While I quite enjoyed the story in Batman: Arkham Origins the stale gameplay left me cold. They've stripped away some of my favorite trimmings (Riddler puzzles) and the fights all start to feel the same.

The combat system is leaps and bounds above the first game’s, but things like pausing for spell animations and disjointed, eye-watering lighting and texture palettes keep the interest level down.

While the Star Wars heart strings aren't pulled at with the same tenderness as the LEGO Star Wars Complete Saga, there is still plenty of genuine fun and exciting core Star Wars goodness that this is a game any true fan shouldn't miss.

If that isn't a pair of dream tracklists, I don't know what is.

Iron Triangle doesn't attempt anything especially new, but it does what it does so well that it's well worth spending a year trying to finish everything.

As essentially a "pack-in" title with the Move, it is a great showcase. The sports offered highlight the range of movements the Move supports, and the simple games and challenges have that addictive quality that keeps you coming back to them.

It's a racing game where the racing isn't even right thanks to cars that are just too squirrely and AI that blatantly cheats on top of rubber banding up behind you. Any fun the game had in the start is sucked right out by the end.

While by no means a bad game, Dead Space 3 fails to capture the same tension and atmosphere of the previous games. A woefully broken checkpoint system hurts cooperative play, which is a shame given how many modes there are to explore with a friend.

For $20, you’ll be getting a fantastic collection of games and a bit of history to go with some of the bigger ones. Hopefully future collections will add a bit more in the history department, but for now, this is an admirable start.

Plenty of old-school classics have held up far better, and while there's still fun to be had, the rest of the game's painful pacing and conversations hurt more than the good parts help.

It does the film justice, working you into the storyline in a convincing way and then leaving you with just as much to do after the movie is over. For that EA is to be commended, particularly the Redwood Shores studio, which I never thought would get it together.

An excellent start to their latest episodic adventure.

A good game show comes down to a handful of things; a good way of equalizing all players regardless of skill (but still allowing those that are most knowledgeable to have some advantage), good question variety, engaging modes or rounds and a presentation that wraps it all up. Buzz! has all of these in spades.

While we certainly wouldn't mind seeing a Super GT update in the near future (mmmmm... airport track...), we'll gladly take a Revo sequel too. Next time, though, the game absolutely must pack in a little more in the way of extras and a deeper online mode.

Disney Infinity raises the bar on pre-teen action adventure games by offering varied content with the right challenge level for young gamers. It's also a naked attempt to grab money that makes it a bit distasteful. I'm not sure Walt would approve.

It's not the most perfect fighter, nor are all the extras particularly interesting, but what's here is the finest example of what American fighting game developers can produce, and if you're any kind of MK -- old or new -- there's enough here to warrant a purchase. And then some.

This is the best execution of the ideas that were first introduced in Underground, and so long as you didn't hate those games or have gotten burned out, this is a solid, if slightly underwhelming entry into the series.

Well well well, a licensed game that's actually worth the plastic it's burned onto. Hell, it's actually a decent fighting game. Shallow, perhaps, but still a great party game and solid enough that you want to explore the different modes.

DiRT Showdown is the most fun I've had with a racing game since Burnout Paradise, a great looking game that nails the entertainment aspect of video gaming head-on.

There’s a good chance that this will be the final chapter in the series (as the ending suggests), and if it is, there’s probably no better way to close up the story and give the fans what they were looking for: closure.

The PSP version is ultimately the best of all of them because it contains the least amount of actual, straight basketball, but at least the PS3 version's sim aspects are solid enough to handle plenty of repeat plays and all the additional free downloadable content.

For those of you who keep the N64 hanging around for some wrestling action, feel free to retire your old buddy. This game is a must-buy for wrestling fans and fans of fighting games should give it a second look even if they're not interested in the sport.

If you like SingStar, but have always wished it had more hip-hop, then this is the game for you. I know that sounds like a facile verdict, but it's an inescapable one.

While they're certainly not bad games by any means, familiarity breeds contempt, and I'm just starting to get irked by the lack of freshness.

For what it is, Pursuit Force certainly accomplishes all it set out to do, which may not have been especially lofty. It's a pure action movie boiled down into a game, and at that it succeeds very, very handily.

Mafia 2 is a step backward for this franchise, failing to innovate or learn from the mistakes of the original. A nice setting and potentially interesting story is wasted by a lack of creativity and polish.

The Ace Combat games nail the rush of pulling g's and kicking on afterburners, that much will never change. But then, little else has changed too, and without an online component, it feels a bit too much like an expansion.

The voice acting bounces between perfectly decent and sometimes stilted and even a little embarrassing at times.

No, it doesn't stay true to the franchise at all, yet Syndicate still manages to impress with both a well executed artistic vision and a thoughtfully implemented co-op mode that takes some fresh approaches.

If you’ve played "Front Mission 3," play Front Mission 4. There’s more game, more strategy, and a slightly better presentation, but done expect anything new.

Some, even those in our office, have passed the game off as a weak puzzler in light of some of the more impressive stuff like Lumines, but I'll be damned if it isn't something different and perfectly suited for a high-powered portable medium. Go buy it.

This is portable Katamari, and it's fun in small spurts. Under the surface, though, there's an inescapable feeling that the series is losing some of its magic.

Dead Head Fred's greatest strength is its humor. The world that was created is almost depressingly dark, but the biting humor and incredibly smart writing keep it light enough that you want to see if you can make everything better.

Shank is good, but it could have been a classic with a little fine-tuning.

The only thing Thieves in Time does wrong is not try hard enough. Sanzaru didn't deviate enough from the PS2 plan and didn't take the time to create enough unique content. A lateral move from the previous entries in the series.

The card battle experiment was a novel one, but the result is an unbalanced, unforgiving mess that will test your patience while you try to piece through a convoluted story. Strategy fans may dig it, but everyone else will do well to stay away.

A crap port of a great game is still a crap port. The good game part helps, yes, but when everything about the way the game plays on the PS2 feels like a rush job, it doesn't really instill a feeling of satisfaction -- if if the game is only $20.

Simplistic combat, trial and error stealth levels and a climax that seems to hit a bit too late all add up to an experience that falls a bit flat. Experience Rome as a solid rental, but all but the most patient will likely feel cheated for a full-price entry.

Nostalgia can only take you so far as DuckTales: Remastered proves. I appreciate the homage to a NES Classic but games have moved so far beyond this simple structure that it's more frustration than fascination at this point.

a game made for geeks. Even ignoring the steampunk and fantasy element, the whole process of collecting cards and doing battle with them is incredibly dorky, but to be honest, the game is so much fun to play and after about an hour of futzing around, fairly easy to understand that you'll take any lumps just to find someone to play a game with online.

To have waited for this long though... we probably should have gotten a little more polish and originality for the price tag.

Your mileage with the game will be directly proportional to how quickly you glom onto the basic design concept and let it hook you. If blowing stuff up and watching an ever-increasing score next to an ever-dwindling clock isn't something that at least <I>sounds</I> interesting, you're probably best left to feeding your "Lumines" jones.

Developers, take note: this is how a handheld shooter is done. Visually pleasing, aurally satisfying and one of the most surprising conversions/upgrades the PSP has seen yet, CCC feels totally at home on the PSP.

This is a game that, for all intents and purposes, is an online experience almost exclusively -- or at the very least a multiplayer one. Yes, there is a single-player component, but it's the warm up. The real fun here is in playing against other people.

The most damning thing to say about Tiger Woods 2014 is that it gives you no reason to upgrade from prior versions. With a bevy of overpriced DLC and scaled back modes there isn't a whole lot to recommend in this entry compared to earlier ones.

Beenox deserves a lot of praise for making great use of a license turning this into the best Spider-Man game since Spider-Man 2, however a few nagging technical issues keep it from getting beyond the status of "just" a great Spider-Man game.

No, it's not a universally awesome list, but CCC is certainly packed with enough gems that it justifies the measly $20 entry price. And in the end, that's what it all comes down to: bang for the buck. CCC has plenty of it.

Capcom continues to thumb its nose at long time series fans. Not only have they abandoned any pretense of tension and fear, they've dredged up tired old storylines and shifted the game solidly into Gears of War territory. Let the series die!

The story, in the end, putts out into just about nothing, with only the Personal Actions bits giving it any real endearing qualities, but the actual trip, the experience is well worth the cost of entry.

With a bit more work, this could absolutely revitalize the series, but right now only the brave need apply.

If you aren't already a fan of this franchise Disgaea D2 won't draw you in to its weird world. Series fans will find the familiar here and NIS went out of their way to provide plenty of jokes just for the real fans.

This is technical racing at its best. Sure, it has an absolutely mammoth difficulty to overcome, but they're lessons that actually make you a better driver, and as one of the most exacting sims out there, it's like almost nothing else.

Destroy All Humans isn't a bad game, it's a good game stretched a little too thin with not enough engaging story layered between the missions. Hopefully the sequel will give us a bit more to play around with, but this is a definite rental.

Throne of Agony doesn't do anything that hasn't been seen in the genre before. Luckily, it does what it does very, very well -- well enough that there isn't a better hack 'n slash on the PSP right now.

No, it's nothing new, but what it does, it does so well that you can't help but be sucked into this world. The action is near-perfect and the balance of visuals to combat to RPG elements is utterly enchanting.

Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations squeezes every ounce it can from the Naruto franchise and leverages it well, making it the perfect game for fans of the series. Fight fans may find its simplicity disappointing, but not without its charms.

There's enough core racing here to entertain for a while, but unlike Gran Turismo, there's not enough universal appeal to make it a buy to anyone but serious riders.

It's not entirely new, no, but Katamari Forever manages, if nothing else, to be the most packed of the games.

The change in publishers doesn't mean any changes to the core Yuke's WWE experience. The new Wrestlemania modes should appeal to anyone who's been a wrestling fan at some point over the last 30 years.

A labor of love in every sense, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock dares to try something new and succeeds in spades.

If you can find it on another platform, do so. If not, this is still a hell of a way to present a basic strategy game, and one that mixes equal parts of presentation with gameplay. If only it didn't have to dip so much into one when the other was lacking.

It fares no better than the last PS3 SingStar release (save for perhaps offering a little more widespread appeal), and the PS3 version of the game simply shouldn't exist outside of the SingStore.

By far the best Spider-Man game ever made, and there have been plenty. The presentation, dialogue, storyline and characters all come together to make a living, breathing comic, and it's nothing short of spectacular.

Fireteam Bravo 3 is definitely not a flawless portable experience, however that doesn't mean that it's not a ton of fun to let your team breach and clear rooms full of terrorists.

I'm sorry, but this isn't Gran Turismo -- it isn't even a good clone of a GT game. It's some kind of weird, neutered offspring that lacks all of the attraction yet tries to boast all of the basic numbers.

It’s not easy to deliver role-playing diehards nowadays with a fresh take on their beloved genre, but Devil Summoner quite ably lives up to the challenge. It’s as engrossing as it is amusing, and for as many hours as you’ll be pouring into it, makes for a wholly entertaining experience.

It can honestly be said that de Blob 2 will be fun game for any age gamer. Whether you want some colorful platformming or just want a fun game to veg-out to after work - de Blob 2 will fit the bill!

It's a return to the PlayStation for Dead or Alive, but not an especially triumphant one. This is a great looking game that fails to separate itself from a crowded field of fighters and relies a bit too much on a tired gimmick.

As you can appreciate the humor and enjoy pure arcade shooting, there’s really no reason not to pick this game up.

There's tons of potential here, but it's mired by a lack of variety, pacing that charges through important bits, and a lack of distinct personalities or identifiable characters. It's decent, but what's there wasn't used nearly well enough.

Yes, Tumble is plain, but that just highlights the original gameplay mechanics and addictive nature of figuring out how to best complete each challenge. You won't find more bang for your buck among the Move launch titles.

A pure, unadulterated action flick boiled down into its simplest parts, Extreme Justice wantonly flaunts its ignorance of depth or basis in reality and as a result walks away a top-notch portable effort, and a damn fine follow-up to the original.

