While it's always nice to have a good rhythm game on the go, PaRappa on PSP is still a serious value proposition at $30. There are plenty of extra remixes to download and play (about half of which are decent), but with essentially six levels it's still a more flimsy package than current gamers are accustomed to.

Rugby 08's greatest asset is the simplicity of the controls. Rugby's a fast-moving sport, with lots of things to do, but almost every action feels intuitive.

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.

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.

Smash Court isn't resoundingly bad, by any means -- it just feels a bit irrelevant.

Only a revisit after about six months will reveal whether or not Sword of the New World manages to reach its potential...if anyone's willing to wait that long.

Even without any significant upgrades, Riviera would still stand out as one of the worthier RPG entries on the PSP.

Sylpheed gets one thing perfectly right: the intensity of the dogfight. The sheer volume of things on your viewscreen during each sortie is almost overwhelming, but it adds that white-knuckle feeling that's so important to a game like this.

Even though genuinely new content doesn't exactly abound, Sigma remains such a solid, expansive, challenging, and well-paced thrill ride that you truly won't care.

But when the game's core mechanics are middling at best, dragging other players into it is just asking for a reputation downgrade. When the world has so many better games to offer, you have to ask yourself "Why play this?"

Nintendo's portable system is the popular girl in school these days, which makes Cookie & Cream an embarrassing photo from back in junior high. Back when she had acne, braces and Coke-bottle glasses and hung out with the kids who weren't cool enough to be on the chess team. Let's put those dark days behind us, shall we?

So is Super Stardust HD better than "Geometry Wars"? That is something that will likely come down to personal preference. I happen to much prefer Super Stardust for its diversity of gameplay -- multiple weapons, multiple stages, multiple ways to build up score -- and its better graphical and aural presentation.

It's solid, pretty good-looking, and packs a thoroughly decent single-player campaign, too.

The real tragedy here is that a simple attempt to emulate Atari's 2004 Transformers game would have made this movie tie-in an order of magnitude better. As is, those looking for a Transformers fix should scour the bargain bins for that classic, and leave this one on the shelf.

The real tragedy here is that a simple attempt to emulate Atari's 2004 Transformers game would have made this movie tie-in an order of magnitude better. As is, those looking for a Transformers fix should scour the bargain bins for that classic, and leave this one on the shelf.

The real tragedy here is that a simple attempt to emulate Atari's 2004 Transformers game would have made this movie tie-in an order of magnitude better. As is, those looking for a Transformers fix should scour the bargain bins for that classic, and leave this one on the shelf.

Maybe the boneheaded A.I. is intentional; maybe they're supposed to be feral lemmings, and the game's forcing you to slow down for tactics -- but I ain't buying it. With a throng of mischievous pets as the game's centerpiece, you'd expect 'em to be a little better housebroken.

Your flunkies also embody Overlord's one weak point: Loosen the iron grip, and they'll stupidly drown themselves chasing after a bug...or race headlong into overwhelming odds. Maybe the boneheaded A.I. is intentional; maybe they're supposed to be feral lemmings, and the game's forcing you to slow down for tactics -- but I ain't buying it.

Talk about the old sound and fury saw -- you'll finish Lost Planet too soon and won't go back for seconds. That's really the definition of why not to buy something, isn't it?

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.

While a simplistic RTS is a nice departure from NIS' regular library, GrimGrimoire feels too watered-down and too repetitive to take a place beside some of the other, critically acclaimed titles from this niche publisher.

Nervous Brickdown has style and relative variety, but it's twice the price it should be and a bit too late to the puzzle party.

All in all, while Ratatouille has its enjoyable moments, the main missions leave you feeling a bit hungry for something meatier, while the tasks like slides or races spoil your appetite.

Ratatouille is otherwise a very charming game...when you're not playing it. Its biggest failings are, in the end, the built-in limitations of the hardware, and the genre that most developers keep trying to superimpose -- sloppily -- on top of it.

While Ratatouille has its enjoyable moments, the main missions leave you feeling a bit hungry for something meatier, while the tasks like slides or races spoil your appetite.

But it also feels like a more polished game, and the base mechanics work extremely well by the time you reach the end of the single-player campaign. It doesn't quite have Riddick's pacing, due to the open city that asks you to find your own way through, but it presents a better feeling of accomplishment and familiarity by the end.

