As the March release of "Final Fantasy XIII" draws nearer, it seems appropriate to look back on what the popular Japanese RPG series was up to a decade ago in "Final Fantasy VIII," recently released on PSN for download to the PS3 and PSP.

The main character is Squall Leonhart, a gifted but socially aloof student at Balamb Garden, a school for the elite SeeD corps of mercenaries. The game's first couple of hours are spent on Squall's final exam, a live combat exercise.

After that, he and some fellow SeeD agents are given an assignment to help a resistance group free their backwater town, an assignment that turns into a quest to save the world from a wicked sorceress. The story is interesting, and the characters, while prone to teen drama, make for a memorable cast.

"Final Fantasy VIII" makes some pretty drastic departures from longstanding "Final Fantasy" tropes, and in so doing it delivers one of the more intricate game-play experiences in the series.

Instead of gaining money from defeated enemies, the player's party pulls down a regular salary from the Garden. Instead of many pieces of equipment, there are only weapon upgrades.

Instead of the familiar magic point system for casting spells, magic is drawn from monsters during battle, found at draw points scattered around the world or refined from items and lower-level spells. Characters can carry up to 100 of each spell, which are used up like consumable items; they can also be traded between party members.

Spells serve another purpose as well: When attached – or Junctioned – to one of a character's core statistics, such as strength or hit points, the right spell can boost that statistic to varying degrees. Spells also can be Junctioned to allow their effects – such as poison and blindness, or fire and ice elemental damage – to be passed on or guarded against.

This system offers an intricate way to customize each character, but makes it easy to transfer their bonuses to another if needed.

To Junction magic to anything, however, a character must first have Junctioned a Guardian Force. These powerful beings can be summoned for battle, but their real utility is the many abilities they can learn and impart to their users.

The downside to this Junctioning is that it makes the six main characters more or less blank slates. Each of these wonder teens has a unique attack that can be called on in times of danger, but other than that, there's little difference between them.

FINAL FANTASY VIII

3 1/2 stars

PUBLISHER: Square Enix

SYSTEM: Sony PlayStation Portable and PS3 (PlayStation Network download)

PRICE: $9.99

AGE RATING: Teen

In this video game image released by Electronic Arts, a scene is shown from "Mass Effect 2."

At the end of "Mass Effect," Commander Shepard saved all sentient life in the galaxy from annihilation at the hands of the Reapers, ancient machines that exterminate all intelligent species every 50 millennia or so.

At the beginning of "Mass Effect 2," Shepard dies.

And two years later, the commander is brought back to life by the shadowy Cerberus organization, which believes what the galactic government of the Citadel Council denies: The Reapers are still coming, and Shepard is the only one who can stop them.

Cerberus' mysterious head, the Illusive Man, has directed enormous resources into rebuilding Shepard just as he or she (player's choice) was before death.

Players can begin the game with the same Shepard they completed the first game with, or start from scratch with a new one. Starting with a seasoned Shepard confers some advantages and has numerous other effects on the game, depending on what choices the player made in the original.

Did Shepard spare the Rachni Queen or destroy her? Romance Liara T'Soni or Kaidan Alenko? Let the Citadel Council live or die? The game notices these and other events and incorporates them into the "Mass Effect 2" universe.

One thing is constant: The Illusive Man has big things in mind for the resurrected Spectre. Whole colonies are disappearing, their human settlers gone without a trace, which Cerberus believes to be the work of an enigmatic race called the Collectors.

The Illusive Man suspects that the Reapers are truly behind these mass kidnappings. He dispatches Shepard to gather a new team of specialists to eliminate the Collector and Reaper threat.

That's as much of the plot as this review will give away. Interesting things are going on in "Mass Effect 2," and it would be a shame to spoil any surprises.

The new cast is full of interesting characters – most new, a few old – with a variety of combat, technical and biotic (space magic) powers. The combat system has been streamlined and upgraded, as has the selection of powers each character can learn, (typically four, with the final one closed until Shepard has earned that character's loyalty).

No longer do players have to juggle armor and weapon types for several alien races; when players find or research a new weapon, it becomes available for everyone to use but only Shepard can carry the new heavy weapon class, which includes a grenade launcher, a freeze cannon and even more exotic weaponry.

