The arcane unlock requirements will put off people who aren't already sold on the idea of playing dance games, and may even frustrate less die-hard fans. Still, if this sounds like your kind of game, it's worth the money.

Those of you who have grown accustomed to the bonus features and covet the additional accoutrements that EA has been delivering for years will be sorely discouraged by the stripped-down feeling you will get from playing through this title's limited modes.

Game of Thrones: Episode 5 - A Nest of Vipers reinforces the idea that happiness doesn't last. All of your victories in the previous episode — and the much smaller ones here — are easily reversed, and you get the feeling that the final episode will end in a Pyrrhic victory.

Like all of the HD remakes that have come out in the past few years, Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection is meant to capitalize on the nostalgia from older players who want their favorites on a current system, with the appropriate care taken during the transition. In a way, it works.

InFamous: Second Son is good but unmemorable — essentially the diner food of video games.

The deep tuning component and the long career mode make the drag racing complex and enjoyable, even for someone like me, who finds drag racing to be a fairly boring sport.

I had a lot of fun with the Career mode in Need for Speed: Undercover, and the easy-to-grasp controls really make this an accessible and fun title in the Need for Speed franchise. Don't expect a lot of innovation or new ideas, as a lot of the things that were implemented seem to be pulled from previous NFS releases, but I think race fans will be able to have some fun with this title.

If you've always craved for a bit more strategy in your Dynasty Warriors game, Kessen III may fit the bill.

Although you'll find very little that you haven't already experienced in a multitude of other platform games, Ratatouille provides a visually pleasing gaming experience with a single-player campaign of decent length and a respectable rewards system.

While the story is certainly on the light side and the sound is kind of weak, the gameplay and the puzzles more than make up for it.

IL2-Sturmovik: Birds of Prey isn't for everyone, especially not players who expect this to be the next Crimson Skies or to fill in for the next Ace Combat. Its emphasis on traditional dogfighting without frills, along with its low-key presentation, may seem a little dry alongside Jeremy Soule's stirring soundtrack, but the realistic bent of its flight mechanics and gameplay will find an audience among flight sim enthusiasts and would-be WWII pilots who want a reason to plug a flightstick into their console.

The drawing is spot-on, and if they could clean up the platforming, make a more intricate plot and present us with characters we care about, they could have a true classic on their hands.

If you can accept the studio's adventure game formula and the fairly large deviations to the canon, then Batman: The Telltale Series is a good game. The story remains gripping, and the additions to the gameplay formula make this feel more refined over the studio's previous efforts. The lack of further technical polish, however, is unfortunate; fixing those issues would've placed this game in the upper echelon of the studio's offerings. As it stands, Batman fans will certainly want to check out this title.

As stated before, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is the best way to experience what is otherwise an average platformer. The game isn't challenging, but it remains a solidly constructed platformer with improvements and changes in the right places. The game looks and sounds as great as it plays, and while it is fairly short by today's standards, that doesn't detract from the overall fun factor. For genre fans, this is a good addition to the library, even if you already have the original iteration from a few console generations ago.

Overall, Bannerman feels fresh in the way it looks and plays, and we wouldn't be too far off the mark in describing it as a 2-D Dark Souls. Fans of skill-based combat who are interested in the masterfully created retro visuals will get a short but intense journey through the gritty side of war in medieval times.

Escape From Duckov is a pleasant surprise provided you have the patience for it. The focus on solo play for an extraction shooter relieves the game of any obvious griefing from overly ambitious players. The slow progression may irk those looking for constant action, but it also will please those players who appreciate being surprised by tense standoffs that start and end quickly. Even if the concept may have started out as a joke, the game shows that it can take itself seriously and provide an enjoyable experience. Unless you absolutely need native controller support, Escape from Duckov is a game worth checking out if you've always been interested in the extraction shooter concept but want to do so without real people constantly hunting you down.

Xanadu Next is the kind of throwback action-RPG that we don't see much of anymore. It lets the story trickle out slowly while all of the needed mechanics are presented early, leaving the player without a guide much sooner than contemporary JRPGs. It helps that the gameplay is strong, and the difficulty can be appreciated more now that the public seems to dig games that punish the player. It's not a game for everyone, and some won't like the older presentation, but genre fans will appreciate that this title has an official translation and can play on more modern machines.

The $50 price tag might seem somewhat high for a game that takes one idea, tweaks it a bit, and calls it a whole new play function. However, when one takes into consideration the extensive replay value that the multiplayer functionality brings to the table, that price point seems less intimidating.

Armored Core 4 delivers more of what the series is known for: fast-paced, arcade-style mech action with highly customizable robots in which to fight. It does this with some very nice visuals to boot, although it fails to be really great with the extremely short campaign, forgettable missions/story, and a clunky user interface for the garage and shop.

Project X Zone 2 is an improvement over the original game in a lot of ways but still maintains some of its fundamental flaws.

In the end, Paperbound is a good game if you enjoy local multiplayer action.

Some frustrating puzzles and dark environments certainly take Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened down a notch or two, but the incredible story, terrific presentation and super-fun investigations are more than enough to make this title an easy recommendation for any fans of the adventure genre.

LEGO 2K Drive is a fun romp if you know what you're getting into. The racing is fast and exciting, and the catch-up code seems tuned just right. The open worlds provide a ton to do, and the freeform exploration and destruction makes driving around feel enjoyable. The amount of grind needed to make some real progression can drag down things in the intervals, when there are no story-based missions. Some of the quests that aren't strictly related to racing can be very hit-and-miss in terms of enjoyment. The presence of microtransactions is unsettling to see in the publisher's non-sports titles. If you can ensure you aren't tempted to buy new cars due to the paltry reward payouts, you'll have a very good time with this racing title.

Daymare: 1998 is a well-honed zombie experience that lacks originality but scratches the itch of those interested in the modern zombie game. It provides an alternate take on the traditional Resident Evil story, one that deals more harshly with the real-world consequences of investigating government science. Everything has a level of varnish, from environmental details to the documents that you read. Some of this must be counterbalanced with the fact that the game is a doppelganger. The well-crafted aesthetics also resemble the Resident Evil remakes, the Evil Within franchise, and countless others. Re-creation is many times easier than synthesis, allowing more time for attention to polish.

Both "Vice City" and "San Andreas" are better games, and GTA3, if you can find it, will provide almost identical play for a good $5 to $10 less.

You need to be willing to work with the game long enough for that to happen, but Armored Core V isn't engaging enough for anyone but die-hard fans of giant robot customization to actually do so.

Blood of the Werewolf is a good homage to the side-scrolling horror platformer games of yesteryear.

The career mode is excellent, and the overall presentation is well done. The fighting engine is solid, though there are a few odd mechanical choices in play, and the career mode is very deep and time-consuming in a good way.