Custom-built to satiate the gamer need to explore; to push against every boundary to find its limits; to suss out solutions by intuition and trial and error.
Tekken takes the cake with its ridiculous web of intrigue that makes sense of pandas battling ogres, and a ballooning roster of dinosaurs and robo-girls.
Many of the characters from the original game have been tinkered with, adding new moves and adjusting their power balance. Everything you want in an expansion.
Levels are straightforward, combat is one button and can’t-lose, and puzzles aren’t going to stump anyone. A great fit for young or inexperienced gamers.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations again puts you in the shoes of master assassin Ezio Auditore as he explores Constantinople as an older, wiser killing machine.
Super Mario 3D Land grabs the torch from Galaxy 2. You’ll be hopping on end-of-level flagpoles and collapsing bridges under Bowser’s feet like the NES original.
Has a lot of things going for it, but precision isn’t one of them. A blast in bursts; just don’t plan to be raging in the long-term unless you’re a devotee.
The latest entry in the long-running airborne action series, is a spectacle. No mean feat in the gaming world, where “over the top” is redefined weekly.
Beautiful maps, tight controls, and a satisfying progression system. Outstanding audio, and a focus on vehicles sets the stage for many one-of-a-kind moments.
Meticulously detailed tracks and cars, narration from Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, and an Autovista mode that allows you to poke around fully-featured interiors.
Supremacy MMA is in kind of a dead zone. Good since it leaves it free of competitors, but bad because interest in gaming versions of MMA seems to have cooled.
Astonishing detail brings barren but beautiful environments to life. Everything is crafted with an artistry that understands the adventure in wide-open spaces.
Brew up a cup of some strong stuff and sharpen that focus before attempting to wrap your mind around the myriad battlefield tactics, characters, and items.
A great sense of rhythm and balance: Your blades might slice through hulking blood sacks one minute then spark and clang against armored swordsmen the next.
Buggy matches, inability to connect to a match, frozen matches, post-match freezes before you’re rewarded; this beta has a weapon wheel of frustration.
The series’ tight and responsive gunplay, coupled with its addicting (and not copied nearly enough) slow-mo mechanic, makes for another great-playing game.