If you haven't played Infinity Gene already, or even if you have, it's a worthwhile purchase at $10. If you can get past the short stages, repeating bosses and, for some of you, buying the game again, the superb design, extra modes and inventive use of retro style seen here is well worth the price of admission.

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.

But after seeing the perfect last shot of the campaign (in fact, it's so spot-on, that Bungie community director Brian Jarrard confirms that, unlike previous titles, there's no additional cinematic or end-scene for finishing on Legendary difficulty -- everyone sees the same last scene), and playing round after round of multiplayer, I can say that while I admire and respect every previous Halo title, Reach is the Halo that I absolutely love.

A slapdash title like this shouldn't take anyone's time or money.

If you haven't played Infinity Gene already, or even if you have, it's a worthwhile purchase at $10. If you can get past the short stages, repeating bosses and, for some of you, buying the game again, the superb design, extra modes and inventive use of retro style seen here is well worth the price of admission.

Quest is easy to pick up and put back down, especially with the chapters-in-a-book framework. The swordplay is far from perfect and the adventuring itself overly simplistic sure, but its accessibility is, ultimately, its most prevailing quality.

Phantasy Star Portable 2's appeal ends with the multiplayer, however. The exceedingly dull single-player, frustrating boss fights, and dated combat system prevent this latest Phantasy Star from being anything more than just that.

While I'd still point to the touch-enabled iPad edition as the definitive version of the game (thus far), Plants vs. Zombies makes a very impressive transition to Xbox Live Arcade.

But is Sports Champions a "killer app?" Not exactly, but, as you might guess, the multiplayer is a lot more fun than single-player.

Ultimately, Start The Party! is an inoffensive suite of party-centric minigames; they range from amusing distractions to boring EyeToy Play rehashes.

It recaptures the fun of the console games, while adding features that make it a worthwhile entry in the game's canon. This isn't a little sibling; it's a true, if slight, evolutionary step for the series.

If you know you're getting into an easy and simple brawler, then The Brave and The Bold is one heck of a ride. It's unapologetically simple and goofy, and it not only presents a good throwback to the 16-bit era, but also to a more lighthearted take on Batman in general.

The change in combat options is a welcome addition, I just wish that the story had delivered on the comic legacy of one of Marvel's more enduring heroes.

The gameplay kept me coming back, making the barely-there story fade into the back of my thoughts. The change in combat options is a welcome addition, I just wish that the story had delivered on the comic legacy of one of Marvel's more enduring heroes.

If you're looking to get in on some air combat without a huge wait, you may be disappointed. More hardcore flight fans, however, will eventually find an enjoyable experience somewhere beneath the fluff.

If you're looking to get in on some air combat without a huge wait, you may be disappointed. More hardcore flight fans, however, will eventually find an enjoyable experience somewhere beneath the fluff.

Scoring, match-making, and goalie quirks aside, this game literally has no competition in the marketplace other than itself.

Scoring, match-making, and goalie quirks aside, this game literally has no competition in the marketplace other than itself.

EA has succeeded in making a fun party game that's easy for players of all ages to pick up and enjoy thanks to its superior controls and fast pace.

But if you stick with Ruse in spite of these things, and if you can talk some of your friends into playing from time to time, you're going to discover a thrilling new real time strategy game that belongs in the same category as EndWar, Brutal Legend, and Darwinia.

But that's Other M: occasionally nonsensical (and always extraneous) story elements wrapped around generally excellent action and fun abilities. When you introduce more plot, you introduce more room for plot holes.

You might chafe a bit at having to pay for it -- I'd much rather have seen this as part of some sort of pre-order deal -- but you can't argue that Case Zero is not only an effective way to set the stage and build anticipation, it's also a meaty, satisfying slice of the zombie apocalypse.

My enthusiasm for the XBLA release was initially tempered by busted online play, which took months to correct, but the PSN version luckily lacks significant issues. Lag occasionally pops up, and I've encountered a couple of issues connecting to matches, but by and large, it works -- and aside from having three friends in your living room, playing online is the best way to experience Castle Crashers.

For barebones-but-respectably-polised arcade fun (and all those terrible voice clips), the Gunblade and L.A. Machineguns pack isn't a bad pick-up.

It's tough for me to complain too much in the face of what is really a well thought out sequel that takes full advantage of the PSP though.

Comedy's a tricky thing to nail in any format, and episodic gaming remains just as elusive for most developers. Against all odds, Telltale gets both right with Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse.

Comedy's a tricky thing to nail in any format, and episodic gaming remains just as elusive for most developers. Against all odds, Telltale gets both right with Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse.

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

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.

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.

Shank is the freshest, most unequivocally rewarding beat-em-up game to come along in almost a decade.

So long as you don't mind guiding a hapless bird to the exit a couple hundred times, Ivy the Kiwi? is a gorgeous tale with a whole lotta heart.

It's not heavy on strife, narrative, or story, but there are a considerable number of medals, feathers, and extra levels to collect even after you finish the game. So long as you don't mind guiding a hapless bird to the exit a couple hundred times, Ivy the Kiwi? is a gorgeous tale with a whole lotta heart.

