New Releases

The Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles series receives a complete makeover for its second appearance on Wii. Set one thousand years after the first title, the game's world is populated by hordes of monsters as well as competing tribes that are experimenting with science and technology. While magic has been outlawed throughout the realm, a few select individuals have shattered crystals in their bodies, imbuing them with mystical powers. You are cast in the role of one such crystal bearer, a young mercenary named Layle, whose mission is to see that the airship Alexis arrives to its destination in one piece. This kicks off an adventure that will have Layle journeying across outdoor regions and within trap-filled dungeons. The motion-sensing controls make use of Layle's crystal-enhanced powers, allowing him to solve puzzles, battle creatures, and explore his surroundings by grabbing and manipulating items or characters with the Wii Remote's infrared pointer. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Activision's third band-centric Guitar Hero release follows rock group Van Halen during its formative years with David Lee Roth as lead singer, but without original bassist Michael Anthony. As with previous titles focusing on Aerosmith and Metallica, Guitar Hero: Van Halen features 3D modeled versions of each band member as well as signature-style moves, clothing, and instruments from the past and present. Complete a solo tour on bass, guitar, drums, or vocals, or team up with up to three friends for the full band experience. In addition to Van Halen's biggest hits, 19 songs from such artists as Queen, Weezer, blink-182, the Offspring, and Queens of the Stone Age are included. Among the 25 featured songs from Van Halen are "Jump," "Hot for Teacher," "Panama," "Little Guitars," "Cathedral," "Spanish Fly," and "Eruption." ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Aspiring beauticians can style hair, apply cosmetics, and perform soothing massages on customers in Salon Superstar. Players use the stylus and touch screen to pencil in eyeliner, tweeze eyebrows, and apply lipstick, among other activities, as they make their way through four different game modes and a variety of mini-games. ~ All Game Guide

PopCap's word-based puzzler brings its mix of match-three gameplay and Scrabble-like spelling to DS screens for the first time in Bookworm. Players are given a grid full of lettered tiles, with the goal of connecting at least three letters to form words and feed Lex the Bookworm's insatiable appetite. Spelling longer words, words with uncommon letters, and using reward tiles earns gamers extra points, but burning tiles must be removed from the board before they reach the bottom of the screen, or else the game is lost. There are 20 themed book collections and 18 library rooms to unlock, and players can test their vocabulary in "Classic," "Action," or wireless "Multiplayer" modes. ~ All Game Guide

Set on the fantastical sci-fi planet of Pandora, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game is a third-person adventure with RPG-style character development, featuring predominant shooting and melee combat action. The game's story poses challenges to the player's moral perspectives, as well. A prequel to the movie, set two years earlier, Avatar: The Game follows its own original storyline. Humans have come to the planet to harvest valuable minerals. They find themselves at war with the dominant native species, the Na'vi, a humanoid race of great size and strength but only stone age technological development. The futuristic humans have developed a method by which they can remotely take control of a mindless, genetically engineered Na'vi body, and experience existence through this avatar.

Players take the role of a character named Able Ryder, who is a signals specialist soldier with the human Resource Development Agency, or "RDA." From mission to mission, the game moves from Ryder's experiences as a human soldier, and those in the role of a Na'vi avatar. Players can chose their character's gender and customize appearance, and add skills and abilities as they gain experience and power by progressing through the adventure. They will eventually face a crucial choice, similar to that of Jake Sully in the film: To remain loyal to the RDA, and lead the human forces to claim control of the planet, or to assume the identity of their avatar and side with the Na'vi, leading the native people to expel the invading humans from their sacred grounds.

As a human soldier, the game plays like a 3D third-person shooter. Players have access to high-tech weapons and equipment to help them survive in the brutal environments of Pandora, where hungry, dinosaur-sized creatures hunt and lurk all throughout the surreal wilderness. Humans can also use vehicles, including large, heavily armed, walking mech suits that are more than a match to the sheer physical strength of the towering natives. In the role of Ryder's ten-foot tall Na'vi avatar, players excel in melee combat, swinging a mighty battle staff, and gain expertise with a (truly) long bow as well. Na'vi also have all the advantages of a native people, and even the indigenous creatures may come to their aid, if properly coaxed. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is an action-adventure played from an isometric perspective, following the series' landmark DS game Phantom Hourglass and starring a similarly expressive, cartoonish Link as its hero. In some platform puzzle-solving sequences, players use both touch-screen directions and traditional D-pad and buttons to control two characters at the same time. For example, Link may need to distract guards while Zelda sneaks by, or a Phantom companion may need to inhabit the body of an almost-invulnerable statue, to stand in the way of a lava flow and allow Link to pass. Some overworld parts of the game are played, quite literally, as an on-rails shooter, with players using the stylus and touch-screen to aim ranged cannon attacks at enemies and obstacles, as Link's train moves forward down the tracks automatically. When the tracks split, players will need to choose which direction to take.

Set about 100 years after Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks plays out in a world that barely remembers the legends of a demon king, who was defeated and bound with powerful chains many lifetimes earlier. These magical chains still run far and wide across the landscape, but oblivious to their true purpose, the people now use them as train tracks to move carts full of cargo. As the story begins, Link is set to start his new career as a train engineer, when he is told by Princess Zelda that the magic tracks have been disappearing, and that she fears there is some great evil at work. The two escape from Zelda's suspicious overseers in the castle and ride Link's train as far as the tracks take them. The adventure leads to ruins and dungeons below ground, where Link must battle enemies and solve puzzles, using a whip as both a weapon and a tool to extend his reach. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Dave Seville's famous singing sciuridae perform on Nintendo DS in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, a rhythm-driven music game based on the 2009 holiday season 20th Century Fox feature film. The play of the game involves movement and timing, to the beat of popular songs sung by the hyper-falsetto-ed trio. In time with the music, icons move toward stationary symbols in the center of the screen, and players must try to tap the stylus in time as the icons hit the symbols. Other modes of play involve side-scrolling symbols in the forefront of the stage; players must move a cursor up and down to collect musical notes while avoiding other symbols. The play mechanics are similar to those of other rhythm-based games, such as Elite Beat Agents, using a basic "tap in time to the music" dynamic as in Dance Dance Revolution, except that the input is made with stylus strokes on the touch screen instead of with steps on a floor mat.

Taking direction from the 1980s Ruby-Spears Productions cartoon, the story of the film and video game follows the three music-star brothers to school, where they meet three signing chipmunk sisters of comparable talent and tenor. The Chipettes, as they come to be called -- Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor -- become both rivals and love interests for Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. In the game, single players can perform as any of the six characters, or as many as three DS gamers can play together over a local wireless connection. A story mode ties the musical mini-game performances together, following the Chipmunks and Chipettes to 11 rock & roll venues around the world. The set list includes songs made famous in the 60 years of Chipmunks stardom, as well as more contemporary hits such as "Ain't No Party," "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," and "The Macarena," based on recordings by the original artists. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Set on the fantastical sci-fi planet of Pandora, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game is a third-person adventure with RPG-style character development, featuring predominant shooting and melee combat action. The game's story poses challenges to the player's moral perspectives, as well. A prequel to the movie, set two years earlier, Avatar: The Game follows its own original storyline. Humans have come to the planet to harvest valuable minerals. They find themselves at war with the dominant native species, the Na'vi, a humanoid race of great size and strength but only stone age technological development. The futuristic humans have developed a method by which they can remotely take control of a mindless, genetically engineered Na'vi body, and experience existence through this avatar.

Players take the role of a character named Able Ryder, who is a signals specialist soldier with the human Resource Development Agency, or "RDA." From mission to mission, the game moves from Ryder's experiences as a human soldier, and those in the role of a Na'vi avatar. Players can chose their character's gender and customize appearance, and add skills and abilities as they gain experience and power by progressing through the adventure. They will eventually face a crucial choice, similar to that of Jake Sully in the film: To remain loyal to the RDA, and lead the human forces to claim control of the planet, or to assume the identity of their avatar and side with the Na'vi, leading the native people to expel the invading humans from their sacred grounds.

As a human soldier, the game plays like a 3D third-person shooter. Players have access to high-tech weapons and equipment to help them survive in the brutal environments of Pandora, where hungry, dinosaur-sized creatures hunt and lurk all throughout the surreal wilderness. Humans can also use vehicles, including large, heavily armed, walking mech suits that are more than a match to the sheer physical strength of the towering natives. In the role of Ryder's ten-foot tall Na'vi avatar, players excel in melee combat, swinging a mighty battle staff, and gain expertise with a (truly) long bow as well. Na'vi also have all the advantages of a native people, and even the indigenous creatures may come to their aid, if properly coaxed.

As in special theater screenings of the film, Avatar: The Game can be played with stereoscopic three-dimensional display, using televisions and polarized viewing glasses that support the contemporarily cutting-edge technology. In the standard visual mode, the game runs on any TV that works with the console. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Set on the fantastical sci-fi planet of Pandora, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game is a third-person adventure with RPG-style character development, featuring predominant shooting and melee combat action. The game's story poses challenges to the player's moral perspectives, as well. A prequel to the movie, set two years earlier, Avatar: The Game follows its own original storyline. Humans have come to the planet to harvest valuable minerals. They find themselves at war with the dominant native species, the Na'vi, a humanoid race of great size and strength but only stone age technological development. The futuristic humans have developed a method by which they can remotely take control of a mindless, genetically engineered Na'vi body, and experience existence through this avatar.

Players take the role of a character named Able Ryder, who is a signals specialist soldier with the human Resource Development Agency, or "RDA." From mission to mission, the game moves from Ryder's experiences as a human soldier, and those in the role of a Na'vi avatar. Players can chose their character's gender and customize appearance, and add skills and abilities as they gain experience and power by progressing through the adventure. They will eventually face a crucial choice, similar to that of Jake Sully in the film: To remain loyal to the RDA, and lead the human forces to claim control of the planet, or to assume the identity of their avatar and side with the Na'vi, leading the native people to expel the invading humans from their sacred grounds.

As a human soldier, the game plays like a 3D third-person shooter. Players have access to high-tech weapons and equipment to help them survive in the brutal environments of Pandora, where hungry, dinosaur-sized creatures hunt and lurk all throughout the surreal wilderness. Humans can also use vehicles, including large, heavily armed, walking mech suits that are more than a match to the sheer physical strength of the towering natives. In the role of Ryder's ten-foot tall Na'vi avatar, players excel in melee combat, swinging a mighty battle staff, and gain expertise with a (truly) long bow as well. Na'vi also have all the advantages of a native people, and even the indigenous creatures may come to their aid, if properly coaxed.

As in special theater screenings of the film, Avatar: The Game can be played with stereoscopic three-dimensional display, using televisions and polarized viewing glasses that support the contemporarily cutting-edge technology. In the standard visual mode, the game runs on any TV that works with the console. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Based on former U.S. Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko's book series, Rogue Warrior is a first-person shooter with an emphasis on tactical warfare and real-world combat scenarios. Players take control of Marcinko himself in a series of covert missions set behind enemy lines in North Korea. The object is to lead a SEAL team safely across North Korea's shipyards, prison camps, submarine pens, and other locales to return back to South Korea. Designed using Unreal 3 technology, Rogue Warrior offers multiple ways to complete objectives by featuring wide-open environments and dynamically changing events. Ten multiplayer modes are included with a choice of more than 200 day and night maps, while the main campaign can be completed alone or cooperatively with a group of up to four players. The latter option lets friends drop out or join in at any time without requiring the rest of the group to pause the game or to save progress. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes sends the titular franchise in a new direction, adding anime-inspired art and a new match-three puzzle mechanic to selected pieces of its role-playing and strategy forebears. Taking place before the events of Heroes of Might & Magic V, Clash of Heroes follows the young adventurers Anwen, Aidan, Godric, Nadia, and Fiona as they embark on five different quests set in a world of medieval fantasy. Role-playing elements let players recruit heroes, learn new spells, and collect artifacts as they explore the world of Ashan, while turn-based puzzle battles find gamers matching three-or-more columns to form attack squads, and rows of three-or-more to create defensive walls. Those looking for more than the single-player campaigns can join a friend for local wireless head-to-head battles. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

A key feature introduced in the Reflex edition of Rainbow Studios' off-road series is independent control of the rider from the ride. The game's trick system allows players to make their character perform free form switches, extensions, and more, while the vehicle continues along its own trajectory. Under the new system, players can also control their riders to shift weight and momentum and pull their bike or four-wheeler back from the brink of a big spill, staying on track and out of the ditch. The control system is designed for intuitive movements, with high-flying hilltop stunts and balanced acceleration through corners and in valleys. The game's terrain effects allow the track to change during the race, as riders knock the dirt around, or even dig out a new path through the malleable earth. The vehicles themselves are deformable as well, with real-time damage in competitive events. Races are set in a variety of international locations, including tracks in the U.S. and Europe. The revamped game engine emphasizes the traction and handling on different surfaces such as mud, packed dirt, and snow. A variety of vehicles is available, including event-specific MX motorcycles, ATV four-wheelers, super-buggies, and specialized off-road racing trucks. The high-def graphics have been updated, for granular detail several times greater than in the polygonal rendering of previous MX vs. ATV games. Multiplayer modes are available for online-connected gamers, with new "Snake" and "Tag" modes, as well as the standard off-road racing set-ups. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide