Live 09's made significant strides, particularly in terms of innovation, but like the Houston Rockets exiting in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it's the same old story here. NBA 2K9 continues to be the dominant basketball title, hands down.

The combat and visuals -- which are what Shank has always been about -- have taken big steps forward to the point that I'm not sure the original Shank even needs to exist at this point. Except for historical value, perhaps.

While the factions aspect could have been fleshed out a bit more, the title still stands as a solid update to the game and a worthwhile purchase for strategy fans.

SCV reinvents the series again, and implements a number of changes that add layers of complexity and depth to a winning formula. The new Street Fighter-centric direction is surprising, but one that still works within the general framework without being overpowering. While plenty of single-player content can keep you busy for months -- much like the original -- in the end playing with friends and real opponents is the best way to experience Soulcalibur.

FFIV is great! But it's also well-trodden territory at this point, presented in a technologically unambitious and aesthetically questionable package. The problem with this collection isn't that it lacks anything new, but rather that the new content feels like a pale imitation of the masterpiece it follows.

While it doesn't reach the status of a great Western, it's still a marked improvement over its mediocre predecessor (I likely would have given Call of Juarez a C+).

As a two-player game it excels, and as a single player experience it certainly seems compatible with the way most people spend time with their PSPs. It's the ideal commuting partner.

The controls hold up better than in most platformers, the levels are well-designed, and your character has a good repertoire of attacks. There's a lot of variety, too.

All of the things EA did right with FIFA World Cup 2006 are overshadowed by the simple truth that what should be the most fun part of the game -- having exciting scoring chances -- is completely negated by shoddy game performance near the nets.

Despite the aforementioned pacing problems and slowdown that occurs when more than a handful of characters appear onscreen, Rune Factory 2 solidly integrates two disparate forms of gameplay in a lengthy, elaborate experience.

Although Shadows of the Damned has fun and interesting moments, the end product turns out to be a decent to slightly above average shooter that, at times, feels a little bland.

For any other legacy, this game would be just fine. For the iconic Godfather series, it really could have been something with more of a Brando weight. But even though it's more of a Tony Soprano, The Godfather: The Game still manages to deliver a solid gangster experience.

Pro Evo feels more like real soccer, but it doesn't really look like it a lot of the time.

Gamers who have been burned by the obscene difficulty of the first two Zero titles might be expecting number 3 to be more torture, not realizing that this time, they're actually given a fair opportunity to win. Zero is sorry he hurt you.

This isn't to say that ATV Offroad Fury 4 is bad, it's just that its handheld sibling is a little more imaginative.

KW does just about everything you'd want an expansion to do. If only it came with a replica of Kane's helmet, it'd be perfect.

Some repetitive puzzle design and a half-baked multiplayer component still aren't enough to completely tarnish Singularity, however. Beneath its flawed exterior lies a fine shooter that experiments with time manipulation more aptly than any game since Braid.

All of the things EA did right with FIFA World Cup 2006 are overshadowed by the simple truth that what should be the most fun part of the game -- having exciting scoring chances -- is completely negated by shoddy game performance near the nets.

Instead of creating a wide variety of situations, the dev team relied on key-card hunts, escort missions, and (surprisingly pointless) vehicle-piloting sections ad nauseam.

It may not be deep and customizable, but it's addictive and furious and more fun than it has any right to be.

These two games are badass. Those of you who remember them fondly from your Osh Kosh days will be swept up in a wave of nostalgia right at the title screen, and everybody else will be hooked from level one.

It's the nature of arcade sports games to be a fun time, but I didn't expect this one to be so deep. The Bigs has the bells and whistles -- without MLB SlugFest-style BS like punch-throwing or loop-de-loop curves. Thank heavens.

As laughable as the context for the story might seem, the apocalyptic vision of a destroyed city by the bay feels very real, and surprisingly, as a space for races, works very well.

It's weird...very weird. And whatever your expectations are, they're likely wrong. I enjoyed playing it, surely -- I just wish that it were as frustration-free as it is unique.

It offers a stellar single-player adventure mode experience, a ton of unlockables, a comprehensive two-player versus mode, and best of all, the original freakin' "Mortal Kombat II" arcade game. For all of these different modes in a single game, the price tag is practically a steal.

