If you don’t have either DBZ PSP game, buy this. If you have the first one already, you may want to rent this, plow through the story mode, and give it back.

Gamers with more interest in the spectacle of F1 than actually being good at driving will probably like this very much. And at least the good points bode very well for the next one.

It lacks the emotional and technical "oomph" of its big-screen relatives, highlighted by the notoriously futzy control scheme that'll have you pulling out your hair. With that said, it's still one of the best shooters on the PSP, packing a serious challenge in an impressively sized campaign (not to mention some ad-hoc multiplayer) that'll keep you busy for awhile.

There's no denying that, well, this is Solitaire. And while there are a lot of different variations on offer here, you need to really love these types of family games to get your money's worth out of Soltrio.

Single player is slowed down by an obnoxious and unnecessary presentation. But given how well the game works with friends, the sheer variety of trivia, and the brisk pace of the game, we don't feel out of line saying that Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action could be the best and most definitive version out there.

A consistently fun time filler that keeps the series' above-average quality streak alive. It may not be the best Mario or Donkey Kong game this year, but out of the few big DS releases this holiday, it's one of the better ones.

The Last Story is by no means a perfect game. However, the good here far outweighs the game's shortcomings, and, unlike RPGs that are bloated with fetch quests and tiring level-grinding, everything here is absolutely in service of the game's story.

While annoying, the lock-ups don't really do much to dampen how outlandishly fun the game is. If you like the Hulk and you enjoying destroying things, you'll enjoy your time with The Incredible Hulk, even if you have to reset the system from time to time.

A superb second next-gen season on the digital turf – but subtle Ultimate Team tweaks amplify the ‘pay to win’ criticisms that stalk this series annually.

While the gameplay hasn't received many updates, the entire package is definitely enough to keep your collection growing.

To analogize from another sport, UEFA is Anna Kournikova to "Wnning Eleven"'s Martina Hingis; one of them is knockout gorgeous with decent enough skills to hang around but never dominate, while the other may not be so easy on the eyes yet consistently wins championships.

Online multiplayer is there if you tire of the campaign, but win or lose, you can only play so much Greed Corp before you feel there's just nothing more to get out of it.

There's not a ton of difference between this and the first Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes, but the enhancements that are here make this a notably better game than the first. We recommend it, but it's a real shame that so much of this will be a bit too familiar to most players.

Despite its bland and overly simplistic exterior, ShootMania Storm is like a blank canvas for FPS fans' creativity.

A well-functioning port of a brilliant game with an unexpected identity crisis. Given the availability of other platforms, the visual compromise makes this technical marvel a difficult sell to first-timers and veterans.

The moments of fluid football where you feel completely at one with the game are better than FIFA. But all the strides forward in ball control are undone by the game seemingly doing everything it can to take true control away from you, leaving you with the feeling that PES 2014 is more about simulating football than it is about you playing it.

Give us more unlockables like the mirror mode and different ball graphics – those are bonus items we don’t mind working to get. But let everyone, regardless of skill level, have the tables you’ve written on the back of the box with no strings attached. They paid for them.

If these (songs) seem a little tired to you or you don’t want to pay for the whole collection, maybe just hold off and see if these make their way into the online shop eventually.

Like a top draft pick that makes the team but doesn't put up Pro Bowl numbers. It provides a healthy portion of the traditional Madden experience, but lacks the niftiest new parts of Connected Careers as well as the ability to use cross-play with the PS3. Because of that, it's a reminder of years past when it could've been cutting-edge.

Lego Dimensions is the ultimate Lego game, a charming adventure that has glaring flaws. Its portal is a delight, but the reminders of the areas you’re missing out on grate.

Despite leaning a little too heavily on fan-servicing familiarity, Payday 3 proves there's still fun to be squeezed from its well-honed heisting template yet.

Pumping out the necessary number of piñatas to earn Master Romancer and other serious rewards should keep even the most experienced gamers busy and sedated for a good week.

There are even occasional (very minor) glitches that'll have you scratching your batting helmet. But it is good for a laugh if you've got 20 minutes on your hands. If you're a number-crunching statistician, you'll be annoyed by the 27 hits per side, per game.

Unquestionably, Section 8 is a rock-solid multiplayer game that deserves to find a strong audience. But it certainly has its faults. The underwhelming campaign, über-generic setting, mediocre graphics, and occasional frame rate loss plague this otherwise excellent experience.

For the few, the proud and the masochistic, however, your game has arrived. Good luck, and for the love of god, use that optional wrist-strap. PSPs are expensive.

Ambition may have outstripped ability, but there's no doubt that fans of the series will find much to love about this entry, flawed as any of the rest of them. That's the best we could have hoped for.

