If you don't have the nurturing gene or the attention span to keep a virtual animal alive, steer clear - but if you're looking for something that's totally nonviolent and uses all your DS's whistles and bells, Nintendogs is it.

Super Star's been widely held as the best Kirby game ever, so with everything it had plus seven more games, Ultra becomes the new top pick. This is indeed Kirby at his best, so even those who've yet to sample the Mega Man meets Mario gameplay should give it a try.

Building an army of rotting corpses is a blast, and it's especially satisfying to see your current tally of allies - represented by decaying zombie heads - grow along the bottom of the HUD. However, as much fun as it is to sic your pale-skinned psychos on a variety of low-level henchmen and screen-swallowing bosses, Undead Knights' flaws occasionally pull you from the fun.

Luxor 2 still sits squarely in the “casual game” space. But it’s every bit as addictive as Zuma, and fans of that game will appreciate a product that feels slightly better produced in just about every way while retaining the same great puzzle action they love.

As short as it is, InFamous: Festival of Blood is enormously fun while it lasts. The Shadow Swarm power is a ridiculously enjoyable addition, the Halloween plot is interesting (and spiked with a visually arresting shadow-puppet cutscene) and the new UGC features make it a must-have for mission-builders.

A well-thought-out online mode lifts Nintendo Switch Sports from being a sheer nostalgia trip, to an experience well worth the investment.

Though it doesn't outshine Dark Souls, Nioh's distinctly Japanese setting, thoughtful level design, and demanding difficulty lead to some supremely satisfying payoffs.

Takes nearly every complaint we had about the original and fixes it or gives us something better. We finally feel like a proper, force-wielding one-man army. It's still short and doesn't take us on a truly grand tour of the Star Wars universe, but the storytelling holds up in quality and fits right in to the existing mythology.

Tiburon didn’t do any skimping this season; each aspect of the game is tight as a drum. NASCAR 09 easily trumps its predecessors as the best of this generation.

If you love just messing around within an engaging world and you aren't merely single-mindedly driven toward a goal, Stacking will delight you. But if you're one of those impatient people who can't be bothered by anything other than the task at hand, there's a chance you'll be disappointed with its lack of difficulty and emphasis on collection and multiple solutions. Even if you are of the second group though, Stacking could very well win you over with its charming presentation.

Manually controlling your lead blocker to open up a hole for your running back both makes up for years of imperfect AI-controlled blocking and feels great. So does using the Live Opponent feature to play franchise mode against another gamer instead of the CPU.

The perfect way to pass a couple of hours, but it will leave you craving more game and a box of Krispy Kremes.

It's not perfect, but it's shooter purity in an electric-glowing bottle that may not go down easy, but it sure tastes delicious with every gulp.

Ends up being more inviting than ever to new players, with a clearer plot and goals. The game knows what it does well and highlights it instead of trying too many hit or miss concepts. Despite the sometimes limited scope of its world and objectives, it's a great downloadable that hopefully will introduce a whole new audience to one writer's unique world.

An over-the-top shooter with fun action, memorable set-piece moments, and decent characters, Wolfenstein: The New Order successfully transform an oldschool game into a modern experience.

With its lengthy USB cord (around ten feet) and clingy plastic base, the control is incredibly stable and responsive, even on carpet.

With strong combat and a fascinating world that mostly rewards exploration, Black Myth: Wukong is a fun action RPG that feels like the modern God of War games viewed through the lens of Chinese mythology.

RoboBlitz may be a tad on the short side, but at around 15 bucks, the price of admission is perfect for the amount of fun you'll have with this game.

Murder by Numbers has all the logic of picross with the look and feel of your favorite childhood cartoon.

An incredibly deep experience.

MLB 09 The Show remains the definitive baseball experience, a startlingly deep and expansive take on America’s Pastime that offers more hardball than most of us could likely get to in a full season. There aren’t many noticeable improvements this year, though, which may bring pause to those who’ve already got a few seasons under their belts.

Spec Ops: The Line has its issues, but they're overshadowed by a brave, compelling narrative that treats the medium with respect, and calls you a son of a bitch for playing it.

Performance problems aside, Subnautica will rekindle your faith in the overcrowded survival genre, and scare you senseless.

Hardcore genre fans will probably rather stick to more complex, nuanced games like LoL and SMNC, but Awesomenauts is a great alternative for everybody else. It's not as deep as other titles in the genre, but it's the perfect game to enjoy for a good weekend of gaming.

Etrian Odyssey Untold largely succeeds at marrying the series’ gameplay with a more narrative-driven adventure, creating a unique take on the traditional Etrian Odyssey formula, while the Classic mode ensures that longtime fans will not be alienated by the game’s new direction.

Fantastic showcase for Move.

Back to the Future: The Game is at its best when it's fast-paced and doesn't bog you down with too many choices to make or inventory items to keep tabs on - the episode ends on a high note because its puzzles generate and maintain a sense of momentum that the middle section lacks.

The cream of the action RPG crop on the PSP. There's just enough of a plot to keep you interested enough to venture into more caverns and battle more beasts. An RPG by nature, it's an action game by trade, and most of all it's a satisfying romp.