Lair is a game that you'll want for its eye-popping experience rather than its gameplay. So buy it if you want to justify all the thousands you spent on your PS3 and that 1080p HDTV you can see from the International Space Station. Don't buy it if you want a dragon that does what it's damn well told.

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.

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.

The complexity in the competition's certainly a step up from "Wii Sports" and "Wii Play," but without the option to play how you want and when you want, this feels like just another souped-up minigame collection. It's enjoyable -- and to be honest, more fun than I expected -- but it's not quite the evolution of Wii Sports we've been looking for.

March Madness is decent, no question, but it dashes our high hopes. This one has a long way to go to feel like real college basketball on the court, and not just off of it. Even with all its glitter, it's dim when compared to the shiny "College Hoops 2K8."

Aside from bugs like that, annoying as they are, Punisher does a good job of translating the source material, right down to the dingy, everyday visuals and the character design for the lowlifes within.

Even by simply adding a little waggle to the dancepad, DDR: Hottest Party could have been a great game. Unfortunately, thanks to the god-awful setlist and generally poor presentation, it makes us want to take our dancing shoes elsewhere.

Blazing Angels is a lot of fun, but it's kept down by a lot of irritating levels. Hopefully for the sequel, we'll see an improvement in the mission types which aren't just dogfighting.

In short, this is a completely standard beat 'em up with nothing innovative, nothing that stands out, and a number of features that have been less than ideally copied from other games. Beyond that, it's a decent title.

Trouble is, your computer opponents verge on comatose.

You never quite reach the same pumped-up heights you get while playing similar games, like "NBA Ballers" or "NBA Street" -- and despite the tricks, online play, and generally responsive controls, it would take a serious interest in the AND 1 legacy to maintain any level of interest in this game.

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.

ATV Offroad Fury 3 has one of the most complete set of online options seen a PS2 racing game. Excellent features like ranking, messaging and downloadable ghosts provide all the community extras to go with the main events that support up to six-players.

Every Extend is as addictive as the best puzzlers, so it's painful to see its pumped-up remake bogged down by over-the-top special effects.

FlatOut basically feels like a slightly more frustrating successor to the original "Destruction Derby" series on the PlayStation 1 (well, the first two games). It does have a lot to offer, but it all feels a bit soulless somehow.

In its current state, it's a crippled -- yet still decent -- wrestling title. Much like its console big brother.

The difference between Parallel Lines and "DRIV3R" is that while the previous game was a pretty half-assed "GTA" clone, Parallel Lines is more like a three-quarters-assed "GTA" clone. Maybe even four-fifths-assed.

It's hard to say whether you'll have the patience to create a life of virtual luxury, or lose your sanity and find yourself seeking the quickest way out of the life of a castaway.

A competent, if not actually great shooter that introduces some novel ideas that don't always work all that well.

Lost Magic lacks a compelling story or decent balance for the single-player mode, so Wi-Fi battles are pretty much the selling point here. The question is whether or not that's enough, in your opinion, to overcome the game's innate shortcomings.

A colossal waste of an opportunity. The game throws together over 10 years' worth of characters from eight of the previous entries in the series, but for some inexplicable reason it sends these fan favorites not on a grand adventure but on a series of tedious fetch quests.

This one has a long way to go to feel like real college basketball on the court, and not just off of it. Even with all its glitter, it's dim when compared to the shiny "College Hoops 2K8."

The Sims 2: Castaway differs just enough from previous iterations that fans of the series and newcomers alike can find plenty to enjoy. However, how long the entertainment lasts will boil down to how long it takes the player to grow tired of the repetitive tasks of Sim survival.

Towards the end, the game kind of gives up on itself. The final two levels are overly repetitive, followed by a trio of boss fights in outer space that are twice as long and annoying (but just as easy) as the previous ones. And then... it's over.

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

Dewy's Adventure has some admirable qualities to it, but the control issues keep it from truly shining.

The load times ruin this game. Just going into the pregame menus will buy you several seconds of delay as the system freezes up. Restarting a course will only take a few seconds, but the initial track load will usually clock between one and three minutes. That's right, sports fans, we said three minutes.

But when the balance shifts from "I'm going to keep trying because I know I can get better" to "I'm going to keep trying to justify the $50 I just spent," then there's a problem.

The Sims 2: Castaway doesn't accomplish anything particularly compelling in the long term (and sadly, it's got very few ways to torture your Sim when you inevitably tire of the mundane), but what is there is solid, and it's a decent way to fill any lingering gaps in your DS schedule (the younger you are, the better).

What seemed really cool back when Namco first announced the original Dead to Rights -- the sweet disarming animations -- just aren't enough to carry another repetitive action game for more than a few levels.

Quotation forthcoming.

It might even be considered a pretty decent RTS of usual sort, but taken as a historically accurate simulation; it's utterly disappointing and comes nowhere close to challenging the Total War series.

Romancing SaGa will please those gamers who want a very long game. There are many locations to discover and explore, and each is delightfully designed, although the tedium of fighting the same kinds of monsters may get in the way of leveling up.

Undeniably dated and simple, and the action is a bit plodding and straightforward. Fortunately, the underlying gameplay is good enough that it won't betray the fond nostalgia of older fans.

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.

If you're a patient gamer who can ignore the tedious aspects, you'll find COTN a good city building game with several original ideas. For the rest of us, the good background music and pleasing graphics make it feel like a very good interactive screensaver.

FlatOut basically feels like a slightly more frustrating successor to the original "Destruction Derby" series on the PlayStation 1 (well, the first two games).

The main problem with Maelstrom's design: Tons of options don't equal tons of useful options. You can rip off every successful RTS convention in the known universe (and developer KDV Games obviously tried), but the final product won't necessarily add up to the sum of those parts. That's not to say Maelstrom is a bad game - just one with a pie-full of flaws.

The graphics are almost painfully cute, and the pseudo-physics system that causes enemies, objects, and heroes to ping-pong around the screen with abandon can make combat entertainingly chaotic. It's good, clean, dumb fun. There's just not much to it, or of it.

For fans of the series, you'll feel like the developers ordered the series to "hold its position" because it hasn't gone that far from the previous SOCOM. And unfortunately for us, unlike your teammates in the game, it actually obeys every order.

The extra ten bucks buys you much better looking planes and light effects, no slowdown during particularly busy fights, and access to your 360 Live list.

What's in question here isn't whether this or that technology is hooey -- it's impoverished, store-brand imagination.

Nothing else holds up to the visuals -- not the music, not the script, not the gameplay. Seriously, it's like you've managed to combine the worst bits of your own games along with the most annoying excesses of Japanese RPGs and came up with something so indescribably bland as to defy logic.

If you like a strict challenge and don't mind fighting the camera, by all means have at Aeon Flux. Just remember that your good friends here at 1UP warned you.

It's hard to argue that the minor tweaks to FFII -- though improvements they may be -- really justify its being sold individually when it's previously been packed together with the original Final Fantasy so many times.

If you can stomach the somewhat random difficulty during the single-player campaign, you'll be treated to a mostly exhilarating trip through the different battles of Europe, including a virtual take on the Battle of the Bulge.

The true strength of Nowhere to Run is built into its pick-up-and-play nature. It gets straight to the action, wasting no time indulging in slow-motion cinematic cut-scenes during battle sequences.

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.

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.

A potentially great game with flawed execution. Still, the Inside Edge scouting reports are the best addition to any sports franchise ever; they should drive sim fans wild.

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.

If framerate problems doesn't annoy you, then the stupidity of the A.I. may force you to say, "that sh*t is wow, bananas." Enemies are stricken by stupidity, as they'll simply stand there and allow you shoot the living daylights out of them.

No, the Punisher believes in planning ahead and has come prepared with an infinite supply of ammo—his clips might run out, but you never need to find more.

The game has positives, they're just away from the 5-on-5 parquet.

It's a great game for a younger DS audience who will be thrilled simply by seeing their creations run around the screen and get wrapped up in the narrative (and maybe even trade creations with their friends), but older gamers will find disappointment around every turn in the creative freedom that it hints at but never truly delivers on.

The artificial intelligence is also AWOL. The alertness of each unit is figured individually, and not shared even amongst a group.

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.

The inconsistencies and haphazardly-borrowed elements keep Headhunter from ever realizing its potential and drag it down to mere "mediocre" status. It has a certain underdog charm... if only it were content to be <I>good</I> instead of clumsily striving for <I>cool</I>.

The FPS isn't the smartest of genres to be sure, but there are more creative ways of designing enemy encounters that make the player think "now how am I going to beat these guys?" rather than "how many of these guys do I have to beat now?"

If you're a gamer wondering what all the fuss over 24 is about, the game is not the right place to find out. Without the connection to the characters and the twisting, turning style of 24, you're left with an average third-person action game with simple gadget puzzles and bad driving.

But even with sluttier graphics and hot girl-on-girl-(on-girl-on-girl) next-gen processing capabilities, the reversal-heavy game is unfortunately afflicted by the not-so-sexy slow reaction time. The venues, digital vixens, and excitably slick moves all convey an illusion of frenzied energy that the reaction time just cannot match.

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.

It comes off as a hasty advertisement for Guild Wars 2.

If you're a true fan of golf looking to get more out of your money (a lot more) and didn't already pick this up on the Xbox, PS2 or PC, I suggest that you back up, go out and find a copy of this for a current system and come back next year when EA will have its act together.

Playing against a real person, the strength of the pitcher-batter face-off carries the game; playing alone, you're more likely to send this one down to the minors before the end of the season.

Play is made for people who don't really like games, and if you're someone who really does, that's a problem. Sure, most of these minigames are fun...for about 10 minutes. But hey, maybe your grandma will want to marry it.

I've already had my fill of this recipe. I was sort of hoping for something a little new.

The all-new telemetry system and be-the-receiver feature are interesting additions that enhance the fun derived from Arena Football, but they are not enough to push the game over the top.

No single aspect will blow you away, but there's enough variety, the puzzles are fun, the controls work well, and you keep moving quickly, so it's a fun ride that's unlikely to bore you unless you try to play through it a second time.

Not only is the camera annoying, but baiting the enemies into your trap becomes a mundane routine that's based on a few simple tactics -- most of the enemies are too stupid to realize they're being set up for a trap.

It's more than just "Dynasty Warriors for the Xbox 360" and becomes more entertaining the further you make your way into it, but some irritating design decisions, combined with horrible voice acting and the generally repetitious nature of the action, results in a game with limited appeal for a mass audience.

All told, unless you've got a special place in your heart for this white-eyed, blue-skinned, four-in-one sci-fi warrior, you'll come away with an experience you'll likely forget within a few days -- and a newfound appreciation for the better shooters.

Is NASCAR 07 a game, or a simulation? Well, yet again it's neither, and EA Tiburon has failed for the second year running to strike the glorious balance that it achieved with "NASCAR 05."

Unsurprisingly, playing through this Anniversary Collection is much like listening to a ten-album Grateful Dead box set: it's very good for what it is, and some of titles included are genuine masterpieces. But taken together, the monotony is almost overwhelming.

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.

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

Most of us were better at these kinds of games when we were young. Tweens or teens could play through this game with their thumbs cut off and a frontal lobe tied behind their back.

The inconsistencies and haphazardly-borrowed elements keep Headhunter from ever realizing its potential and drag it down to mere "mediocre" status. It has a certain underdog charm... if only it were content to be <I>good</I> instead of clumsily striving for <I>cool</I>.

It looks pretty, there are quite a few game modes, and there's a very long campaign. However, for those of us who don't find enjoyment in watching paint dry, building a city in real time is too laborious to be fun.

No, it's not the significant leap 2004's Century of Flight was, and performance -- usually unworthy of mention -- is the big sinker here. Otherwise, Flight Sim X is a solid, if not quite spectacular, tenth iteration.

Magical Starsign should be looked upon less as an RPG and more as a warning to potential DS and Wii developers: Yes, these new systems offer exciting, different possibilities. But please don't sacrifice old-school playability for unnecessary control schemes.

Taken with the limitations of only four maps, on which to play one game type, all too soon you can find yourself in a mechanical rut playing them over and over. And that's something that the original didn't suffer from.

In short, this is a completely standard beat 'em up with nothing innovative, nothing that stands out, and a number of features that have been less than ideally copied from other games. Beyond that, it's a decent title.

MySims sits uncomfortably between its heritage and its aspirations. It's not as much fun as The Sims, and it's not as much fun as "Animal Crossing." As the only game of its kind on Wii, it's the best by default -- but that still doesn't mean it's particularly great.

It doesn't help that The Guild 2 ships with technical issues: characters that disappear into walls, visual artifacts that take a restart to clear, buttons that don't work at all, and drop-sync issues with multiplayer games.

May not be an outstanding game, but darn it if it isn't enjoyable. Its biggest fault is its lack of inspiration.

WA4 is uneven, wavering uncertainly between "totally offbeat" and "utterly trite."

How can you really appreciate the glossy perfection of a "10" if you never play the intermittently brilliant/frustrating games like Rise of the Kasai?

Best as a reasonably straightforward hack-and-slash action game. When it tries to demand too much precision of the player, things get messy. The camera isn't very precise, blending automatic direction with some fairly crude player control on the right analog stick, and there are situations where the game demands more precision than its controls can provide.

It's not exactly a radical reinvention of the genre -- but, then, it's not meant to be. As simple, straightforward arcade-style action with a few unobtrusive additions at a budget price, it's a smashing success.

All told, unless you've got a special place in your heart for this white-eyed, blue-skinned, four-in-one sci-fi warrior, you'll come away with an experience you'll likely forget within a few days -- and a newfound appreciation for the better shooters.

Another issue is simply that the enormous buildings make any map seem crowded and critically limit the number of placement options for base building.

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.

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

As an eye toward where Playboy came from, The Mansion is a compelling lesson--even the loading screen factoids are fun to read. But as a game, the unpolished graphics and stale gameplay keep the title mediocre at best.

It's a simple puzzle game, along the lines of something you would find pre-installed on a computer. But nicer looking, and with a lot more style.

The true strength of Nowhere to Run is built into its pick-up-and-play nature. It gets straight to the action, wasting no time indulging in slow-motion cinematic cut-scenes during battle sequences.

At the base, the game is very likeable idea, controls brilliantly and does a lot of stuff right. But when the balance shifts from "I'm going to keep trying because I know I can get better" to "I'm going to keep trying to justify the $50 I just spent," then there's a problem.