It's fun, easy to pick up for any newcomer, and something to play when friends come over. It's also a nice little distraction when you want something that's fast-paced yet demands less attention than a triple-A game might require.

Radiant Historia delivers a compelling story coupled with entertaining gameplay that create a great package.

In so many ways, The Darkness II is an improvement over the original. The controls work better, the action is more straightforward, and you don't have to play Pikmin with a bunch of surly little demons. It's just more engaging and fun all around. But while its changes are noticeable, they're also subtle; this isn't a completely different game, it's more like a refinement of what worked before.

I loved the huge variety of new maps but felt the meld upgrades sapped some of Enemy Unknown’s bite. The other half of that sentiment is that I now feel empowered to pick up my Hard / Ironman run again. The neatest summary I can give is this: if you want an excuse to play more XCOM, you’ve got it.

It’s a fabulously designed game with an interface so antiquated that only the most dedicated and nostalgic shooter enthusiasts will stick with it. In the end, maybe that’s for the best. You don’t see a lot of trucker hat-wearing Natty Ice-drinkers in Go parlours either.

Yes, Reckoning is a Big Huge game. The sum of those parts don't all gel together in some kind of revolutionary way, but the influence from them stands out sufficiently that fans any of those games will find something to love here. Be prepared for the long haul if you intend to see the epic conclusion, but don't expect the next generation in open world free option exploration, though allegedly there are numerous conclusions…but that will take just another epic wade through this world to discover.

Now that I'm done crying about content, let's get down to the real reason to play Soulcalibur V. The gameplay has been improved for the better. Regardless of my gripes, it won't stop me from trying to be the best Chun Li-with-a-sword player I can be. This Soulcalibur is definitely worth playing.

So much of what makes Resident Evil: Revelations work is how Capcom plays it safe with level designs and gameplay mechanics. That said, the new characters and the bio scanner help turn the game into something more than a well made by-the-numbers Resident Evil. While it's not an optimized HD port of the 3DS version (to be so would require enhanced textures across the board), it still looks great and controls even better.

A fairly competent game that is held back by some mediocre platforming sections.

Satisfying action and a fun cooperative experience make the game a blast to play, but a short lived campaign and frustrating difficulty hold the game back from being perfect.

Linear gameplay and an incredibly short length means the game can be completed in a matter of hours, which is a problem considering the high price point. For those of you willing to pay the price of admission Yesterday is a fun nod to an earlier form of gaming with a story you won't soon forget.

The artistic aspects of the game are timeless, and I'd recommend the game without batting an eye to anyone that's interested in quirky games or unique visual design. People that just want a fun game though, that's trickier. By all means play it if you missed it the first time around, just understand that the value is in theme and presentation rather than timeless gameplay.

Despite the elimination of the ability to deliver late hits and other illegal moves, NFL Blitz remains a fun arcade experience that can finally be taken online.

If you're looking for a game that can be picked up, enjoyed, and promptly placed back down for another time, not to mention at a price that won't break the bank, Choplifter HD is a solid, recommendable purchase.

There is so much to do in Dead or Alive Dimensions: Chronicle mode lasts only a few hours, but between the arcade, survival, online, tag, and survival modes DOA enthusiasts will be busy for several hours more.

Your interest in this game will be entirely dependent on whether you already played the original, or if you're rearin' to play it again. Metal Gear Solid 3D is a great showcase of what the 3DS can do and what kind of experience it can offer, I just wish that showcase didn't retread old ground.

Remember Me’s unique take on user-influenced combat and a scary futuristic dystopia managed to make a lasting impression, one that everyone should consider adding to their memory bank.

If you do have friends who can't get enough of heists, then Payday is a fine choice and an arguable target for a lawsuit from Michael Mann.

Unless you've been practicing your finger exercises and reviewing your combos, Marvel vs. Capcom Origins may wind up with somewhat limited lasting power. Sure, unlocking the various extras in the Vault will take a long while, but in the end, fighting games are simply meant for fighting others.

At just under two hours of story here, it's kind of hard to recommend this to someone looking for an engaging narrative, even with some improved mechanics. However, if you've got 100 percent of everything in InFamous 2 and have the itch to collect more then Festival of Blood should be up your alley.

If you enjoy a game with simple pick-up-and-go golfing mechanics, don't mind a hefty challenge from time to time, and love to customize your characters from head to toe, then Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is worth picking up for your PlayStation Vita.

Dual Destinies is another great game in the Ace Attorney series and superb welcome back to Phoenix himself.

