Chu Chu Rocket looks and sounds as charming as the Dreamcast original. The graphics are simple, consisting of playfields with running mice and cats, but they're designed with the same Sonic Team charm.

For $4.99, you won't find a better racer on the iPad right now.

For those who prefer strategy and planning over the random elements of a game like Puzzle Quest, Clash of Heroes may be the deviously clever, deliberately paced game you've been looking for. It can be a bit rough around the edges, but it's also the smartest and most rewarding puzzle-RPG you're likely to play.

An exceptional high speed platformer that accomplishes what Sonic has been trying to recapture for years now. The sense of speed and some fancy parkour moves are held back by some slight control issues, but it's a platforming adventure well worth diving into.

Ultimately, Portal 2 is pure genius. With gameplay that never stops becoming addictive and new characters that always threaten to steal the spotlight, Portal 2 is one of the best games of 2011.

The new approach to the stale genre ensures a fun single-player experience, even if it is a bit short-lived.

Only the monotonous music besmirches an otherwise delightful atmosphere.

If you already own some version of Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld, you won't have much reason to shell out the cash for this collection.

Uprising is for gamers who seriously enjoy punishing games.

If you want a full Ridge Racer experience that makes one of the best uses of 3D so far and just so happens to fit in your pocket, then Ridge Racer 3D is a launch game that deserves your attention and immediate purchase.

Quality issues aside, it's a fun 3D shoot-'em-up, and the PSP could use a few more of those.

A party game in the purest sense of the term. It's the type of game you'll want to play in short bursts with a sibling or return to countless times with a group of friends.

For what RIFT tries to do, it does very well. I rarely felt bored with all the random events and rifts constantly breaking up the monotony of questing. It's also important to give Trion a tremendous amount of credit for releasing such a "complete" MMO.

THQ has done a fantastic job of cherry-picking the best elements of wrestling with some of the most recognizable characters and stars in a visually fantastic package. Unfortunately, it's a good foundation with some major holes. The lack of select wrestlers, missing match variety, anemic campaigns and pointless create-a-character undermine a very good wrestling game/fighting game fusion.

An enjoyable game that's both enthralling and humorous.

Whether choosing your personal advisers, colonizing a new country, requesting marriage to soften international relations, or just stomping the boot of military might across the world, Europa Universalis III Chronicles is the game for it-as long as you're prepared for a steep learning curve.

An outstanding game. Between the incredibly challenging AI and the stages that reward creative thinking, Crysis 2 distinguishes itself as a thinking man's shooter. Unfortunately, the bland and almost generic story is very weak glue for an otherwise great FPS.

Its great depth of gameplay, packaged in an approachable and fun format, elevates it to the upper echelon of tennis titles. Buy the game, not the 3D spectacle.

I also find it intriguing that my journalistic brethren so easily throw a new IP like Homefront under the bus after lavishing perfect scores upon the laughably flawed Black Ops and Halo: Reach. With a few tweaks and a fresher paint of coat, Homefront would have been outstanding, far outshining either of those titles. As is, it's still worth a playthrough.

As far as baseball games rate, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better sim than MLB 11: The Show.

Ultimately, Pokemon Black and White borrow heavily from the series' classic foundations. However, thanks to the improved presentation, stronger emphasis on plot, inclusion of brand new Pokemon, and exclusion of older Pokemon at the start, the latest set in the series actually manages to feel quite new.

The puzzles could use some polish, and in the case of the final chapter, they're downright annoying, but the compelling narrative and strong characters are more than enough to keep most gamers playing right through to the surprisingly satisfying conclusion.

It may be based on a two-year-old game, but Retribution looks, sounds, and plays brilliantly and is virtually impossible not to recommend.

A flawed, repetitive, and wholly derivative Western RPG, but still manages to be a vast improvement over the original and should greatly please fans of Origins. Fans of Mass Effect may also find enough satisfaction here to hold them over until ME3 releases, but make no mistake: if only one Bioware title is nominated for awards this year, it will not be this one.

Torchlight is probably the closest thing to a Diablo experience on the Xbox 360. The perfectly translated controls and addictive gameplay makes this a must-buy for anyone with an affinity for loot hoarding. If anything, it serves as a great appetizer for the much-anticipated sequel.

While the story was less than original, and players can't customize the central character, Ravensword: the Fallen King is an amazing attempt to bring a console-sized, open-world RPG to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Developer Crescent Moon Games has not only provided an AAA game for Apple's mobile platform, but has raised the bar for portable gaming on any device.

As an XBLA release, concessions like simple graphics or a rough edge here and there aren't exactly gamebreakers. Beyond Good & Evil isn't a short game by today's standards, either. You'll get about ten hours or so out of the quest, much more than you'd squeeze out of comparable download releases today.

No matter what frustrations the game may hold for you, there's no denying this is one pretty package of violence. Fight Night Champion is surely one of the best-looking and best-playing games of its kind.