It also feels like a more polished game, and the base mechanics work extremely well by the time you reach the end of the single-player campaign. It doesn't quite have "Riddick's" pacing, due to the open city that asks you to find your own way through, but it presents a better feeling of accomplishment and familiarity by the end.

The cocky presentation is fantastic, it looks great (especially the crowds), it plays great, and it just might make you smarter than a session of Brain Age. The Bigs isn't just an absolute hoot -- it's also the best current-gen baseball game money can buy.

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.

Even with the flaws, The Bigs on the Wii is still fun thanks to the good implementation of the batting. The cocky presentation alone makes it hard to set down your Remote, and you simply can't swing -- really swing -- for the fences anywhere else. But the fielding and baserunning need some more work down in AAA before they're ready for the big show.

The Bigs has the bells and whistles -- without "MLB SlugFest"-style BS like punch-throwing or loop-de-loop curves. Thank heavens. The cocky presentation is fantastic, it looks great (especially the crowds), it plays great, and it just might make you smarter than a session of "Brain Age."

Those who have drained every last moment of enjoyment from the DS game might appreciate it as a way to eke a little more challenge from the experience. And really obsessive types might appreciate the fact that the announcer guy from the cartoon performs (highly repetitious) running commentary during in-game battles. Everyone else, though, will simply regard this as a waste of money.

From looking at it you'd probably never guess it was an Unreal Engine game. It lacks any real distinguishing features, struggles to run smoothly in places, and, aside from a few nice special effects, never remotely approaches the expected visual impact.

A satisfying role-playing experience, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into. Hardcore players may actually lament the slight ease in difficulty and the fact that the game doesn't give them the character development freedom it really should. But as far as portable RPGs go, you could do a lot worse than Hoshigami.

The experiment is a success and testament to the fact that EA really has been spending more time crafting these games as the movies and books become more ambitious. If "Half-Blood Prince" produces the same leap in concept as we've seen here, Potter fans will really be in for something.

The experiment is a success and testament to the fact that EA really has been spending more time crafting these games as the movies and books become more ambitious. If "Half-Blood Prince" produces the same leap in concept as we've seen here, Potter fans will really be in for something.

Does the motion control work? Absolutely. Granted, casting spells with the Wii Remote isn't a perfect affair, but the interactive nature easily pushes the Wii version above the others, despite its higher-resolution console brothers.

The Guild 2 works just fine with its original four classes, but toss in three bor-ing derivatives and it veers toward generic.

If the theory of natural selection holds true, The Adventures of Darwin will find its way into the bargain bins of the world in no time flat. And if you have any intelligence in your design, you'll stay far, far away.

Impressive a feat as creating a 3D shooter with cinematic aspirations for the DS may be, it doesn't mean much when it's not fundamentally fun to play.

Slightly flawed in some spots -- its Career mode, for example, is a pyramid of increasingly challenging events rather than a glimpse into a racer's life -- DiRT is nevertheless a big, beautiful game that goes places previous McRaes have not. It's quite simply one of the finest driving-centric titles to hit the still-new 360 world.

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.

The Transformers formula was meant for videogames. Giant robots destroying cities as the forces of good and evil struggle for supremacy. It's too bad the PSP developers weren't able to parlay that into a semidecent game.

At its basic level, Transformers on the DS is a pretty average game. But at least Vicarious Visions tried to bring something unique to the table. It's kind of lame that you have to purchase two full-priced games to experience the entire saga (each title is about four hours long), but these are still the best Transformers-movie games you're gonna find.

Dedicated SimCity fans will definitely appreciate the effort, but otherwise, consider this a reminder that just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

If you have just that tiny hint of obsessive compulsion that a game like Animal Crossing speaks to, but don't much care for the pastoral setting or relaxing pace, this is the way to bring that kind of gameplay to you.

If you've never played this game before, you should first ask yourself, "Why not?" But if you haven't, there are better and cheaper options than this still-good-but-not-as-good-as-the-others version for Wii.

At its basic level, Transformers on the DS is a pretty average game. But at least Vicarious Visions tried to bring something unique to the table. It's kind of lame that you have to purchase two full-priced games to experience the entire saga (each title is about four hours long), but these are still the best Transformers-movie games you're gonna find.

