New Releases

The Cartoon Network's Ben 10 series returns to PlayStation 2 as the lead protagonist ventures into outer space for the first time to defend exotic worlds. The storyline follows archenemy Vilgax, who has created a formidable team of young Ben Tennyson's rivals in his bid to take over the universe. To succeed, you'll need to master each of Ben's ten alien forms to solve puzzles and to battle hordes of enemies. Gameplay features a mixture of platform-style exploration, fast-paced combat, and puzzles built around each of Ben's distinct forms. Use each alien's special powers to undermine Vilgax's diabolical plans while saving multiple planets in the process. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The Cartoon Network's Ben 10 series makes its Xbox 360 debut as the lead protagonist ventures into outer space for the first time to defend exotic worlds. The storyline follows archenemy Vilgax, who has created a formidable team of young Ben Tennyson's rivals in his bid to take over the universe. To succeed, you'll need to master each of Ben's ten alien forms to solve puzzles and to battle hordes of enemies. Gameplay features a mixture of platform-style exploration, fast-paced combat, and puzzles built around each of Ben's distinct forms. Use each alien's special powers to undermine Vilgax's diabolical plans while saving multiple planets in the process. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Gamers vie for "big bucks" and "no whammies" in Press Your Luck: 2010 Edition, an updated home video game version of the cult-classic 1980s television game show. Players begin by creating custom avatars to represent them in the game. As on TV, three contestants compete to be the first to correctly answer trivia questions, which are often based on pop culture or current events. Any player can be the first to buzz in with an answer as the question is being revealed. Correct answers are awarded spins, which are used to earn money and win the game. Spins are taken on a large, rectangular board with squares around its border. Flashing lights move from square to square, revealing different prizes and pitfalls, and players press a button to stop the moving lights and claim the item currently displayed on the lit square. If the lit square contains money or merchandise, the value us added to the point total. However if the lit square contains a "whammy" -- the show's greedy little cartoon character mascot -- the player loses all money and must begin again from zero. The game features 3,000 original questions for 2010, and 50 comical whammy animations, as seen on the television show. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Pep-filled gamers can use their Wii Remotes as pom-poms and treat their Balance Board like a dance floor in Dream Dance & Cheer. Players guide Hanna, a young cheerleader with dreams of becoming a professional dancer, as she dances and cheers through 20 different events spread throughout a variety of stadiums and arenas. As gamers progress through the story and begin to achieve a measure of success, they will receive medals and unlock a variety of new outfits, pom-poms, shoes, stadiums, and accessories. Players can go through the main campaign alone in "Story" mode, or they can compete with a friend in "Cheer Battle" mode. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Namco's hand-to-hand fighting game series debuts on high-definition consoles with enhanced graphics, destructible environments, online features, and the series' largest character roster to date. The "King of Iron Fist Tournament" brings 40 contenders into the fray this time around, with mainstays such as Jin, King, Anna, Law, Phoenix, and Heihachi, as well as six newcomers, including the jet-pack enabled Alisa Bosconovitch, the veteran warrior Lars Alexandersson, and the obese but impossibly quick American karate champion known as Bob. The series' fan-familiar match types and battle modes are included, although some have been revamped. In the storyline-driven "Scenario Campaign" mode, similar to the "Tekken Force" mode featured in earlier editions of the game, a chosen character battles through set piece areas, fighting numerous enemies to progress.

Online functionality is fundamental in Tekken 6. Players can join matches against others over the console network, or fight alongside a human-controlled ally in a co-op campaign mode (which becomes available in a free, downloadable patch). "Ghost" characters can be trained to fight in a gamer's personal fighting style, and then sparred against to reveal strengths and weaknesses, or shared and traded online to provide a customized challenge to other players. Worldwide and regional leaderboards track rankings and top performances in all main game modes. The series' new PS3 and Xbox 360 graphics feature character models and animations of unprecedented quality, as well as enrichments such as special lighting and depth-of-field effects, all in sharp, HD detail. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Gamers vie for "big bucks" and "no whammies" in Press Your Luck: 2010 Edition, an updated home video game version of the cult-classic 1980s television game show. Players begin by creating custom avatars to represent them in the game. As on TV, three contestants compete to be the first to correctly answer trivia questions, which are often based on pop culture or current events. Any player can be the first to buzz in with an answer as the question is being revealed. Correct answers are awarded spins, which are used to earn money and win the game. Spins are taken on a large, rectangular board with squares around its border. Flashing lights move from square to square, revealing different prizes and pitfalls, and players press a button to stop the moving lights and claim the item currently displayed on the lit square. If the lit square contains money or merchandise, the value us added to the point total. However if the lit square contains a "whammy" -- the show's greedy little cartoon character mascot -- the player loses all money and must begin again from zero. The game features 3,000 original questions for 2010, and 50 comical whammy animations, as seen on the television show. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Microsoft's premiere driving simulation series revs up with its second high-definition release for Xbox 360, Forza Motorsport 3. The third in the series enhances or improves upon nearly all the key features of earlier games, while adding new driver-assisting functions to make play more accessible to a wider audience. Central to Forza 3 are detailed, virtual re-creations of more than 400 models of automobile, from 50 different manufacturers. Races may be run on more than 100 tracks, including old favorites and some new to the series, based on actual locations around the world. Graphically, the cars are built from over ten times the number of polygons used to create the cars in Forza 2. The game's physics model refines the systems used in the previous game, and developers worked with other driving-game experts as well as with representatives of several auto manufacturers, in their efforts to build-in authentic cause-and-effect elements in minute detail.

For more casual drivers, Forza 3 offers features such as auto-braking and computer-assisted tuning, allowing for a freer driving experience without the constant danger of a crash around each tight corner, or concerns about inefficient settings for the current road conditions. When accidents do happen, the game's new "rewind" feature allows the player to stop, roll back time, and try again. Meanwhile, the hardest-core of driving aficionados can eschew the computer assistance for realistically demanding experience, just as gearhead gamers are free to do their own custom tuning, with the ability to make essentially any adjustment to their virtual auto that could be made to its real-life counterpart, for realistic performance tweaks. Xbox Live-connected Forza 3 players can race against others online in a selection of events, and show off their favorite tunings and custom paint jobs. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Nintendo's exclusive Sims spinoff moves out of the forest and into the jungles, deserts, and river beds of Africa for another adventure in taming, training, and playing with wild animals. SimAnimals Africa features a new, more playful art style and a wide selection of new creatures, but the gameplay once again involves picking up and placing animals in stimulating environments where they can thrive and be happy. Players can interact with a variety of different creatures, such as lions, zebras, crocodiles, and gorillas, and every species has a unique skill that can be used to maintain the serenity of an environment, unlock new landscapes, and discover special items. There are more than 70 rare bugs, fruits, and flowers to find, and new mini-games let players use their Wii Remote to pet and play games with the animals, making it easier to progress through the overall adventure. Gamers can also choose to play as one of the various creatures, allowing them to water the foliage as an elephant, kick fruit off trees as a zebra, or chase after gazelles as a lion, among many other activities. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Based on Nickelodeon's educational entertainment television series for preschoolers and designed for the youngest of console gamers, Ni Hao, Kai-lan: Super Game Day is a collection of easy-to-play mini-games featuring six-year-old Kai-lan and her young animal friends, Rintoo the tiger, Tolee the koala, and Hoho the monkey. The ten mini-games involve gentle and engaging activities such as catching butterflies, popping bubbles, playing badminton, and racing in boats. The games can be played alone or against a friend, and the presentation is designed to promote ideas of friendly competition and good sportsmanship. All games have simple controls. As in the animated series, characters encourage multicultural appreciation, with both American and Chinese themes. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

SpongeBob SquarePants teams up with Plankton to recover Mr. Krabs' coveted Krabby Patty formula in Truth or Square. The platform-style action has you controlling the yellow cartoon character through an assortment of familiar locales, including downtown Bikini Bottom, the Krusty Krab, the Jellyfish Fields, and Rock Bottom, while advancing across 12 levels. With the help of Plankton's memory machine, SpongeBob will also revisit ten of the "happiest moments" in his underwater life. It is hoped that by revisiting his past, SpongeBob will remember where he placed the secret formula. In addition to jumping and spinning, SpongeBob can morph into a sledgehammer, water gun, and explosive cannon to defeat rivals. Both the Wii and Xbox 360 versions of the game feature cooperative support for two players. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Nickelodeon's popular animated series for pre-school children comes to gamers with 24 musically themed mini-games in The Backyardigans. Players join the creative quintet of Austin, Pablo, Tasha, Tyrone, and Uniqua as their imaginations turn them into crime-fighting superheroes, adventurous treasure hunters, and trash-collecting astronauts. The mini-games are optimized for the DS control scheme, letting young gamers tap and scribble on the touch screen and speak into the microphone, and the game features all the real voice actors from the TV series. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

SpongeBob SquarePants teams up with Plankton to recover Mr. Krabs' coveted Krabby Patty formula in Truth or Square. The platform-style action has you controlling the yellow cartoon character through an assortment of familiar locales, including downtown Bikini Bottom, the Krusty Krab, the Jellyfish Fields, and Rock Bottom, while advancing across 12 levels. With the help of Plankton's memory machine, SpongeBob will also revisit ten of the "happiest moments" in his underwater life. It is hoped that by revisiting his past, SpongeBob will remember where he placed the secret formula. In addition to jumping and spinning, SpongeBob can morph into a sledgehammer, water gun, and explosive cannon to defeat rivals. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

SpongeBob SquarePants teams up with Plankton to recover Mr. Krabs' coveted Krabby Patty formula in Truth or Square. The platform-style action has you controlling the yellow cartoon character through an assortment of familiar locales, including downtown Bikini Bottom, the Krusty Krab, the Jellyfish Fields, and Rock Bottom, while advancing across 12 levels. With the help of Plankton's memory machine, SpongeBob will also revisit ten of the "happiest moments" in his underwater life. It is hoped that by revisiting his past, SpongeBob will remember where he placed the secret formula. In addition to jumping and spinning, SpongeBob can morph into a sledgehammer, water gun, and explosive cannon to defeat rivals. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide