Nintendo has usually had a relatively fun list of games coming out around the holidays and the Gaming Angels are here to help recommend some games to you for that Nintendo fan in your life.

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland (E 10+) At a recent event, I was able to play Kirby’s Return to Dreamland. First of all who doesn’t love Kirby? Second, this platformer was created for families to play together. Players can easily join in or leave a game without interrupting play. Best part is no fighting over one player grabbing all the items because the team has one set score for all the items. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland encourages team work. ~ Trina

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword E10+) Five years ago, gamers were given The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just in time for the Holidays. Nintendo has finally given us the next installment in their iconic series, and it’s far more than just a GameCube port as well. Most of us have many a fond memory of playing Zelda games we were gifted for the Holidays ranging back to our childhoods, and this game will certainly be another gem to add to our collections. ~ Vanessa

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (E for Everyone) By now, the ‘Legend of Zelda’ formula is familiar. Heck, this game itself is probably familiar, given that this is a rerelease of a Nintendo 64 title (remember those days?). This game alone sold me on the 3DS’ 3D capabilities. It looks beautiful, and it’s great to have such an adventure available right in my pocket. ~ Tiffany

Professor Layton and the Last Specter (E for Everyone) Who knew that a game based on solving puzzles and riddles could not only be so much fun, but also revolve around an incredibly intricate story? That’s exactly what the Professor Layton franchise has done for the last three installments, and fans should be just as eager to get their hands on the most recent game. Even if you’ve never played a Professor Layton game before, all you need is a lukewarm affinity toward solving puzzles and a pension for mysteries to get wrapped up in the Professor’s latest adventure. ~ Keri

Wappy (E10+) The Wappy is just about the cutest thing ever. This virtual puppy comes to life in a robot form that interacts with you. Think Tamagotchi on a whole different level. This provides everyone with the fun of owning a puppy without the cleanup. ~ Trina

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D (E for Everyone) I’ve been missing a good rhythm game in my DS since Elite Beat Agents’ release what feels like forever ago. Gabrielle’s a great follow-up with the perfect “girly” touch. Look, I like dressing up my game characters, what else can I say? ~ Tiffany

BUY

In my opinion, Oops! Prank Party is a great addition to the party genre.  Although it has been compared to Mario Party, I feel it holds it own and is super fun.  You have the option to jump right in and play with default avatars or to create a custom avatar or avatars, 40 in total can be customized.  First you’ll need an avatar name, give it your own or make one up!  Everything can be chosen from tops to bottoms, jewelry, shoes, and accessories such as hats, scarves, hair bands and bows.  You start off with many choices and as the game progresses, you can win a variety of new items.  On my very first win I won pink cat ears, meow!  Of course you can create your own look and style with facial customization.  From your head shape, hair, ears, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth,  to facial hair and glasses.  Also customizable is your voice.  Language: English vs. Japanese, Sex: Male vs. Female and Tone: Kid vs. Adult vs. Old Man/Lady.   I think I spent way too much time in this mode before starting a game, it was too much fun.

Once you start the game there are 4 playable modes to choose from and each is fun and challenging in its own way:

Master Mode: where you challenge the “Master of the Stage” in a set of nine different mini-games and do your best to reach the top score to defeat the master and unlock new stages.

Practice Mode: with up to 4 players, you can challenge each other in mini-game stages unlocked during Master Mode.  This can help you become ”Master of the Stage”.

Board Game Mode: which I feel is the most fun to play with others and difinitely has that Mario Party feel to it.  You can choose different boards and set the rules as you see fit.  Each one is kind of plain, with multi-colored squares which lead you through the board, but the simplicity does not take away from the novelty and overall fun.  You take turns rolling a die to see where you’ll end up.  Most of the colored squares hold a reward like coins and items or a penalty such as being knocked over the head with a fish and losing some coins.  There are also squares which host an arena, they set the stage for mini-game battles between players.  These are definitely something to look forward to so you can beat out the competition and “prank” the losers.  Pranking consists of forcing your fellow players to wear ridiculous and funny costumes throughout the game or blowing them up with fireworks or TNT.  Another little fun note is that the more you’re pranked, the more outlandish your look will get.  Last I played, I was a charred banana with a hula skirt.  Last, there is

Free Play Mode: which allows players to construct their own party from 100 different mini-games.  Mini-games range from simple action and shooting challenges to brain-teasing puzzle activities.