If there's a real argument for getting BF2MC for the 360 it's that the real heart of the game -- its online multiplayer -- feels so at home on a machine that treats going online as second nature.

You won't spend as much time with True Crime, but that time will be spent enjoying nicer visuals and a very deep story experience, as opposed to flipping cars across parking garages.

The most distinctive thing about the Taiko games is the bizarre cast of characters Namco has invented for the series.

There's a great deal of game here, which speaks to just how smart Sega is in iterating on a small collection of stages, rather than going the usual route of wasting valuable HD assets on a series of sprawling (and typically unplayable) levels for Sonic to get lost in.

And that highlights Scott Pilgim's real problem: the lack of any online multiplayer. If you want to play with friends, they have to be sitting on the couch in the same room with you.

The costumes are a nice step in the right direction of adding new gameplay, but what a hypothetical fourth game really needs is an entirely new set of gadgets to play with.

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.

Daytona is back to show us that the fun of driving in a video game doesn't necessarily require realism.

Here, at last, the developer proves they can do things differently or they can do things conventionally, and they can do both of them very well.

Well, yeah. I think it's pretty darn fun.

The combat and visuals -- which are what Shank has always been about -- have taken big steps forward to the point that I'm not sure the original Shank even needs to exist at this point. Except for historical value, perhaps.

I'd have to consider this the version of last resort: If you have the chance to check out the game on any of the other platforms, I'd recommend doing just that.

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.

There's just something about raising hell and experience points in Dark Alliance II that makes it more addictive than any of the Dark Alliance clones out there.

If not for its impressive graphics and completely insane multiplayer design, Return to Dreamland might be a tough sell. Despite his juvenile appearance, Kirby often plays host to some of Nintendo's most imaginative game design, yet Dreamland is anything but. It's a perfectly tame, perfectly predictable little platformer whose only real edge comes in its cooperative design and, to a lesser degree, in how dauntingly unforgiving the later, "secret" stages can be.

The control scheme is definitely the selling point here (tossing people around never felt more fun). However, for those who already own some incarnation of this series this comes as guarded approval. Ask yourself: How many times do you need to escort the Don to the hospital or take out the Barzini family before it feels too old?

The GameCube version, on the other hand, slows down horribly with too many cars on the screen (at the start of a four-car race, for instance) or in certain areas of town with a lot of background architecture. It's bad enough that the absence of online multiplayer is just a little extra salt in the wound.

Hardcore RPG players may enjoy it more than modern Final Fantasy titles, thanks to its emphasis on skill development and combat. Casual players may find themselves surprised by how addictive simple level-grinding and monster-slaying can be.

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.

While HOMM5 retains much that fans once cherished about this series, its imaginative yet hamstrung shift to 3D, poor A.I., clunky interface, stingy multiplayer maps, and intimidating bug list render what could have been the rebirth of a phenomenal strategy game merely an average rehash.

A humungous game built around 12,500 real-life players with more modes and teams and options than a stadium has face painters, FIFA 08 is a superior soccer experience despite its ho-hum facade.

Lego Indy's main quest isn't terribly expansive -- you can finish it in a weekend, and that's if you take your time -- but the game's unquestionably built for completists, with a ton of hidden treasure and extra characters (you can unlock pretty much every character in the films, right down to Last Crusade's castle butler).

Every bout of loading takes 20-30 seconds, and there are so many of them that it really starts to kill the atmosphere after a while.

You won't spend as much time with True Crime, but that time will be spent enjoying nicer visuals and a very deep story experience, as opposed to flipping cars across parking garages.

You'll have an easier time picking out the jokes if you actually lived through the NES era, of course. Despite the constant presence of two kids on the lower screen, RGC is aimed directly at people who fondly remember saving their pennies to purchase titles the likes of Metroid or Super Mario Bros. 3.

Though it gets slightly tiresome by the conclusion, Jungle Climber makes the most of its peg mechanic and provides a fresh change of pace from the familiar Mario side-scrolling school of thought.

The King of Fighters XIII offers a phenomenal fighting game experience you won't find in many newer fighting games, and while the learning curve might be steep, the time and effort you put into it won't be obliterated by mindless mashing of uppercuts or ridiculous comeback mechanics. If you want to be the King of Fighters, you have to earn it.

