If you're new to the quirky, rolling action, Katamari Forever is the best game in the series yet. Even long-time fans, who've already played through all these stages, should enjoy the chance to relive their favorite levels in a beautiful high-def setting. But Namco has yet to fix the niggling camera and control problems, keeping this game from being quite as good as it could be.

Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 is a step up from Clash of Ninja Revolution 2, but nagging problems keep the game from reaching its full potential.

And while it's no recurring nightmare, it's hard to recommend this game in a world where World of WarCraft provides a better, more well-rounded experience.

The game's still fun and unusual, and it's worth checking out if only to enjoy some of the more clever writing in gaming. But don't forget your patience -- you'll need lots.

Drone Tactics may look like Advance Wars with giant mechanical bugs and an absurd plot, but it's challenging and fun. Just watch out for those damn centipedes.

It's huge, nicely-reproduced and sells for a great price. But the genuine classics part? Well, not so much. To be frank, there are two types of games in Treasures 2: decrepit hits, and obscure leftovers.

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.

While as nice as it is to see a classic arcade-style game get its due, what the world really needed wasn't a regurgitation of Power Stone 1 and 2; it needed Power Stone 3, brought up to spec with advancements in game design and all the things players have become accustomed to in other games.

It's a shame Ultimate Spider-Man isn't a bit longer and that the web-swinging isn't quite as fun anymore, but this is the most polished Spider-Man game yet and something no fan of the series should be without.

Despite all the fixes, the game, much like that umpteenth alien abduction story on TLC, wears thin. Sure, the improved story buoys the "take me to your leader" trappings, but your tasks still tap into the cloning machine a few times too many -- one can handle only so many escort missions and cross-map fetch quests.

The strides it makes with co-op however -- along with its point accumulation system as well as some very tense and unique multiplayer modes -- makes this a great game to play with a giant bucket of buttered popcorn, a large Coca-cola, and some friends. This is your video game summer blockbuster.

Sonic Chronicles' light action elements provide plenty of fun puzzle-solving and exploration opportunities without cramping the fairly traditional RPG style.

Even though I think they ultimately contributed to the Army of Two's inconsistent tone, which moves from "flippant" to "serious business about how messed up people can get," the morality moments are what I'll remember most about The 40th Day. Not the solid cooperative play, nor the snazzy graphics where buildings fall apart, nor even the little flaws that still annoy me at times; but whether or not I chose to look the other way when that one guy closes the door in that one place.

You'll find enough options and maps to keep you happy, the best part definitely being the eight-player support with one cart. Slightly less cool is the four-player support via Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection, though it's tough to complain.

Though Fireteam Bravo 3 may not take many steps forward, it sure as hell doesn't take any steps back. (Which, after the promising but horrifically flawed experiment of Tactical Strike, is something of a relief.) It delivers that familiar SOCOM experience, and you know what? As dated as that's getting, it's still plenty entertaining.

GTPSP is not a bad game by any means; it's a great fit for the PSP and offers a genuine Gran Turismo racing experience on the go, but it's constantly hindered by its boggling lack of structure. More than anything, GTPSP lacks a sense of direction.

Zeno Clash remains the same gorgeous, grotesque, unique experience it was on PC, and a game well worth its $15 price tag on Live. If you've already played the thing on PC, well, you could probably skip this edition, but anyone new to this strange new world is in for a treat.

It's too bad, then, that Custom Robo Arena's RPG elements are so mundane, a connect-the-dots of "talk to this character, trigger this event."

While there's lots for baseball junkies to manage in their hunt for Steinbrenner-like control, errors littered around the game weaken the experience. But if you're more concerned with how a player hits against a right-handed pitcher over 5'10" at dusk with a full moon, this one's for you.

ArmA is a game best left to guys who know how to disassemble a .223 rifle.

How many games are there that take place in a recently Westernized Japan and involve exposing ill-meaning demons, all laid under a campy detective theme? If there are more than Devil Summoner, they're likely not done quite this well.

While I have some issues with the difficulty, which is maddening at times, Comic Jumper is a genuinely fun game.

The repetitive grinding stretches a cool combat concept thin, and harshly takes away any feeling of accomplishment. It's a shame that the harsh penalties feel so unbalanced, transforming Sakura from a visually charming adventure into a repetitive and often unfair endurance run.

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.

There are tweaks and features to look forward to in future versions, but one simple fact tells you all you need to know about this one: once you play Madden on 360, you won't be interested in playing it on anything else.

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.

Little maintenance problems tend to go wrong (i.e., the A.I. issues), and Pro Evo for the current generation of powerful systems obviously needs some new paint. It seems that the development team did just enough to get by.

Despite the load time issue, an occasional problem with being able to see certain cars and roadside objects that blend into the dark backgrounds, and a slightly reduced sense of speed overall, there's very little to criticize here.

When the strength of the game lies solely on the shoulders of an inconsistent narrative in a limited yet gorgeous environment, I can't help but feel robbed of an experience that should be greater than the sum of its parts.

So, if it feels a bit dated, why the hell have I been staying up till 4 a.m. playing this game, then? Easy -- the ridiculously engrossing crafting minutiae sucks me in every time, whether it's cooking up a sumptuous feast, penning tomes of arcane knowledge, or composing orchestral opuses.

Exploration and variety take a backseat to the constant stream of jokes (an unavoidable trade-off, given the series' episodic nature). Everything else is unmitigated and unapologetic fluff -- the joy is in Sam and Max's wit, after all -- and seasoned adventure gamers might find the game too simple to really sink their teeth into.

The atmosphere in Red Dead is the real thing -- not the pseudo-parody of "Dead Man's Hand" -- and that alone should satisfy the audience it was made for. If you can forgive all of its faults, you'll enjoy the few hours you spend in Red's world.

There's plenty of good, plenty of bad and plenty of weird on Taito Legends. The games are reproduced well, too, if not precisely up to arcade perfection.

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."

No matter how badly you want to get into the game, to find the flow...the game doesn't let you. And that's too bad, because it really does look great, the multiplayer mode is basic yet competent, and there are flashes of true SSX brilliance.

Though it certainly isn't without its flaws, 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.

Thanks to this control scheme, Infected is designed tightly enough to be compared to classic shooters like "Robotron" and "Smash TV," but unfortunately the game takes this idea a bit too far with some of its missions.

All of a sudden, instead of dealing with urban sprawl and water rights, you're tasked with using a bunch of poorly controlled, dim-bulb A.I. legionnaires to defend against invading hordes. Battles have nothing to do with tactics, being determined only by who has the bigger, better-equipped force.

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 single-player game is short, yes, but it's incredibly epic (in the cinematic definition of the term), and multiplayer should keep you playing long after the main campaign is over.

It sounds cool on paper, but there's really no telling as to which weapon choices will result in which evolutions, so the entire feature becomes essentially useless to anyone but the truly hardcore who will play through several times.

PQ2 is not only exceptionally good, it looks like it'll have an almost supernatural longevity, an essentially limitless amount of replay value. It's easily one of the best puzzle games (if not the best) on the PSP.

DDR Universe is the gaming equivalent of an alien fetus belching out "The Star-Spangled Banner" -- a disaster of a title that digests any good DDR has given us into one of its many stomachs, producing something so foul that it could power Earth for centuries.

Legions is one of the most fiercely competitive multiplayer games on XBLA.

Tumble isn't anything super special with its austere and generic looks, but it's also a completely competent, decently challenging, motion-controlled block puzzle game.

It's a fantastic installment for newcomers to the Prince of Persia series, but those who've been Persia fans since Sands of Time may find The Forgotten Sands mildly forgettable.

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.

Extreme Justice throws a lot out there and hits the mark on a few counts, but it doesn't all come together as a cohesive whole.

Everyone who enjoys portable gaming, old greats or any combination of the two owes it to themself to pick up a copy of Battle Collection. It would be a great purchase even if PSP software weren't so hard to come by these days; as it stands, it's one of the best titles available for the system.

While Live 08 is definitely looking better in every respect (gameplay, graphics, and online), the series still needs more time in the gym.

You can take a game of tic-tac-toe and throw a whole bunch of spicy house rules on it, but let's face it: You're drawing friggin' circles and Xs. Yggdra is a competent example of the tactics genre, but there are others (Fire Emblem, for one) that do everything Yggdra does more simply and are just a lot more fun.

If the first game was a mere starter pack -- and it was -- then fans of Naruto will be very pleased with the selection of fighters and features found here.

Like the original game, the best way to play FlatOut 2 is with a group of drunken buddies. No one's ever going to mistake it for anything more than it is: an adequate execution of a silly idea.

It's neither "Konami SuperStar Athletics," nor is it exactly the arcade game you remember from the '80s -- New International Track & Field straddles the line between both, and it turns in a respectable portable performance of its own.

While Heroes 2 does feature some of the strongest motion controls yet (though they still lack the precision of analog) and includes a great light-gun game, it has so many issues with A.I. and multiplayer that, as an FPS, it still ends up proving more frustrating than fun.

It's downright cruel -- the fans who might be able to stomach the interface are exactly the ones who will be let down by the A.I. And the casual players who might not realize how bad the A.I. is won't get past the interface.

Presentation isn't everything, so Hammerin' Hero's flaws and frustration take away from Irem's admirable effort in putting a fresh coat of paint on an old form of action game. Though even that can be detrimental, as those who expect something fairly easy to get into -- on the level of a classic Mario game -- should take note that underneath, this is some devious arcade-borne action.

A more general problem is that the gameplay doesn't do much new, or even contemporary for that matter. You do the general flip-switching and item collecting types of missions, and your firepower is very typical.

Even though I think they ultimately contributed to the Army of Two's inconsistent tone, which moves from "flippant" to "serious business about how messed up people can get," the morality moments are what I'll remember most about The 40th Day. Not the solid cooperative play, nor the snazzy graphics where buildings fall apart, nor even the little flaws that still annoy me at times; but whether or not I chose to look the other way when that one guy closes the door in that one place.

The atmosphere in Red Dead is the real thing -- not the pseudo-parody of "Dead Man's Hand" -- and that alone should satisfy the audience it was made for. If you can forgive all of its faults, you'll enjoy the few hours you spend in Red's world.

The lack of variety is actually a good thing. In an area of game development where being overly ambitious can destroy you, developer Luxoflux has instead created a smart, focused, and (most importantly) polished effort that should delight young fans of the film.

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.

Still, the battle improvements, presentation polish, and overall cheeky vibe keep the single-player option well worth playing.

Like the original game, the best way to play FlatOut 2 is with a group of drunken buddies. No one's ever going to mistake it for anything more than it is: an adequate execution of a silly idea.

It doesn't possess the solid competence of a game like Saints Row, but a different setting, new toys, and a gameplay experience that's actually a bit fresh have more than made up the difference.

Even with its shortcomings, it's still one of the most value-packed classic compilations available for any system -- as long as you like Sonic.

As soon as you hit the city, the game's pace drops off, and the sub-par graphics and poor controls steadily bog down an otherwise terrific idea.

Whether under the guise of modeling real-world weapon accuracy or not, no excuse rationalizes repeated misses with scoped-in headshots from a sniper rifle.

It sits uncomfortably on the borderline between puzzle game and platformer, but it lacks the substance of the latter while failing to capture the "zen trance" feel of something like "Tetris" or "Lumines."

Scott Pilgim's real problem: the lack of any online multiplayer.

Feature-rich and full of worthy diversions, Unleashed's major drawbacks are ergonomically taxing controls (more the fault of the hardware), a horrid soundtrack, some less-than-user-friendly considerations in the various modes, and "Legacy of Kain"-esque load times, which is to say they're really long.

This is a solid game overall -- and without a doubt, All-Pro Football should continue building on this foundation. But if you were expecting 2K euphoria after two years on the sidelines, you'll be disappointed, as this one's got rust in many of the wrong places.

