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.

Tokyo Jungle has the addicting gameplay to complement this rare animal takeover premise.

Unless you're desperate for some mindless local multiplayer and attach an unhealthy sentiment to the Fire Pro brand, you can leave this one in the locker room.

Torchlight 2 might not turn the genre on its head or delve drastically into any unexplored territory, but it is a fantastic action RPG and overall a blast to play, especially with friends.

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.

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.

They really don't make games like Hell Yeah anymore. It's one of the most random and oddball games I've played. It's one of those games where a bunch of wildly creative developers got together, had a bunch of fun, and made a game without ever asking "why?"

The gravity fluctuating gameplay combined with simple platforming make for devilishly difficult levels that only hardcore puzzle fans need apply for.

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita isn't only one of the best LittleBigPlanet games ever, it's one of the best games to pick up for your Vita. It's got creativity, fun, and challenge – entertainment cornerstones that most people would argue make up a great video game.

Captaining a spaceship is a dream that many gamers have had for years, and FTL pulls it off near perfectly. If the difficulty, randomness, and repetition of rougelikes doesn't scare you away, FTL will give you an experience you can't find anywhere else.

And while all these pieces are solid, reliable, and improve the product, they won't set any soccer fans' pants on fire. So do you upgrade? If you haven't since FIFA 11, then you're due. If you're a new recruit in '12, then maybe you can wait until '14.

In PES 2013 there's a distinct realism to the flow of the game, how players move, how they receive the ball, how they pass, and how they look for space. It still lacks polish in both execution on the field, and particularly execution in the menus and management to make a serious run at FIFA's crown, but PES 2013 will absolutely wow soccer purists on-the-field, and if that's important enough to you, then this is the pick in the 2013 virtual soccer stakes.

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.

But if you're a big fan of F1 – or motorsports in general – and you're up for a challenge, you can't go wrong. F1 2012 feels like it comes from a developer that truly gets the sport and has tried not just to simulate the handling of an F1 car, but capture an insider glimpse of what its like to have an F1 career. And it totally nails both.

Dogfight 1942 isn't offensively bad outside of the racial issue, it's just completely forgettable. It doesn't do anything that other games haven't already done better, so why would you waste your time?

The wacky world that Gearbox has built really shines in Borderlands 2. It doesn't just work as a means to deliver funny lines of dialogue, though. Here is an established universe providing ample free reign to contrive silly gameplay mechanics that defy both first-person shooter and role-playing game conventions in way that has me convinced we'll be seeing a lot more Borderlands in the future.

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.

Awesome gameplay and graphics. Tons of fully customizable items to unlock that you will be playing this game for years to come. Snoop Dog (or Snoop Lion). It hits all the right notes for true fighting game fans.

NHL 13 is not a bad game, don't get that idea. It's really fun when it isn't bending you over a barrel and cheating its way to victory.

Though the level of precision required to solve some puzzles is a little beyond my taste, it's great that games of this nature are starting to become so prolific that those looking for puzzles with a little more bite can find them.

Mark of the Ninja is not "the game that they were meant to make" because Klei is a talented enough studio that can do even more with different styles of 2D gameplay. Yet, the studio has not only redeemed itself, it also managed to make one of the best stealth games of this generation and also one of the best ninja games ever made.

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is one of the worst PC ports I've played. It's also one of the best games ever made, so don't let a few trivial issues push you away.

A unique blend of turn based and real time battles is squandered on bland battles and a pacing that is far too slow.

Only problem is that novelty doesn't make the game concept really workable, and thus you get a jumble of mechanics that partially invalidate themselves.

Long Road Ahead is still fantastic, and it sets up the conclusion to this series nicely. Buying and playing this episode is a no-brainer (no pun intended).

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.

There are minor issues with the game, notably the exclusion of public matchmaking, but they can be looked past when the game hits its prime and you're murdering thousands of pointy-toothed orcs.

With the exception of quirky platforming physics, there's nothing to not like in Sound Shapes. Fantastic pre-made levels and a profound level editor make the game a great value as well. Whether you're academically interested in the more experimental line of games on the PSN or you just want a unique and enjoyable platformer, you can't go wrong with Sound Shapes.