One of the better collections, Namco Museum was born to be ported to the PSP. The updates are solid and the gameplay's perfect for short trip. Stop reading this and go grab a copy.

FlatOut 2 may not do much to improve the formula that the original created, but it refines it, deepens it, and adds so much stuff to do that you won't find yourself nearly as tired of things as soon as the first effort. It's not new, no, but it's a blast.

Go buy Hammerin' Hero, especially if you've been whining about the lack of good PSP games. This is one of them. You need it.

The pacing, boss designs and core gameplay are pick up and play easy, but with all the unlockable goodies doled out for replaying the game and finishing up levels with a dead aim and speedy trigger finger offer enough for those perfectionists to get the most out of the game.

LittleBigPlanet Karting jumps ModNation Racers up to the next level and gives the PS3 a viable competitor to the Nintendo karting powerhouse. The creation tools shine as the best in the business.

A good game that suffers from being just a bit too rough around the edges and too short overall to be a must-buy. It is however a definite rental and for anyone looking for a nice, short but visceral experience.

The visuals and audio could have been better, as could the track list, but what's here is certainly worth the $20 asking price.

It's not perfect -- not by a long shot -- nor is it without frustrations, but these are inherent problems with the PSP itself for the most part, and one could argue that the game's length is perfectly suited for a handheld. Just be ready to take the good with the bad.

Ignoring the tacked-on 9/11 vibe, Riot Response manages to be a first-person shooter with enough new stuff to make it a worthwhile experience. It may not be a looker, and some of the characters might seem a little cookie cutter, but it's still a blast.

A great portable title.

Bizarre localization conundrums aside, this is a solid game through and through. It has more charm and character than a vast majority of RPGs being released these days and gives us a fresh new take on an already-innovative game from years ago.

By the end of the game, I didn't give a crap about finding any more red coins or killing another 90 enemies, I just wanted out. To have a game transform from something fresh and enticing into another drab, boring, overworked action game is something I've not had the displeasure of watching too many times.

The game's pitched a bit too far towards the hardcore crowd that's already spent plenty of time the arcade version, which adds more replay value if you get really into things, but more beginner tracks would have been nice.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine might not be the most original title, but what it does it does very, very well.

Snoopy isn't loaded with depth; you'll likely see everything you need to see the first time around, making it a rather shallow game, but while it lasts, there is, surprisingly, fun for all ages to be found here. Yes, I'm just as shocked as you are.

This is a story worth telling, but you'll be beaten and abused while you try to listen to it.

Sideways: New York separates itself with it gravity tricks and keen aesthetics, but comes charging back to the pack with its mediocre gameplay and slightly repetitive content. There's a lot of nice glitz here but not much substance.

While not nearly as addictive as PixelJunk Monsters, FluffyLogic has done a hell of a time making a tower defense game that is uniquely their own.

The first game that offers an honest-to-goodness single-player experience that uses the tried-and-true gameplay from almost a decade of games to reinvigorate dancing solo.

Make no mistake, Red Card 20-03 is NOT a soccer sim, though it does a good job of recreating a surface representation of the game. It IS an incredibly fun, addictive and enjoyable experience.

The only complaint that I have is that the rap meter still seems to be a little off, so even when I swear I was dead on, I was dinged.

A fantastic distillation of the series' classic gameplay and KOF 2003 does a wonderful job of trying to update the formula without breaking things too much, but this is after all a classic collection, and should be taken as such.

A very solid $20 offering. It's nothing that will sell a PSP, but as a impulse bargain buy, it should keep most very, very happy -- provided they like pinball. REALLY like pinball.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is not a new game. It's old stuff with new bits.

Impressively addictive, and manages a quiet grace about itself in presentation -- despite being about smashing the crap out of every moving thing in sight. It's just that without any online options, very little in the way customization and a set of races that towards the end of the game begin to feel a bit stale, it's hard to recommend this as a full-price option.

Old-school to it's core, God Hand isn't perfect, nor is it the kind of game that will please everyone, but buy into the world and the characters, dig into the combo system and enjoy the quirky humor here and you're bound to have a good time.