Best games for children

Epic Mickey 2:
The Power of Two

Pro: Familiar fun

Gallery

Holiday Tech Guide 2012: Tablets: Here’s a look at the tablets to choose from this holiday season.

Video

What’s this year’s mystery gadget?

Con: Can feel a bit stale

Best for: Those for whom there’s no school like the old school

Retail price: $44.99

This year in the gaming world is all about the sequel, and games for the younger set are no exception. In its follow-up to Epic Mickey, Disney again relies heavily on its stable of beloved characters to produce a fun, familiar game that will appeal to kids of all ages.

Mickey returns, of course, as does his pal Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from the first title to help players fly over gaps and use his powers to turn enemies into friends. Gamers can choose to play solo or with a friend, thanks to flexible cooperative play that adds another layer to the game. The title also gives kids a little bit of the moral decision-making that shows up in more mature titles, as the way they play affects the world around them. Jumping on the heads of too many of the other creatures in a level makes other characters wary about working with you.

True Disney fans will appreciate that references to older movies and Disneyland jokes pepper the story line, making it a true nostalgic treat to watch as well as play.

New Super Mario Bros. U

Pro: Something-for-everyone gameplay

Con: Exclusive to the Wii U

Best for: Families who like to play together

Retail price: $39.99

With the latest Super Mario Bros. title, Nintendo is trying to show off the best of its new Wii U console and the new kind of videogame playing that comes with it. Called “asymmetric play,” the Wii U and its tablet-like controller give one player the opportunity to take a slightly different role in the course of the game. In New Super Mario Bros. U, that new role is one more suited to those not used to playing in the Mario world. The one who holds the tablet controller gets to create new blocks and platforms to help — or hinder — their fellow players as they work their way through the level. That could mean giving your friend a leg up on a part of the map that’s difficult to get past or blocking them into a confined space with an enemy.

The rest of the gameplay should be very familiar to Mario fans, who will be happy to see the return of the plumber protagonist’s most-used power-ups, including the leaf that gives you the ability to glide like a flying squirrel. The game also includes the return of baby Yoshi dinosaurs with special abilities to help players through the game world and toward the ultimate goal of saving the princess.

PlayStation
All-Stars Battle Royale

Pro: Pulls in the feel of favorite PlayStation games

Con: Can feel a bit chaotic

Best for: Good friends with thick skins

Retail Price: $59.99

Sony pulled out an impressive lineup of its classic characters to participate in a no-holds-barred battle game that should have PlayStation fans grinning from ear to ear as they beat each other senseless.

The cast of characters features those as varied as the sneaky raccoon Sly Cooper to Heihachi from Tekken to Nathan Drake from Uncharted. In each case, the company has taken pains to make the controls feel as familiar as possible; each character plays the same way they do in their original games.