My family and I had a blast playing this game.  Its a total laugh from beginning to end and the costumes and game sounds are very silly.  Even the mini-games are designed to make you giggle.  The really cool thing about this game is that, if you’ve got friends or neighbors to play with, each avatar can be saved to his or her Wii remote.  This allows them to bring their own avatar to the game.  Something new to me that I have not seen in other Wii games.  Up to 4 avatars can be customized and saved to each Wii remote.  My kids really love this feature and have invited a couple friends over to play.  If you’re a fan of party games or family style gaming, Oops! Prank Party will make a wonderful addition to your Wii library.  I think this game is made for people of all ages and would be a great game for parties and get-togethers as well.  So, throw an Oops! Prank Party, Party!  B.Y.O.W. or Bring Your Own Wii-mote!

RENT

In Disney’s Tangled, you can take on adventure alone as both Rapunzel and Flynn, or play along with a friend.  The journey is completely based on the movie storyline and you’ll see many recognizable environments and hear one-liners straight from the script.  Kids will enjoy the multiple activities and working as a team with a parent or sibling is a fun way to complete the game.  My kid and I had a few laughs during our play through.  Each character has their own special abilities.  Rapunzel can use her golden hair to swing across gaps, pull objects and climb.  She can also grow flowers in “charm mode” and collect a variety of colors to draw and paint the tower wall or collect sun drops to earn points.  She can also let down her flowing tresses to assist Flynn in climbing barriers.  As Flynn, players can climb walls, knock down obstacles, engage in sword play, and discover hidden treasures using his “Flynntuition”.  In order to win challenges faster, its best for players to work as a team, helping each other along the journey and collecting as many items as possible.

Tangled is your typical Disney tie-in game; but it lacks in creativity and innovation. For the main part of the game, you and one other person take part as Rapunzel and Flynn as you go from Point A to Point B.  There are some good elements in this game that mostly have to do with Rapunzel’s hair. I believe there could have been more to this game as far as challenges and difficulty in general, as well as more quests.  The game is meant for ages 6 – 11 yet, my 4 year old is able to master skills and complete the game on her own and my 9 year old has no interest in playing.  She says its “too easy”.  This game only asks you to do the basics; climb, jump or swing over minor obstacles that repeat themselves far too often.  As for Flynn, he’s your usual hero; he climbs walls, digs up treasure, beats up enemies and chops down bad looking bushes with his sword.

If you play this game single player, you have to constantly swap between the characters in order to get both of them through the levels.  Yes, you need to get them BOTH through.  It helps that you have the ability to “hold hands” with the other character to help them progress through the level if you’re on your own.  There is also the map which shows your progress.  Its basically a “go where you want to” type of game with no real flow or specific path to follow.  There are also a few different entrances/exits on each level which can be a bit confusing for kids, because once you exit a level, your collection counts and progress are lost.  The sun drops help to keep Rapunzel’s hair glowing and magical and the coins are used .  So, working hard to get those counts high seems a bit pointless.  The final boss battle is extremely boring and anti-climactic.  Basically, it just ends but not really — you can still go back to the map and replay any level you’d like.

In addition to the main story mode, there are several challenges that were very bland – and only up to two players can play, despite the claim that this game can be played by up to four players.  The main mode can be finished in 2 to 3 hours, and there’s little reason to go through it again except to find basic colors or get more pictures for a journal.  The controls are easily mastered but touchy.  With the slightest movement your character can move into an unwanted position which becomes quite frustrating, often leading to unnecessary “deaths” (quick respawns) or having to redo several steps (especially tedious with timed missions when one misstep/jump often means having to restart the timed mission to get a decent score).  There is way too little of a time limit in the timed missions, even as simple as it is, with the difficulty in control the time should be longer.  There are two different control configurations: Wii Remote only and Wii Remote with Nunchuk.