There's a lesson to be learned from Golden Abyss. Don't treat your games like tech demos. I understand the need to make the masses aware of all the cool things your device can do but there's plenty of better ways to do that than shoe horning touch controls into a game that doesn't need them. That said, there's a lot to like about Golden Abyss.

If there was ever any question about “tower offense” being a viable sub-genre of tower defense, let Anomaly 2 stand as a definitive game to prove its worth.

Sacred Citadel is a fine hack n’ slash side-scroller, and it’s even better with friends. The online netcode could use an upgrade and I wish there was a bit more content to flesh out the package, but for the price, Sacred Citadel is a solid adventure to be had. And it doesn’t force you into piles of menus to manage your character – that’s a bonus in itself, am I right?

I'm not sure if Anomaly: Warzone Earth is the first game to flip the tower defense genre on its head, but for me it's the first game I've experienced that does and on the whole I enjoyed it.

A great game, but it's not necessarily the greatest bang for your buck.

Due to the horrible AI, I can't bring myself to grant a higher score, but don't let that scare you. Even if you're stuck playing offline, you can still have a great time conducting a nighttime ambush or calling in airstrikes while perched atop a craggy vista, and if possible, the co-op is something that shouldn't be missed.

It helps to think of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy as a digital celebration of the series' music and culture rather than a deep gaming experience.

The Amazing Spider-Man has laid an awesome foundation of gaming mechanics through its open-world design; I just hope to see more of it embraced in future games.

NES Remix is such a simple concept yet it works exceedingly well.

While the story is subpar, the stealth mechanics are weak, and the lack of a dodge ability does hinder a solid combat system, this short game–clocking in at around seven to eight hours–is certainly entertaining to play.

If you stick to the online mode, have a good group of friends to share the road with, and love fast, sexy cars, you'll probably enjoy the game. It's not incredibly deep, so look elsewhere to scratch that driving itch, but it works for a quick, pulse-pounding hit of action and adrenaline...It's a shame the poor design that plagues the offline mode is so ingrained into the fundamental fabric of the gameplay.

Last Light isn’t as gameplay-dense an action / stealth experience as Dishonored and it’s not as impossibly polished as Call of Duty. If you enjoy directed single-player experiences, you can’t go wrong with Last Light… just don’t expect the most focused or deep experience.

Your interest in Tiger 12 is pretty much dependant on your enthusiasm for the Masters, and your appreciation of its mystique.

Syndicate is an incredibly ambitious, stylized, but definitely flawed game. I'm confident with another attempt, Syndicate could be something really special. I just hope that it gets the chance.

The in-depth fighting mechanics and awesome animation and visuals give KOF its own space alongside other mainstream fighters. The King of Fighters XIII is definitely an improvement over the last installment, but is still plagued with troubled online play.

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is a wonderful addition to any RPG lover’s library and a showcase of the best the Tales series has to offer.

Rocking out to your favorite band is a blast, and the ability to instantly use all past DLC is a very smart move, but the game doesn't have the same wow factor as the original.

This version of Bionic Commando feels more like Bipolar Commando in that it doesn't know what type of game it wants to be. Giant boss fights and grappling gameplay make Rearmed 2 relentlessly challenging and fun just like its predecessors. But it becomes a more generic $15 game as soon as you realize that jumping, traversing over objects, and a regenerating health system are more akin to Shadow Complex than its Bionic Commando legacy.

As MercurySteam deserves credit for keeping much of the combat consistent with the first Lords of Shadow, they’ve also earned recognition for being consistent with the series’ detailed and visually robust art direction.

I'm worried that I'm making Lost In Shadow sound bad. It's not bad. It's actually rather good. It's just nothing terribly new.

There are still a few hiccups with AI, glitches in gameplay and presentation, and repetitive commentary that need to be checked off on the "To Do" list for next year. Overall, it's a solid, occasionally masterful, occasionally frustrating sim of the national pastime.

A Jekyll and Hyde of a game.

The game feels a tad lacking in content. Single player for each character takes less than 30 minutes to beat, multiplayer and versus aren't customizable by more than a few basic attributes – and unless you count the bonus challenges for each character, All-Stars will have you punching, kicking, shooting and supering your opponents for every moment you spend with it. More gameplay variety would have been nice.

If you consider yourself a gaming history connoisseur it represents great value and a fascinating insight into the evolution of action-adventure titles.

