New Releases

Based on Walt Disney Pictures' 2009 animated film, The Princess and the Frog for Wii features 30 mini-games set within five New Orleans hub locations. Each mini-game supports up to four players for party-style competition. You'll participate in frog races, show off your rhythm in dance contests, play multiple instruments, and more. Eight playable characters are available from the movie, and you'll be able to earn collectible Mardis Gras beads to spend on fabrics, ingredients, and recipes. You can then use these items to create outfits for lead protagonist Tiana, cook Cajun food, and participate in various other lighthearted activities. Owners of the DS version will also be able to unlock bonus items by linking the two games together. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Players return to a virtual playroom re-creation of the iconic movie series in LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. As in LEGO Indy's Original Adventures, gamers play through famous scenes from the films, with 3D characters and settings created completely from colorful LEGO building blocks. The 2009 sequel game features scenes from all four feature films, including the most recent Indiana Jones movie, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Some characters have new moves since the first game, and new vehicles are available to re-create well-known movie scenes on boats, motorcycles, and mine carts. In a feature new to the LEGO movie game series, players can also create their own levels, using an almost unlimited supply of blocks. Custom levels can be built completely from scratch, or created by altering and adding to the pre-designed levels included in the game. As in the Indiana Jones original and other LEGO movie games (LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Batman), players can collect objects hidden throughout the game world to unlock playable characters. More than 60 hidden artifacts in The Adventure Continues can be collected and used to unlock Crystal Skull characters, such as Marion Ravenwood and Mutt Williams, as well as supporting characters and villains from throughout the film series, such as Short Round and Indy's father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

This sequel to 2007's on-rails offshoot of the Resident Evil franchise stars characters Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield for more "survival shooting" action from a first-person perspective. Once again the gameplay involves pointing your Wii Remote at the screen to gun down zombies and other ghastly creatures created by the nefarious Umbrella Corporation. Scenes will automatically advance at key points, allowing you to simply focus on aiming and firing. A new twist to the action is an evade system that involves using the Wii Remote to minimize damage received from the horrors lurking within each setting. Solo players can team up with a computer-controlled partner or join forces with a friend for simultaneous shooting. Weapons can also be upgraded and customized before each scenario. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

EA's NCAA Basketball series returns with both CBS and ESPN licenses in an attempt to create an authentic, television-style presentation that incorporates broadcasters Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery, Brad Nessler, Dick Vitale, and Erin Andrews. Revamped shot controls, more diverse animations, and improved positional AI are just a few of the changes to the gameplay over previous versions. Each school also features distinct motion offenses, from the dribble drive to the flex, and the home stadiums for 20 of the toughest teams to play against will make life difficult for visiting athletes. Playing in such venues as Clemson, Xavier, and North Carolina will cause the camera to shake during play, influence free throws, and more due to the raucous crowds. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Ubisoft's ever-expanding series of animal-themed life development sims spreads to the world of canine competitions in Petz: Dogz Talent Show. Players choose from a variety of dog breeds and then engage their pups in a number of different activities, including riding a skateboard, running through obstacle courses, and playing classic games of fetch, with each event helping puppies unlock new tricks. Gamers can share photos of their talented dogs with friends via wireless connection or on the Petz website, and Petz: Dogz Talent Show is compatible with Petz Nursery, meaning players can rear a newborn pup and, once it gets big enough, teach it new tricks and enter it in competitions. ~ 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

Players return to a virtual playroom re-creation of the iconic movie series in LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. As in LEGO Indy's Original Adventures, gamers play through famous scenes from the films, with 3D characters and settings created completely from colorful LEGO building blocks. The 2009 sequel game features scenes from all four feature films, including the most recent Indiana Jones movie, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Some characters have new moves since the first game, and new vehicles are available to re-create well-known movie scenes on boats, motorcycles, and mine carts. In a feature new to the LEGO movie game series, players can also create their own levels, using an almost unlimited supply of blocks. Custom levels can be built completely from scratch, or created by altering and adding to the pre-designed levels included in the game. As in the Indiana Jones original and other LEGO movie games (LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Batman), players can collect objects hidden throughout the game world to unlock playable characters. More than 60 hidden artifacts in The Adventure Continues can be collected and used to unlock Crystal Skull characters such as Marion Ravenwood and Mutt Williams, as well as supporting characters and villains from throughout the film series, such as Short Round and Indy's father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Single-handedly take out well-guarded targets through a combination of stealth and acrobatic maneuvers in this anticipated sequel to 2007's Assassin's Creed. Featuring a new protagonist in a different era, you'll control a young nobleman named Ezio Auditore da Firenze in 15th century Italy, at the height of the Renaissance. After a tragic event befalls his family, Ezio trains to become a master assassin, looking to exact his revenge on those responsible. Ezio will explore three sprawling cities, countryside, and various small villages while completing objectives during the day or at night. Assassin's Creed II offers three times the mission types found in its predecessor, with more things to see and do within each setting.

Money is now an important part of the game, allowing Ezio to purchase weapons, clothing, armor, repairs, and decorative items for his Italian villa. Ezio can pickpocket people, search for hidden chests, and complete side missions to fill his coffers. Other key changes include Ezio's ability to swim and even soar through the sky thanks to friend Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine. The open-ended world also allows for more free-running, climbing, and leaping from great heights. Among the new weapons at Ezio's disposal are pikes, maces, war hammers, scimitars, axes, and twin wrist-mounted blades that can be used to kill two people at once. Updated combat techniques include the ability to grab, kick, head-butt, drown, disarm, or pounce on enemies. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Sony's family friendly mascot Sackboy comes to portable gamers with new platform adventures, new worlds to explore, and new user-generated levels in LittleBigPlanet. Following the "Play.Create.Share" model of its console forebear, LittleBigPlanet for the PSP once again finds gamers guiding their lovable burlap doll through more than 35 themed levels in "Play" mode, designing their own unique levels in "Create" mode, and uploading their creations to the PlayStation Network in "Share" mode. The "Play" mode levels are filled with prize bubbles that reward curious and thorough players with new costumes, stickers, and level-building materials. Once players have completed a series of "Create" mode tutorials they can begin to craft and share their own levels, limited only by their imagination and the number of items they have collected in "Play" mode. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery extends the saga of Ezio Auditore da Firenze to the DS as gamers take the cloaked protagonist to the Iberian Peninsula where he must rescue his fellow assassins from the Spanish Inquisition. Assassin's Creed II: Discovery is set 15 years after the initial events of Assassin's Creed II, and it eschews 3D action in favor of fast-paced side-scrolling combat. The series' signature use of stealth is not completely abandoned, however, as Ezio's best course of action is often to avoid attention by sneaking up on enemies. If players are detected, they must engage in hand-to-hand combat featuring the same sort of rhythmic parries and ripostes as the console versions. As the action unfolds, gamers can unlock faster health regeneration, new outfits, and better climbing skills, and at the end of each level the game displays a player's stealth numbers, damage taken, and notoriety stats. DSi gamers have the option of putting their own face on wanted posters strewn throughout each level, but ripping the posters down makes it easier for Ezio to operate undetected. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Nintendo's signature series returns to its side-scrolling roots with new levels, new power-ups, and a host of multiplayer modes in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Players choose to guide Mario, Luigi, or two versions of Toad through a variety of colorful worlds on another quest to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. As always, the game worlds are filled with pitfalls and enemies, but players can fight back thanks to the new ice flower, which allows them to hurl snowballs, the new propeller mushroom, which lets gamers float through the air, and the new penguin suit, which provides surer footing in icy environments. The game makes use of a classic Super Mario Bros. control scheme, though propeller-suit actions and the spin jump incorporate the Wii Remote's motion sensitivity. Multiplayer action comes in both competitive and cooperative forms, letting up to four gamers interact with the environment and one another in a variety of helpful or hurtful ways. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

The developers of Carnival Games invite Wii gamers back for more mini-game madness with over 40 activities under the big top in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Players can use their Wii Remote and Nunchuk to juggle, keep their balance in the high-wire act, or swing through the air on the trapeze, while the game also supports the Wii Balance Board for a number of mini-games. As many as four people can compete in eight multiplayer activities, and gamers can unlock more than 100 distinct prizes, including costumes, posters, and balloon animals. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide