Vol. 1 still has bouts of incredible monotony, but with the increased speed of the battles and graphics that don't induce nausea, it makes for a fine -- but not really great -- role-playing adventure.

Aladdin is just as solid now as it was then; jumping is still precise, the visual package is bright, colorful and well-animated, and the game's score and sound effects are all dead on.

Legends of Aranna isn't radically different! Who'd a thought an expansion pack would actually just expand the original game and be done with it!?!

The strategic elements that are firmly in place seem to be working against the action elements, when they should be working together: that is to say, it's difficult to be both General and Private in the same fight.

To be completely honest, you've seen just about everything Genji has to offer before. It doesn't add anything new to the category, but much like "God of War," what it does manage to do is gather together all of the hackneyed, passe & twaddle of the action genre and package it together in a fashion that is remarkably enjoyable.

The passing system seems to have regressed a bit and takes us back in time to the days where tapping the pass button in FIFA was like showing your complete faith in the forces of chance.

To "normal" gamers that just want a bit of old-school flavor now and again, this cart's fine and dandy -- in fact, I hope it gives Nintendo some inspiration for a NES compilation of their own.

Soccer fans will find it boring because it's too fast and too vapid, while nonfans will probably find it little more than a mildly distracting ball-themed action thing. It's reasonably well executed for what it is, but it could very well be something that no one wants.

Maxis hasn't changed the game drastically and shouldn't have to for an expansion pack that is adding a new (and cute!) perspective to an already solid game.

A complete and total rip off of "Metal Slug." But we mean that in a good way.

At the top of the reserves list above Muto, Vexx, and some of the other borderline games, but there are more ambitious titles out there.

The story's dry as a bone, but that's not what you're playing Mega Man for anyway. The only truly glaring flaw: there are some lame 3D shooter sections, and while they aren't as frustrating (or prolific) as those in X7, surmounting them will still test your patience more than your ability with a joypad.

The controls are unbelievable -- they're more fiddly than an Irish wedding. Every button on the PS2 pad is used, and many actions (like firing a weapon) require multiple presses when one could've sufficed.

If you can ignore the gimmickry and the middle-of-the-road visuals, you'll find an entertaining baseball game that'll keep you just as engaged as the rest of the crop this year. MVP Baseball has little to worry about.

There's an undeniable appeal to nailing that perfect drift, sliding in past the finish line with just a few seconds to spare. Especially in a Ferrari with a cute girl in the passenger seat.

The lighthearted, quirky nature of the Worms franchise remains wholly intact, only delivered in a new setting that may take some adjusting to, but will still not fail to appeal.

The original Double Dragon may not be quite as good as you remember, but this adaptation makes up the difference with its major additions and subtle improvements. In a market glutted with lazy Super NES ports, DDA stands out as a bare-knuckle champ.

Sophistication's not UAW's strong suit: It flaunts its influences on its sleeve and thrives on its absurd outlandishness -- an exploitation RTS, suitable for midnight screenings.

More of an afterthought in comparison where a full-scale sequel with more finely-tweaked action would be more satisfying. Battle Out of Hell is more of a "tide me over" game that offers a good value of 10 levels, many challenges, and multiplayer addition for $20.

Fairly meaty, but ultimate a godsend for retro-junkies rather than general audiences.

MTX may be fun to drive, but it's a little short on car-wreck appeal, which probably has to be considered an important factor in an extreme sports game.

Underneath the show there's still a snowboarding game that's fun to hang out with, but only in doses.

Aside from the seemingly requisite handful of games that just plain suck -- including a particularly painful one that has you slamming shut doors (via a shake of the Nunchuk), which sounds simple, but is infuriating as you attempt to find the sweet spot or figure out why it just doesn't respond to your commands sometimes -- the game's biggest fault is its surprising shortage of full-on multiplayer games.

If it had been afforded a little more finesse (especially regarding the Challenges) and a little more authentic Godzilla flavor, it'd be even sweeter.

