It gets the balance right between nostalgic touches and clever new twists, and never once let me down with a boring boss or too-familiar retread. In all my years of playing with the Mario gang, I've never been quite so happy to hurl myself into the unknown, and 3D World delivers challenge, surprise and joy in almost every moment.
Transistor's grace and beauty go far below skin deep
Tropical Freeze adds intelligently to the formula, with new characters that imbue subtle nuance to the gameplay, a better-tuned challenge level and an increased emphasis on replay value. These features make Tropical Freeze consistently worth coming back to, and mark it as a high point for the series.
Like Origins before it, Rayman Legends is polished, pretty and addicting. Legends has teeth — especially when it comes to invaded stages, and some later bosses almost caused me to put a controller or two into orbit. But it's hard to point to another 2D platformer that has the level of variety and quality that Rayman Legends boasts.
Valiant Hearts is an effective, playable history lesson
Lego the Hobbit complements both franchises
I couldn't pull myself away from the addictive nature of Spacebook.
It's an earnest look at life under tough economic pressure, at love when things don't go according to plan and at a creative career during its shittiest lows. It has a lot to say, and importantly, it speaks from the heart.
Escape Goat 2 is pure brain candy
NES Remix 2 makes decades-old games feel fresh and new
NES Remix is intelligent, well-designed Nintendo nostalgia
Bravely Default is a masterful blend of old and new
The Night of the Rabbit's world and characters are sweet without being cloying, while the gameplay requires serious adventure-game-logic chops. It appeals equally to innocence and experience. A few overly obscure puzzles slow the pace to a crawl, but Jerry's journey is worth taking — even if only to feel like a kid again for a little while.
Dead Rising 3 is a promising, ultimately clumsy next-gen debut
Full Bore is deeper and smarter than its simple looks belie
The Novelist captures the quiet heartbreaks of family life.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe is smarter than it looks
Yoshi's New Island earns its place in a classic series
Murdered: Soul Suspect is awash in tropes, but somehow, that's part of the charm. It's a pulpy detective tale remixed as a classic ghost story, and it works as a sort of playable B-movie.
Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is too superficial to win gold