While it doesn't feel as vital as Battlefields past, inventive new multiplayer modes and a fresh, if slightly unfocused campaign make Hardline the worthy TV spin-off to DICE’s big budget blockbusters.

This is Bayonetta dressed up in robot clothes, which is a Very Good Thing. Brilliantly playable, and full of Transformers fan-service, only its brevity and simplistic level design let it down.

Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 is a different yet enjoyable fighting game. Your friends might hassle you, but it’s their loss.

Parents will appreciate that the action is as non-violent as combat can get - enemy pilots always eject just in time - and everyone else that isn't overly concerned with looking childish will enjoy exploring Snoopy's colorful imagination and shooting down buddies in what may be the biggest surprise good time of the year.

The high-def graphics feel like overkill, and the addition of Fooms - cutesy animations to "send" emotional outbursts to other players - don't make sense when you can chat freely with other players. At the end of the day, it's cards; no more, no less.

Unfortunately, the additions to NSMB2 merely add more spokes to an already heavy wheel, so to speak. It's not a bad game by any means, but it's one that steeps itself in nostalgia to mask an experience that falls short of the revival that the New Super Mario franchise really needs these days.

In short, CGS is a lot like its own hero, Killian - stuck in second place between mediocrity and exceptional.

Dying Light 2 offers a great open world playground for zombie survival, but lacks an impactful story or meaningful choices.

Muscle March is a lot of fun simply because it’s just so damn strange. It’s definitely worth a download, even if you only pull it to make your friends’ jaws hit the floor from time-to-time.

The gameplay is nothing outstanding, but it's fun enough while it lasts, and overall it looks pretty slick.

So the game play isn't new or innovative - in fact fans of the series will find it to be a little too similar to the first two to be truly 'new.' But the one liners - the one liners almost make up for it. At one point we were laughing so hard we missed the police shooting at us and died, having to 'start over.'

South of Midnight is a charming (if predictable) action-adventure experience that's perfectly happy to play it safe. Nods to folklore and the Southern Gothic tradition are well conceptualized through mechanics, lore, and environments, even if areas like narrative order suffer for this stylization. Familiarity soon fades into monotony across nine of its 14 chapters, though it's hard to stay bored when South of Midnight's world is such a smooth and effortless joy to explore. The result is a spellbinding tale that struggles to find its rhythm, but once found, absolutely sings.

If you want some decent online multiplayer action and don't mind being nickeled and dimed for your trouble, CCBO may be worth a look. The mission variety, consistent skill curve, and twitch-based gameplay of the title distinguish it from the hotkey-laden affairs that others offer. However, it simply does not deliver on the long-term appeal or rewards that a great MMO should.

You're left with an enjoyable and highly playable racing game with loads to do and, just occasionally, some of the most exhilarating action in any racing game, ever. If only Codies had ramped up the damage and placed a bit more emphasis on racing events, this would be essential.

A game that takes patience and an appreciation for the more unforgiving elements of platform titles. Dying time and again at the hands of the same trap starts to get old fast. However, there's no denying that the game's puzzles are of the more inventive variety in the platformer genre, and with its quality narrative, Pid's worth getting invested in.

Gran Turismo has lost its mojo and become a dinosaur among modern racing games. It still drives brilliantly, but it's also bloated, scrappy, unbalanced and majorly dull for prolonged periods of play.

But it’s not quite slick enough underneath all those pretty visuals to earn essential status.

State of Decay 2 confidently reaches the series’ potential as the ultimate zombie survival sim, even if it hits a few familiar bumps in the road on the way there.

Don't buy Dead or Alive 4 unless you're willing to become its student. It's a great looker, but it's a sourly aggravating game until you learn its ways. However, if you take the time to get some technique wrapped up in those fists, you'll start to enjoy the depth behind the startlingly pretty face.

There’s a strong element of cooperative play with an excellent twist that will surely be the death of many a friendships, and plenty of character customization to build up your own magic-wielding badass. The game’s got plenty of great content, especially if you can convince a few others to take that step with you, but if you’re holding your breath for a great story, you’re almost certainly going to be disappointed.

Of course, if eye candy, implied promiscuity, and becoming a rock star do happen to be your cup of tea, you'll certainly find Miami Nights much more engaging than the typical social sim.

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Where one gamer will see an ugly, boring, schizophrenic mess of a survival horror game, another will see the splendor of its expansive setting, idiosyncratic cast, and spellbinding mystery. Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut is the misfit’s masterpiece, offering an inviting and affordable chance to see which side of the oddball gamer fence you stand on.

