Polygon

WWE '13 may seem like just another licensed product trading on nostalgia, but it displays an understanding of why the Attitude Era was so revered and unique. WWE '13 lets longtime wrestling lovers reminisce about the WWE's halcyon days and serves as an inspired interactive history lesson for younger or more casual fans. Wrestling may never reach those heights again, but at least we can relive them here.

That's really what separates New Super Mario Bros. U from its "New" predecessors: It adds something to the Mario formula. It's exciting and full of inventive ideas. Until now, the New Super Mario Bros. games have been a fun but mostly mindless reminder of how great Mario was back on the NES or SNES.

It's a testament to the extraordinary quality of its multiplayer that Black Ops 2 won't go down as a forgotten entry. For most, that's probably enough to strongly recommend it. A saving grace, if ever there was one, Treyarch has taken big risks with the most successful multiplayer formula in online shooters since online play and party systems. That innovation, combined with the constant refinement of Call of Duty's multiplayer mechanics over the years, makes Black Ops 2 the best online shooter out there.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star's few problems are written into its very structure as an amalgam of genres. If you go in expecting an RPG, you're apt to be disappointed by simplified battles and stats. If you're in it for the puzzle solving, the frequent combat breaks may get on your nerves. But if you can accept those conditions, Sticker Star has something special buried beneath its covers. Nintendo tends toward smooth, straight-forward design, but Sticker Star is the opposite of that. It's a flawed, offbeat, endearing little game.

In that way, Halo 4 is most like the original Halo, where the novelty and wonder of exploring something really alien and different is a key factor. While Halo 4 continues the series' tradition of iteration on its own design more successfully than any one of its predecessors, that sense of awe, of discovery, has been light since the first game, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I played Halo 4.

Confusion defines Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation. Ubisoft's desire to transcend low expectations for handheld spin-offs is clear, and I can respect that. Liberation accomplishes that every once in a while. But those stretches were inevitably shattered by restrictive missions, unexplained systems and an unintelligible story. For all its noble efforts to the contrary, Liberation still feels like a second-rate handheld port where it counts.

Assassin's Creed 3 has a host of issues that pop up throughout the game, issues that by themselves have been enough to drag other titles under. But there's so much good in Assassin's Creed 3, it's so ambitious, so singular, that I can't stop thinking about it, and what's more, Ubisoft may have finally cracked the riddle of inventive multiplayer that doesn't rely on a large player base to enjoy. Even knowing that I'll encounter issues that make the game occasionally infuriating, I want to go back. And that, despite Assassin's Creed 3's flaws, is more than I can say for most games.

Need for Speed Most Wanted is marred somewhat by a fussy, restrictive and self-defeating interface. But it's one of the best racing games of 2012 regardless. And if Criterion's track record of post-release support with Burnout Paradise is any indication, it will only improve over time. Criterion has proven itself as a steward of one of gaming's oldest and most beloved brands, and also as creative game makers in their own right.

Grinding notwithstanding, the world would be a better place if more games aimed at kids were like Skylanders Giants. While the retail element is a justifiable red-flag, as an ecosystem for toys and play, Skylanders Giants is well-written, well-designed and engaging stuff. It's a game that parents and kids should be able to agree on - assuming the parents don't level up Tree Rex too much when their kids aren't looking.

New Little King's Story is still fun and unique, particularly if you don't have a means of playing the original. But so many of its adjustments are baffling steps backward and joy-sapping tweaks. It seem to be driven by a desire to make things different even if they aren't better. At least New Little King's Story leaves us with a lesson: Change is not always progress.