Super Meat Boy for PC

There's a section in the Bhagavad Gita about a million deaths that are fated to happen, right?  Super Meat Boy is like a pre-battle meeting with Krishna, if Krishna was a devilishly difficult platformer that packs in nods to other games, other game makers, and other gameplay styles at every possible spot.  It's an epic of game playing.  You'll find yourself gasping "argh" as you die just millimeters from the end of a level, only to smack the keyboard and start the level again.  Just one more and you'll get it.  Sure...  Keep your RSI braces handy -- you won't be able to stop playing this one.

Braid for PS3 (PSN)

Braid poses a time-traveler's dilemma, what if you could go back and undo all your mistakes?  In this side-scrolling world, you can.  Biffed the timing on jumping those koopas?  Back up in time and get it right the next time.  Oh, but it's not that easy -- some things aren't affected by your time travel.  It makes for mind-warpingly interesting puzzles that involve overlapping, but not concurrent, time lines going in different directions.  Weird and wonderful!

God of War III for PS3

When me droogs and I are up for a bit of the ultraviolent, this game hits the spot.  There's slashing and smashing and decapitating to fill an evening with action.  (I think the producers secretly own shares in a fake blood factory, because there are gallons of it here.)

There's this story, too, about killing all the old gods of Olympus, and you get to ride on a Titan, which is pretty freakin' awesome, but mostly you kill things that gush blood everywhere.  Also, there are spots where you have to pull levers in the right order to get a platform to lift you to the next area ... where you kill things.

There are boobs.  Did I mention that?  Some of the things you kill have breasts on them.  Gorgons, I think.  So, *evil* breasted-things.  But boobs you can look at.  So there's that.

The whole thing's actually quite pretty.  I give it two thumbs up ... which I will then chop off and throw into the fires of Hades.  Haiyah!

New Super Mario Bros for Wii

Yep, it's awesome! It's all the classic gameplay that you spent days and days playing on SNES, with some sweet new powerups and an interesting twist or two. The music is true to the original's spirit, yet hi-fi. The graphics are old school, yet cleaner and smoother. And the turtles, they do a little dance step that's unbearably cute. Plus you get these little bonus mini-games that are really fun. Two thum-bahs up -- way-ah up!

Call in sick! (How's the glaucoma?) You're gonna want to dedicate some serious time to this one.

Batman: Arkham Asylum for PS3

You see!? This is how you do a game based on a cartoon! The player  becomes the protagonist seamlessly, rather than just riding along on the hidden track of a jungle safari ride.  Plus, there's a real writer! Ryyyyyyye-tooooooor.  (Doesn't hurt that it's Paul Dini fer cryin' out loud.)  And who's playing the Joker? Mark Hamill.  Because he always does. It's an episode of Batman the Animated Series, it's just really complex, takes longer than the usual episode, and has a lot of side quests.

The fighting is great -- you're a badass, hand to hand.  But then your XP-based power-ups are things like the skill to drop down from a gargoyle and string up your opponents.  For kicks I did a level entirely by sneaking around the rafters and stringing the bad guys up when no one was looking.

Harley Quin went and turned into a sexy-schoolgirl cliché, but the rest of the characters have all the depth and intriguing-weirdness you expect, plus a little extra something that you can only really convey in an interactive medium where the player is discovering them as part of the story and game.

I haven't gotten all the way through yet, but when I do, I'm watching every last line of the credits.  There are gonna be names I'll recognize in future games.

Rabbit Wants Cake for Mac/PC

What an interesting idea for game controls.  Try Rabbit Wants Cake.

Portal for PS3

Portal is a first person platformer with a fun addition. Like other platformers, you get to run around trying to get from here to there. But it's the future now, and you've got a hand-held wormhole maker!

Can't jump up to the platform? Pull the trigger to open a wormhole next to you, then shoot to place its other end on the wall next to the platform. Step through and poof, you're there! Of course, the levels aren't suddenly a piece of cake, they get very sneaky.

It's a brainy sort of fun. You have to solve path-finding puzzles using more than just what's visible on the screen and more than just three dimensions. Oddly enough, it's pleasantly twisted when the mental map in your head is a klein bottle.

Mirror's Edge for PS3

On the ground and inside the skyscrapers of the city, cameras watch every move you make. The only way to keep secrets is by sending private couriers who deliver your data without asking questions. It's a surveillance state, and dissent is not tolerated. This is also the basis of the beautiful "first person platformer" game Mirror's Edge, from EA.

You're a roof-running courier, jumping from rooftops to zip-lines to steel plates on cranes to small thermal exhaust ports ... the whole time avoiding the "blues" who keep shooting at you. I love that the training mode shows you how to grab one of their guns, and the very next thing it shows you is how to empty it of bullets and throw it away.

The visual style of this game is a total win ... grab the free demo and see what you think. It's definitely worth full price!

Super Mario Galaxy for Wii

Once again, Mario's eternal quest to impress the princess yields a fabulous game. It's the usual run-and-jump rules of Mario ... collecting star pieces (instead of coins), stomping on things, shooting stuff, and beating up bad guys.

You start out running around on teeny planets, like the little prince but with less French. Then there's a part where you get a pair of bee's wings. Another part and you're flipping tiles by walking over them, trying to make 'em all match. After that you might ride a manta ray down a water slide. The same wacky stuff you'd expect from a hero who collects mushrooms.

When this disc isn't *in* the Wii, it's right next to it!