Bayonetta is a witch with a memory problem. Awakened from a long slumber 20 years ago, she remembers little of her past life, but she knows how to fight and wield magic against legions of angels in a continuation of an ancient war between her line, the Umbra Witches, and the Lumen Sages.

"Bayonetta," the game, is ridiculously over-the-top. The action is amped up, the sound is loud, and the graphics are flashy. Bayonetta, the character, is equally ridiculous – her exaggerated figure makes a Barbie doll's look natural.

The game's Mature rating applies not only to the violence but to the numerous suggestive elements of the character and how she's presented. She wears a tight leather catsuit, sucks on lollipops, carries a quartet of guns (two by hand, two strapped to her legs as stiletto heels) and morphs herself, her hair and her clothing into various forms for powerful attacks.

The angels also take on monstrous forms – some huge, some small, one a giant upside-down head with dragon heads sprouting from it.

"Bayonetta's" highly polished guns-and-melee game play owes an obvious debt to the "Devil May Cry" series. The resemblance is no accident; the game was directed by Hideki Kamiya, the man responsible for the first game in the "DMC" series.

The bulk of the game is dedicated to combat, as Bayonetta makes her way through various gorgeous locations packed with angelic enemies. The witch has a wide repertoire of fighting moves to start with, and she can buy more as she progresses through the game.

Bayonetta's moves include attack combos that vary depending on which weapons she has equipped; she can switch between two sets of weapons at will. Dodging attacks at the last moment activates Witch Time, which slows down enemy movement for a few moments.

Special golden records can be traded in for new weapons, such as a pair of shotguns or a sword. Bayonetta can also craft her own power-up and restorative items from components she finds.

Chaining together long strings of attacks activates Wicked Weave, powerful moves that use the witch's shape-changing hair. And with enough magic power, Bayonetta can summon infernal torture devices from the underworld to cause massive damage to her foes.

Defeated angels drop halos that Bayonetta can use as currency for new moves, items and upgrades. Sometimes angels leave behind their own weapons, which don't last long in Bayonetta's hands but are quite powerful as long as they do.

Harry Mason searches the spooky, frozen town of Silent Hill for his daughter in "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories."

The "Silent Hill" series has been creeping players out for more than a decade.

Now the original game has been reimagined as "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories," which shakes up the series' horror formula.

The story's basic setup is familiar: Harry Mason is searching Silent Hill for his daughter, Cheryl, who went missing after a car crash at the edge of town. At certain points in the game, the perspective switches to a therapist's office, and the player answers questions that the game uses to create a personality profile and mold the experience to the player.

Instead of the previous games' pervasive fog, this version of Silent Hill is snowed in by a massive storm. It's dark, it's cold, and Harry's flashlight illuminates just enough to get around. That's bad enough, but sometimes Silent Hill freezes over, and the monsters come out to play.

When Harry's not running from the horrors that plague him, he's exploring the town of Silent Hill, talking with the people who live there and trying to find ways around and through areas blocked off by the storm. There are puzzles to solve as well, typically requiring the player to use the Wii Remote to manipulate objects.

Past games in the series have allowed their characters – including the original game's Harry – to defend themselves, albeit clumsily, with 2-by-4s, guns and other weapons. Not this time. Harry can't fight back in this nightmarish realm of ice; he can only run.

If a monster catches him, he can hurl it away, but there's no way to kill his creepy foes, and if he takes too many hits, he'll be overwhelmed and die. Flares can keep the creatures at bay for a time, and obstacles and doorways highlighted in blue show the way to safety, but it's not easy to escape.

These encounters are harrowing enough but become repetitive, and the sharp line between safe exploration and desperate flight prevents the game's creepy mood from developing into real tension. Also, when the action heats up, the visuals sometimes slow down or freeze for a moment, a hiccup in the game's otherwise good looks.

Harry's cell phone warns him of nearby foes, alerts him to points of interest, maps his location with a GPS uplink (which is a pain to use), allows him to call people he's met or receive text and voice messages, and lets him take photos that reveal the truth behind shadowy figures he finds frozen in place around the town.

Games set in World War II are common to the point of oversaturation. But most of them are first-person shooters or strategy types.

"The Saboteur," though it takes place during that terrible conflict, offers a fresh perspective by putting the player in control of a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied France and parts of Germany.

