The atmosphere, graphics, scope, versatility and ultimately fun gameplay keeps the bad bits in check enough to keep you up long hours coming back for more.

You get the feeling that they're on the verge of something great. With a few more strokes of the design pen -- more control, better AI, improved graphics -- this could be a fantastic game.

In the end, this is about as standard as fighting games come, though the strong graphics and smooth framerate keep it a step ahead of total mediocrity.

Super Princess Peach is Super Mario for dummies. It's also Super Mario for girls, who, according to Nintendo, are just dumber versions of men that get all emotional when they can't find their vibro wands.

As a singular episode, it’s fine. But in the grander scheme of wrapping up a six-year storyline and four-episode arc, it’s also just fine and that middle of the road result is a bit of a disappointment.

The third dimension's grip on the genre may be unshakable, but there are times when special games come along that can ease the transition. The King of Fighters XI is one such game.

Beatbuddy feels well worth the $15 sticker price on Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux. While sometimes it feels like its musical ambitions are inhibited by the game design, it's still a strong game in its own right and it's fun to see how the musical elements and enemies combine together as gameplay features.

By the time I finished DuckTales Remastered, I felt like I had both a pleasant and hollow experience.

Silver Lining ends The City That Never Sleeps with grace but its grander ambitions make it more than yet another Spider-Man chapter.

While neither game has stood the test of time without any blemishes, Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King is a solid collection full of behind-the-scenes tales from development as well as nearly every edition of both games available.

The overall quality of Alice: Madness Returns is high, despite it feeling rushed. The qualities that made American McGee's Alice so enjoyable-the gory hack-'n'-slash combat, the gorgeous design, the rich dialogue, the menacing mood-are present and abundant.

A blast whether you play it by yourself or with a friend, The Stretchers is bound to put a smile on the face of anyone that plays it and showcases how talented a developer Tarsier Studios is.

It is solidly the best card-based game on any platform, but compared to the refined mechanics of its collectible brethren and the fully-fleshed features of its digital brothers, it doesn’t fully grasp the inner nerd - neither the card nor video game player - within us all.

It nails most of the important things, like the gameplay and the online content, but the game’s beefy, versatile Franchise mode is a technical wreck. Still, its sheer depth makes it a relatively safe choice for patient fans of video gridiron.

While I won’t try and tell you this game serves as a replacement for Mass Effect or Fallout 3, it is pretty well done on the whole. I hope this means Radon Labs will be working on further RPGs, as Drakensang is a series with great potential.

The main problem is that even with the replay value in each level, you probably won't really feel like replaying everything again. Unless you're a true completionist, there's not much of a draw to replaying a level that's essentially the same thing as a number of other stages.

A solid game that, on all platforms, performs admirably, draws you into the story, takes itself (and you) seriously, and does the genre proud. It's too thin around the waist to really tangle with the big boys.

If this had been just a couple of hours longer and had the option to kill Gambit, I’d say this was a shoe-in for game of the year.

I'm quite impressed that they managed to make a computer version that actually follows all the arcane rules. Still, I can't see myself buying any more cards beyond the ones I already have.

I’m impressed with how the concept was fleshed out. Like other unique experiences, I hope other developers learn from its brushes with ingenuity. I’m also excited about some of the ethical discussions it could spark. It’s definitely worth a spin in zero-gravity to check this one out.

There’s an elusive elegance to The Gardens Between. It’s short, charming, and shows its rewarding puzzle mechanic in just a couple hours without stretching the game to its breaking point.

Carrion is a great concept that becomes repetitive in practice. Taking control of a terrifying monster and mowing down a bunch of humans is fun at first, but it shows its hand far too quickly and gets stuck in a rut of giving the player the same tasks to perform over and over again. With simplistic movement and easy combat, Carrion is a straightforward Metroidvania game with few frills aside from its unique protagonist. With that being said, its climax does set it up for a sequel that could elaborate on what Phobia Game Studio has set up in its debut, so I’m still interested to see where this awful blob will go next.

While the new additions and the costume collection are nice, the strongest value of Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is its clean 1080p presentation on new-gen consoles where it performs cleanly and admirably.

You've come a long way, made some mistakes, and now you're trying to make amends for them. It shows a great amount of maturity on your part to admit that you're flawed and can be better a perso-er-hedgehog, but you've still got a long way to go before things are back to the way they were between you and me.

If you want my advice, think of Ultimate Contest as a bandage and tear it off as quickly as possible. Underneath it is a martial-arts fighter of epic proportions sure to satisfy fans and newcomers alike.

It may not convert those who avoid the tower defense genre at all costs, but it does prove that a few small but important tweaks can change one's perception in a big way.

Every Extend Extra, a game that could have filled the PSP’s need for fun and simple arcade action, blows itself up in a miniscule pop of disappointment.

Vine creation is a neat twist.