If an absolutely brilliant story, finely detailed characterization, and faultless attention to canonical detail are what you're after, then, X-Men Legends is not what you're looking for. If you want a good game, though, and an especially good game to play with a couch full of superhero fans, this is the game to get.

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>.

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

If an absolutely brilliant story, finely detailed characterization, and faultless attention to canonical detail are what you're after, then, X-Men Legends is not what you're looking for. If you want a good game, though, and an especially good game to play with a couch full of superhero fans, this is the game to get.

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.

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

The AI in the single player game is also pretty weak. This works both ways; not only does it mean you can mow down waves of enemies without getting touched, but when you need your teammates to help you capture a point, they're usually nowhere to be found.

The multiplayer side of things, however, is excellent. The online play is smooth (depending on the server) and, truthfully, there's nothing quite like sneaking in to steal a control point right from under other players' noses.

On any platform, though, this is the best 3D fighter of the year (and the best urban fashion simulator of any year, if that means anything).

Relic Entertainment's latest effort does most of the usual RTS things right -- well-balanced, good-looking, deep multiplayer game, all that -- but what sets it apart is how good it looks and sounds while it's doing them.

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.

Even after all the hype, Battlefront manages to stand tall as a great game that does the best job we've yet seen of playing out the battles of the Star Wars movies. Though the game has some balance issues that may hurt its long term appeal, it's still likely to become a huge favorite on Xbox Live.

The GameCube version has taken it on the chin, presumably thanks to disc space limitations -- eight of 28 music tracks are gone, there's no choice of voices for the main character (compared to six options on other platforms), the framerate suffers from occasional hiccups in crowded stages, and there are spots of very poor texture detail.

Overdose doesn't look as good as the original Gungrave -- less texture detail, less variety to the environments -- and the soundtrack is a bad joke.

The Sim generator alone can provide hours upon hours of amusement, especially once players discover the power to recreate in the game almost any friend, relative or celebrity they can think of. This becomes even more fun when those creations begin developing relationships and interbreeding.

It's pretty, it's accessible, it has a nicely-balanced difficulty level (hard, and frequently quite hard, but practically never unfairly so), and it doesn't hurt that Konami's asking only 30 bucks.

This is exactly how a sequel should be done, and if there's anything wrong with it, it's only that it makes you wonder how Sucker Punch can possibly make as big a leap with the next game as they did with Sly 2.

A solid hack-n-slash game that will appeal to fans of the genre, though it'll wear thin quickly. To everyone else, it'll be a pretty game that more or less proves why the hack-n-slash genre has been dead for so long.

The multiplayer is a generous force with new modes, and significantly more depth allows the game to stand next to first-person shooters designed explicitly for multiplayer.

It's not the best-looking of the football titles out there, but it's the most fun to play and compete with. Maybe next year they'll nail the visual category as well, but as long as the game keeps playing as well as it does, there's no reason to really trip over it.

Missing are the large sprites, the branching storylines, the dual-planed settings, and perhaps most disappointing to me, the undead hero, a truly iconic figure of the original game.

Sadly the whole thing is a bundle of obvious cliches. If you simply look at the plot elements introduced within the first hour and try to imagine the most hackneyed twists you could come up with for them, you've probably guessed Fable's story. It doesn't even offer a satisfying resolution.

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

What it does, however, is offer fans of the cartoon series a reasonably fun diversion for the twenty-three and a half hours between episodes.

The looseness of Conflict: Vietnam, from the lack of comfortable and immediate controls to the boring progression of the game, just doesn't cut it. While the idea of squad-driven combat set in the tense, emotionally-charged setting of Vietnam has potential, Conflict: Vietnam falls short in execution.

The looseness of Conflict: Vietnam, from the lack of comfortable and immediate controls to the boring progression of the game, just doesn't cut it. While the idea of squad-driven combat set in the tense, emotionally-charged setting of Vietnam has potential, Conflict: Vietnam falls short in execution.

A lot of the setpiece "dungeons" are smaller and more limited; when combined with the lack of an "overworld" to explore along the lines of the Silent Hill streets, The Room is much more linear and less exploratory than any of the previous games.

The Takedown system is what makes the already pretty good Burnout series amazing... Burnout 3 delivers the purest hit of <I>awesome</I> so far this year.

If you've played this before in its previous incarnations and had your fill, or if the concept never really appealed to you in the first place, there's really nothing new enough here to bring you back.

If you've played this before in its previous incarnations and had your fill, or if the concept never really appealed to you in the first place, there's really nothing new enough here to bring you back.

It's telling that even when Silent Hill isn't at its best, it's still better than most of the competition, and both parts of that sentence are true about The Room.

The Takedown system is what makes the already pretty good Burnout series amazing... Burnout 3 delivers the purest hit of <I>awesome</I> so far this year.

