Kids and Family Video Games

Nintendo's popular brain-building series returns with an emphasis on short-term memory and focus in Brain Age: Concentration Training. Working on the premise that a society full of emails, text messages, and video clips has produced an information overload, Concentration Training aims to improve working memory through a variety of five-minute exercises. Dr. Ryuta Kawashima returns to guide gamers through simple math problems, matching, and cup-and-ball mini-games, among other activities, and the game offers dynamic difficulty settings that adjust to players' progress. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Drawn to Life meets Pokémon as players design their own characters, guide them through side-scrolling landscapes and dungeons, and engage in one-on-one battles in Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive! Players begin by creating their own Formees, choosing from more than 600 shapes and customizing their character's color, size, and voice. Gamers then use their stylus and touch screen to guide their Formee through a variety of themed worlds, collecting coins, opening treasure chests, laying eggs, and taking on mini-game challenges put forth by other Formees.

Players unlock themed dungeons as they explore each level, and the goal in each dungeon is to defeat other Formees, collect key-like jewels across three floors, and eventually battle boss characters to unlock special powers. Sharing creations is encouraged in Freakyforms Deluxe, either through random StreetPass encounters or through the trading of QR codes, and up to four gamers can get together to create characters at the same time in the Formee Playhouse. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Aspiring artists of all ages can learn to paint or hone their established skills with Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! An in-game tutor offers explanations behind basic art, drawing, and painting theories, and step-by-step instructions guide users through 30 different lessons. The Free Paint mode allows for full artistic expression as players use their touch screen and stylus to apply pencil, colored pencil, pastel, and paint to their drawings, and gamers can also use their 3DS camera to snap 3D photos for inspiration, or use the SpotPass feature to share art with friends. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Ubisoft's multifaceted puzzle collection heads to the 3DS for the first time with eight new activities and more than 1,200 new puzzles in Puzzler World 2012 3D. Gamers can challenge themselves with the new "Drop Zone" and "Pathfinder" puzzles, or take on bonus puzzles like "Hangman," "Chain Letters," and "Splitwords," all the while earning trophies and rewards for their accomplishments. Players can also use their stylus and touch screen to teach the game their individual handwriting for letters and numbers, and collect hint tokens for use when puzzles get too difficult. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Nintendo's flagship franchise returns to its side-scrolling roots with a new focus on coin collection in New Super Mario Bros. 2. Levels are filled with power-ups and classic koopa-kicking, goomba-squashing action as players run, jump, fly, and warp through pipes. New features include the Golden Flower power-up and special rings, which respectively transform blocks and enemies into coins, and a mask that creates a coin trail behind Mario as he runs. The game also offers local wireless two-player co-op action, and asynchronous "Coin Rush" multiplayer competitions via StreetPass. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Gamers can help the famed city of Rome grow from a small village into a great empire in 100 levels of "match-three" adventure in Cradle of Rome 2. Players match three or more items to collect resources, earn gold, and find citizens to help construct buildings and populate the city. There are eight different power-ups to help when gamers get stuck, blueprint mini-games to keep the action varied, and three difficulty levels for added challenge. Players can also earn 28 different trophies and unlock the bonus "Blitz" and "Tourney" modes. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Gamers join characters from the popular Ice Age animated films for Olympic-style, motion-controlled multiplayer action and 3D visuals in Ice Age: Continental Drift -- Arctic Games for 3DS. Continental shifting has set Manny, Sid, Diego, and the rest of the herd adrift on an island, and when they bump into a group of pirates carrying a secret treasure, the group holds an athletic competition to divvy up the riches. Players can join the herd, or the pirates, and team up with friends for local co-op or competitive events like ski jumping, ice smashing, and glacial hopping. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Released in conjunction with the three-quel feature film, Madagascar 3: The Video Game puts players in the roles of Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria, for zoologically fueled adventure in a circus tour across Europe. Through a series of mini-games, the animals perform publicity stunts at famous landmarks, as well as acts of derring-do under the big top. They'll also need to watch out for animal control officers, who can cut their circus careers short with a quick trip back to Central Park. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Nintendo's multi-talented mascot brings his ferocious forehand to the 3DS as up to four gamers can team up or square off in Mario Tennis Open. Series mainstays like Bowser, Peach, and Yoshi join in the action as players use wicked spin, execute drop shots and lobs, or step into Chance Areas to unleash supercharged Chance Shots. Gamers can choose touch-screen or button controls, and multiplayer options include local or online singles and doubles matches, automatic skill matching in "Open Match" mode, online leaderboards, and information sharing with StreetPass. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Single-seat speed machines rip around re-creations of real-world racetracks, in the Nintendo 3DS debut of Codemaster's F1 motorsport simulation. On track with annual console editions in the series, the portable game is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Formula One World Championship and includes all the teams and drivers of the 2011 season, including Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Michael Schumacher. Put together part by virtual part, the game's Formula One race cars are designed to provide fans with an authentic sense of handling and acceleration.

A career mode poses challenges on the track and off, as players guide a rookie driver to a world championship. Single players can drive through a full F1 season, and up to four can compete in Grand Prix races or time trials. The 3DS edition of F1 2011 adds a Challenge mode of play. Driving aids are available to help new players learn the courses. Other options allow solo and multiplayer drivers to choose fuel types, tires, and engine fine-tuning, and to set race distances and weather conditions. The game features all 19 tracks of the 2011 season. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide