Metroid is one of the few Nintendo franchises focused on hardcore gamers. A story in space involving aliens known as Metroids that absorb energy from living beings, space pirates looking to weaponize the Metroids, and a single bounty hunter burdened with the task of eradicating both sides definitely strays from the company's family-friendly norm.

The previous-generation Metroid Prime trilogy focused strictly on first-person shooting and was a different take on the franchise's story. Metroid: Other M (on the Wii system) takes a gamble by returning to the original continuity and a third-person action style. It pays off big, though, with fantastic high-speed combat and a deeper perspective on the Metroid universe.

Sony's PlayStation Move

Appealing to both hardcore gamers (with the franchises they love) and casual gamers (with ease of use), Nintendo's Wii has been a powerhouse in the video-game market. This success has led Nintendo's main competitors, Microsoft with Xbox 360 and Sony with PlayStation 3, to develop their own motion-control schemes -- which will be hitting the market in the next few months.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

With the Wii game lineup containing so many titles geared to children and family play, 2008's exclusive No More Heroes made a statement that "mature"-rated games can succeed on the motion-based system. Its intense action combined with a crazy yet compelling story and parodies of the gaming industry convinced me the Wii wasn't just for casual players and tapped into the "mature" market, which only consisted of Resident Evil titles at the time. The new sequel, subtitled Desperate Struggle, continues the story with new methods of madness to boot.

Several years after protagonist Travis Touchdown becomes the top-ranked assassin in the fictional city of Santa Destroy and walks away from the profession, his former promoters are trying to drag him back into the fold. He has no interest in climbing the rankings again, but the murder of his best friend motivates him to enter and name his reward: his best friend's killer served to him on a platter.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Since his 1981 debut in Donkey Kong, Mario has been a staple of the platforming genre, but in recent years he's branched out, taking on go-kart racing and fighting tournaments with other Nintendo characters, for instance. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the original magic that caught our attention decades ago returns, along with the sadistic difficulty some have come to love and hate.

Pokémon games are initially released in two different versions. For the current generation of the handheld Nintendo DS system, those were Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, which added another 100 Pokémon to the series and presented the first online play the core series has ever had. After the first two set the new standard in what Pokémon is going to be for the current system, a third title is released on the same platform that is essentially a final version that adds new game-play elements and increases the difficulty for a tougher challenge. Pokémon Platinum is that third version for this generation, bringing with it new online mini-games in the Wi-Fi Plaza and difficulty that will frustrate even hardened role-playing-game fans.