For the most part, this game is a solid win for kids; it’s colorful, full of action, and a good storyline that follows the movie story well, with plentiful dialogue (voice overs from actual movie talent, Mandy Moore and Zach Levi) and decent graphics.  The game also hosts the original score from the movie and Rapunzel will sing at certain points in the game which my daughter loved.  There is a tad bit of violence, from characters sword fighting or banging a guard’s head with a pan to knock him out for a bit, but no death or real violence, which is a concern for some parents.  Sure, this game is not for the serious console gamer but it’s still worth the rent if you’ve got kids or if you’re a kid at heart.  I say give it go.  Its definitely a game young children will enjoy and if you’re a parent, you’ll like the smiles on their faces.

BUY

If you’ve got a “Gleek” in your home, this wonderful collection of sing-along hits from the infectious TV shows first season is a no-brainer! The game plays like just about every karaoke game on the market.  You have your plastic microphone, the words scroll across the screen, and you have to sing within the right key (you are given instructions to sing higher or lower, how long to hold notes, etc.) to earn top points.  As you perform and accumulate points, you will gain dancing groupies that let you know you are on a hot streak.  The actual game mechanics are very mundane.

The game contains 29 songs from the first half of Glee’s first season (the pilot through sectionals) to test your karaoke abilities. Just about all of the essentials from those episodes are here.  The second the game boots up, that addictive tune that plays in the background of certain Glee scenes (any true “Gleek” knows what I am talking about) puts you in a Glee-tastic mood.  Songs come with background videos straight from the show and you can sing alone, in competition, or in duet mode.

With Glee Karaoke Revolution, you get what is advertised: an enjoyable, party-ready karaoke experience wrapped in a box.   It does not bring anything new to the genre, but then again it never pretends to.  If you love all things Glee and want to sing along with some friends, this is your best bet for now.  Hopefully, the inevitable sequel will have more song selection and variety, but until then, grab the mike, sing along and pretend that your friends are laughing with you, not at you.  For those that have embraced everything that is Glee (including me), Glee Karaoke Revolution is the perfect way to get your fix until the series returns in February.

Glee Karaoke Revolution Song List:

1. And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going
2. Bust A Move
3. Can’t Fight This Feeling
4. Defying Gravity
5. Don’t Rain On My Parade
6. Don’t Stand So Close To Me Young Girl
7. Don’t Stop Believin’
8. Endless Love
9. Gold Digger
10. Hair/Crazy In Love
11. Hate on Me
12. I’ll Stand By You
13. I Say A Little Prayer
14. Imagine
15. Keep Holding On
16. Lean On Me
17. Leaving On A Jet Plane
18. My Life Would Suck Without You
19. No Air
20. Papa Don’t Preach
21. Proud Mary
22. Push It
23. Smile (Cover of Charlie Chaplin Song)
24. Smile (Cover of Lily Allen Song)
25. Somebody To Love
26. Sweet Carolina
27. Taking Chances
28. True Colors
29. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

A review copy of this game was provided by the publisher and did not affect the outcome of this review.

RENT

The game starts with L’Arc, a mercenary, locked in battle with a dragon.  The game has an immediate feel of Final Fantasy, no matter how you slice it, from the music, the colors, the flying buccaneer style boat ships, to how the game plays.  None of those things are bad, instead it sort of puts you in a state of familiarity.  This is stuff anyone that’s played a traditional RPG is probably familiar with.  The Wii does have a graphics limitation, but the game looks reminiscent of a nicer previous console generation games.  The story video is rich and very Japanimation looking though I don’t think it’s as cool as Lunar (Then again, nothing has been as cool as the animation for Lunar in a long time), but it is very pretty.  The shorter in-game videos use animation from the in-game graphics.  Nothing to brag about, but it gets the point across and moves the story along.

Speaking of the story: L’Arc falls from the sky with the dragon and right before the dragon decides to explode (or felburst in the game), Rufia, another charater comes out of the forest and sings to the dragon.  Instead of felbursting, the dragon disappears and Rufia saves L’Arc from what would have seemed to be a certain death. In the game the dragons are call Feldragons.  I wonder if this “fel” part is like smurf.  You’ll have a smurfing time.

A thing I just have to mention is that the voice acting in Arc Rise Fantasia is painful.  To be fair, I am one of those types of people that doesn’t mind if a game takes longer to release, if I get the original voice work with English subtitles.  I was so happy that Naruto had a choice to change to Japanese w/ subtitles instead of having to deal with “BELIEVE IT!”  Sadly, Arc Rise Fantasia does not have the choice to change and thus you get English actors with lengthy translations and bizarre interactions.   The voice acting lacked the ‘acting’ part and it seems as though they sat all the voice actors in a room and just had them read the lines. No passion, no intonations, it was just someone reading the script like a book.  I have heard more emotion from someone ordering #15 with chicken at a Chinese restaurant than most of the lines in this game.

Arc Rise Fantasia also uses a combination of storytelling methods.  It goes from movie, to in-game video, to a DS style with a photo of the character talking while text plays on the bottom but it also reads it to you, so you have the voice “acting” all the time.  The pictures of the characters change as the script calls for it. So if L’Arc is confused and Rifia is sad, it shows how they feel; sometimes with comedic results as they stay longer than they should on certain expressions.

The names of places, monsters and such are still true to the RPG lore, but when they got to the people in town, or people you must talk to who are not part of the main cast, they turned to literal translations. So you need to talk to a soldier outside the gate. The name of the soldier is “Alert Watchman,” the one on his left is talking to a kid; when you go talk to that one instead, the name is “Chatty Watchman.”  As you can see, there is no random name created here, but instead their names are the exact situation that they are in, or their location and/or their purpose.

As the game progresses, you travel with Rifia to the nearest town.  In this trip, the game teaches you how to attack.  It’s the same system as many RPGs where you see an enemy, the screen cracks, and you go to a battle mode.  It’s turned-based, so you can individually tell each character in your party to attack, or heal, or use items, etc.  Another way of playing is using Tactics: a method that allows you to preset a chain of commands.  I actually enjoyed the Tactics mode especially at the beginning, however, the choices are limiting as you can only pre-program 3 plans. On the other hand, when you just want to grind and level your characters up, it can be handy.

Here, I should mention that another thing I like about Arc Rise Fantasia is the ability to use your classic Wii controller, it was much more comfortable.  It automatically recognizes it if you start with the controller connected, or can be switched mid-game in the menu.

Back to our story: The next member the party that you meet is Alf; not as in “Alien Life Form” but short for Alfonso.  You meet with Alf at the “Eloquent Cat Inn.”  The interaction between Alf and L’Arc is bizarre and I do not know if it was caused by the poor voice acting, but you get this feeling than L’Arc and Alf are more than just friends.  More hilarity ensues caused by this, as Rifia is pretty oblivious to pretty much everything.  The story continues, taking you on a journey into L’Arc and Alf’s world, which is slightly different than where Rifia comes from. You’ll find out that L’Arc is more than just a mercenary, but a special guy that will be able to bring peace between the two kingdoms with the help of Rifia, his magical friend,  and a cast of quirky, crazy and special characters to help him through his journey.

If you love RPG’s, this game might be a step back.  If you play RPG’s in a casual way, or are nostalgic for a more simple yet fun RPGs that doesn’t require 7 hours just to make up a character, this might be something you’d like to pick up.   If nothing else, the game comes with a “hair manual” to help you with all your cosplay needs at your next convention.  Arc Rise Fantasy lacks luster and complexity, but it’s a game that I would give to someone not used to RPGs or a new gamer starting their journey through the world of RPGs.

A review copy of this game was provided by the publisher and did not affect the outcome of this review.

Lost in Shadow is a puzzle game with a twist.  The game is known as “A Shadows Tale” in the UK or “Kage No Tou” in Japan, which translates to “Tower of Shadows.” The latter name makes more sense as the title of the game, but that’s translations for you.  The game starts with a boy, suspended in midair on top of a tower in the middle of an arc.  A hooded figure shows up and materializes a weird looking sword.  He slashes towards the boy, no blood or movement comes from the boy but his shadow collapses on the floor.   The hooded figure then grabs the shadow and tosses him over the edge of the tower. The boy is called, simply, “Boy.”  Spangle, a fairy that accompanies you, very much like in Zelda, also has an unknown origin.  So this is how you start the game, the weird hooded dude takes shadow of the boy named Boy, who later is accompanied by the fairy.  The only thing you know at this point is that you must climb the tower in order to be able to reunite your shadow with your body.

The demo reminded me of Braid and many other puzzle games, but what makes Lost in Shadow unique is the shadow part.  The detail as to how the shadow looks on different surfaces is amazing.  How it bent, broke, changed perspective, enlarged or shrunk according to the light of the game at the time was nicely done.  It took a bit to get used to looking at the shadow of the platform I needed to walk or jump too, instead of the actual platform, but once I got the hang of it, it became almost second nature.  The game is not only played by the shadows that are already in place, but you can use Spangle to help you move platforms to cast a different shadow, or to make a shadow so you can get to a higher area.

On each stage, you have to collect 3 artifacts that grant you the ability to exit the area, which is protected by a shadow wall.  If you reach the end and don’t have all 3, the shadow wall will hurt you if you touch it.  Among other things, you have memories that you pick up and read.  Every time you do so, your shadow gains weight.  Yes, weight! If it’s a trivial memory, you might gain 0.10lb.  If the memory is of more significance, the weight you gain is greater.  I was a bit confused by how the weight worked, but the only thing I could derive is that at certain point, you gain enough weight to become solid and work other puzzles.  The weight also works as your health bar.  If you get hit by shadow spiders, shadow stars with pom-poms or shadow spiders with blue eyes, you lose weight, aka you lose life.

The enemies are far and few in between, and they show up only when you pick up the shadow of a rusty sword that was left behind.  The fact that is rusty, doesn’t bother you because the shadow it’s just a normal sword.  The 3 types of enemies you encounter on the demo are spider blue eyed, spider red eye and the star.  The different between red eye and blue eye is that red spider can be killed with your sword.  The blue eyed spider must be killed with elements present on that particular stage.  As you advance, you can also mess with the light of stage in order to cast a taller or shorter shadow, or lean the shadow to the left or right.  You can also encounter a shadow door that takes you to another shadow dimension where you must change the platforms to create new shadows to find and reach the next shadow door. Once you are out, it disappears and gives you health and experience, since the boy shadow is capable of leveling up.  What happens at level up is unknown to me, since the demo didn’t explain that.  Another interesting thing is that if you die the message reads “Boy’s shadow #1 fainted at ___” and lists the level you where in.  The game keeps track as to how many boy shadows you go through.

The demo lasted long enough to get me curious about the game.  I did not like the fighting system, as the boy does only 3 animations and most of the time the spiders had a longer reach, hitting me no matter what I did.  Things might be different later in the game, and I’m hoping Boy will get a longer sword, so killing the spiders would be a bit easier.   The game has different difficulty settings that can be changed on the fly.  When I made it harder, it took more hits to kill a spider. Normal took 2 to 3 hits and easy only 1 to 2 hits.  The puzzle didn’t seem to get any harder.

If you like puzzle games and like the look of PS2’s Ico and the playing style sort of like Braid, this might be the game for you.  If you have never heard of Ico or Braid, no worries, you will then be in for a treat!  (PS you should go check those out too!) I would like to play more of this game and discover the deep dark secrets the game has.  Best part? You can play the demo online at their website, the downside being that you won’t get to see how it works on the Wii.

A review copy of this game was provided by the publisher and did not affect the outcome of this review.

Just like the movie cover

Platform: Wii (also on DS)
ESRB: 10+ E
Number of Players: 2
Publisher: 505 Game
ReleaseDate: August 24, 2010
Price: $29.99 MSRP

RENT

The game, even though it’s animated, has a Grease feel to it and the menu has a few nice winks to the movie that most movie fans will like.  You have several movie characters to choose from to begin the game and they sort-of look like the actors; some more closely than others.  I, being the rebel I pretend to be in games, picked Rizzo and set out to do the story mode.  It takes you through the movie, showing you a little clip of a scene while it tells you in text what is going on.  For every song played, there is a different game to go with it.  You can match arrows to the beat, fix the Grease Lightning car, pillow fight, play guitar and more. If you have a balance board and/or mic, you’ll be able to use them with the game.

The game is very hard at times.  I tried to put myself in the 10+ mentality as that’s what the game was aiming for, but then I found myself getting more and more frustrated at some of the choices.  The fact that words like “virgin” and “cigarette” were bleeped, as well as “good” in “Man she was good” was also bleeped out, started to grind my gears.  It didn’t stop with just those songs; there were words removed in almost all of the songs. The Hurdles game was broken.  Danny could not run fast enough because he’s heart would over work itself, which happens when you are fast enough to beat your opponent.   Jumping had to be done WAY too early in order to be able to jump the hurdles.  I wish I could say that it was the only game type that suffered from problems, but sadly, I can’t.  Then it dawned on me, no 10 year old would want to play this game!!!  If a parent thought Grease was a “family movie” I don’t think they would mind the word virgin!

The game had potential and there was some love put into it, but the re-recorded songs had no passion to them; taking “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and  “There are Worse Things I Could Do” out of the main game to make it unlockable; broken camera angles and game types just makes it impossible to justify the $29.99 MSRP.  The best part of the game for me was that the selection buttons on the main menu have musical tones. If you time it right enough you can play the melody of the main song, and when you do, it sings the next part. Yes… the best part of the game was an Easter egg in the main menu.

For ages 10 and up, the game is a complete failure.  If the game would have been rated Teen, given more time, only use the Wii-mote instead of making it also capable to be a sing along and use the balance board and perhaps bundled with the movie, it would have been a great stocking stuffer for this Christmas, given to those that are fans of the movie.

At this point, the game has been discontinued, so I guess if you want it, you know that there is a limited supply of it.  Rent it, but walk to the store, put it at the bottom of your queue, get to the register and ask, “HOW DID THIS GET IN THE QUEUE!?!” ¬_¬

A review copy of this game was provided by the publisher and did not affect the outcome of this review.

BUY

When I first started to play the game, I was hoping that the question “Ivy the Kiwi?” would be answered. Is it a kiwi? Is it a bird? Is it…what is Ivy?!?  Sorry, no answer about that, but what I did find was a fun game that felt correctly translated to the Wii.  The game starts with Ivy’s birth and she finds that her mother is not where in sight.  She hasn’t gotten out of her shell completely when she embarks in a journey to find her mother.

Ivy the Kiwi? It’s a fun and cute, adventure puzzle game, where you draw vines in order to move Ivy.  The goal of each stage is to collect 10 feathers, but you can finish the stage without collecting them all.  Some of the stages are harder to get all 10 feathers and in some levels, you’ll run out of time.  After just a few levels I already wanted to go back to the first stages to get that one feather I missed.  This made me believe that it would be a game that I would reply without a problem.  It also has a time trial section, where you can try to do each level at a faster time and a 4 player party. In it you play the levels but you can sabotage the other players, while keeping your Ivy moving towards the goal.

This game came out on both the Wii and the DS and after playing the game, I can see how the DS game would be easier since the goal is draw vines on the screen in order to get Ivy to climb, jump, propel and pretty much any kind of movement you want her to do. I was surprised how easy it was to control the vines with the Wiimote  to get Ivy to the right position. It became almost second nature and just a quick move of the wrist, the vine went where I wanted.  I always feel weird playing games like “Mario vs Donkey Kong” where you don’t control the character, but control the things around them in order to get to do the things you want them to do, but in this case, not been able to move Ivy was not a problem.  I adjusted rather easily, and got the hang of it quick.

The sound  and music can become a little repetitive, but every time you move from one major level to another, the music and look changes.  Thanks to that change, you don’t hate the music and in some cases you start to miss a particular tune you liked.  The game’s look as if you where looking through parchment paper.  One of the draw backs is that only a small window in the middle of the tv is where the game runs. It has a border around that works as a background.  It was annoying to me since I have a large tv and I do like to use 100% of the real estate.  Made it feel almost like if I was using my DS to play on the large screen TV at times.  The graphics are very much in the style of an old story book or hand drawn like Okami.  The look fits the game rather well and it does transfer to a world only an Ivy, who might be a kiwi, could leave.

Should you get it? My answer is yes.   It’s a fun game that you’ll play over and over again. With friends or by yourself, Ivy the Kiwi? It’s a fun game. One that can come in handy this holiday season when you try to keep people playing other things than just Rock Band

A review copy of this game was provided by the publisher and did not affect the outcome of this review.

Contest Rules:

• To enter, post a comment on this entry telling us why you want Epic Mickey for your Wii console!
• For extra chances to win, RT this on Twitter:
• Enter me to win “An Epic Giveaway”  @GamingAngels http://t.co/UOEqFku #GamingAngels
• Contest ends Tuesday December 21st!
• We’ll randomly pick a winner from all the comments and tweets.

Good luck, and for more information about Disney Epic Mickey, you can check out their Facebook Page.

There’s plenty of good ideas here and I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that someone on your list would like. (If not, don’t forget to get yourself something nice for the holidays too!)

Xbox 360 (and Xbox Live)

Plants Vs Zombies was on our Casual Game Guide for 2009, the limited edition for the PC was on this year’s guide, and we like it so much we’re recommending it one last time. This popular game came to Xbox Live just a few months ago but the game has transferred so well to the console platform, it’s almost as creepy as those zombies.  You can grab PvZ on Xbox Live for1200 MS Points for the full game, though there’s a demo available if you want to try it before you buy it. ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

Super Meat Boy was reviewed by our own @stealthyslyth just a little while ago.  The game has a bizarre sense of humor that’s endearing as only it can be when you’re playing a clump of meat who loves a girl covered in bandages.  It’s a hilarious take on the platform genre where the goal is to figure out how to rescue Bandage Girl from the evil Dr. Fetus. Get SMB on Xbox Live for1200 MS Points also, again with a demo available. ESRB Rating: Teen

Call of Duty: Black Ops is still new to store shelves and has been a huge hit among Call of Duty fans already.  Chances are COD fans on your list probably already have the game.  However, for gamers on your list that might need to branch out to the FPS genre, Black OPS might be the place to start. You can grab this game for the 360 and the PS3 through our Amazon store for $59.99. ESRB Rating:Mature

Fallout: New Vegas is the highly anticipated full game release follow-up to the FPS/RPG Fallout 3.  The game takes place 4 years after the events of Fallout 3 and in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the cities in the Fallout story not to have been hit by a direct nuclear attack.  This affords the follow-up a different round of story lines, characters and conflicts than what’s been seen in previous installments.  The game is available for the PC, Xbox 360 & PS3.  The 360 version is $55.54 though our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Mature

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is one of the most surprising and unique stories that came to the Xbox this year.  It’s a twist on an old Chinese tale and the fine people at Ninja Theory, with help from writer Alex Garder put a spin on it that pleasantly surprised @Cherithe.  You can check out our detailed review of the game and then head over to our Amazon store and pick it up for the gamer in your life for $32.48. ESRB Rating: Teen

In Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar proves once again that they know how to bring an epic storyline to life. You follow John Marston on his road to redemption in a world where the old is clashing with the new. Expansions to multiplayer and the “Undead Nightmare” DLC make this a game in which you can easily clock 50 or more hours. The real question is how long it’ll take you to pick up your controller after you reach the shocking finish.  It’s available for $39.99 in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Mature

Playstation 3

The Sims 3 brings to consoles something EA hasn’t really done in the past, and that’s bring the full Sims experience to a console.  The Sims 3 is a leap forward in graphics and customization for the Sims franchise but it hasn’t always been a practical purchase for people with limited graphic capabilities on a PC or Mac system.  Now, you can bring that same experience to your PS3, which is perfect for fans of the franchise that may not have had the chance to keep up with it with the newest release.  The game is $57.99 in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Teen

Just Cause 2 is repeatedly playable for the ability to roam the island of Panau and coming up with more ridiculous ways to cause destruction. Want to tether a small plane to your passenger plane? Go for it. Want to drop them from a ridiculous height and watch the boom?  You can do all that.  Read @kweenie’s review from earlier this year and then you can pick the game up for $38.36 in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Mature

