By Nelson Schneider - 05/28/12 at 02:01 PM CT

Welcome back to another installment of the MeltedJoystick Review Round-Up. Here’s what our staff has reviewed since last time:

Nelson’s Reviews:
The MeltedJoystick staff found ourselves burning through a LOT of multi-player games this quarter… so much so that we’re running out of new things to play! When not playing couch-co-op with the rest of the crew, I found myself playing through a host of abominations. I also got my retro on with both a spiritual successor and a direct sequel to two of my favorite old-school dungeon-crawlers. Sadly, only one of those games rose to the occasion.

“Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One” – 3.5/5
“Castle Crashers” – 3/5
“White Knight Chronicles II” – 2/5
“Rayman Origins” – 4/5
“The Kore Gang” – 2/5
“Castlevania: Harmony of Despair” – 1.5/5
“Rygar: The Legendary Adventure” – 2/5
“Kirby's Return to Dreamland” – 5/5
“Legend of Grimrock” – 4.5/5
“Spore Hero” – 3.5/5
“Stonekeep: Bones of the Ancestors” – 0.5/5


Chris’ Reviews:
Chris reviewed all of our staff co-op games as well. He also managed the epic feat of completing “Skyrim” (and I do mean ‘completing’) a month earlier than expected. In order to fill out the rest of the quarter, he also enjoyed a game that combines prepubescent girls and tentacles (no, not in the way you’re thinking).

“Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One” – 3.5/5
“Castle Crashers” – 3.5/5
“Rayman Origins” – 3.5/5
“Castlevania: Harmony of Despair” – 2/5
“Kirby's Return to Dreamland” – 4/5
“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” – 4.5/5
“Scarygirl” – 3/5


Nick’s Reviews:
Despite the fact that Nick was sitting on the couch in the same room with the rest of us, he only managed to eek out a review of one staff co-op game. Shameful. His late “Dungeon Defenders” review looks like it will end up being even later, as he has spent almost every moment of his free time in the warm embrace of the PC version of that game, trying to get a ‘good feel for it.’ I’m expecting a 4000 word review next quarter that not only covers the base game, but ALL of the DLC!

“Rayman Origins” – 3.5/5

Featured User Review:
This quarter, the featured user review winner is new user JLFM for a solid review of “Super Paper Mario.” While the MeltedJoystick staff doesn’t share JLFM’s rosy opinion of that game, we unanimously agreed that the quality of the writing and depth of detail is the type we love to see from our members. Congratulations, JLFM!