But when The Last Campfire captivates--which it does so often--it's difficult not to sink into its breezy pacing and satisfying puzzle-solving. It never overstays its welcome or stretches puzzle ideas beyond their limits, letting each one leave an impression despite their brevity. The Last Campfire's narrative contextualizes each of these with small anecdotes, letting your imagination fill in the blanks of its world between worlds to the backdrop of its colorful imagery. It's a consistently relaxing and pleasant experience.

Iconoclasts is a sincere and compelling adventure that anyone with respect for fantastic storytelling and 2D-action can enjoy.

Not a lot has changed since last year, but the new road-to-the-show mode is a fantastic addition and MLB 07: The Show is a great game.

It's hard to imagine fans of Final Fantasy not leaping at the chance to reconnect with their memories and some of the most beautiful music from the history of Final Fantasy, and playing Curtain Call is the perfect way to do so.

At its core, this is a first-rate action adventure game that features a good story, challenging puzzles, memorable battles, and some of the finest graphics and sound, to date, on the Game Boy Advance.

If you have the patience to get into it, Harvest Moon: Magical Melody offers a rewarding and fun experience.

Resident Evil 7 was an excellent return to the horror underpinnings of the franchise, but cunningly altered with new ideas and a new perspective. Similarly, Village is an intelligent reintroduction of the best action elements of Resident Evil. Though it captures some of the same things that made RE7 such a breath of fresh air (or maybe rancid, stale, mold-filled air, but in a good way), Village evolves to become its own unique creature. It makes you wonder what beautifully twisted fiend Resident Evil might mutate into in the future.

Although not exactly fresh, Pokemon Platinum's substantial fine-tuning and new features make it the best special edition yet.

Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting.

If the regular levels were as inventive as the boss battles, then Tropical Freeze would be a surefire hit, or at least a game that demands more of your attention. No matter how much I was looking forward to seeing DK in HD, it's difficult to maintain that enthusiasm when the end product plays it so safe: even the visuals fail to make an impact. They're nice enough, but like the level design, the environments are mostly bland.

Forza Motorsport has been gone for a long time, but it's evident that Turn 10 has used the time to reevaluate its formula and implement some striking changes that will likely ignite a new passion for simulation racing for petrolheads and bring in a swathe of new players. The inclusion of car-specific progression creates a stronger relationship between you and each car you own in your garage, with the methods of leveling each on up pushing you to hone your racing craft in the most rewarding way the series has delivered thus far. Forza Motorsport does this all without forgetting its heritage, delivering a standout simulation racing experience that looks and sounds stunning, while feeling reliably accurate and satisfying on the tarmac. It would be nice to have more locations to enjoy Forza Motorsport breadth of vehicular content on, but it would be a lie to say I didn't have a massive grin on my face during every lap that I completed.

A mix of smart strategy, deep customisation, and engaging story make this a worthy sequel to the PS3 original.

Very few [f1 games] have managed to walk the fine line between appealing to the masses and appealing to those who require the utmost level of realism, but that's precisely what EA's F1 2001 for the PlayStation 2 does.

A sequel that warrants an upgrade for owners of last year's game and a second look from prospective players who were turned off by the series' formerly unyielding adherence to a simulation design.

It's one of the best PlayStation games of all time, so if you're not familiar with the original, or even if you're a fan who wants to play the complete Metal Gear Solid in higher resolution, then you should definitely try Metal Gear Solid for the PC.

With such a popular franchise, you won't have much trouble finding a [multiplayer] game to join, and even practicing against the AI while you hone your skills is enjoyable.

If you can grit your teeth and get past the daunting frustration factor, you'll find in Army of Zin a surprisingly deep and involved hack-and-slash platformer with a quirky, endearing style and a lot of heart.

With solid gameplay feel, exceptional customizability, and a deep legacy mode, ESPN College Hoops is easily recommendable to any college basketball fan.

This "remixed" version of the original delivers almost everything that was great about the console versions, and with the inclusion of four new levels, the single-player experience has gotten even better.

Despite serious performance issues, Odin Sphere successfully brings together gorgeous, stylized visuals and satisfying gameplay in a lengthy and engaging adventure.

As solid a game as any of its predecessors.

Though its balance is a little questionable at times, Metal Arms has quietly come onto the scene to offer one of the most visceral and most satisfying shooting experiences in quite a while.