For a game with so many features, its greatest accomplishment may be using them to be so mundane. Even for fans of the stealth genre anxious for something new, this piece of Spy Fiction makes only an amusing diversion at best.

While every part of this package is well made and fun, there's not much new -- no online to spice things up, no new graphical upgrades, and a movie that's many years old. But we suppose that's the point -- this is a way to celebrate the series being around for 15 years, and at that, Anniversary Collection does a good job.

More strategy could have been applied, and moving that strategy into the multiplayer game would have added a lot. Otherwise, what you have is the same DW4 with a slightly more tactical story mode.

It's not impossible to ignore the the aggravation on offer, but it's also hard to ignore how much better this Star Ocean could have been.

It's Nippon Ichi's best strategy RPG, which if you've played Disgaea and/or La Pucelle ought to be enough to send you off to the store immediately.

No, the problem here is that getting to the naked women is a painstaking chore, and the few seconds of a girl going wild does not make up for the five minutes of inane videos leading up to it.

Lights Out more resembles a student project for a gaming college than a finished retail product (and not necessarily a passing one either).

The real failing here is the unfamiliarity and limited appeal of WWI and the lack of Live support, but if the yearn to pull-on the leather cap and goggles and throw the scarf around your neck strikes, by all means hop in and give her a whirl.

No, the problem here is that getting to the naked women is a painstaking chore, and the few seconds of a girl going wild does not make up for the five minutes of inane videos leading up to it.

As a sequel, Pikmin 2 is very nearly perfect; it refines the shortcomings of the first game while adding a ton of new elements, yet feels both balanced and polished. The attention to detail is phenomenal.

Fine graphics notwithstanding -- this year's model has better arenas, improved sell animations, and much more dynamic camera presentation -- Day of Reckoning isn't much fun to play alone.

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.

With Omega Factor, Treasure has crafted what is perhaps one of the finest 2D sidescrollers in years.

It's not a matter of whether it's challenging or not--the difficulty level you select at the beginning of the game determines that--it's that, despite the juicy subject matter that Stardock could have taken and run with, there's less depth here than there is in the average puddle on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Their new defensive tactics coupled with fluid gameplay make for a superb football experience.

It's not the best-looking of the football titles out there, but it's the most fun to play and compete with.

It's not the best-looking of the football titles out there, but it's the most fun to play and compete with. Maybe next year they'll nail the visual category as well, but as long as the game keeps playing as well as it does, there's no reason to really trip over it.

An expansion pack done right. It doesn't pretend to be a full sequel, and instead just offers new maps, modes, and tweaks that make the overall experience better.

The only real challenges served on this 12 hour adventure are tasks that are more annoying than hard, such as having to negotiate ocean currents in an attempt to reach a beach.

Fans into beat-'em-ups will find there's not enough to captivate them, with way too much repetition even for that genre. Likewise, RPG nuts will grow too upset with the unending pattern-like progression and clunky management. And if you happen to like both, the combination just won't be enough to make you squeal with joy.

The game could have been so much more bearable if they had simply changed the camera operation. The camera is not in your usual third-person perspective, and it quite often faces her, making gameplay very difficult if not impossible at times.

Despite all these improvements, I can't help but feel that last year's "Madden" still has the edge over this year's ESPN, thanks to fundamental pacing and controls. ESPN has great visuals, has tons of new features, all kinds of new animations, ... but the same gooey controls - they're just not as responsive as "Madden"'s.

It's madness to think that Climax can excuse Sudeki's awful storyline and blasé characters with some interesting stabs at combat, when there are so many competing RPGs that offer quality in every respect rather than just one or two.

After the grueling long exploration levels, I found myself craving a good catfight. Unfortunately, the simple combos and lifeless combatants make the fighting in the game more like a catnap.

As it stands now, ESPN looks better, but it doesn't feel better. It's pleather not leather, nutri-sweet not sugar, and that's not going to get them far in the long run.

There's absolutely no excuse for the GameCube version to offer only two-player action when it could so easily be expanded to include four and make full use of all those wonderful controller ports.

The problem with this control innovation is that the game often requires you to perform very particular movements (such as jump in the air, and grab a pole with your whip) with imprecise controls forcing you to playing the puzzles over and over until you are ready to rip your fur out.

If you have little cousins who don't care what kind of games you buy them, but just enjoy getting new games for their PlayStation 2, this is what you can get them. If you got it for yourself, you'd probably forget you owned it in about a week.

While the new characters and features unquestionably add new life to the game, Vol. 2 isn't really different enough from its predecessor to be sold as a stand-alone title -- it's much more an expansion pack than an independent product, and the $40 seems a bit excessive.

Symphonia isn't any great shakes as a narrative, and its graphics may inspire more hate than love, but it's fun to play, and that's the important part.

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.