The game's well-polished; it would have been hailed as revolutionary a few years ago, but now it's just another decent, 10-hour-long hop-n-bop to add to the pile.

Without a doubt, the prettiest and most graphically interesting of the Lego games yet.

At times like this, it's a wonder that adventure games ever went off the rails.

It's about time a packaged, mostly complete, somewhat enhanced version of the original classic puzzler was made available and, despite the slight gripes, there's still countless hours of puzzle fun to be had in this economic, attractive package.

It feels like a grab bag of ideas, none of which got fleshed out enough to work perfectly. There's fodder here for a much better Guilty Gear sequel -- it would be a shame if the old Factory closed for business after this game -- but for now, there's not quite enough in the grab bag to justify a $50 asking price.

If you want to play through a good story on the easy or normal difficulty settings, there's a lot to like here.

Fans of the Napoleonic period will get a rise out of Cossacks II, as will strategy buffs seeking out something a little different from the usual tank rush tactics. It's a terrific simulation of the age of "gentlemanly" combat, during which Napoleon almost took over the world.

With more focus on the real-world conflicts and unpredictable events that plague campaigns, running for office might be a bit less tiresome.

Though flawed, it adds a handful of creative new elements to the basic mix, preventing it from being a callow rehash. There are better games for DS, but this one demonstrates moxie, technical brilliance and no lack of ambition.

Finally, the multiplayer component isn't bad, though there are two things that are glaringly missing. First, there's no straight-up deathmatch mode. Players will be taking the side of either the cops or the criminals, and the sides aren't particularly well balanced. Second, there's the inexcusable absence of splitscreen play.

Long stretches of each stage can be severely frustrating and annoying, but when they're not, it's still pretty fun -- and getting "in the zone" to complete an especially hard part in one try is always satisfying.

The polish wears bit thin in the control department, but soccer fans will find plenty of meat to chew on here.

If you've never understood the tongue-in-cheek appeal of the series this obviously won't change your mind, but if you're constantly suppressing the urge to pull out someone's spine while on the bus to work, it's a relatively inexpensive and consequence-free route to doing so.

Prism is unfortunately 10 bucks too much for a must-buy puzzler at its $30 price point, but it's an addiction that's totally worth tracking down if the concept piques your interest and you're looking for a challenge.

Sims 2 for consoles is definitely not on par with the depth and ingenuity that its PC sibling offers but it's refreshing to play a relaxed version of the game that doesn't require as much surveying and emotional input.

It feels more sophisticated, looks great, delivers tons of cars and racing disciplines, and upgrades what was already a solid online component. But far more critical, it's one of the best <I>drives</I> on the PS3.

At almost $16 on the PlayStation Store it's hard to justify this pack of frustrating challenge levels when you can get a far superior and more balanced game in LocoRoco 2 for just $20. This masochistic traipse through nightmarish levels will probably appeal to some hardcore gamers, but if you've enjoyed LocoRoco in the past, you'll want to hold on to your good memories and just wait for the next chapter.

Without a doubt, the prettiest and most graphically interesting of the Lego games yet.

The mixing of genres is cool, and adds a unique twist to the play mechanics, but honestly, Midway would have been much more user-friendly had it been either an action game or a real-time strategy affair -- not both.

Shattered Memories gives you something to think about, even if you don't feel like you have direct control over how events transpire -- a result of the game's non-binary, open-ended decisions, both in how you play the game and in the "psychological profiles" you undergo.

The ability to find various items and combining them to create new items like lock picks and Molotov cocktails is an interesting aspect, too, though not as cool in practice as it sounds in theory.

Consider Polarium a killer robot sent back into the present to conquer your brain. Might as well enjoy the subjugation...for as long as it lasts, anyway.

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.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Origins isn't bad at what it does, but what it does isn't very ambitious.

But ultimately, even though a lot of things about MUA2 aggravate me, the moment-to-moment gameplay of superheroes beating the crap out of robots/mutants/soldiers with fists, mystical hammers, repulsor rays, giant tongues, and what-have-you feels solid and enjoyable.