While Parallel Lines is a decent offering, it feels very much like a watered-down Grand Theft Auto, with a more linear storyline and fewer random fun things to do outside of missions.

The Falconeer boasts an intriguing story and a hauntingly beautiful setting, but is hampered by repetitive missions in an empty open world.

While there’s plenty we’d like to see fleshed out (especially the skimpy single-player modes and badly out-of-date rosters), it’s a more-than-welcome effort that does right by the DS platform.

If you dig that sort of thing, Heroes 2 offers plenty of challenge, level variety and enough Nazi shooting to satisfy anyone who can deal with the controls of an FPS on a PSP. And if you don't like them, this isn't going to be the game that converts you.

An atmospheric, challenging shooter unlike anything else out there, but it's definitely not for everyone – the odd controls and punishing difficulty will no doubt turn off many casual fans. If you love a short but intense thrill ride and/or carefully perfecting your high-score game, however, you'll find a lot to love in Guwange.

Also somewhat disappointing are the newly added multiplayer features, which are held up by clever level design and strong game modes, but smacked down by uninteresting gameplay. It sounds great in theory, but in practice it turns out there's nothing less fun than being beat up by someone as powerful as Kratos.

Adding good new ideas to the formula, but unable to implement them without diluting the overall experience, Hotline Miami 2 isn’t a disaster, but certainly lacks the original’s fiery vitality.

Hardwood Spades is cheap, cute, competitive and worth the cash if you like team-based card games in the least.

This is one of those games you either love or hate. We're perfectly happy with the story, graphics and simple gameplay Labyrinth offers, especially since there's nothing else like it on the DS, but casuals will probably downright despise the game.

FIFA 14 requires more patience than most of its predecessors, and even when your patience is rewarded, it often feels like it's flattering to deceive. Slow and stodgy in midfield but dynamic and physical at either end of the pitch, it's possible that some might think this the best FIFA ever--but you'd be splitting hairs, not defences.

It might be brief, but Octodad is definitely worth checking out for anyone interested in a charming, hilarious experience. Also, you get to play as an octopus, which... you know, is pretty awesome.

While its story, characters and conversations are interesting and fun to play around with, Alpha's third-person shooting – which makes up the bulk of the game – is not. It's a far cry from terrible, but we'd been led to expect much more.

The biggest disappointment, and the feature most DS-ownin' FIFA fans have been waiting for, is a lack of online support so you cannot compete online or update the already outdated roster. There is a multiplayer mode which allows up to four gamers - two per team - to play locally, though it requires multiple cards.

Elden Ring Nightreign is a surprisingly well-executed roguelike that melds well with the core of Elden Ring and even builds on it with a refreshingly rapid pace and spectacular new bosses. It's also excellent with friends, making for a superb co-op experience, but limited matchmaking options and mixed bosses mean it can be as frustrating as it is fun.

The game offers plenty to do and an impressive breadth of characters and skills to master, but some polish in certain areas could really help make it a game you’d want to pay to play. If you’re looking for a new MMO or a game with Diablo-like replayability, play Marvel Heroes first and pay for it later (if you want, that is.)

The stripped down interface makes unit management much more immediate, and the nuanced gameplay, thanks to range of choices at hand, is simple to learn and satisfying to master. The campaign is on the monotonous side, but the engaging multiplayer mode, which lets you compete with players on any other Microsoft device, ensures that you'll always have someone to play against.

Splatoon is a brilliant and unique shooter sorely lacking in maps and modes, and it desperately needs a refill.

An inconsistently enjoyable experience. Its world provides an interesting glimpse into a could-be future, and the Memory Remix puzzles and Pressen system help offset its extreme linearity and stiff combat. There are enough good ideas here to keep you playing from start to finish, but Remember Me's rougher edges mean it'll fade from your memory far sooner than you might like.

Even if you have to suffer through some Nightmare portions that act as a roadblock to thrills, it’s at least worth a rental to see somebody take the Wii in a new – or at least "re-imagined" – direction.

Yes, Innocent Life succeeds in going in a new direction for the Harvest Moon series, but isn’t as compelling nor entertaining as the best games of the franchise. It’s also not a recommended introduction for folks who haven’t played one before.

One of the series’ better outings as of late. The fighting engine, while not the deepest or the most technical out there, is solid, and the whole presentation drips with style. On top of that, you can get the game in exchange for a mere likeness of Andrew Jackson.

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.

Quite playable, even with these weaknesses - A sub-par Ratchet & Clank game is still better than almost any other platform actioner out there - it's just that we expect more out of this series.