It's difficult to dismiss the overlying cuteness and simple-but-solid gameplay, which continues to put the series on the top tier of portable RPGs.

It's difficult to dismiss the overlying cuteness and simple-but-solid gameplay, which continues to put the series on the top tier of portable RPGs.

The best part of Reshef of Destruciton is the three free trading cards that come with the game.

A big reason why the things you do are so much fun is because the controls are exactly like the game needs them to be.

Spider-Man 2 is not perfect, but it's innovative, with some of the quickest and most fluid movement since Ninja Gaiden. If you like the character, this game will let you feel like him more than any previous title, and that in itself makes Spider-Man 2 a success.

Spider-Man 2 is not perfect, but it's innovative, with some of the quickest and most fluid movement since "Ninja Gaiden."

It's a bad game, but it's a bad game with aspirations, and every so often it manages to entertain in spite of its gaping, hideous flaws.

This game attempts to combine the best aspects of serious tactical shooters like Flashpoint with the run-and-gun action of the Battlefield series, but does neither very well. [40 = original score]

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.

Take the solid gameplay of Toadstool Tour, add in Camelot's talent for top-class GBA visuals and music, and throw in a story mode that beats the pants off many "real" RPGs, and you've got the best GBA game you'll see all this summer.

It's a bad game, but it's a bad game with aspirations, and every so often it manages to entertain in spite of its gaping, hideous flaws.

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.

No matter the situation, whether you're sneaking around a dark building or barreling through a shopping mall with three police cars in pursuit, you always feel on edge, as if you're living the 007-like "danger is my middle name" lifestyle at all times.

No matter the situation, whether you're sneaking around a dark building or barreling through a shopping mall with three police cars in pursuit, you always feel on edge, as if you're living the 007-like "danger is my middle name" lifestyle at all times.

It successfully integrates stealth gameplay into a multiplayer setting by pitting spies against mercenaries in a four-player, two-team competitive game, and we love it.

The graphics engine is the strongest point. This game is gorgeous to look at--but not quite as much fun to play. If and when players learn to get organized, it'll be a lot more rewarding, and hopefully Novalogic will even out the play balance issues before its inevitable sequel.

With its drab backgrounds, poor animations, one-note gameplay, and clunky control, it would have fit right in with games like "7 Blades" or "X Squad."

If you can look past the story, the game is a lot of fun, and it's definitely worth experiencing. Once you start to get good with telekinesis, you'll wonder why more games haven't exploited the power.

If you can look past the story, the game is a lot of fun, and it's definitely worth experiencing. Once you start to get good with telekinesis, you'll wonder why more games haven't exploited the power.

Sonic Advance 3 finally comes up with a way of introducing teamwork and variance between characters that doesn't overwhelm Sonic's bread-and-butter gameplay.

The problem? It's built on the assumption that when four people play together, they won't play for long periods of time. And as such, it's extremely simple.

Malice is so generic and mediocre that its release only serves to spoil what little status it had as the punchline of a joke.

While it's true that things have improved, that doesn't mean it's suddenly a great game. While the downplaying of the storyline does help streamline the game, it also makes your goals seem a little disconnected and random.

A true classic. The Souvalou moves at a somewhat glacial pace and the graphics are hopelessly flat, but besides those shortcomings it's still a phenomenal action game.

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.

Now we get a single game whose only extras are wireless multiplayer and the ability to save high-scores... manually. Logically speaking, the next step will be to charge full price for incomplete versions of the game.

A huge, involving quest full of secrets, challenge and bonuses. The intensely difficult Second Quest remains one of the greatest unlockable extras in the history of the medium. And it's all captured beautifully on this GBA cart.

Unless you're hung up on the prospect of collecting the entire NES Classics/Famicom Mini sets, you're definitely better off with Namco's "Pac-Man Collection." Or better yet, the fantastic NGPC version of the game.

Malice is so generic and mediocre that its release only serves to spoil what little status it had as the punchline of a joke.

While it's true that things have improved, that doesn't mean it's suddenly a great game. While the downplaying of the storyline does help streamline the game, it also makes your goals seem a little disconnected and random.

While it's true that things have improved, that doesn't mean it's suddenly a great game. While the downplaying of the storyline does help streamline the game, it also makes your goals seem a little disconnected and random.

Few games can match the amazing fusion of story, graphics and controls in Riddick. It's a step forward for not only movie-based games, but action games in general.

The animation is amazingly smooth, something's always moving onscreen, and the visual style -- a mixture of Nazi architecture and '50s sci-fi cliché -- is something you'll never find duplicated anywhere else.

The perfect antidote for people who think they've seen it all when it comes to the stealth genre.

A flawed port of a brilliant game. The quality of the original product shines through regardless, and it's still a fine way to spend an afternoon with a friend, but it's impossible not to be disappointed. Because it should have been so much better.