PSV Dragon's Crown (R1)

Set in the high fantasy realm of Hydeland, Dragon's Crown is a classically styled side-scrolling combat game that lets up to four players join forces and battle mythical creatures through nine branching stages. Gamers can choose from six different characters: the Fighter, who specializes in defense; the Amazon, a dual-wield specialist with high attack and low defense; the Wizard, who uses fire magic and can raise golems; the Sorceress, who uses ice magic and can raise the dead; the Dwarf, a specialist in grappling; and the Elf, who attacks from range with acrobatics and speed.

Players collect treasure to increase their score during each stage, with the score and difficulty level combining to determine how much experience is earned. Captured loot can be used to upgrade characters or be sold outright, and as gamers level up they can head to the Adventurer's Guild to learn new skills and take on optional quests. Dragon's Crown can be played solo, or with AI characters filling out portions of the party, but it is optimized for four-player co-op action, either locally or online. And while the game does not offer cross-platform play between PS3 and Vita users, it does allow cross-platform saves and data sharing.