The resistance fighter is Sean Devlin, an Irishman whose racing career was ended by a run-in with a German racer – and Nazi officer – just before the war began. Embittered and hiding at a friend's cabaret hall in Paris, Sean is quickly drawn into efforts to disrupt the Nazis' operations.

Take note: The game works to earn its Mature rating, with plenty of violence and foul language. New copies of the game include a code for the downloadable "The Midnight Show" add-on, which unlocks an option for topless nudity, along with some more practical features. The content can also be purchased.

"The Saboteur" feels like a "Grand Theft Auto" game with a bit of "Assassin's Creed" and "Red Faction: Guerilla" thrown in. The game world is open to exploration; contacts assign missions against Nazi targets, and between missions there are plenty of free-form objectives to attack and weaken the Nazi presence.

As Devlin completes important missions and inspires the French people, their will to fight is symbolized in a striking way. When the Nazis control an area, the world is rendered in black-and-white except for the red of Nazi flags and armbands – and of blood. Inspire an area to resistance and color will return to it, the Nazi presence will be reduced, and citizens will come to Devlin's aid.

In his fight against the Nazis, Devlin has many tools and allies. Black marketeers will trade him weapons and upgrades in exchange for contraband, and their garages provide him with cars.

Devlin can plant explosives to destroy guard towers, anti-aircraft guns, fuel tanks and other targets, and he can clamber up buildings and over walls to reach them. The controls are a bit loose, especially when climbing buildings, but they work well enough.

If Devlin kills a Nazi without using a weapon, he can take the soldier's uniform and blend into the ranks, as long as he's careful. And if he's discovered, he can summon a band of resistance fighters and a getaway car to escape a tough spot.

Performing certain tasks – making a number of stealthy kills, for example, or collecting certain kinds of cars – will unlock perks, providing permanent boosts to Devlin's abilities. Each perk category has three levels whose conditions grow increasingly difficult to fulfill, and some higher-level perks unlock special weapons in the black market.

"Nostalgia" is a solid role-playing game whose appeal is partly rooted in the title's emotion.

With its band of plucky young adventurers traveling the world on a grand adventure, the game recalls the Japanese-made console RPGs of the late 1990s.

The game feels like a mixture of other RPGs, taking characters, game mechanics and plot elements from "Final Fantasy X," "Skies of Arcadia," "Wild ARMs" and "Panzer Dragoon Saga," among others. It's openly derivative, but the game's designers have been smart in their borrowing – the different pieces fit together pretty well.

"Nostalgia" takes place in a version of our world in which monsters and magic exist, and airships are the chief mode of transportation. It's late in the 19th century and England's best-known adventurer is Gilbert Brown.

Brown goes missing after the game's prologue, and son Eddie is determined to find out what's happened to him. Eddie joins the local Adventurers Association, takes the helm of his father's airship, the Maverick, and prepares to follow in Dad's footsteps. Apart from the main story line, Eddie can take on quests from the Adventurers Association to earn various rewards.

He'll visit several fictionalized versions of real-world cities, such as London and Cairo. Ancient ruins, such as the Great Pyramid, serve as dungeons. And Eddie will gain companions along the way, starting with the scrappy street kid Pad, whom he meets on his first job for the Adventurers Association. Melody, a wizard, and Fiona, a mysterious girl, will join later.

Eddie and his friends will fight on the ground and in the air. Both battle modes are turn-based, with the action order of the next few turns displayed as in "Final Fantasy X." Each character has standard attack, defense, escape and item usage options, as well as a unique set of abilities and skills.

During airborne battles, each character is in charge of a specific weapon: Eddie commands the ship to attack with its bow-mounted blade, Pad fires the machine guns, Melody uses the cannon, and Fiona controls the ship's magical orb.

Enemies in the air can attack from the front or sides, and some weapons are more or less effective against enemies in certain directions. Weather conditions such as rain or snow also affect the Maverick's combat capabilities.

The party members increase in strength as they defeat foes, learning new skills at set levels. The party earns points that can be used to upgrade these skills, allowing players to strengthen abilities they find useful, and advancing certain skills to sufficient levels unlocks additional ones.

"The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks" improves on the previous version to provide players with a fun adventure.

