Castlevania HD is the nerdy girl in a teen romantic comedy: just one makeover away from prom queen, but a pariah until it happens. There’s a fun multiplayer platformer in there, but it’s obscured by usability issues and you can miss it entirely. However, Harmony of Despair is the first cool thing to happen to the Castlevania series since Symphony of the Night, and no amount of kludge can hide that.

Starcraft II is like an echo channeled through twelve years of game design: textured somewhat by its passage, but still an echo. Blizzard has certainly reassembled all the components they used to define the realtime strategy genre, but whether that’s a good thing largely depends on your tastes.

In one word, DeathSpank is staid. Heck, it might as well be a platonic form: the action-RPG-est action-RPG out there. Whether this will appeal to you is largely a matter of genre allegiance, because it’s good for the polish and bad for the novelty. Either way, DeathSpank is a solid game if you’re in the market to hit things and level up.

Although it’s a 2D platformer, LIMBO is a horror game, so come prepared. Whether you’re fleeing a giant spider or succumbing to brain worms, the game is stark and disturbing. That makes it incredibly compelling. Add that to the black and white silhouette art, vivid animation, and precision platforming, and you have a great game. It’s just not for the faint of heart.

Infinity Gene makes a lot of noise about evolution, but its real strength is adaptation. Specifically adaptation to the iPhone. Outside that, it delivers a fairly straightforward shooter with snappy pacing and an unobtrusive tutorial. The occasional cheap death chafes a bit, but there’s more than enough good stuff here to gloss over a few minor flaws.

Are you passively suicidal, but just don’t know how to take that single step to go pro? Dejobaan Games has found a way to literally do just that. Share their Reckless Disregard for Gravity by stepping off future superstructures without the inconvenience of permanent death. Wrap that up with the highest tier comedy writing, and this game will delight casual and hardcore gamers alike. So throw yourself off something tall. It’s fun!

There haven’t been a lot of direct sequels to Super Mario games since the late eighties, so Mario’s latest outing is something of an oddity. However, Mario hasn’t lost that sequel magic and comes through with a game that feels comfortable and novel at the same time.

Rocketbirds Revolution! plays it straight. Between the deadpan retelling of cold war action flicks to the run and gun platforming, you could almost miss it when the game winks at you. Just remember that subtlety is a sign of refinement and you’ll find that Rocketbirds is an elegant and compact example of its genre.

Bonus news bit: Developer Sian Tan let us know that Ratloop Asia is hard at work on a port for Rocketbirds to PS3. They’re still early in the development process, but hopefully we’ll hear more details soon.

SEE: Artistic vision forgotten since the silent film era.
HEAR: The extraordinary soundtrack.
KNEAD: The inimitable P.B. Winterbottom’s pastry obsession into something nobler.
ENDURE: Unflattering couplets that hurt your feelings.
MARVEL: As P.B. bends time to eat pie!

ALL THIS AND MORE inside this PIXELSOCKS EXCLUSIVE review of THE MISADVENTURES OF P.B. WINTERBOTTOM.

The iPhone port of Plants vs. Zombies isn’t quite as feature rich as its counterparts, but it’s also a tenth of the price. The smart tower defense gameplay and adorable aesthetic remain intact, and the touch interface is actually superior to other ports. It’s only a pity that the reduced content will cut down on the time you’ll spend with such an excellent game.