The only 3DS game that rivals the AR integration in this game is the card collection that came with the handheld. It's just too bad Spirit Camera's play length is disappointingly short, even when you include the non-story modes.

If you thrive on variety, your patience with Forza 5 will wear thin in ten hours or so… and the idea that DLC may fill out the experience sometime in the future isn’t very comforting. That’s tragic, because Forza 5 is one of the most gorgeous and best-feeling racers I’ve ever played.

The updated visuals give the dated games a fresh look, but the exclusion of levels and options like the park editor are sorely missed.

Though a handful of lacking options ding the game's value, Fortune Street is still a blast to play. It marries the classic sensibilities of a board game while embracing the complexity afforded by video games. If you have a stack of board games in the closet, this game is made for you.

While Trion has to be held accountable for the severe problems at launch, the truth is that the game’s experience is strong enough to shine through them. Unless you need an artificial goal like a level cap to work towards in an MMO, Defiance offers some of the best fun you can have online.

A fascinating mishmash of concepts that don't always mesh well.

A bite of fillet mingon is still better than a whole McDonald's burger. While The Missing Link doesn't deliver the robust experience of Human Revolution, it's the only way to experience more Deus Ex. That alone is worth the price of admission… just adjust your expectations accordingly.

Afterfall: Insanity gives fans of gritty, horror-action games a whole helping of what they enjoy. Despite its issues with a simplistic combat system and sometimes unintentionally comical cut scenes, the game is otherwise considerably solid.

Story and supporting cast don’t match Lara’s characterization growth.

If a game's quality is based solely on its replay value, then Guardian Heroes for the Xbox 360 is as good a game as Gears of War 3 or Call of Duty: Black Ops. While Guardian Heroes has plenty, unfortunately games aren't rated entirely on replay value.

Though some of the minigames can be boring and uninspired, others can be a hoot while playing with friends.

Lovers of dark fantasy and charming characters should play Last Story without a second thought, but a gamer used to modern-day levels of production value and polish won't easily set those expectations aside.

If you frequently entertain guests, Nintendo Land is an invaluable party staple. If you're a solo gamer, it's a much harder sell.

If you’ve played the original version on the Wii there isn’t much here to allure you back to the jungle, so only diehard DK fans need apply.

It especially tickled my fancy with its irreverent, unrestrained humor that rivals Earthworm Jim. If you're expecting innovation or extremely tight gameplay, this isn't the place to find it. On the other hand, if you enjoy simple action games, quirky indie experiences, or senses of humor that we seem to have left in the 90s, don't let Double D slip by.

If Disney lore and collectible culture is your thing, Epic Mickey 2 delivers. If co-op puzzle-solving is your thing, Epic Mickey 2 delivers. If revealing the character and talents of Oswald is intriguing then Epic Mickey 2 delivers...But there are so many options, so many details, collectibles, characters to appease that progress doesn't flow efficiently, and retreading areas becomes tiresome.

Even with all its flaws, and it has many, Resident Evil 6 is still an exhilarating action game. It's just not the return to form we were hoping for. It still has control issues, and isn't as scary or as puzzling as the series' high water marks Resident Evil 2 or 4.

Brothers is a touching story that strays from the cookie cutter formulas we’ve come to expect from the industry. The brothers’ journey is full of raw emotion, even if it borders on the line of pretentious at times.

Double Dragon: Neon achieves everything it set out to: reinvigorate the Double Dragon franchise while adding new elements and retaining the core gameplay that made the original games popular.

Red Johnson's Chronicles: One Against All is for puzzle lifers. The puzzles are intense, complicated, and obtuse. To top it all off, you attack these puzzles back to back without much levity or downtime to let your brain recover making it even less friendly.

Virtually no changes have been made between this game and the last in the series. While not wholly bad, unfortunate omissions like online play and a revamped combat system will leave fans of the series (and of action RPGs in general), wanting more. DeathSpank has a penchant for the epic, but so far his games have been average.

I won't say that the framerate issue is a deal-breaker, but it's definitely keeping me from wholeheartedly recommending Armored Edition.

I can't help but feel like there could've been more to Gotham City Impostors.

Playing for the humor and Deadpool’s banter with other Marvel characters are good enough reasons to give Deadpool (the game) a shot. The best jokes are evenly spread out and make the journey through generic levels more tolerable. Yet, if the likes of God of War and Ninja Gaiden have spoiled you with sublime and fluid framerates, Deadpool might be hard to swallow.

