The month of April had some great games that should be reached to a wide audience. However, as such with The Chosen Twelve, certain criteria has to be met in order to be a part of this list. Here are those requirements:

1. Quality has to be high enough to recommend a must-play or must purchase

2. Game has to have a defining feature that can be easily described (ex. difficult, easy to learn)

3. Game, above all else, can be tried by a broad audience without being overly convoluted and complicated.

4. Game, preferably, has to be a new property or bring something new or fresh into other games. Or, it can be a game that was missed previously.

Let's get the first thing out of the way: Grand Theft Auto IV is not a Chosen Twelve. It is very much a contender, in my eyes, for the game of the year however. Possibly even one of the best games ever made. However, it purely refines the experience of Grand Theft Auto, not changes it or makes a wholly different experience. And, odds are, everyone has this game.

Mario Kart Wii, also, isn't going to make the cut. As fun and simple as the game is, the game pales in comparison with what is possibly the best Mario Kart ever made: Mario Kart DS. Still, an excellent online mode (on the Wii no less!) and some great courses make what could be one of the most fun games on the Wii to date.

Now let's get to the games that could be a Chosen Twelve. First, in what seems to be a growing trend in the downloadable services, another card/board game was released and is very well recieved: Lost Cities. What could be a looked at as multiple UNO games being played at once, Lost Cities very easy way of learning the game gives great head-way to the great strategy that will be needed to complete the game.

Ikaruga was released on XBLA with some high anticipation. The insanely deep and difficult shooter has been a cult classic on the Dreamcast and Gamecube for some time now. Now that it is only $10 to download, any hardcore gamer could download and enjoy this shooter.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness simplifies the Mystery Dungeon template to be more accessible. Whereas the game is easier to play, it sacrifices the great depth and creativity that made Shiren the Wanderer such a treat to play.Still, those who are intimidated by Shiren can definitely get enjoyment out of this game.

Which leads us to two games that is well worth plenty of praise: First, there is the jubulent and excellent release of the Virtual Console version of River City Ransom. Originally believed to be a Double Dragon clone when it was originally released, River City Ransom had a surprising amount of depth of replayability for a simple NES brawler. You punch and kick your little stubby brawler throughout each of the levels in the game. However, you also can buy and eat food, read books and get training to learn different techniques to defeat all of your enemies. Even after 2 decades of time, River City Ransom is still as fun and deep as it was decades ago.

The other game is quite possibly the best new series to come out of Square Enix: The World Ends WIth You. A deep and very customizable RPG, The World Ends With You pits you in Shibuya Japan, one of the biggest shopping areas in the world. In the game, you defeat enemies using the stylus, by either creating shapes that make spikes or slashing enemies. Attaching pins to your character, you can customize and create whatever type of fighter you feel like. The music and atmosphere of the game adds to an already excellent game.

So, who joins The Chosen Twelve?

In what's turning out to be another stellar year for the Nintendo DS, The World Ends With You takes all of the RPG conventions and turns it on it's head. Featuring a fun and fast combat system that is as insanely deep as you want it to be, The World Ends WIth You lets you play the game the way you want and it's satisfying in whatever way you want to.

So, with that, the Chosen Twelve is the following so far:

And onto May...