In the end, it's hard not to fall a little bit in love with Railroads!, because it's just a lovable kind of game. Now if only they'd release some scaled-up maps to match the game's ambitions.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

It attempts a lot of ambitious things and it almost succeeds at every one. But it's apparent that these grandiose ideas may have been a little too much to master the first go-round. But hey, at least the groundwork is laid for a killer sequel -- right, Ubisoft?

Dawn of Dreams is a solid action game with a lot more play in it than its predecessors. More importantly, it's a title that shows that Capcom isn't afraid to mess with the formula.

Mixed with all of the elements that made the PS2 games successes, NCAA Football 2007 for the PSP is a fun hybrid to waste time with while on-the-go, despite some control issues and a serious error in the running game.

DDR: SuperNOVA 2 doesn't bring much new to the table, but it does execute some of the tried-and-true series staples better than its predecessors. As a first DDR or a workout tool, it's a great place to step in, but series veterans should consider it yet another slight tweak on a game that's nearly played out.

The game mechanics are still what you'd expect from this type of strategy game (meaning they work). It's only hampered by slow, slightly cumbersome controls, the occasional viewpoint problems of a 2D-game-in-a-3D-world environment, and some of the most sadistic Achievements seen in a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game.

For most, the biggest turnoff to an otherwise engaging game is that it's downright ugly. Choppy water looks like shaky carpet, characters' faces creep you out with their lack of expressions, and the majority of the areas you'll explore are gray and dreary.

You steer with the analog stick like normal, but then you can tilt the controller in a tight turn for a tiny bit of extra turning boost. And that's just dumb. It's like adding a "turn harder!" button that hardly does anything anyway.

Beyond the reworked graphics, you won't find much legitimately new content here. Patient players seeking an absurd challenge will dig the verging-on-unfair PSP-exclusive Labyrinth of Time dungeon, in which your characters' hit points constantly deplete over time. But truthfully, original additions feel scant.

No matter how hard it tries, Downhill Jam for the DS isn't its console cousin. It's barely a Tony Hawk game. That's why it works best when it's simply comfortable with what it actually is: something new entirely.

If you can ignore the gimmickry and the middle-of-the-road visuals, you'll find an entertaining baseball game that'll keep you just as engaged as the rest of the crop this year. MVP Baseball has little to worry about.

Gas Powered preaches to the choir: They've improved just about everything the faithful could have prayed for -- but they're not nabbing many converts.

Age of Empires III takes the conservative approach to the conundrum of how to craft a new experience that remains faithful to the original. While that ensures fans will immediately feel at home with an old friend, it's questionable whether it sets another standard, or merely follows its own.

An annoyingly expansive world, and reams of stilted dialogue, have all been squeezed onto a handheld system -- with nary a load time to be found! -- and that is a feat nothing short of miraculous.

For serious Nights fans, Journey offers a bittersweet reunion that reminds us of what was so singularly special about Sega's airborne dreamweaver. Unfortunately, attempting to evolve the formula creates a host of new problems and issues that ultimately diminish the game's overall appeal. That said, this still represents one of the finest original third-party games available for Wii, and younger players will find a lot to love in this gameplay-rich adventure.

When it works, Total Overdose is a surreal blur of bullets keeping time to the merengue. But for each of those moments there are an equal number that run together into an indistinguishable mush of gunning down guys in sombreros to Latino rap.

If you enjoyed the previous iterations, Battle Network 5 is a worthy successor to the line, but if you were turned off by the kiddie-veneer, the deep strategic gameplay goes a long way towards making it tolerable.

Compelling narrative and crippled combat make Jade Empire a case of form over function -- and depending on what you want from a single-player RPG, that might be totally OK. It's short (in the 20-hour neighborhood for first-timers) and sweet; just don't let the premise trick you into expecting gameplay that isn't altogether there.

When it works, Total Overdose is a surreal blur of bullets keeping time to the merengue. But for each of those moments there are an equal number that run together into an indistinguishable mush of gunning down guys in sombreros to Latino rap.

Dominator isn't so much a "sequel" as it is just "another Burnout," and the saddest thing of all is that it takes several steps back in the process.

The graphics engine is the strongest point. This game is gorgeous to look at--but not quite as much fun to play. If and when players learn to get organized, it'll be a lot more rewarding, and hopefully Novalogic will even out the play balance issues before its inevitable sequel.

