The time-stopping fun is handled really well, too. It’s especially fun to see individual raindrops freeze as you slow time down and run about disarming a whole group of enemies. In general, the game is as interesting to look at as it is to play.

It's a sequel to one of the most entertaining Star Wars games ever made, and it honors one of the best sci-fi trilogies of all time. Unfortunately, some of the design limitations might keep you from playing each level multiple times to find all the goodies and online achievements.

Final Fantasy III is a solid product. The shortcomings with the saves and lack of DS tech infusion are unfortunate, but as an RPG it’s the real deal, and shows why the franchise is so revered.

The game is accessible enough to be picked up by someone who hasn’t yet earned their wings, and while the online mode isn’t incredibly deep, it’s a solid addition that makes the game that much more attractive. If jets aren’t your thing, though, it won’t convince you to enroll in flight school.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 focuses most of its attention on gameplay this year, keeping its traditional controls intact while adding the focus meter to the mix, which adds a nice level of strategy to the game.

Season showdown strikes at the heart of the college football fan and running the ball feels much more natural. There are also tons of new features and no one can fault the developers for not trying. But many of them prove to be irrelevant for experienced players and there are still more quirks and cheap tricks than there should be for a franchise so long in the tooth.

If you've missed out on the original outbreak, Off the Record is a great opportunity to experience what Dead Rising 2 is all about. Walking amongst the living dead is an enticing proposition in this alternate version filled with extra content, especially when it comes with a discounted price tag.

MAG places a strong emphasis on teamwork with an intelligent command structure that brings order to battles of enormous scale. It could use more map variety, better balancing, and ways to decrease player downtime, but overall, it's a strong foundation for an ambitious new franchise.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is about discovering a story on your own, piecing together the details as you stroll through the countryside. What begins with curiosity in trying to explain what exactly happened soon gets you wrapped up in the lives of who it happened to.

Manipulating your character through each stage feels tight and responsive with the Vita's analog stick, making it possible to make mid-air adjustments and pixel-perfect jumps. The game also looks just as good as it did on consoles, retaining its smooth frame rate and crisp 2D animations.

It has its moments, but overall, it’s a disappointing step sideways for one of the more revered franchises in the industry. The good news is that it’s the most in-depth multiplayer shooting experience on the consoles, making it a game still worth picking up.

No More Heroes 2 desperately wants to be played, giving players a quick but fashionable menu and upping its number game with more enemies, more bosses, more playable characters, and more weapons. It delivers more and better, and it still packs much of the same style and flair that helped the first game succeed despite its flaws.

Just like the Vita itself, Lumines Electronic Symphony is slick and at times irresistible, and well worth experiencing for yourself. Still, we can't help but feel that the $40 price is a tad steep for what it offers. Unless you absolutely can't wait to participate in this carnival of light, it's probably wise to wait until the price settles a bit.

Ace Combat may never fully overcome its identity crisis, but its latest sortie is a successful one. Assault Horizon creates some spectacular moments with its visually impressive, close-range battles that make up for some of its slower, more repetitive lulls, and incorporates several different types of gameplay without compromising its overall quality or theme.

On its tenth anniversary, the series has managed to come up with its biggest and brightest entry yet with a stock of engaging battles, quirky cutscenes, and slick shooting.

While the formula is definitely on its last legs, LEGO Batman’s simple fun is engaging and even gets better as you go. The omission of online play is a disappointment, but thanks to a lineup of strong characters, more levels, and gameplay tweaked to fit the Dark Knight’s style, LEGO Batman is the best of the LEGO breed.

Enslaved's length is about standard for this day and age, but it still feels like it's over all too quickly. It's one of those rare games in which the majority of the experience feels imperative and consequential.

Mega Man 9 succeeds in delivering an authentic retro experience, but that’s not to say it’s flawless.

Battlestations: Pacific improves upon almost every facet of the original, offering more of just about everything.

It’s a sequel to one of the most entertaining Star Wars games ever made, and it honors one of the best sci-fi trilogies of all time. Unfortunately, some of the design limitations might keep you from playing each level multiple times to find all the goodies and online achievements.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a nice continuation of the series, but there’s very little here that’s unexpected or particularly clever.

Although not everything works perfectly in Renegade Squadron, the most important feature in the game--the online multiplayer--is great. If you’re interested in the single-player content, you will come away disappointed, even with all of the different gameplay modes.

Far from yet another filler installment to hold you over until Kingdom Hearts III, Dream Drop Distance is one of the better entries in the series and a solid RPG in its own right. It avoids the pitfalls some of the more recent entries have stumbled into and delivers some fresh new ideas to a series in danger of stagnating.

NCAA Football 13 is a bit of a disappointment as the franchise faces its inevitable confrontation with the law of diminishing returns. Significant advancements in design or gameplay are few, and the ones that are included are flawed in some way. With last year's game available on the cheap, spending 60 bucks on this will feel a lot like buying tickets from a scalper, but you'll ultimately feel fairly satisfied.

Syndicate has a lot of ideas, but seems unwilling to let some of them out of the bag, instead parading them around at key moments, while some mechanics, like running through weak walls, never amounting to much.

The electro bleeps range from the avant-garde Philip Glass to the avant-hard of Orbital, and likely your love of this type of music will determine if this is a must-have or an impulse purchase.

Little King's Story is an impressive package, with only a few lingering flaws keeping it from true greatness. It's a slow burn that rewards those with the patience to appreciate its elaborate setup.

As far as we're concerned, the Driver series has a new lease on life. This latest jaunt to San Francisco will keep you playing for hours, with an enormous campaign brimming with challenges and a multiplayer package that benefits enormously from the novel mechanics that define the experience.