I'm off to Mario Kart on my SNES to reminisce about the good old days, and dream of what this cartridge could have been.

Luckily, the gameplay sings, making for a game that's not as powerful as it could be, but undeniably accessible.

This microgame collection includes dozens of games, but its focus is on empowering you to create your own.

With an online mode, custom soundtracks, and even a photo mode, there isn't much else on the console that the developers have failed to take advantage of. True, the game itself isn't a revolutionary change from the previous entry in the series, but if you've enjoyed Wipeout games in the past and have yet to play them in handheld form, then Wipeout Pulse is definitely worth checking out.

This exceptionally balanced tower defense game will keep you coming back to fight off the alien invasion for just one more wave.

The lethal and regal presence of the king's phantomlike tigers makes for a welcome change of pace.

Featuring many fun, faithfully adapted games from the '80s and '90s, the Sega Genesis Collection offers a fantastic value and a big slice of gaming history.

The return trip might have revealed a few more cracks than we remembered, but it also serves as a shield for our nostalgia. And as remakes go, that's worth the journey home.

A good return to the roots of the series. It doesn't do anything new or different, but it has a great blend of action and adventure that will always keep you moving and interested. The problem is that it moves a bit too fast, and it's all over way too soon.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 isn’t the best sequel ever made, but it’s still a great tactical shooter in its own right.

This third-person action game is a great open-world adventure for anyone with an appetite for destruction.

In most respects, the game doesn’t differ much from the first title in the series; but the novelty of teaming up the good guys and bad guys to go after the really bad guys is enough to make this game enjoyable in its own right.

A great sense of wonder permeates The Book of Unwritten Tales, a terrific take on a traditional point-and-click adventure.

Hearing a sweeping synth-rock melody punctuate a flurry of sword strikes, mace combos, and stalagmites exploding into a shower of loot is a delightful event that you'll experience countless times.

This add-on's great pacing and memorable story are excellent reasons to return to Rapture.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom not only pays faithful homage to Wonder Boy, particularly The Dragon's Trap, but by refining the solid foundations of its spiritual predecessors with modern affordances, it becomes a rich platforming adventure in its own right.

Best suited for anyone fortunate to have played the previous game, Original Generation 2 is a great little space opera in its own right.

Watch Dogs 2's world is a step up from the first game's dreary rendition of Chicago, and even though Watch Dogs 2 can't go toe-to-toe with genre heavyweights, it's hard to walk away from its fun-loving attitude and exuberant cast.

TOCA 3 boasts an awesome variety of racing disciplines, and it backs that boast up with some really excellent driving mechanics.

Dance Central welcomes wallflowers and hot steppers out on the dance floor with great routines and engaging visuals.

FIFA 16 can be stubborn and stifling, but it feels gloriously new, and having to learn fresh strategies and nuances in a game series like this is an almost-forgotten pleasure.

One of the great pure driving games of the new millennium.

The game requires quite some effort to learn, but once competition picks up against the aggressive AI, Capitalism II shows its colors as a great strategy game. Also, as if to help your own bottom line, the game's a real bargain at $20.

It's really a shame that THQ opted to adopt a password feature instead of the battery-save option, because it has added a lot of hassle to what would otherwise be a very fun game.

Ridge Racer 64 takes ideas from the first two Ridge Racer games and puts a new spin on them, introducing the arcade racer to the Nintendo 64 in a way that will interest even longtime fans of the series.

F1 2011 is a great sequel that faithfully represents the thrill and difficulty of driving the world's best racing cars.

It's a seemingly simple and cute journey, but with the underlying potential for strategy in combat, and a massive number of adorable Pokemon to catch, you can't help getting hooked by Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

The stripped down nature of the PS2 version of Rock Band robs it of a good chunk of its value, but the gameplay still rocks.

Even with everything unlocked and nothing left to work toward, Vampire Crawlers still has its teeth in me, begging me to dive back in and decimate all who stand before me. Since I haven't come close to growing tired of mowing down baddies with the wackiest decks possible, I guess I'll give it just one more run. And then maybe just one more after that.

The Ringed City moves and ends a little too quickly--well before it gets all the mileage it can out of its setting and premises--but that's a small knock against what’s otherwise an exceptional send-off. A well of inspired locales and a renewed focus on the series' obsession with cycles, death and rebirth, and the passage of time, plus a few spectacularly designed and animated foes round out a worthy conclusion to a storied franchise.

