Just about everything in SSX works well. It looks fantastic and is easy to play. Though there is little point to the story, for once that doesn't matter. SSX is thrilling and, most importantly, fun. And like the best things in life, it can be summed up in a very few words. Board, snow, mountain, awesome.

While some gamers may disapprove of the lack of a story-driven campaign, I believe that Unit 13 is exactly what Vita owners want while on the go. It delivers instant action, without the time consuming clutter of cut-scenes. Furthermore, the game features plenty of customisation and is challenging enough to be replayed over and over in an effort to best a highscore or simply try a different character.

Street Fighter X Tekken brings it in some places and slides by in others, yet it manages to be one of the best crossover fighting games in recent memory.

What separates the truly stupendous from the merely amazing is that often elusive je ne sais quoi. Mass Effect 3 burns brightly. But that extra spark would have transformed it from a shining star, into a blazing supernova.

If it was released for free, as a platform to hook people on paid-for DLC, Ridge Racer would be pretty cool. As it stands, at full retail price, it's one of the most preposterously ridiculous and - frankly - offensive attempts at separating a gamer from their money that we've ever seen.

The menu system for character management and upgrades is particularly well done, albeit in a style that is at odds with the rest of the game (more modern in styling).

Clearly limited time has been spent on the tracks and vehicles, due to budgetary and download size constraints perhaps, and it shows.

There's a decent game here overall. It isn't particularly difficult, and experienced gamers will be able to blow through it in a day or two, I imagine. But it looks cool, and it harks back to a simpler time, when 2D platformers ruled the roost.

A phenomenally clever game polished to a new level of perfection by the masters at Q Entertainment.

It's a good effort, and still has lots of good points to enjoy throughout the game, but unfortunately will go down in history as the weakest of the series.

This game is a bit of a conundrum: the fighting engine has been successfully translated, but then the developers did practically nothing with it. That's a big disappointment, and seriously hampers the value proposition of this roughly $80 [NZ] cartridge - not an insignificant amount of money, that's for sure.

Feels like a PS2 game. It lacks that level of polish that the Vita deserves and the game blatantly recycles the same character models and maps over and over.

While there was nothing exceptional or innovative about Binary Domain online, what worked was fine - which sums up the entire game. With the fairly significant exception of the voice recognition, what you have is a pretty good shooter.

A good game. It pays excellent homage to the film series (even though it's set before the movies), and is a really solid MMO.

Its refreshing take on platform-based gaming, humour, variety, challenge and polish are instantly - and enduringly - impressive. Not only is this one of the best games on the Vita, it's one of the best games of the year - period.

Army Corps of Hell feels more like a low-key Mini title; certainly not a full retail game being sold in stores for close to $90! The highlight of the game is probably the thrash hardcore metal soundtrack and even this won't appeal to everyone. Best to avoid this hellish title, at least at full price.

For all of these drawbacks, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an intriguing, good-looking, game that has absolutely brought a new spin to the RPG genre.

A great experience. Those who have had the joy of playing it on the PS3 or XBOX360 won't find anything new here, but for everyone else, this is one fantastic little portable title.

But without the Circle Pad Pro, it's a bit of a bumpier ride - albeit a more portable one. The four face buttons now control the camera, which is vastly inferior, and makes a lot of difference. Seriously, Nintendo can't come out with revised 3DS hardware soon enough.

Graphically the game is great, aside from the multiplayer, and the storyline is one of the most gripping and enthralling we've seen. If you were thinking of buying it for the single-player alone, you could easily give it a rent, but the multiplayer makes it worth the buy.

Trade and economic growth are explored in a simple and deeply engaging way.

It's not the most original idea for a game and there may be some technical issues to be worked out. But, from the all the unlockables, the endless mixture of clothes, rewards, weapons, mods, and kill phases like 'Let me spray you with my awesome', Gotham City Impostors has plenty of awesome to go round.

Did it engross me? Yes it did. Did it frustrate me? Yes, it did that too. Did I want to keep playing? Of course, but only because I wanted to see what happened next, not because I wanted to keep playing. Unfortunately, even for a console title that's as over-the-top as Asura's Wrath, that's an inescapable flaw.

My gaming tastes are such that I'm perfectly conditioned to fall in love with something like Journey. Keep that in mind - if you're more about visceral action or epic 40-hour experiences, you should possibly look elsewhere. But in my opinion, this is one of the best games out there that can provide you with an experience - and a memorable, highly positive one at that.

Seriously, this "game" - and I use this term lightly - is $29.90 on the NZ PSN store. If it was $2.99 I could possibly cut it some slack but, to be honest, it's not even worth the bandwidth to download it.

If you like the over-the-top, extreme nature of this series (and it's not for everyone; the pocket-protector variant of the fighting fan will probably not like it as much as the rest of us), you are going to love every ultra intense moment.

I guarantee that many of you will be surprised at how many hours of enjoyment you'll get out of this game - and this is from someone who thinks golf is just a great way to get struck by lightning.

While a couple of the games are downright boring, and a few frustratingly difficult, most do definitely have an interesting X-factor about them; even if they're ultimately hamstrung by a lack of polish.