Despite a few fresh ideas, Lego Batman 2 is, creatively, the weakest game in the Lego franchise.

There's just no way this charmless slapdash mess is worth anywhere near its asking price, much less your hard-earned recreation time.

A lightly entertaining diversion - but only when played with a controller. The optional Kinect controls can be extremely fussy: using your right hand to aim the reticle works okay, but triggering spells with your left hand often requires multiple exaggerated movements. Having to flail around to launch even the simplest attack is the very opposite of god-like.

No matter how you view the game's potentially divisive depiction of Juliet (Is her giggly, panty-flashing, stripper-pole-swinging act crassly exploitative, or just cheeky, campy fun? Lollipop's tone is frustratingly all over the map.), the gameplay seems to always fall just shy of being much more than it is.

That one missed opportunity aside, Zuma's revenge is an awesomely addictive revamp, and $10 well-spent. [Aug 2012, p.67]

As much as Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends looks the p;art--with 50-plus vehicles sporting fantastic detail inside and out--its humdrum and overly difficult career disappoints, while spotty handling and physics keep this simulation strictly for diehards. [Aug 2012, p.80]

If you've never played Virtua Fighter, this is the best entry yet, and if you're a fan, well, spend the $15. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown is still everything it was in 2007 - fluid, complex, and fun. It's just not much more.

Your journey quickly settles into an endless slog of interchangeable shootouts, broken up by little more than hold-the-door-for-me-bro tedium and boss battles that range from serviceable arena showdowns to infuriating cover-free patience-drainers.

Age can't turn lead into gold, but these games are still enjoyable - and at $10, this bundle's a real bargain.

Only diehard fans will spend more than a couple hours with the Wonder Boys, but Monster World IV is worth a look all by itself.

Varied events, sparkling social challenges, and rowdy online skirmishes make Dirt Showdown the rare spinoff that's as amazing as its much-loved predecessor, albeit in its own unique way. It's an absolute blast throughout, and proof that accessible, arcade-style thrills and spills can still deliver via superb execution.

What'll positively set your teeth on edge, though, is how any sense of breakneck speed comes as the result of a ridiculous eye-torturing wide-angle camera (not shown in screens at right). It's like racing while staring through a hotel-room peephole. Spare yourself the headache.

Haven't played Arkham City yet? By all means rush out and buy the Batman Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, which includes Revenge and the rest of the game's DLC. On its own, though, this revenge isn't cold - it's a reheated dish of bland bat.

Joy Ride Turbo is exactly what its title promises: a fast, fun experience that unfortunately runs out of value far too quickly. Even at $10, it's hard to recommend, as you could buy Sonic & Sega's All-Stars Racing from a bargain bin for just a few bucks more.

Future Soldier's campaign does lose its stealthy way a bit right at the end, and the presentation can be rough at times, just like the throwaway plot. Ultimately, though, the game shines not only for staying true to Ghost Recon's roots, but also for doing so while successfully balancing the memories of old fans with the modern expectations of new ones.

Unfortunately, the major addition for its XBLA debut - Kinect integration - is poorly implemented, leaving an otherwise shallow and dated experience.

With mostly excellent pieces, this seven-pack is an easy pickup for anyone still playing Modern Warfare 3 with pals - or seeking a good reason to dive back in.

Track-building may be entertaining, but overall, JAM's an iffy proposition made worse by its agonizing Arcade mode.

It all feels rather complicated at first, but you'll quickly settle into a satisfying groove.

Game of Thrones lacks the absorbing gameplay and polished presentation that'd help set it among the 360's finer RPGs. But those already committed to the realm won't regret the couple dozen hours they'll spend under its narrative spell.

Poor value is the real deal-breaker, though. Because Battleship weighs in at just seven single-player missions and zero multiplayer (seriously???), it's only a few hours of mindless fun, and you can easily beat it in a long afternoon. For $60, we deserve a game that sinks battleships, not wallets.

Seemingly cognizant of how tough it can be, the game gives you an extra bottle of health-restoring painkillers for every few times you restart at the same spot, but the situation is gratingly exacerbated by Max Payne 3's erratic checkpoint system. More often than not, you'll have to replay painfully long stretches of white-knuckle sequences, turning levels into chores, not treats.

Much like the main character's chest cavity, this RPG ultimately feels hollow, with no real heart. [July 2012, p.76]

The game's biggest addition - including Tails as an aid in single-player mode - gives the perfect level of balance to correct mistakes made at mach speed.

For all the game's possibilities, however, it also feels remarkably sparse at times, with a seemingly limited set of materials, animals, and enemies in the world. Minecraft is naturally a very slow and deliberate experience, but the Xbox 360 Edition is curiously based on a year-old PC beta version, and thus lacks many of the elements seen in the official release and later updates, including new animals, resources, food, enemy actions, and combat mechanics.

Hopefully, we'll see more expansions like UEFA Euro 2012 in future sports games - they do have the potential to really revitalize the game. But with half-finished rosters, missing features, and a solid-but-not-amazing world tour–style mode, this add-on never fires us up the way the original game did.

Glitches keep Sniper Elite V2 from a higher score, though, especially in the game's innovative co-op modes, where bugs kept us from completing some objectives. Hopefully, an update will fix this otherwise excellent experience.

The main reason to play? You'll be able to transfer gold earned here to your Fable: The Journey character.