It's a brisk, no-nonsense take on the monster-collecting style of role-playing game. Sure, it's also a bit heartless, but as corporate America has taught us, sometimes that's what it takes to be efficient.

It's not a game, and because you're never taught anything new, it's not really even "edutainment" -- Brain Age is a tool, one that sharpens your mind not just for playing real games, but living real life as well.

Really the only thing Ace Combat has to offer that its predecessors don't is a couple of new flight modes and real world locations. This would be enough to recommend the game to die-hard fans, but the camera cut aways make the game a worse experience than its predecessors. If you want a good Ace Combat experience, you should play an earlier game in the series.

It's balanced and has just the right loot curve, unlike games such as Champions of Norrath, which offer too many loot drops but nothing worth keeping. Come for the single-player appetizer, but stay for the multiplayer grandeur. Ring of Fates is a keeper.

To their credit, Atlus seems to acknowledge 3DDGH as the lightweight diversion it is, pricing the game well below the standard for a PlayStation 3 title and bundling a bunch of Japan's bonus DLC content onto the disc to boot.

There's not enough variety to keep you playing through everything EA's set up for you. You'll be addicted to the game for a short while when you go through with your first character, but after that, the novelty of building up medieval superheroes starts to wear extremely thin.

Even in the few sections of ITSP that ape the Metroid series more directly, it rarely falls flat simply because the formula is so solid. The game really excels when it changes things up with puzzles and boss fights.

Like its next-gen stablemate, Madden for the PS3 has a "maybe next year" outing this season, leaving the title of best Madden for the PlayStation to the PS2 version, which is $20 cheaper to boot.

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.

I want to like Flashpoint 2, but instead, I just feel like the game is telling me: "war is hell, sorry."

Delivers the most fully realized vision of Rowling's world that our medium has seen. TT Games has once again raised their own bar when it comes to splitscreen co-op. Fans of the books and movies will find immeasurable joy in exploring the iconic locales with their favorite characters that have become so ingrained in the pop-culture lexicon over the past 15 years.

Aside from the seemingly requisite handful of games that just plain suck -- including a particularly painful one that has you slamming shut doors (via a shake of the Nunchuk), which sounds simple, but is infuriating as you attempt to find the sweet spot or figure out why it just doesn't respond to your commands sometimes -- the game's biggest fault is its surprising shortage of full-on multiplayer games.

Control issues aside, Battlestations: Midway is a fun game if you're into strategy titles. Just throwing mad amounts of units at each new problem really doesn't work here, since you have finite resources and no unit is really impervious to attack from any other unit.

In the end, there's absolutely no reason to choose this one over these other versions: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Xbox, or even PSP. If you're a Madden beginner, just play an easy level on a different console.

Reasonably competent, but otherwise fairly unremarkable.

You don't have to already be a fan, though, to appreciate the game, and that's a big part of its appeal. It's pretty easy to jump in, grab a gun and start starring in your own WWII movie mowing down Nazis.

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.

With a little more polish, Dokuro's take on puzzle platforming could be fantastic, but a few problems hold it back from true greatness. From its cheap (though stylish) Flash game appearance, it's clear that GungHo didn't give this project the highest of budgets, which leaves some of the more precise levels feeling incredibly rickety and awkward, with escapes coming thanks to luck rather than strategy. And, at times, the developers bite off a little more than they can chew; Dokuro's floaty jumps and touchy controls aren't exactly made for boss battles or Canabalt-style death runs, but well, there they are. If you're able to overlook these minor problems, though, Dokuro makes for a fine addition to your Vita library -- which, judging by the state of the system, is probably in dire need of something new. It's not a system-seller by any means, but small, digestible, and charming experiences like Dokuro are exactly what Sony's ailing portable needs to survive.

The fact that you can change the graphics instantly is just plain cool, and creates a real "how'd they do that?" feeling, but both the angled view and the 2D "arcade" camera -- where you view the game through a tiny arcade cabinet monitor -- are novelties.

Blue World is a great sequel: There's lots more to see and do, with refinements all around, from graphics to gameplay.

Admittedly, Half-Minute Hero does wear out its welcome towards the last handful of stages, and the extra modes generally feel like filler at best. But, for the most part, Marvelous' RPG parody is a unique and entertaining experience that finally has a chance to capture the hearts of an entirely new audience.

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.

Although Shadows of the Damned has fun and interesting moments, the end product turns out to be a decent to slightly above average shooter that, at times, feels a little bland.

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.

And that's the main reason to buy it: to simulate the exhilarating competitive spirit found in the arcades and to play against different people from all parts of the world -- all without ever leaving the comfort of your own home.

While some people might complain about being fatigued by the seemingly endless stream of similar music games, when they're tied to each other like Band Hero is tied to GH5, I see that as a positive direction for Activision's franchise. It's one of the strongest points of the Rock Band series, and is a very smart move for Hero as well.

It's the Tetris factor -- the minimalist design and the addictive, score-chasing nature keep you mesmerized for what can stretch to hours at a time. It's when you reach hour no. three of a marathon session -- having entered a Zen-like state as you attempt to send your high score into seven-digit territory -- that you realize the simple truth at work here: In a world of interactive stories and photo-realism, Geometry Wars is just a really fun game.

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.