testing the crash physics...To my delight, the crashes in this game are superb. Not only does the car fly into the air, but debris from the car litters the track and remains throughout the race. Neat.

While The Bouncer cam puts on a good show, it chooses fashion over function every time. Dramatic camera angles produce awesome screen shots, but as a result you'll spend half the time wondering what's sitting right in front of your face.

A fun game if you decide to play it on anything other than the PS3. It isn't a particularly system demanding title, much like its Telltale brethren, so it runs on a just about any modern day computer. Sure, you'll be missing out on trophy addiction by skipping the PS3 version, but you'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

Though The Descent has the foundation of a strong side campaign, the characters aren't memorable enough and the story finishes too loosely to leave a lasting impression. Perhaps if it came coupled with a fully reimagined Orzammar or characters who have some permanence, it would have been an adventure that wasn't as closed off and didn't have an awkward aftertaste.

The unimaginative single-player experience and that awful, awful chatter almost leaves this plane in full retreat. Despite some snazzy graphics, it’s really the terrific multiplayer that manages to snatch a mild victory from the jaws of this near-defeat.

If you own either of [the console versions], you’d have to be crazy to buy this game for the 360, because all you get for the extra twenty dollars are some disappointingly jaggy graphics.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be lauded in the short term for its fun battle system, but remembered in the long term for its bad story and atrocious ending.

State of Decay 2 is a flawed game, and it seems to suffer from Microsoft's increased demand for exclusive titles. If it had about six more months or so of development time, it's likely that the tone of this review would be very different.

Ultimately, The Novelist was not the Pulitzer Prize winner that I was hoping for, but rather a fairy tale for grown-ups who want to believe that, no matter the outcome of their decisions, somehow things will work out for the best anyway.

On the whole, STO is very promising; it needs a little more clean-up and content, but the fundamentals of the gameplay are very strong, and the options available during character creation make for an experience with a lot of potential depth.

As a total package, Mario Party 10 is still good—very good, even. But it’s easy to see where development took a wrong turn, where resources were allocated to the wrong areas, and why the game’s stronger points aren’t as fully fleshed out as they could have been.

A solid attempt that unfortunately does nothing new or unique and suffers from some strange gameplay quirks.

While visually the worst in town, the sim gameplay and depth raise High Heat 2002 above the pack.

Simple and quirky, but ultimately too short and repetitive to really break out.

Neat gameplay is marred by a tough camera system and the lack of interesting toys is a letdown, but the game is a solid appetizer for another certain espionage game that's on the way.

You can get an exciting, if not sparse on features, shooter with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved for half the price. You can get many more exciting, albeit more expensive, shooters on the Xbox 360 like Gears of War or BioShock. Nevertheless, if you play Commando 3, you'll probably enjoy yourself, even if it's been done many, many times before.

Tries to make advances in the import racing game scene with a big city and interesting reward system, but its lack of white-knuckle racing and true customization slows it down. All show and no go makes this a dull ride.

I primarily played the Nintendo Switch version of Mutant Football League, and the quick matches are a perfect pairing for portable play.

Slam Bolt Scrappers is packed to the brim with risks. And it's also full of rewards. Despite the chaotic nature, the infrequent failures followed by "Wait, what just happened?", and the lack of online multiplayer, you should still go spend money on Slam Bolt Scrappers right now.

As good funny and entertaining as Whiplash is off the bat, I don’t feel I grew as a result of having played it, and might have even shrunk a little four hours in.

All in all, Just Dance 2016 is the same Just Dance that millions of party people in varying levels of enthusiasm and sobriety have enjoyed for seven iterations now (not counting the multitude of spin-offs). Nothing's really changed there. What has changed, though, is how badly Ubisoft wants to get in your phone, your living room, and your wallet.

If you can appreciate miniature golf, though, you can (and will) have a lot of fun with this inexpensive gem.

Creativity covers up many of the imperfections, the artwork in the backdrops is unrivaled in a kids game, and best of all, it's extremely entertaining.

It's blatantly obvious that this game isn't quite finished... While it does have its moments and diehard Matrix fans will drool over the extra videos, this game receives the blue pill.

For anyone with an itch to play Tony Hawk again, know what you're getting into. THPS HD is a remake that opted to leave what cost too much in the past, consequently hemorrhaging that which we've come to know and love.

An average game. It's got a lot of good ideas that we've seen before, but isn't able to pull it all together. Still, it's got a decent story and extras that will continue to challenge after Racing Life is done.

While the puzzles and level design are as solid as any handheld platformer out there, the crazy camera, imprecise control and gorilla-sized load times keep his old silverback from evolving.

While Tecmo Bowl Throwback definitely scratches your nostalgia itch (if you have one), it's just plain and not very fun in the long run in this day and age.

It is not a game that you play to enjoy the single-player story--or even, for that matter, the offline mode. If you can reconcile yourself with that, though, the multiplayer "Fragile Alliance" mode is incredible fun and incorporates a dynamic that I wish others developers would try to imitate.

It's a great choice for the wee Wii gamers in your life, but if you're old enough to get arrested for lurking around a real-life playground, you won't find the virtual version any more welcoming.

