Game Gathering

This has been the biggest season for videogames in forever, but how do you tell which are the best titles to put on your Christmas wish list? Well, after spending untold hours separating the amazing from the average, these games will keep you happily hibernating indoors all winter long.

By Joshua Ostroff

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Nintendo
Wii; GameCube

After the mixed reception to the cartoon-ish look of 2002's Wind Waker, Nintendo's Twilight Princess returns the Zelda series to a more realistic style — well, as much as can be expected in a game where you occasionally morph into a wolf.

But Link's shiny new lupine look isn't the only big change in gameplay.

Though originally developed for the GameCube — meaning the graphics are essentially the same on both platforms — it's the Wii's motion-sensitive mechanics that give the game its increased fun factor as you whip your Wii-mote and nunchuck controllers about to swing swords, shoot arrows, bite monsters and even go fishing.

This latest Legend of Zelda marks the series' 20th anniversary and its epic storyline about a mysterious darkness descending upon the kingdom of Hyrule not only proves the franchise is in no danger of ending, it will likely be remembered as one of the finest launch titles for any system. Ever.

Guitar Hero II

RedOctane/Activision
PS2; Xbox 360

Last year's sleeper smash returns to the stage for a well-deserved, impeccably executed and, yep, totally rocking encore.

Requiring a peripheral mini-guitar to play - it comes with a sweet new cherry-red Gibson or you can buy a separate wireless version - Guitar Hero II is somewhere between a rhythm game and a rock-star simulator.

You have to press the colored fret buttons on the guitar arm in the order they scroll onscreen while strumming the "strings" button. You can also tilt the guitar or hit the whammy bar for extra style points and virtual crowd cheers.

The designers tried to make it as real as possible so if you have guitar-playing friends, they'll likely smoke you in two-player. Luckily, they've expanded that mode - while you can still compete head-to-head, now you can also play lead and bass or rhythm guitar. So even if you have the guitar from the original version, it's not a bad idea to pick up the sequel's full package so you can form a rock band with a buddy.

With a killer soundtrack including heavy metal heroes Mötley Crüe and Guns N' Roses, to alt-icons Nirvana and Jane's Addiction, to modern rockers Wolfmother and Foo Fighters, GHII has made old-fashioned air guitar strictly for suckers.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Raven/Activision
Multiplatform4

Licensed games are always hit or miss — ok, mostly miss — but somehow Raven Software has now gone three-for-three with the Marvel universe.

Following up their two acclaimed X-Men Legends games wasn't gonna be easy, yet they hit a homerun by expanding beyond their mutant core to include almost all of Marvel's superhero community.

Overall this action-RPG crams in 140 characters including 20 playable ones ranging from mainstream stalwarts Wolverine and the Human Torch to relatively obscure fanboy favorites such as Silver Surfer and Luke Cage.

With Dr. Doom as chief villain, Galactus as the biggest boss ever, and a wide-ranging storyline that travels from the depths of Atlantis to the furthest reaches of outer space — not to mention pretty eye-popping graphics on the next-gen versions, plus new online multiplayer — they just may have created the ultimate superhero videogame.

Final Fantasy XII

Square-Enix
PS2

Five years in the making, this latest Final Fantasy takes place in Dalmasca, a city-state in the land of Ivalice — first seen in the 1998 PlayStation One spinoff Final Fantasy Tactics — where advanced technology and old-world magic happily coexist.

Alas, nobody else is coexisting very well. The once-peaceful, now war-ravaged land has been invaded and you control a party of insurgents — a street urchin, a sky-pirate and a princess — all of whom have formed an unlikely alliance to fight for freedom.

Though still requiring strategy, the new real-time battle-system is faster and far more engaging than the old turn-based one, and the "license" system for character development is rewardingly complex.

But the jaw-dropping comes courtesy of the amazing CGI cut-scenes that the sprawling cities, deep dungeons and a surprisingly timely occupation storyline that proves gaming's most epic franchise just keeps getting more, well, epic.

Neverwinter Nights 2

Obsidian/Atari
PC

With so many computer role-playing games inspired by the pen-and-paper "Dungeons&Dragons", it's no surprise that one of the best is actually based on the classic RPG.

Using "D&D" 3.5 edition rules and the much-loved Forgotten Realms setting, this sequel enables you to gather a party of adventurers (controlled by AI or by friends in online multiplayer) and engage in the usual character micromanagement and dungeon crawling. They've thankfully added real-time point-and-click combat to the mix, but there could have been a few more improvements — there have been considerable camera complaints and while it looks great, the high-end system requirements may make your computer queasy.

The branching storyline is the usual tale of an impending invasion of evildoers that only you can stop with a magical relic. But they have also included an all-new toolset allowing users to design and share their own campaign modules, a wonderful gift that essentially make Neverwinter never ending.