Exceptionally satisfying handheld tennis action. It bottles the lightning of the bigger versions while losing nothing in the transition.

Since nothing, not even "Undrentide," is as polished and well done as Hordes, the expansion is still an obvious purchase for fans of the series who may have every user created module to date.

Pandemic's packed the game full of well-coded smoke and explosion effects, and seeing a bomb sortie work its way across an enemy compound is almost a thing of majesty. Bring a tear to your eye, it will. It's this unwavering feeling of exhilaration that separates Mercenaries from the other "free-roaming" ripoffs.

Despite its relentlessly "noir" (French for "melodramatic," I guess) storyline, Max Payne 2 does an even better job of pulling players into the game than even its predecessor -- and that's saying something. The graphics, in fact, do a lot more to push the game's gritty atmosphere than the story.

The matchmatching is simply atrocious.

Rare has certainly recaptured its former glory itself here, and in producing one of the most misunderstood games of the year, it has also produced on one of the finest in its history, and certainly one of the most intriguing on 360.

A well-executed rerelease of a great game.

It's the first game where I've actually felt a sense of attachment to my customized car, and it's one of the most entertaining racing games around.

Therein lies the paradox of Fight Night Champion: it both points the way forward for sports gaming with a smart, surprising new approach to the genre, and serves to remind us of the tired conventions that make that new direction necessary in the first place.

Ultimately, Resident Evil 5 shouldn't be looked at as a failure in the series, merely too ambitious, inconsistent and uneven. Earlier entries in the series benefited from their simplicity and focus, and while it's laudable for RE5 to try and include so much variety, perhaps a little more of the same ol' same ol' would have resulted in a slightly better game.

A great piece of software that's fits incredibly well on PS3.

Space Rangers 2 is one of those rare games that you don't just finish and stick on a shelf. Even after "beating" the game several times you're left with the feeling of having just scratched the surface.

But at heart, it's simply Tetris, on the go, with online multiplayer and a highly polished presentation. And that makes it a must-have for anyone with a DS.

A tough but rewarding game, a welcome addition to DS despite the system's RPG glut.

Although some areas of the game were frustrating (beware the last boss), The Two Thrones features a classic interactive ending sequence and epilogue that nicely wraps up the whole trilogy and does the seemingly impossible -- that is, it makes you forgive and forget the lost years represented by The Warrior Within, and lets you to judge the trilogy on the whole.

The game's issues are outweighed by the fact that no other game on the market plays like this.

What's here is basically the best of both worlds -- an easy to pick up, yet deep fighting engine mixed with a substantial career mode and online features.

So even though I had my share of frustrations playing through Monster Hunter, I can finally see what the big deal is...in Japan, at least.

The end result is a good-if-you're-into-it, poorly performing, but interesting social experiment that seems more geared toward determining how players will react to certain situations than challenging them in new and exciting ways to accomplish tasks that are fun and engaging.

You could easily fill an entire review with the grocery list of games from which Outland cribs its gameplay elements -- Ubisoft's own marketing specifically calls out Ikaruga and Prince of Persia as "inspirations," for heaven's sake. But doing so seems unnecessarily reductive to me, because Outland manages to take those "inspirations" and create something that feels like genuine innovation.

This is clearly the premier basketball game of the year. In fact, when you match up NBA 2K7 bucket for bucket with "Live 07," it's a slaughter. We're talking a 120-48 type of lopsidedness.

As it stands, Race Driver 3 suffers from too much variety and not enough substance.

The most realistic basketball game on the market. It's an accurate representation of the sport and captures a lot of the intangibles extremely well. It's got enough gameplay available to keep both the arcade and simulation contingents happy.

Its gorgeous trappings, addictive combat, and well-balanced difficulty make it the most satisfying DMC in years, and Dante's such a killer character that you'll actually want to tackle the game on a tougher difficulty in order to fully explore his amazing arsenal.

Although far from perfect in terms of pacing or narrative, it provides a huge free-roaming playground in which you can let loose and just have fun breaking stuff with scant regard for the overall point of the game.

Each module of Factions was obviously overseen by the staunchest of perfectionists, because they work amazingly well. Factions is a must-buy for Guild Wars fans and a must-try for everyone else.

A fine sequel that takes the fun parts of the original (the combat, the characters, the dialogue) and tries to make those the focus while practically quartering off the weaker parts. By being the high-quality, consistently enjoyable action game it wanted to be the first time around, Desperate Struggle is now a must-buy, and at the very least, finally makes the series deserving of the evangelism surrounding it.

Rumor has it that developers Traveller's Tales have more Lego games in the works after this (including one based on Batman) -- here's hoping, as this formula simply works.