God of War III has aged surprisingly gracefully. Although it's over five years old, somebody inexperienced with the series could easily mistake Remastered for an original PS4 game.
Zumba Fitness: World Party is the next best thing to attending an actual Zumba class. This is the most polished iteration yet, featuring well-choreographed routines, impressive looking backdrops and a great lineup of hit and world music.
Much like its predecessor, FIFA 16 is likely to be picked up by a brand new audience purely thanks to the fact that professional soccer is growing exponentially in popularity in North America. Thankfully, newcomers and veterans alike will find an excellent game of soccer that yet again takes advantage of the higher processing power of current-gen consoles to deliver an experience more realistic than ever.
The adjective "ridiculous" has been used several times in this review as it's the most apt available. Just Cause 3 is a ridiculous, over-the-top experience that wants so hard for you to blow it up. Playing around its 400 square miles, it's almost as if the game can be heard yelling "OH MAN, THAT WAS SICK" in the background. It's hard not to feel like a complete badass as you fly around the island dropping grenades and vaulting enemies into the air; in fact, you basically have super powers.
While there's still trepidation due the fact that much of its appeal rests on unproven promises and its currency system is needlessly complicated, the idea of new songs being added on a weekly basis could render Guitar Hero Live into a persistent experience for rhythm and music lovers alike. Time will ultimately tell how Guitar Hero Live shapes up, but it's alluring enough to once again raise your plastic axe to the sky and rejoin the virtual rock god army.
Disney Infinity was a bold venture even by Disney standards, but it's one that has rapidly come into its own. 3.0 is a leap forward for the franchise, offering an exceedingly well-presented universe that's easier to explore than ever, but features enough content to easily keep devotees occupied for as long as desired.
Activision and Vicarious Visions have seemingly done the impossible by keeping Skylanders fresh for its fifth outing. SuperChargers is jam-packed with enough content to fill at least two separate games and it's all quality stuff.
Dragon Quest Heroes is a perfectly-balanced marriage of Dragon Quest sensibilities with Dynasty Warriors dynamics. That sounds exactly like what it should be, but easier said than done, and Omega Force has done it.
NHL 16 is a triumphant return to form. After the debacle that was the razor-thin NHL 15, EA has restored all of the beloved modes to the game and they're better than ever.
The third iteration of the series on current-gen platforms, Madden NFL 16 continues its growth. There's not a myriad of changes this year, but what has been tweaked is noticeable and makes for a fantastic game of pigskin.
Until Dawn is gripping through its nine-odd hour running time and never lets off the gas. It's scary — although sometimes cheaply so — and does a great job illustrating the butterfly effect. What Supermassive has accomplished so early in their tenure is impressive and something all horror fans should experience.
Skylanders Imaginators remains the same great game on Nintendo Switch as it was on other consoles, but with a few drawbacks and additions.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare improves upon the Xbox One debut thanks to the addition of a few more maps, characters and modes.
Codemasters has lost a lot of goodwill for their F1 series in the past few years. In a perfect world, everything here (minus the updated racing info, of course) would have debuted last year as F1 2014.
Zoo Tycoon may be one of the lesser known Xbox One titles, but it's not one of the lesser quality ones. With four modes, a deep interface and multiple activities, it's clear that a lot of effort went into its development.
It’s good to have Bomberman back and in a meaningful way.
Just Dance is a series that's hard to hate as it genuinely wants players to have a good time, but 2015 is a misstep. Hardly anything has changed and practically nothing has for those who don't partake in the online functionality, some features are missing and the interface has become too basic.
[W]hat we're left with is a solid game of basketball with meat and potatoes features. It doesn't hold up to NBA 2k16 and doesn't do enough to be the breakthrough the series needed. That being said, EA Tiburon is on the right track and if they spend the next year truly fine-tuning the mechanics and coming up with a dazzling career mode, this could be the penultimate chapter before the Live takeover.
It's shocking how little content there is in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. As much as we'd love to explore the title further, the rabbit hole doesn't go any deeper.
Just Dance 2017 on Nintendo Switch is the definition of a port as besides allowing for new control options, there's nothing to distinguish it from other consoles.