Batman: The Brave and the Bold takes place over four chapters, each separated into a handful of levels. You can grab a second controller and team up with a friend or family member, but you might not want to subject them to the boredom.

An extremely entertaining, surprising, and inventive adventure all the way through. The characters' surprising stories make you want to uncover the dark history of each one, and the challenging puzzles are rewarding to conquer.

Your brain won’t be incredibly taxed by the puzzles...but the game moves at the right pace considering that the plot is what’s most important here.

This probably would have been better suited to the PSP, considering its minimal cutscenes and a story not as gripping as previous entries.

Again, good moves – and Madden 25 is a good game. But it isn't a great one. And with a more fun football experience now housed in the same building, it's tough to see how that changes anytime soon.

While Just Dance 3 may not take the prize for the most challenging of rhythm games, its a good party game for groups and accessible enough for all skill levels.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an action-RPG that delivers on most of its promises, along with some solid side content that is well worth indulging in – even if the full game isn't anything particularly remarkable.

This is one of those games that brings about a party atmosphere whenever three or four people are going at it in the same room. Sadly, there's no online multiplayer, although you can connect to Nintendo's WiFi Connect service to add your top scores to the worldwide results ladder.

While it doesn't achieve universal greatness, its strengths outweigh its flaws and offers an original, addictive--if occasionally frustrating--experience.

In small doses, Cooking Mama 2 is perfect for players of all ages. The improvements over the first game in the series don't lead to a significantly enhanced experience, but they ensure that it's a solid package.

Kudos to EA for avoiding the path of least resistance and offering up perhaps one last big bang for puckheads across the landscape.

Even at this Early Access stage, Gameloft has created an awesome game here. There's enough content here already to give a good sense of what's to come, and a foundation to build something rather special.

Mojang's smartly streamlined dungeon crawler makes for a more accessible alternative in the action RPG space.

As a game, MLB 2K6 feels more than competent, but it fails to excel. Much like last year’s Cubs, it has its shining moments, but in the end you’re left with the distinct feeling that it could have been so much more.

It's perfect for children, for whom things don't have to "be integrated" or "logical". A series of semi-amusing, unconnected activities: sounds a lot like a sandbox, which, once you graduate middle school, loses its charm unless you can bring your gat.

All Fe’s colour, charm and cute make it utterly recommendable despite its flaws.

Passable, certainly, but not the stuff of legend.

Yup, it’s still a Lego game. But it’s one of the best in recent memory, full of silly laughs, gentle puzzles and delightful playable lizards.

The shallow, kiddie-pool of content only provides for a brief bit of splashing around when all you want is to dive right in. It's exciting for a while, but gets stale rather quickly.

The Kore Gang as a whole is a fun, worthwhile experience. While flawed, it offers some truly interesting gameplay mechanics and thanks to an eccentric approach to design, actually manages to surprise.

The best decision the development team made was scrapping last year’s (too?) complicated control scheme for a streamlined series of options, including one that apes EA’s superb right stick/hockey stick mechanic.

Playing Madden NFL 07 on the Nintendo DS is akin to coaching a high school chess club in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers... it's a playable experience and your team's got heart, but you're going to have to work through a few broken limbs on your way to victory.

Despite its technical hiccups, Jet Set Radio is a joy to play, even 12 years after its release. Its varied missions will keep you coming back for more and the added treat of hearing its eclectic soundtrack makes playing them all the more fun. If you never owned a Dreamcast before, you now have no excuse to miss out on one of Sega's most enjoyable and original titles.

With the bounty of acrobatics at your disposal, Legend of Kage 2 should fill your ninja-fix. That is, if you can handle being bitch-slapped by the difficulty.

Easily one of the best fighting games on PSP, and one of this fall’s strongest portable titles.

We were so ready to fall in love with 2K’s take on major league baseball again this year, but we just can’t get past the depressing drop in visual fidelity.

While it's certainly not bad, it's got a very limited appeal outside of a certain core audience. But, at the very least, it fills a niche that the PS2 has been severely lacking in for almost its entire lifespan - and pretty well, at that.

Excitebike: World Rally is a retro remake done right. Even with the unfortunate lack of local multiplayer, this one falls under the “must buy” category.

The story is serviceable for moving you from one puzzle to the next, but not particularly engaging, and there isn't much to do in the world except tap through dialog and receive the next puzzle in a fairly linear fashion.

Madden 22 goes for broke on improving Franchise mode after years on the backburner, and it mostly works, even as it comes at the expense of most other modes in a pandemic-struck year.

Supermassive steers The Dark Pictures Anthology toward brave new horizons in Directive 8020, and for the most part, the mission stays its course. The survival horror narrative, despite delivering chills and heart-stopping thrills aplenty, is often held back by pacing issues, plot armor, and the promising yet inconsistent implementation of series-first stealth. It's neither the best nor worst of the Dark Picture series, and while I had a pretty good time aboard the Cassiopeia, I might not become a frequent flyer.

If you expect groundbreaking insanity and innovative gameplay based on Grasshopper's legacy, Lollipop Chainsaw falls short of expectations. If you can successfully curb those expectations, then you've got yourself something quirky for a simple weekend playthrough, even if it's a game with some ups and some real downs.

A decent game - it just doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from all the other games like it. And while it's true that those games don't blend martial arts with duck-and-cover shooting, Conspiracy's approach to both of those things is just too shallow and repetitive.

This is about as solid a next-gen port as we’ve seen on Wii, but it’s probably going to take an act of God to make us think a downscaled port is better than the original. Other than an earthquake, we mean.

Just know that the game does one thing, and it does it well. Admittedly, Neves is a simple, no frills affair, but its addictive nature and robust length makes it just as hard to put down as any other quality puzzler out there.

Although it remains a simple - and for the most part unchanged - concept, the Mario vs. Donkey Kong formula has been honed to near-perfection over the years. Tipping Stars is far from revolutionary, but for quick bursts of action-puzzling, there’s little better. While the cast of robotic minis might be brainless, the game they star in is anything but.

It admirably bridges the gap between deep simulation and enjoyable "just one more turn" gameplay and would be a worthy addition to any strategy fan's game collection.

Scorn works wonders with Giger's and Beksiński's artwork, not only in terms of aesthetic fidelity but in creating a world that's utterly strange to exist in. This is a violent, painful, but fascinating place, thick with symbolism and interlocking puzzles that hint at some terrifying grand design. While it can be overly obscure and frustrating, especially in combat, Scorn serves up one hell of a journey.

A stunning open world, brutal combat, and deep customization combine to bring Ghost Recon roaring back from the dead.

Code Vein 2 feels like the first post-Elden Ring Soulslike to try something of a similar scale, but it's made too many compromises to get there. Inspired moments are trapped in a bland, repetitive experience with far too much padding to recommend seeking them out. Time travel back six years and play the first Code Vein instead.

With a lengthy campaign, an addictive battle system, and a cooperative multiplayer mode, Luminous Arc is the kind of title that you can lose yourself in.

Encore is a solid sequel and an enjoyable experience, but in 2008, Karaoke Revolution is starting to feel a bit outdated compared to the emerging competition.

The grown-up Buzz! games might make you feel smart, but this makes us feel evil. And sometimes, that's way more fun.

The big problem is that the PS3 has the SingStore, where we could have downloaded only the tracks we wanted. Hence, tossing out what is essentially a track pack is pretty much useless to us.

Our biggest beef with Volume 2 is the lack of online play (the Japanese version offered it, but cost more). Also, the absence of any sort of bonus content feels like a glaring omission.

Even though this game is rife with innovation, the narrative is still heavy-handed, and that ultimately means that you need to suspend disbelief and fully invest in the story to get the most out of the game. Forgive its flaws and Beyond offers a truly special story-telling experience that you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

Truth be told, we were put off by Legends’ quick-time event-heavy controls. Yet at the same time, we felt driven to replay matches and earn unlockables. Yes, we had fun but we griped a bunch too. Maybe the next Legends game can return to the right-analog stick action we’re so used to. Or maybe it’s we who are blinded by nostalgia.

Legion royally shakes up Watch Dogs' open-world template with a Play as Anyone mechanic that just about outweighs any headaches left by its rough edges.

Yes, the action can get tedious over time, as you realize that strategy takes a back seat to cheap super-moves and quick fingers. But there's something here.

What's here is well polished, and it works. Much like a favorite food, the DDR series has settled into a comfortable groove. Perhaps the next outing will be a bit more daring.

Atomic Heart has a lot of big ideas, but it doesn't do a good enough job with the basics. With an incomprehensible storyline, weightless combat, and frustrating first-person platforming, Atomic Heart is left to stand in the shadow of the video games that so clearly inspired it.

All the trudging, mundane puzzles, and hours spent on air vents are worth it at the end when secrets are revealed and the scattered memories all start to make sense.

The biggest head-scratcher about GHTPM is this: why did it take a whole year to get it ported from the Xbox version? But only slightly less perplexing is why, rather than spending a few hours twiddling the sticks of a PS2 controller, most of the game's target audience wouldn't instead heave the ol' butt out of its couch groove and go play some real paintball?

Cars has its flaws and frustrations, but it does a nice job of wrapping up a decent arcade-style racer in a very shiny package. Unfortunately, not even the crisp visuals, hopping cars and dynamic tracks help it pull ahead of the huge pack of racers already available for the PSP.

Funny in bursts, regularly creative, yet held back by distinctly average combat and poor exploration elements. High on Life 2 is a surreal trip well worth taking, although you'll need to adjust your expectations accordingly. Do that, and it'll regularly put a (sometimes guilty) smile on your face.

Swings in multiple different directions without ever making a convincing impact. While Mario Golf: Super Rush isn't too rough in most places, it's just not on par compared to other recent golf games.

At any rate, your best bet is to choose your game by track list. Pop Vol 2’s 30-track lineup is listed below. It’s strong, though we’d suggest it commits the series’ typical sin of trying to appeal to fans of too many genres.

It’s too bad there’s so little variety, because this could’ve been a great game.

As much a detective story as a horror one, Vampyr rewards you for taking an interest in the people around you and tests your moral compass with a lack of black and white options.

As the only game in town this year, NCAA Basketball 09 pulls its own weight but shouldn’t demand your full attention. Only hardcore hoops fanatics need drop down their hard earned cash; the rest of us can shuffle along just fine without it.

Homefront's campaign tells a good story, but that's about the only thing it does exceptionally well. The action is fun, but nothing special, and it sometimes feels so rigidly scripted that it's almost stifling. Meanwhile, the radically different multiplayer stands out as a much better game, with chaotic, drone-and-vehicle-filled action that's just fun an involving enough to make Homefront worth picking up.

The game starts out at a tortoise's pace and never gains any speed. It's a 20-hour game that's stretched out twice as long as it should be.

Even with its problematic moments, Commander’s Challenge has hours of tough and intense gameplay to offer console owners with a hankering for more Red Alert 3 action.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a solid third-person co-op shooter that feels like it belongs in the franchise, but its replayability has yet to be determined.

The Godfather: The Don's Edition might be a last-gen retread, but for what it's worth, it's still one of the better titles available for the PS3 right now.

If you can stand the slow pace and suffer through a few unfair puzzles, you’ll find Tengami’s breathtaking visual beauty and slick interface more than make up for any shortcomings.

With the wealth of RPGs, and even great SRPGs, that have arrived on the 3DS in the last several months, it would almost be unconscionable not to recommend one of those games instead of Project X Zone. Fun combat and screaming Tekken characters can only take you so far.

While The Sims 4 is a good first effort that will entertain goal-chasers and fan creators, it lacks much of the variety and humor that defines The Sims.

A series of semi-amusing, unconnected activities: sounds a lot like a sandbox, which, once you graduate middle school, loses its charm unless you can bring your gat.

It's still a great game in its own right, and while the developers missed a lot of potential uses for the controls - it might have been cool to snap the controllers like reins during chariot sequences, for example - they're still a fun way to play. Not quite fun enough to justify the price difference with the near-identical GameCube version, but fun nonetheless.

At least Tiger’s PSP offering this year resembles a full-fledged title (unlike his counterpart on the PS2, which is embarrassingly devoid of features). Even so, though, we can’t justify shelling out 40 bucks for what amounts to a fresh coat of paint, no matter how well it plays.

After all, when you can fly up to an opponent and gut-blast him with a lightning bolt of sheer psychic power ... that makes up for a lot.

And while the core game is inviting, easy to grasp and simple enough for casual dabbling, there’s no sense of accomplishment as with Puzzle Quest.

In fact, that’s the real root of the problem with King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga. This series barely evolves at all, so this is a grouping of five versions of essentially the same game. Thus, it isn’t really for anyone but the super fans.

Midway took the one title with the most variety and replay value in the entire MK stable and shined it up nice. We’ll take it.

Homefront's campaign tells a good story, but that's about the only thing it does exceptionally well. The action is fun, but nothing special, and it sometimes feels so rigidly scripted that it's almost stifling. Meanwhile, the radically different multiplayer stands out as a much better game, with chaotic, drone-and-vehicle-filled action that's just fun an involving enough to make Homefront worth picking up.

A solid follow-up to an already engaging franchise. Players with a lot of time invested in Heroes of Might and Magic V are going to appreciate the engine tweaks and thoroughly enjoy giving it a go with the Orcs.

We played through the PS3 version and noted several bugs with the network along with large loading times. Although these problems didn't distract us from enjoying the game, dropping connection during a race can cause extreme virtual road rage.

For gamers seeking to initiate their offspring into massively multiplayer gaming, though, it's certainly worth a look.

It's hard to recommend this game to anyone but the most hardcore of flight simulator fans. As in, you have to be unreasonably hardcore. As in, you have Apache-themed bedspread and keep a picture of a Boeing AH-64A in your wallet that you stare at longingly throughout the day.

Four pieces of game history.

Deception IV: Blood Ties continues the legacy of Tecmo's cult series, and feels like a full realization of the original premise. If you have the patience for its late-game flaws, there's never been a better time to cast your lot with The Devil.

EA Sports UFC boasts incredibly detailed fighters and great combat. However, this debut effort from a new publisher lacks the single-player balance and the variety of modes that previous UFC games brought to the ring.

Too little evolution from past GH games.

This fresh take on tactics games adds a bit of steam, folklore, and shooter action to the turn-based combat. Plus, it’s hard to pass up the crazy premise of Abe Lincoln fighting aliens.

Rogue Trooper may not be cutting edge, but as a simple, straightforward shooter, it’s more than capable of delivering a quick action fix.

Thanks to its unusual source material and sunny setting, Enotria: The Last Song looks like a fresh take on a genre so often set deep in gothic nights. Unfortunately, beneath the mask, there's little that sets it apart from other, better games.

A fine take on psychological horror cut down by bugs and wonkiness.

The battles are unchallenging, but complex. The story is trite, but entertains. The exploration is fun, but easy.

Vibrant and full of personality, but has also tightened up the series gameplay so you’ll actually need to pay attention, strategize, and conserve your resources to defeat its challenges.

Despite a solid set-up and the joys of disc-throwing and lightcycle action, Tron: Catalyst ends up being more style than substance, failing to truly build on predecessor Tron: Identity. It's fun while it lasts, and is visually gorgeous, but an overly repetitive structure drags things out with a story that ultimately falls flat.

Pokemon Ranger is an enjoyable marketing sidequest, despite lacking depth or challenge. Pokemon fans will find it a satisfactory appetizer to tide them over until the main course arrives next year.

If it sounds complex, just understand this: It makes it surprisingly easy for you to make decent sounding tunes, and it’ll store up to 12 of them. You can even join up over Wi-Fi and record yourself and three other players jamming together, or connect to the vastly inferior Wii version of the game and use your DS to run a light show. Guitar Hero, are you paying attention?

If you've got the time and patience to prep, and an audience willing to go along for the ride, Master of Illusion could turn you and your DS into the hit of the holiday party.

You won't find an epic amount of unique content here (perhaps throwing the full price tag into question for some), but while it lasts, Speed Racer: The Videogame is a thrilling, futuristic race experience that succeeds with stylish visuals, incredible speed, and addictive combat.

At its best Man of Medan delivers a confident and well crafted horror experience with a genuinely clever two player mode. But it’s unbalanced pacing has a little to much opening filler and an unsatisfying conclusion.

In its visuals and audio, Trek to Yomi nails its brief to create an Akira Kurosawa-inspired samurai adventure. Its interactive elements, however, along with its story, are all too ordinary and rarely combine to heighten the atmosphere or create suspense. Worth a try for the sightseeing perhaps, but don’t expect it to cut deep.

Mario Hoops betrays the tradition of quality inherent in other Mario sports titles, and proves to be a lot more style than substance. The stylus is not, in fact, perfect for every game type.