Resogun is a smart, merciless little shooter, with just enough substance to match its extravagant flash. The humans are a welcome pain, as they always are, conspiring with relentless enemies and ostentatious graphical effects to exterminate boredom at every opportunity.

Blur is clear[ly] best played against other human beings, but online multiplayer unfortunately suffers from the same gating issue that the single-player game does, locking you out from a handful of game modes until you reach a certain level.

Networking quirks aside, Deadliest Warrior offers loads of enjoyment for its $10 entry fee. It strips away the mountains of abstruse techniques which characterize most modern fighting games, and revives the accessible short-form action of realistic brawlers like Bushido Blade. It's incredibly fun, and addictive.

I'd rather have a short game that gets fart jokes right than a long one full of hot air.

If it's survival-of-the-fittest thrills you want, Skylanders can do that.

If you've found yourself unsatisfied with golf offerings on the PS3 and 360 in recent years, give this one a shot. It might not have the graphical polish of the other consoles, but you won't find a better pure golfing experience.

There are more cars, granted, and the feeling of speed and tinkering with vehicles is as good as ever, but that's to be expected given how little has changed. Don't get me wrong, Gran Turismo was already the top of the heap when it comes to hardcore console racing simulations – the additions presented in Gran Turismo 6 just push the top of that heap a few feet higher.

Infestation feels like what would have happened had someone made a good Aliens game in the mid-1990s. It's a cleverly structured take on the Metroidvania style of game that forces careful, methodical play. Despite those aforementioned issues, WayForward completely nailed the dread of Aliens.

MMA is a fuller game that celebrates the broadest scope of the sport with a loving precision, while UFC brings out a roster of more recognizable fighters for a more casual, beer-and-buddies experience.

MMA is a fuller game that celebrates the broadest scope of the sport with a loving precision, while UFC brings out a roster of more recognizable fighters for a more casual, beer-and-buddies experience.

Even when it skews toward bigger actions and questionable bouts of busywork, though, Watch Dogs is a more fluid and modern power fantasy than we're used to. Somewhere, in its vague, fantastical version of hacking, there's a lesson about the power and the naughty temptations that lie in our networked, selfie-infested world.

Despite the familiarity, it's been years since a Call of Duty campaign was as coherent and fast-paced as this one. Within the confines of its franchise, which has yet to make much room for a mature look at the subject matter, Advanced Warfare works with aplomb and, at the very least, plays its Big Dumb Movie card wisely.

Shmups are hardcore enough, but Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury somehow feels like a niche unto itself. At least death is served up à la carte, so you can move between stages at will if you die three times.

Beyond its present-day feature set, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is a vibrant historical adventure, drawn from bold characters and edge-of-your-seat sailing. It's not the proper return to form for the series, but it is a concerted acknowledgement of what that form is today, and what works for the monster of gameplay systems, stealth, ships and oceans that lurks underneath.

Dead Rising 2 doesn't stray from the core principle of the original. Murdering zombies in creative ways is immensely entertaining.

The game works as a limited experience, something novel and adorable and emotional, and it knows not to be anything more. For what it is, it's perfect(ly morbid).

In the age of Netflix streaming, iTunes, Steam and online multiplayer, Sportsfriends stands apart by reminding us how to have fun with people, not avatars.

Escape Goat 2's soundtrack also stands out, thanks to its almost otherwordly feel. It's distinctly odd, yet charming and memorable.

I enjoy the base gameplay, and the music, enough that I have no problem replaying each song repeatedly; however, I cannot ignore that I am, in fact, replaying each song repeatedly. Depending on your temperament, this might be an irritant.

Though I spent more time on the map screen than I would have liked, the world of Rhythm Thief is so beautiful and lively that I was, in general, just happy to be inhabiting it, and delighted to play out some absurd scenarios in clever musical vignettes. It's not a flawless experience, but it is a joyful one.

Civilization: Beyond Earth is a good game in the context of the Civilization franchise.

It's a well-composed love letter to those who belonged to the culture of its predecessor. It's the kind of game you'll want to add to your permanent rotation of Wii party games, dusting it off every time you're entertaining a friend or three with which to perform countless, physics-defying alley-oops.

At this point, there's not much written here that couldn't have been repurposed from a review of 2010's Donkey Kong Country Returns – and that's both the problem and the recommendation.

Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 had some serious missteps, but Lightning Returns ends on a strong note by sticking to what really matters: great combat and a story you want to see through. No gimmicks, no tricks, no convoluted treks through time, no cliffhangers, no tunnels – just one last trip around the world with a pink-haired heroine, and then a fond farewell.

So while more hardcore players may scoff at the very idea of party games, and Guilty Party definitely doesn't necessarily avoid the inherent pitfalls of the genre, it's still some of the most fun you'll have on your Wii with a crew of interested buddies.

What a game. I passed a few dozen hours leading a contingent of scumbags-with-hearts-of-gold through a convoluted gangster soap opera full of betrayals, redemptions, posturing, overdramatic gestures, and profoundly awkward dates, and played Boxcelios 2 in the Club Sega arcade on Theater Square when I didn't feel like doing any of that stuff.

FIFA 13 took larger strides than this year's offering, but even with only minor improvements and changes, FIFA 14 remains an excellent soccer sim.

It's an Assassin's Creed game wearing blinders that focus it on covering ground it's already traveled, albeit more effectively. While it's always good to see iterative improvements, some bold new territory would have been a real revelation for the series. Instead, Revelations does almost everything its predecessors have done slightly better. Which, as it turns out, is enough just one more time.