Link trades his boat in for a train in "The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks." The game follows a similar structure and has the same cartoonish visual style as the series' previous DS adventure, "Phantom Hourglass." Like that game, "Spirit Tracks" is played mostly with the stylus.

Unlike "Phantom Hourglass," it is not a direct sequel to the GameCube's "Wind Waker." Instead, it takes place a century or so later, with a new Link and a new Zelda, in a kingdom of Hyrule that is no longer covered in water.

Instead, this Hyrule is crisscrossed by Spirit Tracks, mystical train tracks that connect to a great tower in the center of the kingdom. When the track suddenly vanishes, strange monsters begin to appear, and with their chief mode of transportation gone, the kingdom's citizens are thrown into disarray.

The disappearance of the tracks and the appearance of monsters is no coincidence – the Tower of Spirits at the center of Hyrule is a lock for the cage of the evil Demon King Malladus, and the Spirit Tracks supply it with energy from several temples. Link must journey with his train to each of these temples and restore the Spirit Tracks to stop the demon's revival.

He'll have help from a disembodied Princess Zelda, whose body is stolen by her own traitorous chancellor as part of the plot to release the Demon King.

The Tower of Spirits holds maps that can restore segments of Spirit Tracks, allowing Link to reach new areas of the kingdom. But these maps are guarded by various obstacles, including the hulking, armored Phantoms of "Phantom Hourglass." Link and Zelda soon find the ghostly princess can possess and control these Phantoms.

The puzzles in the Tower of Spirits are clever, but Link won't have Zelda's help in the temples, which contain special items – such as the perennial boomerang – and a challenging boss enemy that has bottled up some of the Spirit Tracks' power.

One of Link's most important new items, the Spirit Flute, allows him to cause various effects by playing it, but it's also a bit gimmicky. Players move the flute back and forth while blowing into the DS microphone to play it, which is clever but awkward.

More awkward is the Whirlwind, a new item that also requires blowing into the microphone, which is kind of tricky when trying to fight an enemy or two. That's a pretty minor gripe, though. "Spirit Tracks" is entertaining adventure.

The game also features a multiplayer mode in which up to four players compete to grab the most gems as possible within a time limit.

PICKS AND PANS

The Princess and the Frog

3 stars

Chiefly a collection of mini-games based on the recently released Disney film, "The Princess and the Frog" doesn't have much to it, but it carries an appeal similar to the "Mario Party" or "Rabbids" series.

Up to four players can take part in a variety of games, such as highlighting heart-shaped leaves, shaking spices into a pot of gumbo or playing music to annoy a character or two from the movie. The controls are simple and easy to grasp, so even young gamers should be able to play.

Playing the main campaign mode unlocks new outfits and other items for the heroine, Tiana, and her friends, and opens up upgrades for the restaurant she's renovating. There are also other activities, such as cooking in Tiana's kitchen.

Nintendo Wii, PC; $49.99 ($19.99 for PC)

Age rating: Everyone

Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned

3 stars

"The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" turns out to be just what the doctor ordered for "Borderlands." The game play remains unchanged, but the new quests, enemies and locations are a welcome addition.

Ditching the dry and dusty environs of the main "Borderlands" quests, "Zombie Island's" Jakob's Cove location is a greener and moister place, but no less dangerous. The area is, as the expansion's name suggests, overrun with monstrous zombies and abominations, vicious bats and other nasties, and it's up to the player (or players) to wipe them out and discover what created them in the first place.

The new enemies aren't too smart, but they keep players on their toes by, for example, spewing caustic slime to slow them down and leave them vulnerable to being mobbed by the zombie hordes.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC; $10 (800 Microsoft Points), $9.99 for PS3 and PC

Age rating: Mature

– Justin Hoeger

A snapshot of the action in "Assassin's Creed II."

The saga of the Assassins and the Templars continues in "Assassin's Creed II," which picks up just about where the original left off.

Players of the first game will recall that the skulk-and-stab action is actually part of a "Matrix"-like computer simulation: Modern-day Knights Templar are using a device called the Animus to sift through the genetic memory of bartender Desmond Miles, whose ancestors happen to be infamous Assassins.

In the first game, players controlled the actions of Altair, a surly Assassin who operated in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade. "Assassin's Creed II" takes place far away and hundreds of years later, in Renaissance Italy.