It's complex and daunting, but this rich game of exploring, city building, and trading is also tremendously captivating.

It's more of the same for the latest entry in the Hot Shots Golf series.

Hitman 2 is a familiar experience, but in the Hitman world, familiarity is an incredible strength.

The presentation is top-notch, and the community features are neat, despite the hit-and-miss quality of the submissions. The amount of premium downloadable content available thus far is impressive as well.

Lost Judgment improves on its predecessor by cutting down on some of the more tedious elements of its design rather than outright changing the mechanics to make the investigative side of the equation more engaging. In this sense, it's disappointing that it doesn't lean into what makes Judgment unique compared to the Yakuza series and instead remains at its best when sticking close to those origins. The story is compelling with an endearing cast of characters, the sheer amount of stuff to do is astounding, and there's still an inherent joy that comes from pummelling the city's delinquents into the ground. But it's hard not to feel disappointed that you still feel like a passenger when it breaks away from the Yakuza mould. If this is indeed our last time with Yagami and co., then it's one to cherish. There will just always be a nagging feeling that this was a missed opportunity to do something truly special.

FIFA 07 plays a fast-paced and realistic game of soccer and boasts plenty of gameplay options for solo and social players alike.

Child of Light is a wonderfully realized, somber adventure, and I couldn't be happier that such a game exists.

While L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files has its flaws, it excels at making you feel and think like a detective in a way that the base game can't. The VR version isn't a replacement for the full game, but it's a great companion that allows you to play the greatest hit moments from Rockstar's noire opus in a welcomed new way.

When played as a companion game to the original, City of Villains closes an obvious open loop in NCSoft's MMO world of heroic do-gooders and dastardly deeds, and remains a very fun game in the process.

It's not possible to recommend this version of Cave Story over all others, but it is a worthy, good-looking adaptation of a wonderful game all the same. If the WiiWare and DSiWare versions passed you by, and you'd rather do your platforming with an analogue pad than a keyboard, Cave Story 3D is a great way to discover a game that well deserves your attention.

Like the original game, the The Banner Saga 2 leaves you holding your breath, completely invested in the world, its inhabitants, and their struggles, anxiously eager for more.

Not a lot has changed since last year, but the new road-to-the-show mode is a fantastic addition and MLB 07: The Show is a great game.

Despite the nice multiplayer options, the improved accessibility, and the refined crafting system, the missing elements are a sizable backslide from the PC version. But is the core foundation still a lot of fun? Absolutely--if you temper your expectations.

Kentucky Route Zero's refreshingly unconventional tale of a road trip through strange and beautiful parts of America continues in this second act.

But for series newcomers and PC-focused players, Megamix+ is an easy recommendation. There's a ton of content here, built upon a strong rhythm-game foundation that challenges you to grow your skills and aim ever higher--all while having fun watching music videos, playing dress-up, and collecting all the cool and wacky customizations for the entire cast. But most importantly, Megamix+ is the best showcase of Miku's legacy to date, showcasing the unbridled creativity and variety of the online musical and artistic subcultures she's inspired.

PowerWash Sim originally owed a lot of its success to the pandemic. It was an awesome hangout game at a time when everyone was just sort of... hanging out. PowerWash Sim 2 arrives in a different world than its predecessor, though the gameplay at the heart of the series is essentially timeless; it's a lot of fun even without a pandemic forcing us into taking fake jobs for fake money. Before the end of the game, I was looking to change careers, but there will surely be times in the future when I'm itching to get back to it, too. Maybe PowerWash Simulator 2 is best approached as a game where you're your own boss, working on your own schedule. If you can avoid burnout and work as a team with a few friends, it's a good gig.

This story-focused on-rails shooter is a worthy follow-up to Dead Space that delivers the same sorts of thrills, chills, and kills, but in a whole new way.

What this fast-paced basketball game lacks in depth, it makes up for in fun.

When it all works as intended, Project Cars 2 is a brilliant simulation racer--provided you're playing with a wheel. It's ambitious in scope and depth, and the sheer breadth of available motorsports almost guarantees there's something for everyone to sink their teeth into. It's a shame, then, that there's always this nagging feeling in the back of your mind that a bug or moment of AI madness will disrupt the whole thing--and more often than not, it will.

