Lumines remains challenging without being punishing. You'll get better and better the more you play and you will be rewarded with new visuals and new experiences all along. I enjoyed my time with Lumines Electronic Symphony and it has guaranteed a permanent spot on my Vita rotation; I just wish it had done more this time around.

Asura's Wrath wears its anime influences proudly on its sleeve and it is a better game for it.

Touch My Katamari isn't a revolution for the series, but it does add enough odds and ends to keep the series (excuse me) rolling along. The quirky and bizarre visuals are still here, the solid gameplay persists and you'll still find rolling up sumo wrestlers funny. At least I do.

For as great as Alan Wake's American Nightmare starts out, it ends in an unsatisfying, cliffhanger fashion. I loved the setting, loved the action, but felt Remedy didn't tell their story to the best of their abilities; confounding story twists, half-ideas and a quick resolution hold this game back from making an impact.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir is an interesting experiment in AR gaming that expands the possibilities of the 3DS beyond that of just a gaming handheld.

It's blistering fast, pounds the pulse in all the right ways and scratches that racing itch.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning just isn't fleshed out enough to be the product of the three visionaries behind it. The story isn't concrete enough for anyone to feel engaged in it, the art design falls flat due to the handful of repetitive enemies and the combat is halted by strange choices in enemy AI and attributes.

The series is in need of a heavy overhaul, but SoulCalibur V isn't the installment to deliver it.

If you're going into Operation Raccoon City for the campaign, you'll likely be a bit disappointed, as I was, but if you're looking for a multiplayer game that you can jump into with friends, you'll find much to enjoy. The game isn't perfect, but the developers really tried to tweak the multiplayer formula and they succeeded in creating several fun modes that are action-packed and unpredictable.

Yakuza: Dead Souls is a fun departure for the Yakuza series, but it's hindered by some pretty lousy controls, a temperamental camera and a few other odds and ends.

There's something to be said about a game that loads you up with infinite missiles and a sky full of bogeys; Top Gun: Hard Lock is high on intensity and low on reality and it's rather fun because of that.

The perfection of Metal Gear Solid 3's stealth espionage gameplay is simply lost in its translation to the 3DS platform.

Crush 3D has intriguing game mechanics and concepts, but the execution of the entire package makes the game feel like more of an overextended tutorial than a complete game.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is a collection of great ideas, but the focus feels a little too stretched and each individual feature is missing the hook it needs to keep the attention on it.

Doublesix's All Zombies Must Die! has major problems that almost destroy what little good the game has going for it. The spiritual successor to Burn Zombie Burn, All Zombies Must Die! throws in story and dialogue just to say it did, and it doesn't hide it very well.

Ridge Racer is more of a proof of concept than full title; the game has a slim amount of content and its best aspects require an online connection, meaning if you're taking your racing on the go, you're going to be disappointed.

I Am Alive is a strong game premise that really fails to launch. Its great mood and solid combat system are overcome with poor design choices and story that just goes nowhere. I can't recommend it to anyone but the most ardent of supporters or diehard fans of The Road or other destroyed world apocalyptic fiction.