FIFA Street serves as a terrific appetizer and dessert when served with a standard FIFA 12 meal, with its bite-sized chunks and freewheeling vibe juxtaposed nicely against its simulation cousin's oh-so-serious mentality.

Season's ability to tell small human stories is admirable amidst its calming gameplay, even if it doesn't fully explore its big talking points.

As long as you can get past the graphical hiccups, this XBLA title will pull you in like a hungry undead cannibal. If you've been looking for a game that will drop you into a deep, zombie-infested world full of all the tough choices and exploding heads you'd expect from the genre, State of Decay most definitely provides.

Just don't expect to slip into the gameplay as easily as you might have done with Resident Evil 4 HD. Code: Veronica X may provide many hours of zombie-killing fun, but they're difficult hours, and playing it requires accustoming yourself to the gameplay norms of an increasingly distant era.

Nintendo saved the industry with games like this, so we’re sad to say the latest lacks the imaginative spark found in past entries. Easily the weakest of the 2D Marios, but even the worst Mario is better than most other.

As with most Wii games, it really glistens with more than one player. If you're willing to commit to Boogie, mind, body and sooooul, it's a goddamned blast, channeling the same enthusiastic participation we all had last year when firing up Wii Sports first time. But then it's all over too quickly, and too easily.

Stellar Blade is more ambitious and varied than expected, but also about as clunky as expected, resulting in a stilted action RPG with a level of jank that you just have to accept. Meet it on its terms, and either tune out or embrace the odd sexual veneer, and it's a solid 20 to 30 hours of fun.

Ultimately, we tapped in for par what should have been a birdie – the best description we can come up with for Tiger Woods 12.

The biggest disappointment is the sheer lack of innovation in the game engine and graphics. Yes, the shooting mechanic is a little different, but for the most part the gameplay is the same as the last few FIFA games.

A game that has aged reasonably well. While there are a few hiccups here and there, the visual update is fantastic and the gameplay is still incredibly well paced and fun.

If these (songs) seem a little tired to you or you don’t want to pay for the whole collection, maybe just hold off and see if these make their way into the online shop eventually.

The Surge 2 offers the hard-earned pleasures of Souls-style combat, with less of genre’s signature sting.

For gamers looking for something well off the beaten path, From Dust is absolutely worth checking out. Its lush graphics, slick visual design and clever environmental engine are the big draws, but it's unfortunately bogged down by excessively frustrating later levels founded on trial and error, and irksome AI that undermines the precision the endgame demands.

A game of inspired highs diluted with pedestrian lows. Worthy, but achieves less than its true potential.

Wii games use the Wii controller brilliantly. Old arcade games simply don’t, and shoehorning them into the latest innovation/gimmick feels awkward and robs the game of its fun. Dig out an old GameCube controller – that’s the difference between enjoying Metal Slug Anthology or simply remembering how much fun it used to be.

Kojima’s mysterious would be epic has its moments but can’t carry the weight of expectation.

With over 250 new puzzles and a level editor to create your own puzzles to send to friends, PQ2 is an easy recommendation for fans of the first PQ or anyone looking for a puzzle challenge on the PSP.

Baroque is obviously one of the most hardcore RPGs you're ver going to find, a real level-grinder.

This aimed for Vanquish and missed – but in doing so it at least made a decent Terminator game that's better than any actual licensed Terminator game.

Thus, as well as it plays, we can only really recommend a purchase to players who don’t have the last three. For everyone else, it’s a rental.

The subject material is ghastly, but Valiant Hearts has the right mix of emotion and entertainment to make enduring the Great War worthwhile.

This season it doesn't quite have all the fundamentals down pat, but another semester's worth of schooling and polish should help the next outing. Ultimately, it's a solid (if unspectacular) hoops title that deserves a look.

Pictures don't do Rochard justice; it's gorgeous and overflowing with color from beginning to end. If you've got free time and ten bucks to spare, Rochard is worth its weight in unobtanium (or whatever obscure space rock they were looking for before Rochard started shooting people in the head).

But it’s not quite slick enough underneath all those pretty visuals to earn essential status.

Sporting loads of depth at some levels, yet lacking greatly at others, MX vs ATV Alive will likely have a narrow appeal.

Hammerin' Hero is notably short, and the action rarely diverges from the established platform template, but it's hard not to be won over by the humorous scenarios and vibrant personalities of the characters (accentuated by excellent voice acting).

Revenge of the Fallen lacks the polished sheen and balance of some of its competitors – its looks are average, and the level design and mission parameters are painfully typical. But when the Transformers themselves are freed from silly plotlines and allowed to stand or fall on their own merits, as they are in the multiplayer modes, their distinct set of abilities make them truly engaging.