I want to like Flashpoint 2, but instead, I just feel like the game is telling me: "war is hell, sorry."

This one's still really good and a lot of fun; you should buy it. Partly because it's a blast, but also because I really want to see Housemarque use this engine for a brilliant sequel.

It's a strange situation when one of the weakest elements of a game -- in Spider-Man 2's case, the story -- can massively improve in a follow-up, and yet the overall quality of the games can remain roughly the same, but that's exactly what's happened here.

Like its namesake color, Black is bold in its simplicity, an elemental force that makes a strong, singular statement: It intends to be the most adrenaline-pumping, testosterone-infused shooter ever. And in that regard, it succeeds.

While the story and writing are reasonably solid, they're not nearly riveting enough to outweigh the too-simple, occasionally glitchy nature of the fundamental game.

While it borrows unabashedly from several other titles, the game does a great job of providing its own fun and unique flair.

While everyone feels a certain sense of accomplishment after completing a game, Etrian Odyssey III's exploration and incredible challenge make it rewarding throughout.

Knights of Honor is never slow and offers plenty of things to occupy your time in each game, but none of it is particularly deep or challenging. Once you've mastered the basic mechanisms of the game, it's just a matter of time before Europe is yours.

You won't spend as much time with True Crime, but that time will be spent enjoying nicer visuals and a very deep story experience, as opposed to flipping cars across parking garages.

If you can get past the interface issues, RA3 is wonderfully balanced, in terms of both units and maps, and it features gameplay that's fast without delving into breakneck territory. Even better, it's designed to incorporate cooperative play in both the single- and multiplayer modes -- every mission is played with a "co-commander." Bottom line: RA3's not bad, but if you have a good PC, you're better off buying that version instead.

The Wii interface is a brilliant fit for the game, giving it the speed and fluidity of a true RTS.

Delivers the most fully realized vision of Rowling's world that our medium has seen. TT Games has once again raised their own bar when it comes to splitscreen co-op. Fans of the books and movies will find immeasurable joy in exploring the iconic locales with their favorite characters that have become so ingrained in the pop-culture lexicon over the past 15 years.

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.

And speaking of kids today, most of them just won't go for Doom II on XBLA.

A sequel should use the foundation laid down by the games that came before it in order to leap forward. MMZ4, if anything, is a step backward.

While Carbon is peppered with clever little ideas, ultimately it falls victim to EA's insistence on annually iterating the franchise. It refines previous ideas but lacks that big "wow" factor we've seen in the past. It's thoroughly, thoroughly competent and shouldn't be overlooked, but it really is "Need for Speed Again."

Doesn't offer enough of these diversions, subjecting the bulk of the adventuring to an endless procession of serpentine dungeons, where killing some entrenched boss figures counts as variety.

Here's the problem: both the action-packed style and the stealth style show promise, but neither is fully polished.

And with its well-directed pacing, the game ends exactly when it needs to, leaving you satisfied and wistfully yearning for more.

The voice command system in EndWar is terrific, and hopefully, future games will take advantage of a similar control scheme. It just isn't enough by itself to raise the game beyond "mediocre RTS." It's definitely worth checking out to see voice command done right, but overall, it lacks the depth and substance to bring anyone over from superior PC alternatives.

The PES-versus-FIFA bout is always tough to call, but while neither disappoints, I'll narrowly side with the glitzier, überlicensed competition this season: FIFA 09.

Metro 2033's A.I. is terribly stupid and there's not enough variety in the weapons; yet despite all that it's still a compelling game to play.

A perfect fit for the PSP -- creative, stylish, and easily broken into the bite-sized chunks that work so well when gaming on the go. It's also a stellar game by its own merits.

Racing games have come so far since 1991 -- even on GBA -- I simply can't muster up an ounce of enthusiasm for such an archaic creation, regardless of how nicely it's been polished up. There's no question that GP Legend is well-crafted, but it's intensely boring.

Everything from the bickering banter between Starscream and Megatron, the cold calculated communiques from Soundwave, or the heavy-handed speeches from Optimus to rally his Autobots, it's all here. War for Cybertron is an entertaining game that's just as enjoyable as it is playable.

