NBA 2K9's game is strong, but most of its new features won't be appreciated by the average Joe.

The game's visuals have the distinct look of a PS2 game. Since that's not in and of itself a bad thing, the game looks good, but it's not the best-looking game on the Xbox. Looks aside, the Xbox-exclusive episode is the main attraction here.

While it may not be the most graphically impressive version of the game, it is faithful to the series and manages to be the best skateboarding game for the N64.

Sound Shapes is a remarkable convergence of music and platforming. Because I've played through the main albums so many times, the levels didn't hit me as powerfully as they once did. But the community levels hammered home just how singular and enthralling this game is.

Dishonored: Death Of The Outsider is a solid, inventive, yet somewhat subdued capper to the stories from the previous Dishonored games. While the smaller scope can be felt throughout, the approach to allowing players to express themselves as a master assassin is just as strong as ever. It's uncertain where the series can go from here, but this stand-alone release proves that Dishonored is still a remarkably designed stealth-action game with much potential, that offers players the chance to be creative in ways they'd least expect.

Not only is the game a realization of our anxieties about our current, looming future, it's also a powerful evocation of the corporatist state that threatens to overrun our lives, and a startling statement of resistance against them. For a game that's ostensibly about photography, Umurangi Generation achieves so much more.

Frostpunk is among the best overall takes on the survival city builder to date. Its theming and consistency create a powerful narrative through line that binds your actions around the struggle to hold onto humanity in uncertain times. Hope is a qualified good, but you may not always be strong enough (or clever enough) to shelter that flame from the cold.

Admittedly, most of the improvements and updates found in Round 3 are merely incremental, but they're still enough to warrant stepping into the ring for another bout.

Crazy stunts, a huge and gorgeous gameworld, and a playful attitude make Just Cause 2 a lot of fun.

Over-the-top, bloody, and bursting with content, Mortal Kombat is a return to form for the franchise.

It's more focused, it's more intense, and though it doesn't provide as much of the sandbox feel as Crysis veterans would wish for, it still delivers on every other front.

The newest entry in the revered series features plenty of awesome action, a great new character...and a bit of repetition.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted isn't quite a return to the racing paradise of some earlier Criterion games, but it's a mostly exciting ride nonetheless.

The initial hours of The Lost Legacy give an "Uncharted Greatest Hits" vibe, but it grows into a more nuanced, clever experience, ranking among the best in the series while also making its own mark as a standalone Uncharted that isn't anchored to Nathan Drake's harrowing exploits.

One of the most complete online-enabled console shooters around.

Like all the best titles in the genre, it has a low barrier to entry and high skill ceiling. For those looking to get in a few games with friends it's welcoming and immediately enjoyable. For those committed to ploughing the depths of its systems to get tournament ready, it has plenty to unpack and understand. Better still, those that want to play alone will find SoulCalibur VI has some of the most substantial single-player content in any fighting game today.

While the tweaks to isomotion and shooting are the most obvious improvements made to an already solid basketball simulation, it's the leaps forward in artificial intelligence that ultimately define NBA 2K6's quality.

As stunning as it is, Hyper Light Drifter's greatest triumph isn't in the story that it tells, but in the stories that it doesn't. I don't know this place's entire history, but its desolate elegance inspires me to fill in the gaps myself. Such is the power of artistry this rich and thoughtful.

By improving on its predecessor, Worms 2: Armageddon adeptly captures the thrill and hilarity of this classic series.

The presentation is slick, the controls are great, and at times you really do feel like you're skateboarding. It’s unfortunate that things get dragged down by the occasionally frustrating and buggy challenges; that walking on foot isn’t handled better; and that the game’s physics and artificial intelligence aren’t consistent and sometimes get in the way of the gameplay; because Skate 2 has so much to offer.

Whether you're able to extract more playtime out of Shredder's Revenge or not will depend on how willing you are to replay levels with other characters and on higher difficulty levels. Despite its brevity, however, this is still a tremendous labor of love that lives up to the legacy of Turtles in Time and the brawlers that came before it. Combat is fast-paced and simple yet satisfying, while new features help modernize the action without tampering with its 16-bit essence. Co-op is overly chaotic and could use some indicators to help you keep track of where you are, but playing with friends is still a blast. Rehashing a classic retro game is always a tough ask, but Shredder's Revenge avoids the obvious pitfalls and successfully brings about a revival of everyone's favorite mutant turtles.

Due to the presence of some stability and performance issues, as well as a few noticeably lacking features, SimCity 4 doesn't seem as polished as it could have been.

A great game at its core, and it's recommendable to any fan of Age of Mythology, particularly those who liked the idea of the game but maybe had trouble getting over the learning curve.

A finely crafted, meticulous, and often beautiful re-creation of some very colorful trains and railways, with depth to satisfy a hard-core player and simplicity that lets you just enjoy the ride.

A good racing game that--with a few tweaks-- could have easily been one of the greatest.

If the developer had spent more time refining the control scheme and graphics to make better use of PC hardware and had added more functionality to the game's menus and multiplayer options, the PC version of MotoGP 2 could have been as good as the Xbox version.

Combining fantastic graphics and above-average gameplay, Dead or Alive is a fun and challenging fighting game well worth picking up.

Effectively highlights the power of the handheld with its brilliant, rich visuals and will provide hours of challenging fun, especially for those who haven't played the original games on which it is based.