Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 manages to turn dark material into something lighthearted and fun, but it never quite achieves the magical goofiness that its predecessor does.

Few other games with as many miles under their belts look and feel this good. A fresh coat of paint is all this game needed to remind the world how Bungie brought shooters out of the stone age.

Super Mario 3D Land is a great platformer with lots of gameplay and fantastic visuals, slightly overshadowed by some awkward camera issues.

Much like its predecessors: a bombastic but brief single player campaign coupled with laser-focused multiplayer.

Skyward Sword manages to honor 25 years' of gaming history while simultaneously feeling relevant for anyone new to the ways of Zelda - or those who'd perhaps grown a bit tired of hanging out with Link.

Steelport is a glorious sandbox with fun around every corner and the well-written story and easy-to-use design make Saints Row 3 a fantastic package.

An absolutely first-rate roleplaying game that combines an abundance of content with an abundance of quality. The outdated design elements are unfortunate but not so distracting that it ruins the depth of the story, the openness of the setting, or the visceral joys of combat.

A good, solid platformer with several fun quirks, but has an issue with reusing the same gameplay elements for some of the stages and a rollercoaster-style of difficulty level.

Snowblind Studios delivers an experience that will satisfy even the staunchest Tolkien purist, and playing through the new story with your friends is fun even though the action and UI is not as impressive as the lore.

Despite the unstable camera, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a hilarious action-adventure with a lot of variety between the platforming, environmental puzzles and hack-and-blast action, but unless you're a hardcore Ratchet & Clank fan, you won't get the full experience playing it by yourself.

Battlefield 3's multiplayer continues to excel at providing a FPS experience beyond just shooting each other with handguns. The single-player barely holds up.

A brilliant romp. The controls can be frustrating at times, but the overall journey is exceptional.

An action-heavy realization of what makes Batman such a compelling hero, complete with a fascinating world, a smart story and loads of rewards for exploring it all.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is solid fun for anyone wanting to experience cinematic dogfighting, though subsequent playthrough are going to reveal the smoke and mirrors behind the illusion.

Another Professor Layton game, another bit of puzzling brilliance. Some of the brain teasers feel a bit recycled - instead of foxes and chickens, you're shuttling dogs and cats across the river, for example - but there's more than enough variety to warrant doggedly tracking down every last one. But if you only solve the ones you need to move the story forward, that's ok, too.

Playing as NBA legends in their prime is awesome, and the My Player improvements are great, but the amalgamation of modes and features doesn't transcend the genre like last year's game did.

An above-average brawler/platformer, held back by issues with repetition and missed potential, and a severe lack of J Jonah Jameson.

Genesis is only successful at translating the intrigue of underhanded diplomacy that characterizes Martin's books, but the poor mission design and interface balances out to a firmly mediocre game.

If you know you're the kind of player that can appreciate the depth and difficulty of Dark Souls' experience, you should run out and buy it right now.

With a running time of just about 4 hours from start to finish, it seems obvious that you're meant to play X-Men Destiny with all three characters, but there's no reason to. It's repetitive, ugly, stupid, and boring.

If you haven't picked up a copy of Madden in a while, 12 is a lot of fun. If you're still getting fun out of more recent versions, there's nothing here you can't live without.

A brilliant remake, Star Fox 64 3D sports all the fun and fast-paced action of the original with an excellent visual redesign and only a few minor drawbacks.

Space Marine combines gameplay elements to nail the feel of being a 7 foot armored tool of destruction. The game will simply leave you wanting more in both good and few bad ways.

Despite some lingering flaws, the gameplay is fantastic in both single and multiplayer. A big part of the game's audience won't care about the lack of variety or depth among the characters, but the monotonous tone still holds the game back from being as great as it otherwise might have been.

Its rough edges will distract and annoy you, but Dead Island's quest-based zombie slay-a-thon is still loads of fun. There's tons to do, plenty of toys, and the chance to pick up and play with buddies is always appreciated.

Achron will probably be the most unique RTS you'll play this year. The implementation of free-form time manipulation really takes the genre in some new and interesting directions, but only if you're willing to work through some flaws.

The game hits on a lot of levels; it's challenging, full of charm, and genuinely fun. I just wish it wasn't over quite so soon.

A visually stunning game with simply fun action and challenging platforming, El Shaddai is only slightly marred by the death system and unoriginal mechanics.