Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix

Whether you've dabbled with the original games or are brand-new to the beloved Kingdom Hearts franchise, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix offers a ton of engaging, challenging gameplay. You'll traipse throughout bizarre, colorful, and often surreal worlds with your party of characters (including a retro black-and-white level). Players will fight in thoughtful real-time battles and will enjoy cameos from the Final Fantasy titles and classic Disney flicks. You'll also level up your party members to become more powerful and versatile for future missions. Although it's a game that has a lot of Disney characters and locations, much of the gameplay focuses on combat, which isn't usually seen in Disney games. Players wield a giant sword-like key to hit enemies that disappear after being destroyed or in some cases use magic attacks, cartoon-like bombs, or arrows shot from a first-person perspective. 

Although it's a great collection -- especially for the sub-$40 price tag -- the stories (and dialogue sequences) can sometimes be hard to follow. The pacing can be off, too, with noticeable lulls between some of the more memorable moments in the game. Overall, however, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix is a blast for kids age 10 and older and will certainly whet the appetite while everyone waits for the next installment in the series.