Players now guide a youth named Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the son of a wealthy banker in Florence. He and his older brother spend their days brawling with rivals, chasing ladies and clambering over the rooftops of the city.

A tragic event forces Ezio to take up the mantle of an Assassin and hunt down Templar agents in a quest for revenge. Florence is not the only place to explore – players will also visit Venice, the countryside and other locations in pursuit of vengeance.

The assassination missions and sideline activities are much less repetitive this time around, and the game is more fun as a result.

The game play is similar to the original but improved significantly by numerous tweaks and additions. Ezio is a more amiable guy than Altair was; he easily blends into groups of civilians and can spread money around to distract guards or hire helpers to draw attention away from him, and he has other ways to remain incognito, as well.

Ezio also has more weapons to wield. He carries a spring-loaded assassin blade, a sword, throwing knives and his fists, like Altair. But he'll wield maces, axes, spears and other weapons, too. He can spend money to upgrade equipment or dye it different colors, and to buy medical supplies. And by improving his home base, Ezio can gain a steady income.

He'll need all his tricks, because as he performs high-profile actions (killing guards, bulling through crowds, being spotted on the rooftops), his notoriety goes up, making guards more alert. Ezio can reduce his notoriety by tearing down posters, assassinating officials or bribing criers – a broader range of actions than Altair had.

Speaking of Altair, "Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines" for the PSP continues his story as he sails to Cyprus in pursuit of the Templars. The game lacks many of the new features of "Assassin's Creed II," but it's a fairly effective portable take on the original game's formula.

The combat, running and hiding of "Bloodlines" all carry similar mechanics to its console cousins, though some controls have been modified. The game world is broken up into smallish chunks with loading in between, enemies can be rather blockheaded, and the environments can appear drab at times.

Still, the character models look quite good, and the basic feel of fighting and climbing up buildings is intact.

PICKS AND PANS

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

2 1/2 stars

"Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles" revisits several notable events from the series and adds an original scenario that takes place in South America.

One or two players can take on the zombie hordes, but they have no control over the characters' progression through each level. Their main contribution is shooting the zombies and other monsters that pop up on-screen, and grabbing items before they pass out of view. Players can pick up a variety of weapons or swing a knife when enemies get up close.

The game looks great, and the uncontrollable viewpoint means there's always a chance for something to pop up right in the player's face. It's an effective shooting gallery-style game, though the "camera" does bob about a little too much in some places.

Nintendo Wii; $49.99 • Age rating: Mature

Katamari Forever

2 1/2 stars

In "Katamari Forever," the King of All Cosmos has managed to knock himself out, and his son, the Prince, has created a robotic replacement that malfunctioned and destroyed all the stars in the sky – again. Now the Prince and his cousins have to work not only to restore the King's memories and wake him up but also to create a new sky full of stars.

The Prince does this by rolling up as much junk as possible into a ball, often starting with tiny items before graduating to larger ones such as the Katamari ball, which grows exponentially. There's usually a time limit, item limit or some other stricture on creating the ball, which the King (or RoboKing) judges and places where it needs to go.

The controls use the same two-stick setup as the previous ones, though the Prince can now jump, and can attract items to the Katamari with the use of special items.

Sony PlayStation 3; $49.99 • Age rating: Everyone

WireWay

3 stars

"WireWay" has the player fling a little alien from elastic wire to elastic wire, trying to collect stars called Elan.

The alien, Wiley, must make his way through each stage to his partner's ship. Players use the stylus to pull and launch Wiley like a stone from a slingshot. He can be bounced higher into the air if the player smacks him with a pulled wire on his way down, and pinball-like bouncers can send him flying on his way.

The levels have various obstacles, from wildlife to nasty aliens, and some require keys to take down barriers or have other special conditions.

Outside of the main Quest Mode, the Challenge Mode offers two kinds of games. In Flick Trials, players have only a limited number of launches for Wiley. In Strategery, much of the level is bare, and players must fill in the blanks with their own wires and bouncers.

Nintendo DS; $29.99 • Age rating: Everyone

– Justin Hoeger

The challenge for "Tropico 3" players is to build a thriving island nation from the ground up.

A nation-building game in which the action is confined to islands, "Tropico 3" installs the player as dictator of a fictional Caribbean country.

