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Pushmo, the downloadable puzzle title for the Nintendo 3DS, is a clever game that should appeal to most players looking for a little brain exercise.

Like any good puzzle game, Pushmo is challenging enough to allow players feel smart without being hard enough to make them feel dumb. For the most part, at least. I have to admit that I got stuck in a few parts, but for most of the early puzzles can be solved in a minute or less and the game does a good job of teaching the core mechanics before real difficulty starts to set in.

Rayman Origins is one of the best games of 2011, and it's a shame that so few people have bothered to notice it.

The game, a 2D platformer, succeeds in its absolute refusal to be anything like most of this year's most popular games, while staying true to the traditions laid down by many a classic from the 8- and 16-bit eras. Rayman Origins is a game in which nothing has to make sense, but everything is supposed to be fun.

The title also earns distinction as one of the most beautiful releases for the current or any generation of console games. Rayman Origins' rich, painterly character designs and layouts are as vibrant as the sights one may see in the best animated films. Indeed, playing the game is like playing a cartoon.

Super Mario 3D Land is a terrific platformer that mixes moments of insane difficulty with a player-friendly approach and brilliant visuals that perhaps more than any title so far, make a case for 3D visuals as an essential component of gameplay.

How so? Acrophobia, to put it simply. Running and jumping to ridiculous heights has always been at the core of Mario games, and the Nintendo 3DS' stereoscopic visuals make it easy to imagine what it would be like to ascend - and perhaps fall - hundreds of feet. The handheld's visual capabilities also make enemies, fireballs and even boomerangs as if appear as if they are capable of flying towards and almost out of the screen itself.

But as nice as the graphics are, Super Mario 3D Land - and any other game - needs to be fun to play to avoid failure. Thankfully, Nintendo delivered a classic Mario experience that relies on the traditional running and jumping exploits of vintage Super Mario Bros. while adding a series of zany and zanier surprises to keep things interesting.