Midway has done a great job at combining a fun style with a solid underlying gameplay design to create a unique basketball game experience.

Making the journey to Shadow of the Tomb Raider's peaks is certainly an attractive goal, but like the challenging terrain Lara needs to traverse, the path there is getting rougher and more unpredictable.

These are changes that tilt the simulation closer to reality with captivating aplomb, and ensure that the armchair managers among us are kept busy for another whirlwind 12 months of 40-yard screamers and cup final heartbreak.

Revelations is a successful blend of old-school Resident Evil horror and new-school action.

The brash trivia franchise returns to the screen for a very successful new outing.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a superb remake of a classic game that rarely received due recognition outside of Japan. It's filled with systems that are fun to explore and utilize alongside a core gameplay conceit that remains unique. If you're looking for a different take on JRPGs--or just a unique RPG in general--this is a lengthy journey you'll want to invest lots of time into.

Superhot is a clever game with deep, hidden elements that require committed and thorough examination.

Arguably the most original and inventive rhythm game since the advent of "Dance Dance Revolution" or the original "Parappa the Rapper," and it's easily one of the best rhythm games for the PlayStation 2.

A slow-paced but rewarding simulation that borders on relaxing.

The only major flaw in Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is that the game is a touch on the easy side.

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire aren't a big departure from their predecessors, but they definitely look better and have lots of new Pokémon to catch, so Pokémon fans will be in for exactly what they want.

It should satisfy players who don't care about all the miscellaneous nuances of the sport, or who aren't looking to immerse themselves in a complicated franchise mode.

A fun, fast-paced game of no-rules hockey that should appeal to fans of Midway's other action sports games.

Whether you're looking for a way to take down the Juggernaut or working to help a random citizen in Free Play mode, Lego Marvel Super Heroes is all sorts of web-slinging, shield-flinging, Hulk-smashing fun.

By adding a sorely needed feature--namely, the ability to sing duets--Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 is most definitely a worthy addition to the rapidly expanding franchise.

This game of exploration and city building hits the occasional rough patch, but it's a captivating adventure nonetheless.

The Outer Worlds 2 feels like the series coming into its own, carried by flexible combat options and great role-playing progression. The first Outer Worlds felt like Obsidian trying to recapture the magic of Fallout's apocalyptic future in a new spacefaring context. The Outer Worlds 2 cements this setting as its own identity that can exist alongside its sci-fi contemporaries to deliver something that is familiar, but also distinctly its own.

In Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, thoughtful puzzle design shows that the series is still at the top of its game.

It's easily the best Monster Hunter game so far, and while it would be nice to see a console sequel with more up-to-date visuals and all-new locations, Ultimate is an great entry into the Wii U catalog.

Fantastic missions, outrageous weapons, and awesome vehicles make the open-world mayhem of Saints Row: The Third an absolute blast.

Super Stardust Delta is a solid dual-stick shooter with vibrant visuals that make it a great showcase for the PlayStation Vita's display.

It might not have much to say, but The Division 2 is a perpetual cycle of tension, relief, and reward that's difficult to stay away from.

Here's a real-time strategy game with the soul of a sleek techno-thriller, stitched together with live action footage that, despite the acting and budgetary limitations, will remind you of the riveting television drama 24 at times.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is not the second coming of role-playing games, so if you come seeking Jesus, you'll be disappointed by the veritable second-rate televangelist you find in His place. But it's as funny as the merry tune of Stratford, and more enjoyable than Butters' favorite game, Hello Kitty: Island Adventure.

Overall, Madden 18 marks an unusually large shakeup in a series that, due to its annualized releases, rarely features much more than small, iterative changes. The Frostbite engine allows the game to reach new levels of realism in its visuals, and EA has put a lot of effort into constantly evolving the game to keep it in line with real-world events. But it is the Longshot story mode that defines Madden 18.

My thumb, however, stands testament to the game's greatness, throbbing in pain as I enter the seventh consecutive hour of geometric action.

Its diverse roster is packed with a wide range of personalities and fighting styles, bolstered by a raucous attitude that begs to be taken seriously while simultaneously mocking its more peculiar whims in the process. Tekken fans will find their next favorite game--one that's the product of decade's worth of refinement. And while some of this depth will be lost or out of reach for newcomers, there's enough fun to be had outside of hardcore competition to keep players from all walks of gaming thoroughly entertained.