Another major issue is the game's tragically stupid A.I.

If you're up to it, this is certainly the best Spider-Man game that's graced a PC yet, even if it's also one of the toughest.

You know that "PS2 game with shiny characters and lots of bloom lighting" look that plagues PS3 and 360 ports of last-gen titles? It's dripping all over Spider-Man 3. Except it's not a port. Which is almost okay, until it throws in some vicious slowdown whenever you make the mistake of breaking environmental objects.

You know that "PS2 game with shiny characters and lots of bloom lighting" look that plagues PS3 and 360 ports of last-gen titles? It's dripping all over Spider-Man 3. Except it's not a port. Which is almost okay, until it throws in some vicious slowdown whenever you make the mistake of breaking environmental objects.

The obvious rush has resulted a very boring and lifeless Manhattan. We all know the Wii isn't exactly a powerhouse when it comes to graphics, but when it looks like an early port of the PSP game, you're better off looking elsewhere (PS3/Xbox 360) for your Spidey fix -- this isn't even worthy of being called a "guilty pleasure."

Heatseeker manages to nail the whole "pointing the Wii Remote at the screen" thing, rather than introducing flight-combat gameplay, and as such fails to grasp the idea that you're in a damn fighter jet.

There's simply very little allure to Cube, outside of the slim satisfaction you'll glean from solving the more challenging levels.

When all's said and done, Episode 6 (like its predecessors) doesn't stretch much past the two-hour mark, but it's all just as well, since the assorted puzzles never get tough enough to become frustrating, nor easy enough to insult you.

The fidelity to the source material is such that you can literally navigate the world using those maps printed in your dog-eared paperback copy of "The Fellowship of the Ring."

First among F.E.A.R.'s transgressions is the nauseating framerate. This isn't me being metaphorical here; the framerate in this game is so bad that it literally made me feel nauseated after any appreciable playtime. We're talking about something in the realm of 20 fps; that's just inexcusable for an FPS.

Where The Red Star is best is in its combat system, which brilliantly blends melee attacks, shooting, and blocking defenses. There's an almost poetic beauty with the mastery of these, as you unconsciously perform incredible attacks by switching between and blending the three.

Despite the stylishly designed menu display, the attractive mechs, and the occasionally breathtaking clash between LFOs, Eureka Seven Vol. 2: The New Vision is just too uneven a game to recommend to anyone besides the hardcore fan base -- who have already purchased this game.

The differences between Diamond and Pearl and their predecessors are small, but they add up. Refinement is paramount here -- refined balance of battle skills, refined relationships between monster types -- as is expansion.

The differences between Diamond and Pearl and their predecessors are small, but they add up. Refinement is paramount here -- refined balance of battle skills, refined relationships between monster types -- as is expansion.

How two quality ops managed to screw up Theatre of War is anyone's guess.

If Pocket Pool developer Hyper-Devbox were really smart, it would stop beating around the bush and come up with an Official PSP Porn Viewer, with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from iPhoto. Masquerading this nonsense around as a game that people are expected to pay money for when pool halls are cheap, photos of women are free, and good PSP games are plentiful -- well, it's embarrassing for everyone involved.

No surprises. It's the puzzle game you know and (potentially) love on the Wii, and it's $40. Seems pricey, but at least you know what you're getting.

Sure, running around the dungeons and slashing through enemies is enjoyable enough -- and, dare I say it, even fun at times. But as soon as you attempt to play through Valhalla Knights like its an actual game, it completely falls apart.

The flight-sim world craves a good Vietnam-era helicopter sim, but Whirlwind Over Vietnam's anemic content would've been more suitable for a good demo than a full game.

It skews a bit young with its cartoonish characters, but the storyline is surprisingly dark, and the experience is more challenging than you might think. It's a perfect game to play through with your kid or younger sibling, and it's meaty enough for full-grown platforming fans to enjoy on their own.

While it's far from the platforming/role-playing godsend that some Nintendo fans expected, Super Paper Mario still qualifies as a must-play for any Wii owner. It's creative, fun, and perhaps most importantly, funny.

Vaguely addictive.

