New Releases

Capcom empties its vault for the second time in this updated Wii version of the 2002 GameCube title Resident Evil 0, which was set before the events in the original Resident Evil. Instead of playing as two separate characters in slightly divergent storylines, players now control two characters at once, switching between them at will to solve puzzles and to fight enemies. The female protagonist is Rebecca Chambers, member of the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team that would later be sent to Raccoon City to investigate a mysterious disappearance. Former Navy SEAL Billy Coen, a convicted murderer awaiting his sentence, joins her on a train to S.T.A.R.S. headquarters, but things take a turn for the worse when the train is suddenly attacked by zombies.

Players can examine their surroundings, use tools, pick up and combine items to solve puzzles, and fire weapons to stave off the advancing monsters and beasts. The partner system has players controlling one primary character and the computer controlling the other, or guiding both at the same time by simultaneously using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Computer-controlled characters can be given the command to attack or to remain idle, conserving bullets when necessary. Acquired items can be swapped between characters when they are together in the same room, and partners can also split off to investigate certain situations alone, keeping the other informed using walkie-talkies. ~ 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. ~ T.J. Deci, 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 freeform 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

Dave Seville's famous singing sciuridae perform on Wii 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 try to move their controllers in an indicated direction, at the moment the icons hit the symbols. Other styles of 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 the basic "tap in time to the music" dynamic of Dance Dance Revolution, except that the input is made with swirls and shakes of the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers 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 two players can join for a duet. A story mode ties the musical mini-game performances together, following the Chipmunks and Chipettes to 25 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

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. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Players guide their character through ten hours of action-heavy RPG adventure in this title based on the popular book from authors Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston. While the book mixed Choose Your Own Adventure-style choices with a dice-rolling mechanic, the game finds players in a traditional dungeon-crawling adventure where they don various types of armor and wield a variety of weapons to do battle with hundreds of monstrous enemies. The ultimate goal is to breach the Firetop Mountain Keep and defeat the powerful warlock Zagor. Along the way, players collect valuable treasure, learn a variety of magical spells, speak with many different characters, and increase their overall skill set. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

The world famous cartoon kitten returns to DS gamers with 25 different mini-games in Hello Kitty Party. Players join Hello Kitty and her Sanrio friends Keroppi, Badtz-Maru, and My Melody as they go shopping, make dresses, and cook meals in preparation for a big party. Activities include dancing, playing with memory puzzles, or taking on a game of "spot the difference," and gamers can outfit the gang with a variety of dresses, hats, and accessories, and then snap photos to capture the memories. ~ All Game Guide

The God of War Collection is a compilation that includes the first two mythological adventures of Sony's irascible antihero Kratos. Originally released for PlayStation 2, God of War and its sequel God of War II have been reformatted and remastered to fit on a single PS3 Blu-ray disc, and both games offer full PlayStation Network trophy support. ~ All Game Guide

Duelists can unleash more than 3,500 cards and battle through a classic good-vs.-evil campaign in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4. Based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's animated series, the story of Tag Force 4 finds the immortal Dark Singers reborn with incredible new abilities, and a desire to topple New Domino City. Those not interested in the formalities of a "Story" mode (that Konami claims is more than 300 hours long) can step right into the battling action in "Free Duel" mode, or they can use an Ad-hoc connection for four-player action or one-on-one battles. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Taking its story and setting from the concurrently released TriStar Pictures feature film, Planet 51: The Game is a mission-based driving adventure, set on an alien planet that is oddly familiar. In something of a role-reversal, players take control of Captain Chuck Baker, an astronaut explorer who lands on the strange planet, believing it to be uninhabited. Instead, he finds himself in the midst of picket-fenced suburbs, reminiscent of 1950s America -- except for the "little green men"-like inhabitants, who treat Chuck exactly like the alien invader that he is. The play of the game involves exploring the 3D suburban world from a behind-the-back, third-person perspective, sometimes on foot but usually in a vehicle, and accomplishing tasks such as reaching a distant location or escaping from pursuers. As in the computer-animated movie, the ultimate goal, ostensibly, is to recover Chuck's lost spaceship.

Chuck can commandeer essentially any vehicle he comes across in this travels, including family sedans and motorcycles, taxi cabs and cop cars, and even heavy-duty trucks or zippy riding lawn-mowers. Different cars and trucks have different power and handling, and although the vehicles on Planet 51 hover instead of roll on wheels, most rules of the road still apply. Rules are made to be broken, however, especially when you're a giant alien on the run from a frenzied mob. Chuck can also break from the main story, to interact with various characters from the film in side-quests and various mini-games. In some sequences, players can take control of Lem, the young alien boy who befriends Chuck, and his pet robot Rover, making use of their special skills and abilities to overcome game-world obstacles or beat special challenges. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide