Frame rate and control issues aside, Tomb Raider: Anniversary remains a dynamic and exciting adventure.

A beautiful, comprehensive, and highly enjoyable racing sim that's suitable for just about any driving enthusiast.

Whether you're a staunch pigskin purist or arcade all the way, you really owe it to yourself to give Blitz: The League a look. It's easily the best football you'll play all year.

Mass Transit adds more character and depth to what’s already the premier city-building simulation. It may be a bit disappointing that some of the original game's big-picture philosophy and mayoral authenticity has been sacrificed in the process, but it can be argued that these changes have also done an impressive job of filling out the public-transportation element of city design.

When Mothergunship is firing on all cylinders, it's a satisfying and thrilling shooter where it really counts. With an incredibly fun and never uninteresting gun-crafting mechanic, it certainly goes a long way with its clever hook and an endless flow of enemies to gun down.

The Missing is smaller and more mechanically conventional than Deadly Premonition or D4, but its components remain focused on distinctly a Swery game: a dark, idiosyncratic experience that tells a deeply personal story that's as confronting as it is sincere. It is absolutely not for everyone, but as the game reminds us, there is nothing wrong with that.

The environment is lovingly rendered down to the most minute details, and it paints a full and clear picture of what life is like with your makeshift community in the California forest.

Riders Republic is a thrilling, approachable, and incredibly varied extreme sports game, featuring an awe-inspiring open world that impresses with both its scale and diversity. There's nothing else quite like it, and while it's too talkative for its own good, there's a sprightly energy to the whole thing that makes it easy to recommend for anyone seeking an exciting adventure.

Banishers' strengths lie in its storytelling and characters. These aspects--along with its combat--can't quite match the caliber of its genre-defining contemporaries, but Don't Nod differentiates Banishers from the pack by implementing the studio's signature brand of choice and consequence. It's easy to become enraptured by Antea and Red's story; shaping their relationship and who they are as a couple makes for a compelling experience. That still doesn't mean I can wholly recommend Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, but those looking for a dark, story-driven tale of love and sacrifice won't be disappointed.

Even if we're not seeing the members of Cadence band blend their sounds together much in the story, we at least can see it happen during combat. And while that combat drags a bit in the last act of the game and messes with your mind by not matching the tempo of the quick-time inputs to the background battle music, the turn-based system that's there rewards creativity and strategic thinking. Plus, this game has awesome music and fun puzzle-filled dungeons. If you're down to immerse yourself in puns galore and tons of pop-culture references, People of Note is a delightful musical treat.

The Wonderful 101 is a bright, bold adventure that occasionally struggles to control its big ambitions.

Heroes doesn't take any chances with the Kingdom Under Fire formula, but it adds just enough to move the series forward--if only incrementally.

Enjoyment of the game's dark subject matter is diluted slightly by some awkward controls and strange pacing, but there are still plenty of good chills to be had.

SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 successfully returns to the fundamentals of realistic WWE action and impressive creation tools.

There's a lot of fun to be had here, and with classic Nintendo characters backing up the action, World Tour is a thoroughly charming game too. What a shame, then, that it lacks the cohesion and refinement to make those sometimes-brilliant moments easier to digest and access.

These fighting games--true to their classic roots--have aged gracefully. In particular, Street Fighter III: Third Strike stands out as one of the best 2D fighting games available on the PlayStation 2.

The On-Ice Trainer is an awesome alternative to tutorials, and it makes me hope that other companies, not just those making sports games, will find a way to implement similar tools. NHL 16 is a huge improvement over NHL 15 in every way, and it makes me optimistic for the future of the franchise.

Rock Band 4 recaptures the unadulterated gratification that made the series such a hit half a decade ago, but mainly because it’s a relatively unchanged, repackaged Rock Band 2. A lack of content and general stagnation hold this particular iteration of Rock Band back, but new ideas like Freestyle Solos genuinely enhance the core experience, which remains a sincere and joyful celebration of music.

The half-baked American Idol trappings don't detract from this otherwise solid iteration of Konami's long-lived karaoke series.

Crash Commando fuses established ideas to create a wholly addictive side-scrolling multiplayer shooter.

The developers at Untame should be proud and confident that they can build thorough and robust gameplay structures around their ideas. But the concept at the centre of Mushroom 11, I would implore, is not something they should return to.

Such bloat is indicative of a game that's constrained by the limitations of its original design where additional features intended to expand the experience simply don't gel with its combat.

Much like its predecessors, MLB The Show 21 is still one of the best sports games available once you step over the foul line. The gameplay has been tightened up and Pinpoint Pitching is a potential game-changer, and all of these elements go some way to dampening the disappointment of its missing features, stale commentary, and changes (or lack thereof) to Road to the Show and Franchise. It's not the strongest debut the series could've had on new hardware, but if you're in the mood for nine innings of America's favorite pastime, MLB The Show is still the undisputed king.

A standard but enjoyable shooter and one of the best-looking games on the Vita.

It isn't consistently exhilarating throughout the entire campaign, but My Friend Pedro is worth playing because it’s full of moments where you can jump down a shaft and shoot in two directions in slow motion, or kill an enemy by kicking the skateboard you’re riding into their face.

It's a true greatest hits package that showcases Wario's unique weirdo vibe, and this style of play remains inventive and thrilling 15 years after the original Game Boy Advance game. We're still hoping for an entirely new title on Switch in the future, but for now Gold is a compelling, generous victory lap.

One thing it isn't is a generic rehash. Dragon's Dogma will remain with you, frustrations and victories alike, when your memories of other games have long since faded.

Tropico 4: Modern Times takes the series into the contemporary world, but not without a number of problems.