For those who want a title like this on the PSP, there's a game to love hidden down deep in here. You just have to dig through a bunch of technical obstacles to get to it.

Downloadable content gives the 360 version a potential ace in the hole, but the first wave released comes as a mixed blessing.

It's nice to have a different feel applied to the Prince of Persia gameplay, but after the novelty wears off we side with the simpler GameCube controls.

After a few hours, it feels like you're going through the motions instead of getting caught up in the story and characters.

Its parts are largely equal, which only leads to confusion. What becomes most important: building card decks, or mastering the minigames? Or, in the big picture, do you buy this game to play minigames or go on a chocobo adventure? There are simply too many things vying for your attention, and more than likely, none of them will get much of it.

It never becomes fun. It looks awful and sounds even worse. It could almost be recommended ironically as a game so bad that it's entertaining or as a basis for some sick drinking game (take a shot every time an enemy gets stuck on a corner), but it's even too bland for that.

It's not an entirely new idea, but it executes it well and definitely crawls its way into your waking consciousness after a few too many rounds (surely you've had lucid "Tetris" dreams?).

Penumbra: Overture hits all the old notes like the Stones on their tenth farewell tour.

The uninspired title selection and painfully compromised presentation are heartbreaking disappointments, given the sheer amount of effort and love that Konami clearly put into the rest of the package. It's like sitting down for a meal at a four-star restaurant and opening the sterling silver lid covering your china plate...to find a cold White Castle burger sitting there.

But all transgressions are forgiven once you make it to Episode 5's finale -- a surprising, sparse, and spot-on little jaunt into "Reality 1.5" that'll likely stand as the series' landmark moment once it's bundled into a season.

For all its subtleties, C&C3 might as well be subtitled "speed trumps tactics," something that's especially obvious if you've seen the videos of C&C3's BattleCast feature.

Yep, if it's in this Medal of Honor, it's been in one before. Only this time out it feels more like leafing through a series of postcards sent from someone playing through a real Medal of Honor game.

When looking at this strictly from a playability sense, this game's easy to learn and fun to master.

It looks great on paper, but in execution it just isn't enough.

OK, so Shivering Isles doesn't reinvent the fireball. But the impeccable design and construction of the original game breathes life into this expansion -- not, as you might assume, the other way around.

OK, so Shivering Isles doesn't reinvent the fireball. But the impeccable design and construction of the original game breathes life into this expansion -- not, as you might assume, the other way around.

The game's "exclusion zone" setting, a no-man's-land roughly 30 square kilometers surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, is very much "Mad Maxim": post-Soviet road warriors just beyond the containment dome. Bleak as the end of the world (or at least life as we know it), it's an invention as gorgeous as years-old graphics overhauled for a late launch get.

In the end, the sharp graphics trump the competition (2K Sports' "Top Spin 2"), but the oversights in gameplay and the pros-only career mode hold Virtua Tennis back from being a must-play. For a quick knock-around with friends, this can't be beat, but for a deeper, more authentic tennis experience, go with "Top Spin 2."

In the end, the sharp graphics trump the competition (2K Sports' "Top Spin 2"), but the oversights in gameplay and the pros-only career mode hold Virtua Tennis back from being a must-play. For a quick knock-around with friends, this can't be beat, but for a deeper, more authentic tennis experience, go with "Top Spin 2."

Rough in spots and a bit too casual for some, Test Drive Unlimited nevertheless delivers a truly innovative format and a gorgeous, massive world populated by real people. Now get in and drive!

It's easy to spend an hour watching these nifty starships float around a two-dimensional plane, but as soon as you start mousing, you'll want to quit.

There's a decent flying game in Blazing Angels, there really is. It's just buried under so many obtuse design decisions and horribly awkward Wii controls that it's not even worth looking for. On the Xbox, Xbox 360, and PS3 it was a decent experience for WWII flight fans despite a handful of quirks; on the Wii, it simply doesn't work.

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.

It's perfect for players who love kill-everything-that-moves games like "Dynasty Warriors" and movies like "300." It's not so perfect for those who fancy themselves "true" Shining Force aficionados, though.