SimCity as a game is thoroughly entertaining, if flawed in several areas, and now at least we can experience it fully, and hopefully put the disaster of launch in our rear view mirror.

The core of the Horizon Rally DLC is solid; it recreates superbly the rally racing experience. Only in the additional features does this DLC fall short, which is less forgivable given its price point.

The lack of narrative hurts what could have been an awesome story.

EDF2017 has a particular magic that defies logic. If you've played the original to death, you may simply want an excuse to play the game again despite the disappointing renovations in Portable. Hell, I'm in that camp myself, so I won't talk you out of it. Just make sure you have some friends lined up for co-op ahead of time.

A game with an identity crisis trying to be too many things to too many people. It's more successful than it should be but ultimately the entire package is brought down by being pulled in these two polarizing directions.

I do wish that the story had more meat, and did more to make me care about the four characters.

If you’re a fan of RTS and strategy games, you can get a few good evenings out of StarDrive, just don’t expect the endless addiction and spotless interface of Civilization.

Though the game is incredibly difficult and will test the patience of even the most Zen players, it is still a blast to play and a definite challenge to hardcore players.

While Gungnir is in no means a bad game, there isn't anything about it that calls out to be played. The story isn't entirely original, but the lower class uprising setting fits well with the gameplay (as it does with most titles in the genre).

The whole experience feels like an anachronism. Younger gamers might accept some of these problems more readily, and when the game is on, it’s a lot of fun. If you enjoy the simplicity of the gameplay or collecting lots and lots of shiny objects, you’ll get tons of that here, giving you more entertainment after you’ve completed the main story.

A good way to play this quirky RPG if you don't have a PSP.

The 3rd Birthday should have been brilliant, but is merely decent.

The HD treatment, online multiplayer, casual mode for newbies, and extra goodies to unlock ensure plenty of playtime for each of the various titles.

The roster of Sega stars and tracks is commendable. When the game hits its strides it can even be as entertaining as genre king Mario. But more often than not the game’s suite of issues holds it back from greatness.

It's a shame it was released in such a crowded downloadable game window, as it's an enjoyable diversion for the price.

Tequila Works certainly understands the 2D space and there is some sense of satisfaction in navigating Randall Wayne through miles of hallowed out buildings, a treacherous underground, and zombie-infested roads.

If you dig DotA and want to play a streamlined version of that game on a console, Awesomenauts will deliver big time. But don't be surprised when, well, you wind up never being surprised.

If you've never played any version of Lumines before and you're looking for a solid puzzle game for your new Vita, then this title is certainly worth your time. But if you'd rather save your money and stay home with your block-dance-party-game, then Lumines Electronic Symphony is a bit of a tougher sell.

A broad comprehensive battle system makes each fight worthwhile, if a bit repetitive. The story is told at the right pace and will keep you interested throughout the entirety of the game. But the experience isn't entirely perfect, with some odd sound issues, a knack for getting you lost, and 3D visuals that should never be used.

Proven gameplay mechanics and the wacky sense of humor that is Adventure Time make the game a blast to play from start to finish. Just don't expect to be playing it all that long.

Even with its flaws, Magicka is fun and fresh, and offers a new experience for RPG fans.

Mario Tennis Open is like Jessica Alba with a giant, puss-filled zit right on the tip of her nose. Its flaws are glaring and hard to overlook – a beginner-friendly control system that harms competitive online play for purists and, more crucially, a distinct lack of imagination.

Revelations very much feels to me like a team checking off items from a list. Ezio, Altair, and Desmond are here; there's parkour; there's combat; there's a bad guy, eventually; there are puzzles; there's a big beautiful world to explore. The problem is, they never seem to cohere into a single experience, and the kind of passion and quality that has made this series so good in the past is missing.

For fans of the comics and the character, I can't think of a good reason why you shouldn't pick this game up. But understand that you'll probably feel like it could have been so much more.

The game is a faithful port of the arcade game, but the appeal to purchase it is really only for fans of the original seeking a dose of nostalgia.

A fun game. There's little to criticize here, save a price on the higher end of the XBLA spectrum, but you really can't compete with free.

MicroBot does not do anything revolutionary within the twin-stick shooter genre, but manages to inject some creativity into an otherwise standard class of games.

lilt line is an awesome little proof of concept that justifies its $5 cost with around an hour of bangin' beats. Jaded and retro gamers will enjoy the minimalist design, while dubstep fans will enjoy the fresh tracks and representation of one of electronica's up and coming genres.