The game is not unlike this year's "Dawn of Discovery" for the Wii, though it is more involved and more informative.

Players can choose from several prefabricated leaders, such as Fidel Castro, Che Guevara or Augusto Pinochet, or create their own from scratch.

Each has several personality traits. Some are positive: A hardworking leader boosts all production, for example. Others are negative: A womanizer will find it tough to impress the religious community or educated women.

Leaders all have two of each kind of trait, along with a personal background and method for taking the presidency; these aspects influence their effectiveness and how certain groups will react to them.

Whatever their traits, a leader would do well to keep the people happy, providing jobs, food, spiritual fulfillment, housing and education.

Unhappy people may protest or revolt, though the threat or use of force is a possible response; secret police and a strong military presence can keep the citizens in line at the cost of liberty.

It can be easier simply to improve conditions and relations with the various interest groups of Tropico. A detailed almanac keeps track of many important factors, such as the condition of the people and what they want, foreign relations, the status of services and the overall economy.

The main thrust of the game, whatever the player's style, is to build a strong economic engine based on crop and mineral exports, tourism and fees. Foreign aid and trade deals may also contribute to the national treasury, as can contracts with corporate interests that may or may not seem beneficial a few years down the line. And of course, a savvy dictator squirrels some money away into a Swiss bank account.

The player may also issue edicts, usually for a price. There are several kinds. Social edicts include such decrees as banning alcohol, allowing gay marriage and banning contraception. With Foreign Policy, players may curry favor with the United States or the U.S.S.R. (the game can run from the 1950s up to 2000).

Economic and Domestic Policy edicts are also available, provided the player has met the conditions for using them.

The game can be played in a Campaign mode, which offers a chain of scenarios on predetermined islands. There's also a Sandbox mode, in which players are free to adjust the conditions of their island to their liking; and Challenges, special scenarios created and uploaded by players.

PICKS AND PANS

Left 4 Dead 2

3 stars

"Left 4 Dead 2" does what any good horror sequel does: It ups the ante. More zombies, more weapons, more gore – "L4D2" has them all.

The four new Survivors face a new set of campaign scenarios, and they'll find new equipment, such as a defibrillator for reviving dead allies, and an assortment of new weapons, including melee weapons like chain saws and swords.

The Survivors will need them all – the Infected now include acid-spewing Spitters; Chargers, who can grab a Survivor with their huge arms; and Jockeys, who can jump onto a Survivor's back and steer them toward danger. The original game's Infected forms return as well.

The game offers solo and online campaign play; the Versus mode, in which one team plays as the Survivors and the other as the Infected; and three new modes. The Realism mode makes the game harder for the humans; Survival sends waves of Infected at the Survivor team; and Scavenge has the Survivors trying to gather fuel for an escape while the Infected try to stop them.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC; $59.99 ($49.99 for PC) •

Age rating: Mature

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron

2 stars

The second portable-only "Star Wars Battlefront" game, "Elite Squadron" goes from land to air to space and back again, all in the same battle.

"Elite Squadron" brings back the open-ended character classes of the previous "Renegade Squadron" – players can choose a predetermined equipment set or make their own.

As the clone trooper X2, whose genetic material was from a Jedi, players will fight on the Republic's side before switching to the Rebellion in the single-player campaign. The game also features Instant Action and Galactic Conquest modes, as well as online competition for up to 16 players.

The campaign has some interesting elements, but it feels like the game and graphics are straining against the PSP hardware — controls are clumsy and visuals can get choppy.

Sony PlayStation Portable, also for Nintendo DS; $29.99 • Age rating: Teen

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City

2 1/2 stars

"Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City" packages the two downloadable add-ons for "Grand Theft Auto IV" together on one disc. (Both episodes are also available for download.) The first, "The Lost and Damned," introduced a host of new missions revolving around a biker gang. The latest episode, "The Ballad of Gay Tony," has a more likable cast, and its own new missions, vehicles and weapons, along with other additional material.

Microsoft Xbox 360 (or Xbox Live download); $39.99, or $20 (800 Microsoft Points) each • Age rating: Mature

– Justin Hoeger

Mario hasn't changed much in nearly three decades, but his latest game, "The New Super Mario Bros. Wii," is one of the holiday season's top titles.