AC4 feels like a house that's been added onto so often that it's a maze of twisting passages, oddly shaped rooms, and doors that go nowhere. There may be something worthwhile hidden within, but it's not worth the effort to find it. Time to tear it all down and start over.

AC4 feels like a house that's been added onto so often that it's a maze of twisting passages, oddly shaped rooms, and doors that go nowhere. There may be something worthwhile hidden within, but it's not worth the effort to find it. Time to tear it all down and start over.

The fundamental game is just so epic, the world so vast, the options so varied, that you'll find more quality gameplay shoehorned into this disc than just about any other game I can think of. But the version sitting on store shelves right now is inferior to its brethren on other platforms. So I can really only recommend it if you don't own a 360 or a PC capable of running the game well.

Ultimately Cook Off's combination of improved variety, a better interface and multiplayer gameplay were an easy decision over the DS's stylus controls, solo-only play and limited palette -- and palate.

Considering the basic concept the series is built on, Full Auto 2: Battlelines has perhaps the most needlessly confusing plot ever put to disc.

The PSP version does have a bug that prevents your companions' special abilities from actually working, but that doesn't have much impact on the gameplay.

The majority of my Puzzle Quest hours were logged on the DS, and though the PSP version does look a hell of a lot nicer, I liked the convenience of the stylus for moving puzzle blocks.

How do you get "Diablo" wrong? It's like screwing up tic-tac-toe or something. But that's just what Monte Cristo's done with Silverfall, an epically crummy action-RPG with gimpy controls and bugs that'd make a flophouse mattress blush.

If there's a heaven, I think it's full of giant spiders and rocket launchers. It's a place where skyscrapers collapse if you breathe on them too hard and you never run out of ammunition. When I die, I want to go to Earth Defense Force 2017.

The best news to come out of all of this is the implementation of the Sixaxis: It's not overbearing or intrusive. For example, it only takes a few small gestures to bump someone against the wall. And that's about as extreme as it gets -- which is the proper way to handle the controls.

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?

This game is so boldly beautiful, but the gameplay just doesn't live up to the Champions League standard. The card-game element is superb, but the rest of the package doesn't completely justify the $60 price tag.

One thing Champions League clearly has over Winning Eleven, though, is the ability to transfer your Treble campaign back and forth between the PS2 and PSP, so you never have to go without. The games are identical, and while the PSP has a tough time with everything, doing transfers on the PS2 will save you time.

The story mode is ingenious, and it's shocking no simulation sports game in this era has taken this on until now. But the execution does have flaws.

The game's greatest fault, really, is that it's over too soon. Missed opportunities and some perspective oddities aside, Kororinpa: Marble Mania is a solid, charming puzzler.

Wing Island's missions -- set on serene-but-sterile-looking islands -- are often as boring as they are bizarre. Dumping water on fires? Eh, kinda fun. Delivering fruit crates to hard-to-hit drop zones? Sure. I'll try that. Bombing blah-looking rock formations? Uh, someone wake me up when we land.

A desert island game, but only in the literal sense.

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.

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."

Customizable background themes, icons, and skins are offered to spice up the aesthetic, but they're not the least bit pleasant to look at and offer about as much artistry as clip art.

There are a few brilliant core improvements, such as the beautifully implemented grappling system that lets you swing around with your blades. But for the most part, the game's best features are context-specific things rather than features that change or improve the title as a whole...A stellar example of what can be done when a developer focuses on telling a story and lets that drive the game.

The control hiccups may cause problems, but most of them can be countered with care. But the biggest bonus: Not once will you see starlight dancing off the ball.

Trouble is, your computer opponents verge on comatose.

The game is a fun time-eater that can be finished in one cross-country flight -- although some battles feel artificially lengthened by seemingly never-ending waves of soldiers that have as much tactical sense as headless chickens. But with the great voice acting, graphics, and audio, first-person shooter fans on the go should definitely give this a look.

1946 might as well be the holy grail of WWII flight sims, a platinum anthology of everything good about no-frills airborne scrimmaging. The new material's a deal, whether you own the earlier games or not. And if you don't, 30 bucks nets you something that -- six years on -- still outclasses everything else.