But like its contemporary cousin Guitar Hero, it creates a beautiful illusion from physical interactivity, well-chosen music, and pop-cultural style. Despite the pronounced lack of innovation, DDR Universe 2 shows us that getting lost in a stream of arrows to rump-shaking club tunes is still captivating.

It would be nice to have a longer main adventure or some mini-games or something to give the game a little bit more meat on its bones, but if you temper expectations, Spider-Man 2 delivers on its promise.

It's a lot of work for flashes of scandalous fun, and not as much reward in the long run. Neither the new Aspiration nor the dating mini-game brings very much to the gameplay, and that's the crux of the problem.

For video game vixens to look as hot as these do is almost disturbing.

Soccer fans will find it boring because it's too fast and too vapid, while nonfans will probably find it little more than a mildly distracting ball-themed action thing. It's reasonably well executed for what it is, but it could very well be something that no one wants.

As an Xbox Live game, Counter-Strike's only real competition is "Rainbow Six 3" -- and it's really a toss-up as to which is better online. "RS3" has a better selection of modes (not to mention a great co-op feature) and the graphics are a fair bit smoother, but CS is much more quickly paced, and this makes online play far more addictive.

The game's main "problem" is that it badly needs four players. I say "problem" because that's only a problem if you don't have three friends to play with.

If you enjoyed the previous iterations, Battle Network 5 is a worthy successor to the line, but if you were turned off by the kiddie-veneer, the deep strategic gameplay goes a long way towards making it tolerable.

Branding aside, perhaps most frustrating is the omission of environmental interactivity -- napalm does nothing to bush and tanks are rendered useless by the thinnest slice of bamboo.

The only serious black mark on EoN is its length -- you can bulldoze through Bond's story in a few short hours, and the extra difficulty levels will likely not be enough to entice you to try again.

Really good simulations have the ability to make you sweat, and while Wolves of the Pacific is still a patch or two away from realizing its full potential, the thrill of the hunt and the constant risk of instantly switching from hunter to hunted provides an abundance of nail-biting tension and drama.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

The biggest problem is that we've seen everything Juiced has to offer before.

Unless you really, really like the franchise, this collection will do nothing whatsoever for you -- it's six largely identical games of varying quality. For those who can't get enough of that robo-rock/paper/scissors action, the exceptional quality of these ports (and the promise of a "new" spin-off) should be more than enough to offset the repetition.

Reasonably competent, but otherwise fairly unremarkable.

The most glaring omission can be found in the musical department as the original tunes you know and love are nowhere to be found.

With the flood of racing titles hitting the PSP right now, it'd be easy to miss Race Driver 2006. But if you're craving variety and great control in portable form, this is the game for you.

While preserving what it can of the spirit of the show -- the goofy patients, the romances, the cliques, and such -- It manages a mesh of genres that makes it hard to classify, but keeps it entertaining, if not addictive. Plus, for the core target audience, who's likely a casual gamer at most, it's surprisingly accessible.

While MHX isn't a definitive reinvention of a classic along the lines of "Metroid: Zero Mission," it's a solid re-creation that's been given an exceptional audiovisual upgrade.

A good player can wrap this game up in just under three hours, which definitely makes it a tough sell to all but the hardcore fans. But for fans, the experience is short and oh-so sweet, and the unlockable content -- additional characters like Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Super Saiyan Vegeta -- is sure to make it worthwhile.

If you're a competent gamer with a steady hand you'll be able to complete every challenge eventually, but beating the game "clean" is going to require quite a specific skill set that may ultimately not make this entertaining for everyone.

Going head-to-head can make for some surprisingly complex, drawn-out games, and if the single-player campaign is fun, going through it co-op is 10 times better.

Micro Machines V4 is a worthy part of a traditionally sublime racing series, but its appeal mostly lies with the party gamer set. And sometimes that's enough.

This is clearly the best-playing FIFA game ever made, but that merely puts it above some of the most average-playing soccer games ever made. Even with the improvements, the game remains far too simple tactically.

No surprise, the A.I. rolls over on anything less than Hard, and getting units into tactically feasible formations can be like herding drunken snails.