"New Super Mario Bros." on the DS was a welcome return to 2-D form for Mario and Luigi.

"New Super Mario Bros. Wii" takes that success and expands it, shoring up weak points from the first game and adding new features that have never been in a "Super Mario Bros." game.

Like "New Super Mario Bros.," the game's visuals are in 3-D but arranged on a 2-D plane, so the game play is similar to the classic "Super Mario" games.

The game feels most like a mixture of "Super Mario Bros. 3" and "Super Mario World," from the return of Bowser's seven Koopalings to the haunted houses in several worlds. There's an ice world, a desert world, deep caves and high clouds – in short, a variety of locations that will seem familiar to longtime players of the series but are presented in new and interesting ways.

Also interesting are the new items Mario and Luigi can find, from the Propeller Mushroom, which can be used for short flights upward, to the enemy-freezing Ice Flower and the new Penguin Suit. The Mini Mushroom that shrinks Mario returns from the DS game, along with the standard Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman items. Hungry dinosaur Yoshi appears, as well.

These items are all useful in getting through the game's numerous courses, which start out fairly easy but get harder. The game is tough in the old "Super Mario Bros." way.

It's easy to blunder into a pit or enemy, but players who plug away at a tricky stage will usually find the way through – if not, the new Super Guide will show them the path. Collecting Star Coins in each level allows players to buy hint videos.

But the most dramatic addition is a concept that's been around for decades: cooperative play, which has never been seen in a "Super Mario Bros." game. Up to four players can run, hop and bop through any of the game's levels, which adds a new dimension to the proceedings.

It's tricky to make jumps onto narrow platforms when playing solo; it's trickier when multiple players are bouncing off each other or accidentally on purpose throwing Koopa shells at their allies. Multiple players can pick up and throw each other, pound the ground for a screen- clearing blast, and use each other's heads as springboards.

While in standard multiplayer mode, the characters are meant to work together, there are two modes in which they compete. Free-For-All ranks players at the end of each stage by score, coins and enemies bopped. Coin Battle uses only coins as the deciding factor.

Nominal teamwork – or at least noninterference – is still needed to get through stages in these modes, because if everyone dies, game over.

PICKS AND PANS

Modern Warfare 2

3 stars

"Modern Warfare 2" is gorgeous, plays tightly, sounds amazing and is expertly made.

But one mission casts the player as an American infiltrating a terrorist group as it massacres civilians at an airport. The level can be skipped, but it still comes off as gratuitous because of the tacit participation required if one plays through it. The first game's helpless ride through a city in the midst of a coup d'etat was more effective.

Outside the campaign is the Special Ops mode, which lets one or two players participate in a variety of challenges, such as fighting off increasing waves of enemies with a sniper rifle, mines and a Predator drone.

The online multiplayer mode returns, with players able to select a soldier class or create their own with the weapons, equipment and perks they've unlocked. Everything but the most basic features requires play to open up.

The game comes a la carte; in the Hardened Edition, with an art book and a download token for "Call of Duty Classic"; and in the Prestige Edition, which includes the above, a set of night-vision goggles and a stand for them.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC; $59.99 to $149.99

Age rating: Mature

God of War Collection

3 1/2 stars

"God of War Collection" is great either as a primer for people curious about the upcoming "God of War III" or as a trip down memory lane for veterans of the bloody series.

As the warrior Kratos, players hack and slash and whip their way through Athens and the Temple of Pandora in the first game on a quest to defeat Ares, the god of war. In the second game Kratos, now a god himself, is cast down by Zeus and seeks his revenge.

Both games now run at 60 frames per second and the visuals have been overhauled for high definition.

Sony PlayStation 3; $39.99

Age rating: Mature

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again

3 stars

"Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again" tasks players with guiding little wind-up toys through hazardous levels, rearranging pathways and barriers with the stylus, and steering them toward switches and away from traps.

Each stage's exit door will close a few seconds after a Mini goes through unless another one follows quickly, and there's no way to directly control Minis once they're moving.

With these restrictions, some puzzles can be very tricky, and figuring out when to activate the Minis and how to influence them to reach the exit along with a stage's items is satisfying.

Nintendo DSi (DSiWare download); $8 (800 Nintendo Points)

Age rating: Everyone

– Justin Hoeger

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2