LEGO Battles certainly drops the baton on a couple of essential basics, but its light-hearted tone, unit variety, hidden trinkets, and sheer volume of maps keep it a good value for dedicated fans of this angular toy world.

1348 Ex Voto starts with a wealth of potential, and unfortunately manages to squander it at every turn, creating a hollow, rage-inducing, and disappointing experience, with its beautiful depiction of Italy and talented performers being its only saving graces.

While still quite playable for several hours, the lack of true innovation or noteworthy upgrades makes Mater-National seem like more of a rushed expansion than a full-fledged - or fully necessary - follow-up to a memorable kid-friendly racer.

A promising effort, delivering an engaging gameplay experience and an expansive world. While it's hampered by overlong cutscenes and bland characters, it will satisfy fans of the genre, and maybe make a few more.

The Dark Spire certainly attained its goal of creating an homage to classic dungeon-crawling RPGs. But its confusing design choices and unforgiving gameplay may turn off anyone born after 1990.

Ultimately Empires continues Koei’s long-standing "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" credo when it comes to Warriors games. Which, when you've made the same game nine times in a row, has us adopting the philosophy "been there, done that."

When Gravity Rush 2 sticks to its strengths, it soars; it’s a shame that its stale mission design and clumsy controls keep it from getting too high off the ground.

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.

A chaotic action romp, tragically let down by repetition and padding. There's fun to be had, but all too little variety in its huge open world.

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

Rock Band Blitz is a bit like a wooden rollercoaster. When you first experience it, it's thrilling--but with each repeated ride, it starts to feel less exciting and more rickety.

Joker 2 is one of those games that's fun in short bursts, but isn't all that memorable. It does borrow some of the great parts of Pokémon while carving out its own identity in the rich Dragon Quest world. But of all the things it had to borrow from Dragon Quest, why, why did it have to be the endless grind?

Need for Speed takes driving into a gorgeous world with a modern edge, but its pesky attitude and strict online-only requirement make you yearn for the good old days.

While Power Pros 2008 offers an undeniably massive amount of modes and options, we could’ve easily waited until next spring for a truer, fuller follow-up. Veterans of last season’s title have pretty much played this game already, but it is a nice place to start if you’re new to the series.

The moment-to-moment action may be better than last year's game, but this is nothing more than a glorified roster update. Only Career Mode fans have reason to celebrate.

It has the double misfortune of being an incomplete port, and of being released around the same time as "Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror" (which does the same things, but better).

PowerUp Forever has a gorgeous look, and if it copies too heavily from other games, it combines the borrowed bits in a truly unique way. It’s more artistic than most games, but it’s also strictly a solo experience. There are a ton of other twin-stick shooters that are just a little deeper and better balanced, and many of them offer multiplayer support.

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.

ZombiU's complete and utter dedication to creating a tense, realistic zombie survival game can be problematic, and its often at odds with itself. Despite this, the game successfully proves that horror games can be enhanced by the Wii U's GamePad, and does a great job at showing how the new controller can create an incredibly immersive experience.

A beautiful-looking game, which is perfect for those with a lot of patience and a natural desire to uncover the truth. I just wish it was more interactive and allowed to do more than just ask questions.

We're not thrilled with the limited character creation options and we don't understand why every time we opt for an AdHoc or Wi-Fi game, the game forces a full system reset.

What works Super Monkey Ball 3D is just that: 3D and Super Monkey Ball. Unfortunately, that fun is pathetically short-lived, and everything else is a poorly executed afterthought that makes the $40 price tag borderline insulting.

By the end of the campaign we were satisfied with the admittedly-average story, but the stale combat and chaotic multiplayer that are supposed to sell this game just aren't built well enough. On the cheap, you could probably do worse than this, but we can say for a fact that you can do a hell of a lot better.

A mediocre actioner that's probably best ignored. For what it is, though, it's surprisingly good. If you're willing to give him some time and earn him some cool guns, this budget bounty-hunter has some fun to offer.

But even though the game shares some DNA with gems like the WarioWare series or the trippy Katamari Damacy, WTF got the short end of the genetic stick. If you’re going to spend your free time doing something that’s ultimately pointless and repetitive, you might as well get a real job.

A direct port of a game clearly designed for the Wii to platforms that don't even support the core appeal. It's sad now that the bunny that demos the Wii's controls before every event is replaced by...empty space.

A beautiful-looking game, which is perfect for those with a lot of patience and a natural desire to uncover the truth. I just wish it was more interactive and allowed to do more than just ask questions.

It cannot be compared (favorably) to the console versions, but it's the only iteration of Mater-National that improves upon its predecessor, and is not a bad option for race-loving tykes this holiday season.