A few in-game glitches and some questionable exploits slow down the game's momentum and keep it from becoming the true football fanatic's obsession.

It feels more sophisticated, looks great, delivers tons of cars and racing disciplines, and upgrades what was already a solid online component. But far more critical, it's one of the best <I>drives</I> on the 360.

Like the other awesome turn-based strategy game for the DS, Advance Wars Dual Strike, Age of Empires provides the deep, addictive balance of strategy and action that should keep you toting that wee silver clam around with you for weeks.

Inevitable immaturity aside, Picross is an exceptional puzzle game with a no-nonsense presentation. It's especially great to see it in America at long last, a decade's worth of entries having been Japanese exclusives.

Ultimate Destruction is certainly the best Hulk game yet, and despite a few flaws stands tall as one of the best of this particular niche of the action genre. Hulk fans will adore it, but action fans definitely shouldn't overlook it.

Its intricate gameplay isn't for everyone, but there's a reason it commands such deep devotion among its fans -- and this definitive version of the game is the perfect place to learn why.

This is like a Thanksgiving dinner of Tony Hawk. You're going to feel stuffed and ready for a nap afterwards, and some players may even refuse dessert. It proves that the formula still works, but it may also cause some observers to sigh with relief at the knowledge that Neversoft is working on an original game for next year.

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.

Changes - not drastic. Gameplay - fantastic.

Once you've unlocked the entire area and learned how to get around on the surface streets and freeways, it creates a remarkable sense of immersion in the environment. It doesn't just feel like a collection of scattered race tracks, it feels like a real world, with the player a unique little speck in the middle of it.

It feels more sophisticated, looks great, delivers tons of cars and racing disciplines, and upgrades what was already a solid online component. But far more critical, it's one of the best <I>drives</I> on the PS3.

Days of Ruin offers plenty new, but it's possible it got rid of too much of the old. But just like with our ol' buddy Jake, we're OK with trading up all those bonus modes in Dual Strike for more tactically oriented units and real online play (though it'll still take us some time to get used to this new CO gameplay). Advance Wars has finally advanced.

Not quite a perfect game -- it's a bit short, difficult in the later stages, and Jake walks too slowly for my tastes -- but it's still an addictive, impressive achievement. If there was some sort of "Most Improved Franchise" award, the GBA Medal of Honor series would win the 2003 prize hands down.

The game basically forces you to drive better without being unfair and your rivals put up quite a fight, but you won't feel frustrated. And that's quite an achievement considering there are up to 21 cars on a track at once.

Taken as a whole -- online included -- Fireteam Bravo 2 is a notable, laudable step above its predecessor. But for those of you with no interest in playing in infrastructure mode, don't expect too much more of a good thing. It's a step up, to be sure - just not a very big one.

Penumbra: Black Plague combines puzzles and horror to create a game that is probably unlike anything you've played. It's a little bit like a brain-training game, only between lessons you fray your nerves (in a good way) as you jump and pause at every little noise.

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.

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.

If you're looking for a more full-featured game, with greater variety -- and don't mind the cartoony milieu of Gunpey DS -- then you will find this version not only a superior value, but a superior game.

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.

This game is great precisely because it's an original take on a familiar world.

It's this carefully guarded lack of realism that keeps the game fresh. While the multitude of moves are clearly wacky, they're never too over-the-top, and it all fits together in this surprising, tight package.

The cocky presentation is fantastic, it looks great (especially the crowds), it plays great, and it just might make you smarter than a session of Brain Age. The Bigs isn't just an absolute hoot -- it's also the best current-gen baseball game money can buy.

Fire Team Bravo is amazing simply because it's broken through first. The team at Zipper have done an admirable job of shrinking their larger-than-life, third-person shooter package onto a PSP without losing much in the translation.

Delivers a refreshingly new take on the MegaTen concept while staying true to its roots. It's daring and innovative, yet not too unapproachable for roleplaying fans weaned on more traditional fare.

Periods of sneaking around are rewarded with spectacular firefights, and every so often there's a huge set piece that really shows off how great the Unreal 3 engine is for big, open battles.

Resistance falls a little short of being the hoped-for "Halo-killer," but with a package that would be considered complete by any standards, it delivers a launch classic, and it lives up to its billing as the PS3's killer app.

The expansion neatly captures the frenzied pace of college, the numerous things you can discover and do, the strange secrets every campus is rumored to have, and of course, streaking.