While it may not break, or even dent, any new ground, Titan Quest features a beautifully realized game world based on a tried-and-true core mechanic, with tons of replayability. What's not to like?

A notch better on the PC than Xbox, thanks to significantly better visuals, but that's still not enough to push these valorous men past the paces of the best military games of this season.

For every artistic triumph the game unveils, it also bundles an equal number of peculiar design choices that make for a largely confusing whole.

Stomach issues and assumption of Japanese linguistic ability aside, however, Squeak Squad is the most complete conventional Kirby side-scroller in some time. Yes, it may not be a "killer app" like Canvas Curse, but it's not trying to be.

The sense of purpose and accomplishment comes from making your creature grow -- to be king of the primordial soup. And while there are levels, enemies, power moves, et cetera, flOw is more of an entertaining diversion than what we're used to calling a "game."

The end result is a good-if-you're-into-it, poorly performing, but interesting social experiment that seems more geared toward determining how players will react to certain situations than challenging them in new and exciting ways to accomplish tasks that are fun and engaging.

The game's main "problem" is that it badly needs four players. I say "problem" because that's only a problem if you don't have three friends to play with.

The game kind of falls apart when it gets too difficult; the speedy pace just isn't as compelling when you're attempting the same thing over and over, especially when the mechanics periodically flake out.

Overall, it's pretty much what you'd expect in an expansion: more stuff. And even if that stuff isn't well thought-out, there's enough of it here that High Treason is well worth your time and money.

A maturation of the series, this is a really solid game with lots of loony Street-style happenings. In the end, it's fun to play, and will keep you engaged. If only it were on next gen.

These aren't really the best RPGs on the system. But they're historic games, and they've been buffed up to the best they'll ever be, so if you're a fan of the genre, it's a nice little package you'd do well to check out.

Squad Command is far from perfect, but it is also the closest thing to playing actual Warhammer 40K on a videogame system. Turn-based strategy enthusiasts will definitely want to check this game out, and if you are a Warhammer fan then it is really a no-brainer.

An incredibly unimpressive port of the best hockey game of the year.

Gears is most likely to appeal to console gamers already in love with the game, who can now see it in glorious high-res detail and at superfast framerates -- with a muscular enough PC, that is.

Fortunately, the developers have done a good job of implementing that cartooney and sarcastic style, so those players who like the Alien Hominid universe will find a lot to like in the game.

The visuals are charming, the sound is muteable, and figuring out how to efficiently use your controlled arsenal is great, but for a game that's all about logically thinking out plans, we could have done without the unpredictability.

Defiance stands as a solid title that fans of "Devil May Cry" and even the recent "Castlevania: Lament of Innocence" should have plenty of fun with.

If the thin plot of games with similar mechanics bothers you, this could end up as your favorite in the genre.

This superport does an admirable job of taking a complex PC game from an intimidatingly complex PC genre and making it an accessible console title. If any part of your heart enjoys playing on Live, you'll be too busy crushing the hobbits to even notice that you can't quite select the unit you were aiming for.

If you like a little more meat to your basketball games, this is surely a great game with plenty to keep you occupied both online and off, but when pit head-to-head against a full field of competitors, what Phenom offers is different, but not quite in a league of its own.

The biggest problem is that we've seen everything Juiced has to offer before.

The video game equivalent of a hand-crafted reproduction of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose -- laborious, archaic and best left to fanatics. That's not to say it's a bad game, though. On the contrary, it's great... but only if you evaluate it in the context of what it actually is.

Given that Beautiful Katamari's graphics don't look a whole lot different from those in the PS2 original, it's hard not to appreciate the irony of the game's title.

Ultimately, it's a difficult thing to judge. Pokemon Emerald is one of the most complete, involved, and rich RPGs -- from a gameplay standpoint -- on the GBA. But from another perspective, it's one of the most basic and cynical products on the market.

These games are much too late to receive any real critical raves, but the fact remains that you get a lot of game in Growlanser Generations.

Own the City still isn't the best racer on the PSP -- Burnout and Wipeout are both better -- but it's a major step in the right direction for a series that has been stuck in a major rut.