So, is it all a disaster? Well, the A.I. problems are fixed to some degree by the robust multiplayer (if you can find friends willing to slog through the ugliest visuals since finger-painting class), and yes, the level of customization for both the world map and your alter-ego hero is nice -- but no number of small details can hope to salvage quality from this debacle of execution.

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.

You might die a little too easily at times, but with such a short campaign, and puzzles that are easy to figure out (if sometimes are hard to pull off) AYIM's is an indie game worth owning on Wii.

Though the game would still be fantastic with its co-op dungeon puzzles alone, Guardian of Light contains a surprising amount of substance; each of its many levels offer a series of achievements that add interesting weapons and items to your inventory.

Dog Days ultimately feels less like a typical crime shooter, and more like a player-directed version of the Crank movies.

Dog Days ultimately feels less like a typical crime shooter, and more like a player-directed version of the Crank movies.

For those looking to relive some of the fun of the movie, avoid this mediocre flight combat game; you'd be a thousand times better off sitting around with your co-workers and seeing who can recite the most lines, or figuring out who can chomp their front teeth the loudest.

Given the white-knuckle speed and immediacy of Ys Seven's action, it's strange to think the game requires so much patience.

Despite the minor qualms I might have, Puzzle Quest 2 is still a very good game.

An entertaining multiplayer romp.

This year's iteration in the more than a decade old series has brought me back into the "drinking the Madden Kool-Aid" fold, because it's improved the things that matter to me. That said, Madden NFL 11 still needs some improvement.

This year's iteration in the more than a decade old series has brought me back into the "drinking the Madden Kool-Aid" fold, because it's improved the things that matter to me. That said, Madden NFL 11 still needs some improvement.

And that highlights Scott Pilgim's real problem: the lack of any online multiplayer. If you want to play with friends, they have to be sitting on the couch in the same room with you.

It's not nearly as robust at what you'd expect from a current-gen racing title, but, at 15 dollars, Hydro Thunder Hurricane's blast of late-arcade-era nostalgia is a perfect match for Xbox Live Arcade.

Continuum Shift provides a seamless fighting game experience by offering excellent Tutorial and Training Modes to help you learn your character before testing their skills in the game's near-flawless online mode.

Continuum Shift provides a seamless fighting game experience by offering excellent Tutorial and Training Modes to help you learn your character before testing their skills in the game's near-flawless online mode.

I doubt it will completely repopularize the genre as we once knew it, since the world has moved on in the past decade or so. But StarCraft 2 does have mainstream gamers talking about build orders and micromanagement, which is honestly something I never thought I would hear again. Just in that, I consider StarCraft 2 a minor miracle.

NFSW features a big open-world to explore, but it's largely just the cities from Most Wanted and Carbon slapped together.

If you're one of those players who simply can't make do without a Tales-like RPG experience every few months, Arc Rise Fantasia might have enough of what you're looking for. But for most players, the game will simply be a flashback to the bad ol' days of the mid-'90s, when shoestring localization budgets botched many an epic RPG adventure.

Still, while it stumbles to pull everything together, Limbo is short and certainly worth experiencing, if for nothing else, than to see this beautiful, two-tone world yourself.

All that said, Young Thor -- when you're not repeating the same levels over and over -- is an enjoyable, pick-up-and-play romp-fest.

Given the sheer amount of content and the variety of options -- and given that the gameplay is fun in small bursts -- you have to admit that Gravity Crash can make a pretty strong bang-for-the-buck argument.

It might not hold a candle to a certain classic contender once Fall rolls around, HoopWorld is still good, arcade-y fun that particularly shines when you play with a friend.

Purely as an action-RPG, it's a competent game with a few significant flaws in the name of simplicity/accessibility, but as an experience, it shines with humor and wit all over, and makes me hopeful for an improved sequel.

Gather a few friends around the TV and Deadliest Warrior can provide about an hour of brainless laughs, but I don't see much appeal beyond that.

And the state of the A.I. is deplorable.

While it's certainly not a perfect game, NCAA Football 11 is a great template for EA's future football offerings to build upon.

While it's certainly not a perfect game, NCAA Football 11 is a great template for EA's future football offerings to build upon.

Purely as an action-RPG, it's a competent game with a few significant flaws in the name of simplicity/accessibility, but as an experience, it shines with humor and wit all over, and makes me hopeful for an improved sequel.

As a quick time-waster on PSN, Landit Bandit mostly fails -- it's just too complex and difficult a game mechanic to offer a fun five-minute romp here and there.

DQIX is a subtly sophisticated game, and while it doesn't quite revolutionize RPGs it definitely pushes them forward.

It is not in the new interpretation that this package fails to deliver, but in its presentation of a classic that demands a lot more respect and attention to detail than Special Edition delivers.

At the same cost as a single map-pack for Modern Warfare 2, Blacklight makes a pretty strong case for itself based on price alone. Just know that this is one instance where you get exactly what you pay for.

There's no question that Crackdown 2 is a mere shadow of the first game, which stands as an absolute classic. The sequel feels more like an ambitious user mod than a true follow-up.

But sadly, the strength of the game's characters doesn't lead to a positive, or memorable, gaming experience.

