Drill Dozer is every bit as good as any current-gen portable title you care to name and succinctly encapsulates why the 2D platformer was so popular to begin with.

Painkiller focuses little on AI, puzzles, or plot, and instead sets its sights squarely on appeasing the raw twitch shooter in most of us. At this, the game excels marvelously.

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.

Battlefield 2 absolutely sets a new standard for multiplayer combat on a grand scale, but the final result is evolutionary, not revolutionary, so the the proposition is a little bit tricky.

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.

Those expecting a wildly different gameplay experience will be disappointed. Those who expect to play City of Heroes with a darker setting, evil looking characters and a meaner narrative will love it. It's good to be bad.

The most fun you'll have with the game isn't in a nine inning affair, but rather with the new mini-games. The new hitting mini-game is interesting, but the pitching distraction is certifiably addictive.

A linear, abbreviated experience that, while ambitious and gorgeous to behold, is not Bioware's finest hour.

It's unfortunate that we'll probably never see what was originally intended to evolve out of Tribes 2...Vengeance is still a worthy heir to the throne, though, and it may convert more players to the Tribes style of online action than either of its predecessors managed.

While games like "Medieval II" have tried to marry the tenets of Civilization and StarCraft, Sins is the first game to successfully do so without storing them in separate compartments.

It's simply trying to be the best console WWII shooter ever created, and in this it almost certainly succeeds. The single-player game is short, yes, but it's incredibly epic (in the cinematic definition of the term), and multiplayer should keep you playing long after the main campaign is over.

The GameCube version adds yet another setback on top of what's in the PS2 version: no versus mode altogether. This wasn't unexpected given that the GameCube isn't an online-friendly console, but this missing feature limits the overall package a bit.

The localization team at Capcom should be commended for writing dialogue that is genuinely funny. Basically, if you're a fan of the earlier Phoenix Wright games, you will laugh...a lot. Couple the comedy with Justice's engrossing story and you have a case that would be criminal not to take.

Significantly better than its predecessor, but like most EA Sports releases, sequels feel more like baby steps rather than giant leaps.

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.

Unless you seriously have a thing for turn-based combat and having to really work for your progress, the game isn't for you. But if you do, Gladius is one of the better examples of the genre on the system.

How many games are there that take place in a recently Westernized Japan and involve exposing ill-meaning demons, all laid under a campy detective theme? If there are more than Devil Summoner, they're likely not done quite this well.

It's a testament to the diversity of the medium that in a season marked by realistic, violent and often grim video games like "GTA," "Halo 2" and "Def Jam: FFNY," a game like Paper Mario can be so willfully charming, harmless and child-friendly in appearance and still make for a compelling, sophisticated experience.

It's not easy to create a multiplayer game that's utterly accessible to first-timers and yet varied enough to have serious legs.

Between its genuinely clever elements and its preposterously over-the-top ridiculousness, Square Enix and TOSE have crafted a spin-off that captures the appeal of the source material in an amusing and unique way.

Unless you seriously have a thing for turn-based combat and having to really work for your progress, the game isn't for you. But if you do, Gladius is one of the better examples of the genre on the system.

Forza 2 is the best sim racer out there right now, no question, and it continues to lead the way online. But aside from the cool online auction and community stuff, it's pretty much Forza 1 with updated graphics -- which is great, but I was hoping for a slightly larger step forward.

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.

The simple fact is Knights of the Old Republic doesn't do anything revolutionarily different or better in any single category than games like "Planescape," "Baldur's "and "Freedom Force." In fact, in some areas it's a lot worse. Nevertheless, this is as solid a Star Wars experience as we're going to get (since no one has the balls to make "Tie Fighter 2").

Significantly better than its predecessor, but like most EA Sports releases, sequels feel more like baby steps rather than giant leaps.

It's a great feeling seeing something you shoot explode into tons of little chunks (which looks similar to when buildings explode in "Return of the King" -- another EA blockbuster title), and some of the racing scenes define the word "epic."

Players who didn't voluntarily step off the train with "Hawk 4" or last year's "Underground" will find more to love here -- more new tricks, an even more streamlined system of goal selection, a ridiculous selection of goals to select, and levels that hurt to try and comprehend.

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.