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The challenge for “Tropico 3″ players is to build a thriving island nation from the ground up.

A nation-building game in which the action is confined to islands, “Tropico 3″ installs the player as dictator of a fictional Caribbean country.

The game is not unlike this year’s “Dawn of Discovery” for the Wii, though it is more involved and more informative.

Players can choose from several prefabricated leaders, such as Fidel Castro, Che Guevara or Augusto Pinochet, or create their own from scratch.

Each has several personality traits. Some are positive: A hardworking leader boosts all production, for example. Others are negative: A womanizer will find it tough to impress the religious community or educated women.

Leaders all have two of each kind of trait, along with a personal background and method for taking the presidency; these aspects influence their effectiveness and how certain groups will react to them.

Whatever their traits, a leader would do well to keep the people happy, providing jobs, food, spiritual fulfillment, housing and education.

Unhappy people may protest or revolt, though the threat or use of force is a possible response; secret police and a strong military presence can keep the citizens in line at the cost of liberty.

It can be easier simply to improve conditions and relations with the various interest groups of Tropico. A detailed almanac keeps track of many important factors, such as the condition of the people and what they want, foreign relations, the status of services and the overall economy.

The main thrust of the game, whatever the player’s style, is to build a strong economic engine based on crop and mineral exports, tourism and fees. Foreign aid and trade deals may also contribute to the national treasury, as can contracts with corporate interests that may or may not seem beneficial a few years down the line. And of course, a savvy dictator squirrels some money away into a Swiss bank account.

The player may also issue edicts, usually for a price. There are several kinds. Social edicts include such decrees as banning alcohol, allowing gay marriage and banning contraception. With Foreign Policy, players may curry favor with the United States or the U.S.S.R. (the game can run from the 1950s up to 2000).

Economic and Domestic Policy edicts are also available, provided the player has met the conditions for using them.

The game can be played in a Campaign mode, which offers a chain of scenarios on predetermined islands. There’s also a Sandbox mode, in which players are free to adjust the conditions of their island to their liking; and Challenges, special scenarios created and uploaded by players.

PICKS AND PANS

Left 4 Dead 2

3 stars

“Left 4 Dead 2″ does what any good horror sequel does: It ups the ante. More zombies, more weapons, more gore – “L4D2″ has them all.

The four new Survivors face a new set of campaign scenarios, and they’ll find new equipment, such as a defibrillator for reviving dead allies, and an assortment of new weapons, including melee weapons like chain saws and swords.

The Survivors will need them all – the Infected now include acid-spewing Spitters; Chargers, who can grab a Survivor with their huge arms; and Jockeys, who can jump onto a Survivor’s back and steer them toward danger. The original game’s Infected forms return as well.

The game offers solo and online campaign play; the Versus mode, in which one team plays as the Survivors and the other as the Infected; and three new modes. The Realism mode makes the game harder for the humans; Survival sends waves of Infected at the Survivor team; and Scavenge has the Survivors trying to gather fuel for an escape while the Infected try to stop them.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC; $59.99 ($49.99 for PC) •

Age rating: Mature

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron

2 stars

The second portable-only “Star Wars Battlefront” game, “Elite Squadron” goes from land to air to space and back again, all in the same battle.

“Elite Squadron” brings back the open-ended character classes of the previous “Renegade Squadron” – players can choose a predetermined equipment set or make their own.

As the clone trooper X2, whose genetic material was from a Jedi, players will fight on the Republic’s side before switching to the Rebellion in the single-player campaign. The game also features Instant Action and Galactic Conquest modes, as well as online competition for up to 16 players.

The campaign has some interesting elements, but it feels like the game and graphics are straining against the PSP hardware — controls are clumsy and visuals can get choppy.

Sony PlayStation Portable, also for Nintendo DS; $29.99 • Age rating: Teen

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City

2 1/2 stars

“Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City” packages the two downloadable add-ons for “Grand Theft Auto IV” together on one disc. (Both episodes are also available for download.) The first, “The Lost and Damned,” introduced a host of new missions revolving around a biker gang. The latest episode, “The Ballad of Gay Tony,” has a more likable cast, and its own new missions, vehicles and weapons, along with other additional material.

Microsoft Xbox 360 (or Xbox Live download); $39.99, or $20 (800 Microsoft Points) each • Age rating: Mature

– Justin Hoeger

Mario hasn’t changed much in nearly three decades, but his latest game, “The New Super Mario Bros. Wii,” is one of the holiday season’s top titles.