In Assassins Creed: Brotherhood The eternal struggle between the Assassins and the Templars rages on, only this time you get to hang out in Ancient Rome. Cool! Much like the subject it’s centered on, Assassin’s Creed has established itself as a powerful forced to be reckoned with, and as a franchise that delivers on the value time after time. If you’re at all interested in following Ezio’s story pick this up in our Amazon store for $54.44. ESRB Rating: Mature

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom is absolutely gorgeous to look at and will surely find it’s place in the hearts of magic-lovers everywhere. For fans of co-op and varied gameplay styles, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom looks to be the perfect sibling escape for those long holidays stuck with family.  Pick it up in our Amazon store for $39.99. ESRB Rating: Teen

The time for Grand Turismo 5 has finally arrived! One of the most talked-about games  of the new console generation has finally found a release date. Fortunately for PS3 fanboys everywhere, it’s a convenient 2 days before Black Friday. Looking forward to finally being able to play against 15 other people on the PlayStation network, pretty much since the PS3 was announced? Of course you are! And with its 1,000 cars, detailed damage models and course editor, Polyphony’s done this game right.  Pick it up for $59.99 in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Everyone

PC/MAC

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is a brave expansion by Blizzard for their popular MMORPG – taking a world they’ve built upon for six years and starting fresh. That takes guts, but it also makes the entire world ripe for discovery, whether you’re level 5 or level 80. Not only that, but you get two new races, the ability to fly through older areas, and character creation is really opening up, making this trip to Azeroth almost completely new. ESRB Rating: Teen

Civilization V was overplayed before release and has been quietly keeping RTS fans up late into the night as they learn all the new techniques to tackle this update to the Civilization franchise.  The game has gotten little press in the deluge of other big games released this fall, but believe us, it’s worth the money for the RTS lover on your shopping list.  There’s been a ton of updates to the gameplay and graphics and is great addition to any PC gamer’s collection.  Grab it in from the Amazon store for $39.99. ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
Aion : Assault on Balaurea is an expansion to the hit MMORPG from NCSoft.  The expansion has increased the game’s level cap to 55 and offers a boat load of new features to the game.  Fans of Aion will enjoy the 8 new instances, as well as the new zones and new pets.  The expansion has Twitter integration built-in so players can quickly show off their in-game achievements to their Twitter friends.  Pick up this expansion for $33.22 right now in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Teen

Nintendo Wii

Kirby’s Epic Yarn was the darling of E3 this year, and for good reason, since it really brings the whimsy to your Wii. The craft-themed platformer turns the series on its end, since Kirby’s main power (inhaling things) doesn’t really work – he’s made of yarn after an encounter with an evil magic sock! Yarn, it turns out, does not hold air that well. Patches, however, do. You’ll have to find seven of them to restore Patch Land and go home, but before you do, you’ll be turning Kirby into rockets, robots, and more – not to mention taking a turn as an interior decorator. You’ll find it in our Amazon store for $47.99. ESRB Rating: Everyone

Epic Mickey isn’t even out yet but we’re convinced that even gamers that have set their Wii’s aside are going to want to check this out.  Mickey Mouse is main character in this darker tale from Disney, where artwork plays a huge part in the story.  Mickey has to travel through an alternate world called the Wasteland armed only with a paintbrush and some turpentine.  Epic Mickey is going to be good for gamers of all ages and you can pick it up for the Wii family on your list for $39.99 starting November 30th in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Everyone

In Metroid: Other M Samus Aran made a surprising return this year.  For fans of story heavy Metroid games, this series update by Team Ninja.  @Cherithe did a review after the game came out that you can read here.  In Other M players get a good look at some of the history of Samus’ life.  This is a must have for Metroid fans on your holiday shopping list and you can pick it up now for $37.49 in our Amazon store. ESRB Rating: Teen

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That’s what we have for you this year.  I hope we’ve helped in even a small way to make holiday shopping for the gamers on your list easier.  If not, we encourage you to check out one of the other holiday guides we’ve provided this month: Gadgets, Casual Gaming, MMORPGs,  Anime & Manga, Hobby Angels and Pop Culture.  We’re positive that something will be the perfect gift for the gamers and geeks in your group of friends or in your family.  Enjoy!

And for those of our readers in the states, we here at GamingAngels.com wish you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Research all video game ratings at the official ESRB ratings site