Gotham Knights is a thrilling DC action-RPG that works equally well in single-player and co-op, and all four heroes are worth playing. Missions are exciting, combat works perfectly, and the story is well-written and compelling — especially the Belfry character moments. Nevertheless, it falls into the all-too-common open-world game trap of having a big, vibrant map but not enough to do in it.

Appropriately priced at $9.99, Black Knight Sword isn't a big threat to your wallet, but it's also not the easiest game to push on your friends. Regardless, this is another capable outing from two great studios that just happen to think alike.

The Outer Worlds on Switch is too heavily compromised in the visuals department for me to recommend it above any other version of the game. However, for owners of the Nintendo Switch and no other supported system, then there is still plenty to love here, provided you can stomach the full price at launch.

There’s a good concept here, and with a little more effort, this could have been a good game.

Compared to the PS3 version of the video game, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus falls short with the graphical and framerate downgrades and a dearth of online features. It's also difficult to give credit to a game that's been revised over and over again for the last five years. Then again, it's still one of the best action titles for the handheld and it broadens the range of software available on a platform that sorely needs it. Besides, having more ninjas on your side is never a bad idea.

It may not be the all-consuming space sim we're all hungry for, but it's still a tasty space combat morsel that every armchair pilot should take a look at.

Enjoyable in the briefest of playtime. While the overall concept turns Burnout's Crash mode into an addictive, destructive puzzle game, the graphics and sound will have you reaching for your console's power button.

Unless you're emotionally invested in the series and the characters, this particular spin-off isn't anything to get too terribly excited about.

At $20, you have to be a desperate PS3 owner or an extremely dedicated racing enthusiast to download Superstars V8 Racing.

While I wouldn't give it to an older gamer, the fairly clever level designs compounded with the puzzles make a good fit for the younger fan.

There's a good deal on the surface to enjoy... When you get past the surface, the random mash of melee and the forced repetition of the levels chillingly weaken Enclave from the inside out.

Despite some poor design choices and a few bugs, Citizens of Earth is still an enjoyable game that will appeal to turn-based RPG fans who like quirky humor. It's just too bad that there's such a strong focus on keeping players busy rather than interested.

You have to hand it to Mario and Co. – they do what they do very well, even if they don't exactly take big risks. Mario Power Tennis is a reliable, fun game that puts some nice, new spin on an old sport. If you can look past its limited depth, you'll have a ball.

Instead of giving grinding aficionados the opportunity to progress and level smoothly, difficulty will often ramp up without warning, forcing players to head back to previous floors and walk in circles until they have enough power. When you have to engage in a stale, merely passable battle system over and over again, it grows less and less entertaining quickly.

Firefly Studios hasn't quite made a new classic RTS game here, but they were extremely close.

Too Human is amazingly short for an RPG, especially one that invites you to spend so much time collecting items and managing inventory.

If you're an adult who loves Legos and lives with his parents, this game is for you. Anyone else over the age of 12 is going to want something with more depth, and besides, making a game childishly easy is not the way to fix broken controls. Any kid can tell you that.

Although Elegy for a Dead World is commendable as a unique and thoughtful writing and teaching tool, much of its implementation seems either limited or unfinished. It exists mostly as a launching point, and I question how many will spend long hours with it composing new works. Many existing games are inspiring in and of themselves, even if the characters are removed, because the environments are well-thought out and painstakingly realized.

If the main Dragon Quest series is the main course, then Dragon Quests Swords is a frothy aperitif - not enough to fill you up completely, but appetizing enough to get you interested in the next meal.

NFL Gameday 2004 has visited the dermatologist and cleared up a couple blemishes, but the overall countenance isn’t that attractive.

Tries hard with a macho attitude, but there isn't anything satisfying underneath. Instead, you get a mish mash of tired game concepts thrown into an industrial blender, fingers crossed that the pulpy results will come out a tasty brew.

Children of Mana is repetitive, tedious, dull, monotonous, and boring. The only good thing about this game is that it will actually make you want to do something productive, just to stop playing it.

For the first DLC in Call of Duty’s yearly Season Pass, Onslaught feels like an expansive, if mixed, package.

This is the best first episode since Borderlands for Telltale Games. I can’t wait to see where Batman: The Telltale Series goes next.

Its interesting customization feature is effectively buried underneath the mindless fighting and mind-numbing Story.

While eviscerating so many ninjas is cathartic, Afro Samurai ends up feeling more like a slick, hyper-visual arcade experience more than a solid home console experience. But still fun nonetheless.

It’s fun to play the role of the bank robber and assemble a crew of thieves. It's not the greatest game nor the worst, so if you've never experienced any of it, it might be one to try. If you have, then you aren't missing much here, except for maybe a few new cool masks.

If you like Harvest Moon, but like making stuff instead of farming it, this is your cup of tea.

While it does a great job displaying the fine art of toon graphics, it falls flat with almost everything else. From poor level design to brutally repetitive play, this game has been crushed by one anvil too many.

A cool game hiding underneath scads of bugs, control problems and weak swordfighting, leading to not a cool game whatsoever. If you're dying to be a pirate, dig up one of the Monkey Islands.

Unless you're a completionist, I see little need to spend your precious sovereign on this one.

Dungeons' biggest problem is really the up-front investment it requires.