“New Super Mario Bros.” on the DS was a welcome return to 2-D form for Mario and Luigi.

“New Super Mario Bros. Wii” takes that success and expands it, shoring up weak points from the first game and adding new features that have never been in a “Super Mario Bros.” game.

Like “New Super Mario Bros.,” the game’s visuals are in 3-D but arranged on a 2-D plane, so the game play is similar to the classic “Super Mario” games.

The game feels most like a mixture of “Super Mario Bros. 3″ and “Super Mario World,” from the return of Bowser’s seven Koopalings to the haunted houses in several worlds. There’s an ice world, a desert world, deep caves and high clouds – in short, a variety of locations that will seem familiar to longtime players of the series but are presented in new and interesting ways.

Also interesting are the new items Mario and Luigi can find, from the Propeller Mushroom, which can be used for short flights upward, to the enemy-freezing Ice Flower and the new Penguin Suit. The Mini Mushroom that shrinks Mario returns from the DS game, along with the standard Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman items. Hungry dinosaur Yoshi appears, as well.

These items are all useful in getting through the game’s numerous courses, which start out fairly easy but get harder. The game is tough in the old “Super Mario Bros.” way.

It’s easy to blunder into a pit or enemy, but players who plug away at a tricky stage will usually find the way through – if not, the new Super Guide will show them the path. Collecting Star Coins in each level allows players to buy hint videos.

But the most dramatic addition is a concept that’s been around for decades: cooperative play, which has never been seen in a “Super Mario Bros.” game. Up to four players can run, hop and bop through any of the game’s levels, which adds a new dimension to the proceedings.

It’s tricky to make jumps onto narrow platforms when playing solo; it’s trickier when multiple players are bouncing off each other or accidentally on purpose throwing Koopa shells at their allies. Multiple players can pick up and throw each other, pound the ground for a screen- clearing blast, and use each other’s heads as springboards.

While in standard multiplayer mode, the characters are meant to work together, there are two modes in which they compete. Free-For-All ranks players at the end of each stage by score, coins and enemies bopped. Coin Battle uses only coins as the deciding factor.

Nominal teamwork – or at least noninterference – is still needed to get through stages in these modes, because if everyone dies, game over.

PICKS AND PANS

Modern Warfare 2

3 stars

“Modern Warfare 2″ is gorgeous, plays tightly, sounds amazing and is expertly made.

But one mission casts the player as an American infiltrating a terrorist group as it massacres civilians at an airport. The level can be skipped, but it still comes off as gratuitous because of the tacit participation required if one plays through it. The first game’s helpless ride through a city in the midst of a coup d’etat was more effective.

Outside the campaign is the Special Ops mode, which lets one or two players participate in a variety of challenges, such as fighting off increasing waves of enemies with a sniper rifle, mines and a Predator drone.

The online multiplayer mode returns, with players able to select a soldier class or create their own with the weapons, equipment and perks they’ve unlocked. Everything but the most basic features requires play to open up.

The game comes a la carte; in the Hardened Edition, with an art book and a download token for “Call of Duty Classic”; and in the Prestige Edition, which includes the above, a set of night-vision goggles and a stand for them.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC; $59.99 to $149.99

Age rating: Mature

God of War Collection

3 1/2 stars

“God of War Collection” is great either as a primer for people curious about the upcoming “God of War III” or as a trip down memory lane for veterans of the bloody series.

As the warrior Kratos, players hack and slash and whip their way through Athens and the Temple of Pandora in the first game on a quest to defeat Ares, the god of war. In the second game Kratos, now a god himself, is cast down by Zeus and seeks his revenge.

Both games now run at 60 frames per second and the visuals have been overhauled for high definition.

Sony PlayStation 3; $39.99

Age rating: Mature

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again

3 stars

“Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again” tasks players with guiding little wind-up toys through hazardous levels, rearranging pathways and barriers with the stylus, and steering them toward switches and away from traps.

Each stage’s exit door will close a few seconds after a Mini goes through unless another one follows quickly, and there’s no way to directly control Minis once they’re moving.

With these restrictions, some puzzles can be very tricky, and figuring out when to activate the Minis and how to influence them to reach the exit along with a stage’s items is satisfying.

Nintendo DSi (DSiWare download); $8 (800 Nintendo Points)

Age rating: Everyone

– Justin Hoeger

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Mario hasn’t changed much in nearly three decades, but his latest game, “The New Super Mario Bros. Wii,” is one of the holiday season’s top titles.

“New Super Mario Bros.” on the DS was a welcome return to 2-D form for Mario and Luigi.

“New Super Mario Bros. Wii” takes that success and expands it, shoring up weak points from the first game and adding new features that have never been in a “Super Mario Bros.” game.

Like “New Super Mario Bros.,” the game’s visuals are in 3-D but arranged on a 2-D plane, so the game play is similar to the classic “Super Mario” games.

The game feels most like a mixture of “Super Mario Bros. 3″ and “Super Mario World,” from the return of Bowser’s seven Koopalings to the haunted houses in several worlds. There’s an ice world, a desert world, deep caves and high clouds – in short, a variety of locations that will seem familiar to longtime players of the series but are presented in new and interesting ways.

Also interesting are the new items Mario and Luigi can find, from the Propeller Mushroom, which can be used for short flights upward, to the enemy-freezing Ice Flower and the new Penguin Suit. The Mini Mushroom that shrinks Mario returns from the DS game, along with the standard Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman items. Hungry dinosaur Yoshi appears, as well.

These items are all useful in getting through the game’s numerous courses, which start out fairly easy but get harder. The game is tough in the old “Super Mario Bros.” way.

It’s easy to blunder into a pit or enemy, but players who plug away at a tricky stage will usually find the way through – if not, the new Super Guide will show them the path. Collecting Star Coins in each level allows players to buy hint videos.

But the most dramatic addition is a concept that’s been around for decades: cooperative play, which has never been seen in a “Super Mario Bros.” game. Up to four players can run, hop and bop through any of the game’s levels, which adds a new dimension to the proceedings.

It’s tricky to make jumps onto narrow platforms when playing solo; it’s trickier when multiple players are bouncing off each other or accidentally on purpose throwing Koopa shells at their allies. Multiple players can pick up and throw each other, pound the ground for a screen- clearing blast, and use each other’s heads as springboards.

While in standard multiplayer mode, the characters are meant to work together, there are two modes in which they compete. Free-For-All ranks players at the end of each stage by score, coins and enemies bopped. Coin Battle uses only coins as the deciding factor.

Nominal teamwork – or at least noninterference – is still needed to get through stages in these modes, because if everyone dies, game over.

PICKS AND PANS

Modern Warfare 2

3 stars

“Modern Warfare 2″ is gorgeous, plays tightly, sounds amazing and is expertly made.

But one mission casts the player as an American infiltrating a terrorist group as it massacres civilians at an airport. The level can be skipped, but it still comes off as gratuitous because of the tacit participation required if one plays through it. The first game’s helpless ride through a city in the midst of a coup d’etat was more effective.

Outside the campaign is the Special Ops mode, which lets one or two players participate in a variety of challenges, such as fighting off increasing waves of enemies with a sniper rifle, mines and a Predator drone.

The online multiplayer mode returns, with players able to select a soldier class or create their own with the weapons, equipment and perks they’ve unlocked. Everything but the most basic features requires play to open up.

The game comes a la carte; in the Hardened Edition, with an art book and a download token for “Call of Duty Classic”; and in the Prestige Edition, which includes the above, a set of night-vision goggles and a stand for them.

Microsoft Xbox 360, also for Sony PlayStation 3, PC; $59.99 to $149.99

Age rating: Mature

God of War Collection

3 1/2 stars

“God of War Collection” is great either as a primer for people curious about the upcoming “God of War III” or as a trip down memory lane for veterans of the bloody series.

As the warrior Kratos, players hack and slash and whip their way through Athens and the Temple of Pandora in the first game on a quest to defeat Ares, the god of war. In the second game Kratos, now a god himself, is cast down by Zeus and seeks his revenge.

Both games now run at 60 frames per second and the visuals have been overhauled for high definition.

Sony PlayStation 3; $39.99

Age rating: Mature

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again

3 stars

“Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again” tasks players with guiding little wind-up toys through hazardous levels, rearranging pathways and barriers with the stylus, and steering them toward switches and away from traps.

Each stage’s exit door will close a few seconds after a Mini goes through unless another one follows quickly, and there’s no way to directly control Minis once they’re moving.

With these restrictions, some puzzles can be very tricky, and figuring out when to activate the Minis and how to influence them to reach the exit along with a stage’s items is satisfying.

Nintendo DSi (DSiWare download); $8 (800 Nintendo Points)

Age rating: Everyone

– Justin Hoeger

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2