It's the Tetris factor -- the minimalist design and the addictive, score-chasing nature keep you mesmerized for what can stretch to hours at a time. It's when you reach hour no. three of a marathon session -- having entered a Zen-like state as you attempt to send your high score into seven-digit territory -- that you realize the simple truth at work here: In a world of interactive stories and photo-realism, Geometry Wars is just a really fun game.

For players willing to fully invest, Spectrobes can prove to be as interesting and fulfilling as a Seaman/Pokémon hybrid. If the thought of excavating and incubating ancient creatures doesn't thrill you, though, you should probably consider collecting monsters that are a bit easier to catch.

This one's fun, no doubt about it, and the way the beats bang the environment is a must-see. But its lack of fighting depth definitely keeps it on the casual tip.

This one's fun, no doubt about it, and the way the beats bang the environment is a must-see. But its lack of fighting depth definitely keeps it on the casual tip.

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.

It doesn't pack quite the "wow" factor that we saw in Legends, but it's still a more-than-competent racer, and one that's a remarkable demonstration of the PSP's capabilities.

GRAW1.5? Yeah, I don't have any problem calling it that. But that shouldn't stop anyone from suiting up for battle again. GRAW2 is still tremendously fun despite its all-too-familiar design.

The constant switching between three types of gameplay just means you'll never really get into any of them, and the hilariously crazy Rabbid characters of the console versions are sparse and disappointingly tame when they do pop up.

Poorly made platformers were a big part of the 8- and 16-bit eras, too, so maybe things are just coming full circle. Fortunately, most of us still remember how not to spend our money on crap like this.

As ever, there are some issues with the combat system -- but this doesn't outweigh the overall quality, or the fact that you are getting one hell of a lot of game for a penny shy of 20 bucks.

Immortal Throne continues Titan Quest's winning blend of killing, shopping, and strategic decision-making. It's a textbook case of a great expansion.

What you're basically getting for your 20 bucks (you read that right) is a skeletal single-player or 1-on-1 versus game. It is cool that we're finally able to get our hands on what was once an arcade/handheld only, but it's pretty much just that. What's offered is nice enough, but it's not much of a stretch to think that Namco could have included a little bit more.

The broken controls, derivative enemies, and maddening attack moves remove any ounce of fun. The saving graces are the cut-scenes, but we don't even <I>play</I> that part. So in short, it's at its best when you're not touching the controls, and when a game plays this badly, you don't want to.

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.

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.

Lovers of Formula One will get a huge kick out of the way it wallows in the culture of the sport...That said though, its biggest flaw is that, rather than providing you with an experience that makes you feel like a Formula One driver, it instead seems to require that you practically need the skills of one to truly succeed.

Like most third-person action games, Bullet Witch has its share of problems, but it was designed with considerable replay value in mind for those who find the game's sweet spot.

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.

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.

In the end, this is by far the cream of the baseball handheld crop this season. The animations are smooth, the players look great, and the innovation -- particularly online -- is to be applauded.

The fun comes from watching how differently each season unfolds and how it affects your Sims: Winter helps with family bonding, spring brings romance, summer builds friendships, and fall quickens learning new skills.

Architecture pops up all over the place, warriors materialize out of thin air on a regular basis, and slowdown is frequent. And the dialogue and voice acting is often laughable. This series needs some serious polish.

Outside of pushing around so many characters onscreen, which was really incredible back when the PS2 was brand-spankin'-new, the presentation in Samurai Warriors 2 leaves a lot to be desired. Architecture pops up all over the place, warriors materialize out of thin air on a regular basis, and slowdown is frequent. And the dialogue and voice acting is often laughable.

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.

Want to talk about a wild card? There's an argument to be made that this is the best baseball game on the market, including the sharp MLB 2K7 on new gen. Really, it feels like baseball, which is a beautiful thing.

This game's stunning details should keep you engaged all summer long. But the lack of overall gameplay innovation keeps this from making the All-Star team.

This game's stunning details should keep you engaged all summer long, and the potential tendon injury from hitting is enticing. But the absence of rumble and the general lack of defensive and pitching innovation keep this from making the All-Star team.