Skullgirls uses its personality and a masterful execution of the genre to punch well above its weight as a $15 downloadable upstart. Even if it isn't quite pound-for-pound on par with the giants of the genre, it's bold enough to aim for the top and accomplished enough to put up one heck of a fight.

The franchise mode is one of the deepest you’ll find and it has extensive online play options. Unfortunately, the on-ice action and sub-par presentation serve to overshadow the good.

From a gameplay standpoint, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012's minor enhancements add up to a reasonable improvement over last year's entry. Refined AI, improved realism both on and off the ball, and a better sense of pacing add to the depth while maintaining the franchise's fun, addictive spirit.

Like a well tempered sentence, Abyss is a complete thought. It’s solid on all angles but lacking any real sharp celerity, except in a plot seemingly based off a lost Einstein journal. It’s as good a Tales game as any, but it doesn’t raise any bars.

State of Decay is a game that is, in many ways, both the best and worst zombie game you’ve ever played. For all of its bugs, blemishes, and festering imperfections, this game realizes an untapped style of survival gameplay that genre nuts should definitely take notice of.

Apart from a few brief glimpses of hope, Sonic Colors is a bit of a disappointment. Haphazard levels and unresponsive controls have been the bane of 3D Sonic games, and Colors does little to address these issues. It attempts to mask its shortcomings with shiny new trinkets that only briefly distract you from the glaring flaws.

The game has a solid set of mechanics and challenging gameplay, but it doesn’t make much of an effort appeal to casual fans looking to get a taste of meticulous tactical maneuvering. If you’re thirsting for a challenge, you’ll find it. If you’re hesitant to join up, this isn’t your war.

If videogames are systems of learning, then Bangai-O is a scatterbrained professor teaching advanced calculus.

It's a fighting game that successfully infuses RPG elements to provide depth and variety. It doesn't quite strike a perfect balance, and the lack of true online functionality hurts, but Duodecim delivers on the thrill factor with its cinematic battles.

Ghosts is certainly not a bad game, but it offers few surprises. Although Black Ops II wasn’t always successful, it felt like it was conscious of stagnation and attempted to push the series forward through player choice in the campaign and the introduction of the 10-point system in multiplayer. By comparison, Ghosts seems almost afraid of screwing anything up.

Amid the Ruins clearly demonstrates what Telltale is capable of. There’s a level of purpose and confidence here that the studio has rarely matched.

The best rhythm games successfully tie gameplay and music in such a way that players feel like they're part of the song. Rock Band Blitz doesn't quite bridge that gap.

The dark and humorously grim atmosphere help make Charlie Murder a unique brawler that knows how to throw a punch and stands out from others in the genre.

GRID 2 has a handful of head-scratching design decisions, but it's a solid, varied, and challenging racer set in strongly realized environments. Allow yourself to think outside of the cockpit, and you can't go wrong.

The lack of narrative finesse and the toning down of the scripted events was a good call. It’s not quite the open world shooter that was promised, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

MySims Agents is a solid entry in the series filled with memorable encounters and characters. Fans of MySims Kingdom will certainly enjoy the change of setting. While older players will breeze through it and yearn for more things to see and do, younger ones will enjoy the minigames, agency customization, and quirky cases.

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.

The addition of coin rush and StreetPass functionality extend the shelf life of what would otherwise be a rather limited experience, but while there's still reasonable value here, the new Super Mario Bros. formula is losing just a little bit of its luster. Innovation and creativity don't shine as brightly as they should, but the glitter of great control and tight level design still make New Super Mario Bros. 2 tempting to pick up.

None of Dead Rising 3’s issues will stop you from enjoying the ludicrous ways you can kill zombies. While it may initially appear to be a more somber game than before, after spending a few hours with Dead Rising 3 you’ll realize the spirit of the series is well intact.

If you're a tennis player, or just someone who's mastered and grown tired of Wii Sports Tennis, pick up Grand Slam Tennis with a MotionPlus add-on and prepare to be amazed. Just saddle that amazement with a little bit of patience. The learning curve makes pick-up games with the uninitiated a bore, but with the incredible online functionality, a viable opponent is just a series of ones and zeroes away.

Dead Space 3 has the bad habit of drawing you into a tantalizing catastrophe right before goading you right back into its more tedious and borderline exploitative elements. The quest is long and the side-content plentiful, but it all comes at the expense of the atmosphere. In our estimation, it’s a poor bargain.

It’s challenging and polished, but it can also take a bit of getting used to.

It's best to look at Tropico 4 as port of entry for new players. If you've never set sail for the island paradise's sunny climes, you'll be happy to know that the improvements allow you to enjoy a more accessible version of Tropico 3 without feeling like they've dumbed-down the content.

There’s a lot to appreciate here, and many good fights to be had -- Injustice actually does justice to its source material and its players.

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.

The lack of notable stars, the flat atmosphere, and the by-the-numbers career mode are disappointments. Yet, for better or worse, it's the control scheme that ultimately defines Top Spin 3. Once acclimated, you'll find that it brings you closer to the on-court action than any tennis game before it, but it’s also unforgiving.

Miles Edgeworth's take on the franchise doesn't pack on too many surprises, but is nonetheless faithful to the tenets that make Ace Attorney great.

One particularly frustrating aspect of the game is the inventory management system.