It's not an awful game. It's just utterly inferior to Lumines and costs just as much. What's the point?

What I'm really saying is, Fred Willard is in this game. He's the best thing about this game. That isn't a huge knock, actually -- Fred Willard is pretty much the greatest ever. But this game really relies, knowingly, on Fred Willard. The experience is Fred Willard. Without Fred Willard, this is a slightly subpar game.

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.

Despite an entire review's worth of problems, Fantastic Four isn't a complete loss. It has some nice-looking effects ("flaming on," specifically), a decent joke or two, and some nice extras to unlock (old Fantastic Four comic covers, alternate costumes, etc.), but it's just not compelling in any of the basic areas it needs to be.

Despite an entire review's worth of problems, Fantastic Four isn't a complete loss. It has some nice-looking effects ("flaming on," specifically), a decent joke or two, and some nice extras to unlock (old Fantastic Four comic covers, alternate costumes, etc.), but it's just not compelling in any of the basic areas it needs to be.

It's a beautiful remake and a testament to the longevity of smart game design; it's just not the must-buy it would be for a couple bucks less.

With three friends on a couch with you, this is a solid 7. Considering that friends and a couch don't come in the box, it's more of a 3. I'm going to compromise and call it a 4.5.

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.

It might be a worthwhile purchase to someone who needs an object lesson in how not to take advantage of the platform, but for anyone else this is just a more expensive version of a game that's been cluttering bargain bins for a while now.

Although it's not a great game, it is worth investing time in, and one that grows on you in less than a half-dozen missions.

Chief among Time Ace's tripping points: an autoengaging autopilot with a knack for tossing you into buildings if you wander too far from the preset flight path. Add spotty hit detection into the mix, and you end up dying more from crashing into obstacles than from taking enemy fire.

What we didn't expect is a game asking for $50 and giving you nothing new.

Wii Degree is, at the very least, a decent, briefly satisfying experience for gamers starved for new stuff to play on their Wiis. It just won't keep them happy for long.

The dual-protagonist storytelling manages to be both compelling and original, the multiplayer is a guns-blazing good time, and the entire aesthetic (not just the graphics, mind you, but the art direction, music, and sound) will have you ordering up a good sarsaparilla in no time.

It's more than a repackaged oldie, and is about as accessible as it gets. Put this game on in a room full of people, and everyone is drawn to it, especially the people who don't think of themselves as "gamers." That makes it legitimately something for everyone.

While the fundamental game design is largely similar to the past 15 years of Puzzle League titles, the wealth of DS-specific features introduced here keeps it feeling fresh. It is, in short, a classic puzzle game done right.

The original Halo's story was better.

A mediocre kart racer on a system where that genre is already well-represented. There's really no reason to play Surf's Up on the DS.

Forza 2 is the best sim racer out there right now, no question, and it continues to lead the way online. But aside from the cool online auction and community stuff, it's pretty much Forza 1 with updated graphics -- which is great, but I was hoping for a slightly larger step forward.

The vaunted cross-platform play works mostly as advertised (including Achievements associated with killing/resurrecting users from the alternate platform), but we still have to question whether it's worth the hassle and cost for PC users.

The vaunted cross-platform play works mostly as advertised (including Achievements associated with killing/resurrecting users from the alternate platform), but we still have to question whether it's worth the hassle and cost for PC users.

A really disappointing (but, as mentioned at the start of this review, inevitably still entertaining) Wii debut for the series. Perhaps the next game will truly take advantage of the Wii controls through and through.

Sadly, "younger players" are exactly the audience that will get the most frustrated, and with the overabundance of minigame driven experiences on the Wii, there are plenty of more enjoyable options.

A cognitively rewarding, expertly designed puzzle experience that truly plays like nothing else.

No matter how much you improve your weapons with alchemy, you probably won't have to do much other than buy the next best sword, then hack-n-slash your way to victory.

The millions of die-hard fans who wanted to get their Kombat on will have no doubt already picked up the superior PS2/Xbox version six months ago.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the game from a hardcore perspective is a lack of precision. With many weapons, you only have a small amount of control over where you can fire -- at your opponent, just to the left of them, or just to the right.