It may be a while before Persona fans get that next big release in the series -- this year's E3 was frustratingly absent of any info on a potential Persona 5 -- so we need to latch on to any morsels Atlus throws our way in the meantime.

Aside from a handful of disappointing puzzles, however, I still see loads of potential in Puzzle Agent. Its goofy, Coen-brothers-do-Twin Peaks storyline kept me glued to my computer monitor for the roughly three hours it takes to finish the game.

Despite the years of work Realtime Worlds poured into their latest creation, APB still comes off as being woefully underdeveloped, and ultimately unfinished.

Some repetitive puzzle design and a half-baked multiplayer component still aren't enough to completely tarnish Singularity, however. Beneath its flawed exterior lies a fine shooter that experiments with time manipulation more aptly than any game since Braid.

Some repetitive puzzle design and a half-baked multiplayer component still aren't enough to completely tarnish Singularity, however. Beneath its flawed exterior lies a fine shooter that experiments with time manipulation more aptly than any game since Braid.

Decidedly average and forgettable. While you can extract some fun from taking down large swaths of enemies with a friend, the repetitive combat can't sustain the 20-plus hour campaign.

A "good" game whose bugs keep it from being "excellent."

A "good" game whose bugs keep it from being "excellent."

Still, it's a fresh and generally strong start to a spin-off concept that stumbled out of the gate on PlayStation 2, but makes a case for full-time series status on PSP.

But it's fun, and that's not just because Treasure has made another challenging, robust shooter that makes grown men weep -- at times it's certainly able -- but because they've turned Sin and Punishment into a supremely natural Wii action game.

The game is like Manhunt, except with adorable teddy bears. Wait -- can you compel your victims to kill themselves in Manhunt? No? OK, maybe Naughty Bear's actions are slightly worse.

The game is like Manhunt, except with adorable teddy bears. Wait -- can you compel your victims to kill themselves in Manhunt? No? OK, maybe Naughty Bear's actions are slightly worse.

While the factions aspect could have been fleshed out a bit more, the title still stands as a solid update to the game and a worthwhile purchase for strategy fans.

Everything from the bickering banter between Starscream and Megatron, the cold calculated communiques from Soundwave, or the heavy-handed speeches from Optimus to rally his Autobots, it's all here. War for Cybertron is an entertaining game that's just as enjoyable as it is playable.

Everything from the bickering banter between Starscream and Megatron, the cold calculated communiques from Soundwave, or the heavy-handed speeches from Optimus to rally his Autobots, it's all here. War for Cybertron is an entertaining game that's just as enjoyable as it is playable.

Avalanche Studios has broken the movie-game stigma for me by releasing the awesome Toy Story 3.

Avalanche Studios has broken the movie-game stigma for me by releasing the awesome Toy Story 3.

It's difficult to ignore some of the more frustrating moments.

It's at once true to its heritage yet willing to spin the Metal Gear format in a new and entertaining direction. And while the fallout from these changes does occasionally undermine the action, those small moments of frustration and compromise are forgivable in the context of all that Peace Walker does well.

Ultimately, The Forgotten Sands feels like an HD remake of the original Sands of Time; and having played both, I can safely say that Ubisoft's latest installment in the franchise definitely benefits from seven years of gaming evolution. But, in the same sense, there's very little new going on here.

Download it if you're a Disgaea fan looking for something to do on a long plane ride (and you've already played the PSP remakes) or a "novel" game fan looking for satisfaction on your PSP. Otherwise, NIS's latest attempt to expand the series is entirely missable.

The game avoids taking any necessary risks, focusing instead on presenting raucous concerts in the same carefully constructed way all of the Rock Band games have. But, honestly, both lapsed and longtime Green Day fans should enjoy this brief tour through the band's hits.

The game avoids taking any necessary risks, focusing instead on presenting raucous concerts in the same carefully constructed way all of the Rock Band games have. But, honestly, both lapsed and longtime Green Day fans should enjoy this brief tour through the band's hits.

I can't say this is a must-have for golf fans. I reckon there are Tiger maniacs that'll buy it regardless, but if you're not obsessed with the Ryder Cup, I suggest trying to make do with Tiger Woods Online. If it doesn't fill your putt-sinking needs, this absolutely will.

I can't say this is a must-have for golf fans. I reckon there are Tiger maniacs that'll buy it regardless, but if you're not obsessed with the Ryder Cup, I suggest trying to make do with Tiger Woods Online. If it doesn't fill your putt-sinking needs, this absolutely will.

A truly enjoyable game with some minor quibbles. You can pick it up and race in five-minute sprints when you feel like killing a little time, or you can drill down into it with the level editor and the myriad unlockables.

The presentation won't blow anyone away, but the convenience of having the entire series on a single cartridge -- and one that, unlike the GBA versions, can be played on a DSi -- counts for a lot.

This isn't the deepest flying game you'll ever play, but it's certainly among the most fun and accessible.

So much of the dialogue and story changes depend on your choices that it's absolutely worth revisiting at least once after the credits roll.

So much of the dialogue and story changes depend on your choices that it's absolutely worth revisiting at least once after the credits roll.