Are you one of those people who watches all of the extra features on your DVDs? If you answer "yes," if you're a fan of the film, if you love Grand Theft Auto, and you do not own the game on the current-gen platforms, there's a good chance you'll enjoy it. If you said "no," well...Don Vito Corleone finally gave you an offer you could refuse.

Grandia is a game best served in smaller doses, although the paucity of save globes in some of the more dangerous areas of the game means the intrepid gamer will have to trek on for long stretches at a time.

The "Medal of Honor in the air" description is fairly apt, actually -- although most of your missions (all 30 or so of them) are the standard dogfights and bombing runs, the package it's all presented in makes it feel much more fulfilling than Luftwaffe and the other old flight sims.

It's a game that takes a handful of seemingly unrelated genres and forms a union between them that exudes impossible amounts of charm. It's also a game that provides irrefutable validation for adopters of Kinect.

If you're looking at the game for continuing the fun, campy Mortal Kombat legacy, you'll find a lot to like here. If you're looking for highly technical fighting matches or evolved modern game storytelling, you'll do better looking elsewhere.

It's this carefully guarded lack of realism that keeps the game fresh. While the multitude of moves are clearly wacky, they're never too over-the-top, and it all fits together in this surprising, tight package.

One of the most frustrating elements of the game is the sense of helplessness in controlling and customizing units and squads, and setting up offensive tactical maneuvers. In the end however, the amalgamation of storyline and gameplay is successfully delivered as a truly unique experience in Perimeter.

Makai Kingdom has as many fresh new ideas as any other game they've developed. But just as Tony Hawk eventually turned a little stale after its fourth installment, so might it also be time for Nippon Ichi to try something really new next time.

It could have been made somewhat better by more accessible, easily relatable songs, but with an otherwise lacking career mode, everything about Warriors of Rock reeks of regurgitated design decisions and a desire to simply make as much money as possible without really trying to add anything new.

And for the eight hours or so you'll spend playing through the story, it's reasonably entertaining. But with such unreliable environmental exploits, the game devolves into little more than a stylish, mindless, unusually destructive shooter.

If anything, Judgment should be lauded for its flawless cover of X2 Reload and for taking the old beat-em-up formula to rock star-like levels.

You'll, fire thousands of rounds in hundreds of white-knuckled shootouts facing everything from soldiers to grotesques to specters, and tromp around in a totally bad-ass mech suit. Most importantly, you'll love every minute of it.

The interesting thing about Gun, however, is that it mixes broad free-roaming aspects with some of the most tightly scripted missions we've seen in any game -- quite an achievement for an original game from a company known for skateboarding titles.

This is a game that is filled with a simple yet endearing story, excellent game mechanics, eye-popping visuals, a challenging collection element, and a surprisingly bittersweet ending that will make you want to play it all over again, especially to see the once-static cinematics recreated in full 3D. Klonoa is one of the best platforming games of all time and this is a superior remake of an already flawless original.

If you've never overseen the Keflings, this is the version to get. For Kefling veterans, all but the most dedicated giants may find the World a bit too familiar.

While the story and writing are reasonably solid, they're not nearly riveting enough to outweigh the too-simple, occasionally glitchy nature of the fundamental game.

But be patient, put in the dedicated time, research, and strategic planning, and Sunshine Islands will reward you satisfactorily.

I've been willing to somewhat forgive the series' unbalanced gameplay until now, but after three games on two distinct platforms, the developers should be full-fledged M.D.s by now...so why do they keep making the same med-school mishaps?

Lego Indy's main quest isn't terribly expansive -- you can finish it in a weekend, and that's if you take your time -- but the game's unquestionably built for completists, with a ton of hidden treasure and extra characters (you can unlock pretty much every character in the films, right down to Last Crusade's castle butler).

Regardless of its small problems and the fact that it isn't an entirely new game, Revolution is still an excellent buy for Wii puzzle fans at a welcome $20. It's the perfect price point for such a game, and the motion controls finally deliver the quintessential Mercury experience.

Gameplay concepts this imaginative deserve more thorough exploration than the handful of basic, regurgitated puzzles that populate de Blob 2. Instead, we're stuck with a mediocre platformer that's too easy for adults and too repetitive for most anyone, kids in particular.