So, is it worth having an essentially infinite supply of crossword puzzles the size of a postage stamp to carry around with you for $30? If you have any sort of interest in crosswords, yes. Undoubtedly. It's one of the best uses yet of the DS, and it makes for a perfect portable game.

For nearly 14 years, fans in North America have been waiting for a true follow-up to Secret of Mana. After playing through Dawn of Mana, I can safely say this: It appears that wait will be, quite appropriately, never-ending.

The real problem with Brooktown, though, is that your progress seems totally scripted, requiring no actual effort or skill.

I cannot forgive the miserable checkpoint system; no matter how long and difficult a particular room is, get hit at the end, and it's back to the very beginning for you.

Even the most die-hard Naruto fan would be ill-served by this game, especially when the DS library is filled with dozens of far superior, less-contrived options.

It's just addicting enough for you to stick it out for the entirety of the game, but unless you're in the mood for a stress headache you probably won't bust it out again.

What really brings the story to life is Odin Sphere's brilliant, flowing script, which is almost Shakespearean in places. Combined with the gorgeous art, the eloquent dialogue really cements the illusion that you're playing an animated fairy tale. I can't stress enough how important this is.

Simple? Yes. Fun? Well, only if repetition is your thing. But while the various controllable pirates (Capt. Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and so on) are mostly identical, at least character-unique, trigger-based sword fatalities offer something different.

Sure, it's cool that you'll find references to some of the more popular third-person action titles, such as Prince of Persia's balance-beam act and hand-over-hand wall crawling, but nothing in here screams innovation.

Sure, it's cool that you'll find references to some of the more popular third-person action titles, such as Prince of Persia's balance-beam act and hand-over-hand wall crawling, but nothing in here screams innovation.

Sure, it's cool that you'll find references to some of the more popular third-person action titles, such as Prince of Persia's balance-beam act and hand-over-hand wall crawling, but nothing in here screams innovation.

Take those problems and add on yawn-inspiring and occasionally frustrating level design and a grand total running time of about six hours for all but the slowest of gamers, and you've got another licensed movie game that's decidedly mediocre.

The act of reloading requires you to physically slide the bullets into the gun with the stylus. Sounds simple (doesn't it always?), but it's not. In fact, it's frustratingly unresponsive.

The Show is a solid game, but where the PS2 (and PSP) versions are inspired, the PS3 offering doesn't give the same feeling of "real" baseball. It's a no-contest this season: For the best new-gen baseball, stick with the most beautiful choice: "MLB 2K7."

Etrian Odyssey will definitely appeal more to the OCD'd than the ADD'd, and its punishing difficulty and very deliberate pacing may turn off younger gamers who grew up on flashier roleplayers. But it offers a real sense of wonder and a sense of accomplishment -- feelings missing from far too many modern games.

The game begins much too slowly to really captivate. Which is a shame because a lot of gamers who might really appreciate Innocent Life's vibe could very likely put the game down before it's ever really begun.

It provides a shockingly large amount of game time (with Separate Ways, expect to be playing this game in the 25-30 hour realm the first time through).

Even without the technical issues, Shrek would have been average at best. But when an already mediocre game comes complete with the types of problems plaguing this product, it's impossible to recommend it at all.

Although the touch screen controls are irritating at times, you may just find yourself enjoying Shrek in spite of them.

And even though CAC is enjoyable in single-player and online multiplayer, it really is one of those games that shine when it's you and your buddies sitting on the same couch and playing on the same TV...And yelling. And throwing elbows.

So it's not going to win any awards. And the lack of multiplayer plus the linear gameplay means minimal replay value. But Infernal is just clever enough to warrant a mild recommendation to shooter fans looking for a fix. Just don't expect any miracles.

Because of all the extra micromanagement you need to worry about in C&C3 -- the aforementioned problems were never issues in "BFME2" -- some campaign missions become aggravatingly difficult. The A.I. opponent doesn't let up on the accelerator even though you can't manage everything as quickly as you can on a PC.

When you start seeing the same character model serve as two different people during an in-game cut-scene, you'll truly know all is lost. There's nothing remotely unique or engaging about Driver '76 (or its lifeless multiplayer) to balance the endless parade of frustrations. Steer clear.