You'll notice WWE '12's wider accessibility right when the first bell rings. Controls are far easier to grasp (they're almost as newb-friendly as WWE All-Stars') and matches flow naturally, which is great given how minimal the HUD is

You can stay busy in the pretty lengthy career mode, where you're competing in tournaments, unlocking various disciplines, and following a well-meaning but rough storyline. And there's local split-screen and online multiplayer supporting up to four players, but good luck convincing anyone else to join you in this seasonal depression.

Overall, YSFE 2012 mixes together components from EA Sports Active 2, UFC Personal Trainer, and the first Your Shape mostly well, but its polish and depth can't hide its irksome design flaw.

The controls are almost always downright woeful - mostly being either way too sensitive or barely responsive at all.

Okay, so you're mostly just blasting away at anyone not wearing your current colors, but it's still plenty addictive.

It's easy to pick nits about the weird Achievement appropriation, the fact that the games lack HD detail such as animated hair and high-quality lip-synching, and that two of the franchise's best games are absent. But the fact that three of the best stealth games ever made look even better in a $50 Xbox 360 package should put this collection on your radar.

Be prepared for a bit of disappointment, though. While Years 1–4 had something new hiding behind every doorway, much of this sequel feels too familiar.

In the heat of battle, Need for Speed: The Run generally serves up a solid and speedy arcade racing experience, with expectedly steady controls and physics. But it's consistently undone by painful rewinds and a dull campaign marked by predictable events, not to mention technical issues.

If you were curious about MvC3 but never bought it, we wholeheartedly recommend this version. But if you own the original, this $40 upgrade will probably leave you feeling more slighted than delighted. There's consolation in the fact that UMvC3 will soon be getting an extra mode (Heroes & Heralds) via free DLC; and if you're interested in being competitive in one of the most frenetic, frenzied games of all time, it's worth paying for this ride twice.

What's available here remains as ridiculously appealing as ever. It's still a thrill unique to the series to be perched six stories high, looking out across miles of meticulously rendered game world - even if that dazzling, danger-filled world has grown overly familiar, having traded what was once revolution for iterative evolution.

This feature-rich ode to the classic that started it all is an impressive upgrade - one that deserves a place in any fan's library.

Ultimately, the strength of this game lies in how it draws on the movie soundtrack: the catchy covers carry the routines, the karaoke, and even the mini-games you unlock. Lifelong fans of the Grease movie, this one's solely for you.

Though far from perfect and using some very standard gameplay mechanics, Rayman Origins is easily one of the best family-friendly games in years.

Skyrim is the kind of game you can completely lose yourself in for at least a hundred hours, even if you somehow manage to complete the main quest in fewer than twenty. If you aren't normally drawn to role-playing games, get over it - to miss out on this extraordinary gaming experience would be positively criminal.

NASCAR fan or no, you'll want to steer clear of Unleashed.

With 30 tracks and only a few dance locations, The Black Eyed Peas Experience feels lightweight compared to the similarly priced Dance Central 2, plus it's not breaking much ground. But once the beat dropped, we couldn't help but dance like fools and have a lot of fun. And damn if those songs aren't catchy.

Most disappointing is that unlike previous Rabbids games, most of the mini-games just aren't fun without multiple players. And even with them, bland activities aren't always enjoyable. With no basic story to hold everything together, anyone besides Rabbids fans will have no motivation to keep going.

One startlingly huge, polished, and downright entertaining shooter experience. Sure, we can come up with a list of things we'd love to see from the series - whether it's a revamped campaign approach or a revitalized game engine and aesthetic - but when everything here is this well-executed and offers so many enduring thrills, it's hard to knock it too much. MW3 absolutely delivers.

Fortunately, nostalgic fans can indulge in four-player split-screen, which - while offering a third as many match types - still manages to recapture some of the fun Bond games have been grasping at for the past 14 years.

The game's impressively creative in parts, but regrettably, the blend of combat and driving never feels very fluid or cohesive.

Feels like a game whose designers have found the note-perfect tone for the series while also wielding their own talents with razor-sharp precision. It's the game Volition - a studio whose successes go back 15 years to the original Descent - was born to make.

War in the North is hardly the most memorable adventure through Middle-earth, but you won't regret any of the time you spend fighting across its grim battlegrounds.

Unfortunately, only a third of the game is dedicated to re-creating Genesis-era stages, and classics like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic 3D aren't represented at all. Even worse, the game's beatable in five or six hours, with little incentive to reach 100% completion. Hopefully, Generations can spawn a sequel that fixes these flaws.

The game features split-screen and online multiplayer, but two people flailing their arms next to each other is a disaster waiting to happen. The real killer, though, is that Phelps isn't a good pick-up-and-play game. It's initially confusing, and ultimately, it's not nearly as fun as it should be.

We're not saying that multiplayer's rippling muscle excuses the solo campaign's disappointing flab. But as long as you're not dead-set against venturing online, Battlefield 3 is a tremendously satisfying way to go to war.

Crusade sports some solid ideas (a "cursed realm" you can switch to on the fly is a neat concept that doesn't quite work), but sadly, it suffers most from ho-hum pacing and rinse-repeat gameplay.

Online multiplayer rekindles fond memories of linked arcade machines, and 30 brief challenges break up the solo routine. But clunky handling and crayon visuals are a harsh reminder of why we rarely visit with the ghosts of videogame racing's past. Daytona USA was once a pace-setting leader; now it's a museum-ready relic.

Enemy paths are obvious, and at times, they'll forget to shoot at you. Meanwhile, you'll die behind cover much too often, requiring you to restart the whole level...If you can forgive these flaws, Blackwater is old-school arcade fun, and a solid step in making a hardcore Kinect game.