The game kind of falls apart when it gets too difficult; the speedy pace just isn't as compelling when you're attempting the same thing over and over, especially when the mechanics periodically flake out.

Back to the Future is a promising start for the five-part series and a treat for fans. While adventure aficionados might hope for harder puzzles and larger spaces to explore, casual players and first-time adventure gamers should have fun reconnecting with familiar characters.

With its intuitive interface and pile of options, Zoo Keeper is the best game of Bejeweled you'll ever play. And frankly, that should be all the recommendation you need.

And even though CAC is enjoyable in single-player and online multiplayer, it really is one of those games that shine when it's you and your buddies sitting on the same couch and playing on the same TV...And yelling. And throwing elbows.

Elegant, succinct, and full of bravado.

Despite all the fixes, the game, much like that umpteenth alien abduction story on TLC, wears thin. Sure, the improved story buoys the "take me to your leader" trappings, but your tasks still tap into the cloning machine a few times too many -- one can handle only so many escort missions and cross-map fetch quests.

Trozei offers a decent array of multiplayer support to provide harmless, inoffensive fun. It's an acceptable diversion, provided you don't expect any sort of staying power with your puzzle games.

FlatOut is fun and different enough that it manages to stand out.

It's a mostly well-built title with seemingly good intentions, but it lacks the weight -- whether it's in the narrative, campaign length, or feature set -- to seem like much more than a quality diversion.

Perhaps worst of all, the sense of place is gone.

I love the concept of being rewarded for playing a ridiculous amount of hours. Rather than saying "I played Lockdown for 120 hours!", you can say "My character is level 60 and I purchased five outfits, eight new guns, and heavy body armor!"

The interplay between the A.I. character and the player character for both puzzle solving and combat adds layers to the gameplay, and the story has its moments. But this definitely isn't "Ico 2."

But when the balance shifts from "I'm going to keep trying because I know I can get better" to "I'm going to keep trying to justify the $50 I just spent," then there's a problem.

A couple of minigames and slight modifications to the stage design is hardly a new experience. Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution may claim it's bringing the fighting revolution to the Wii, but we've already been there. Twice, in fact.

A Vampyre Story's got some bright spots: The original score is quite good and recalls the old iMUSE scores from LucasArts' heyday, with jaunty character themes and dynamic tonal changes. And the story is an interesting vehicle, but it really deserves better jokes and puzzles.

It's clear 2K Sports learned from their mistakes and have delivered a product they can stand behind. Now let's see if they can best this effort next year.

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.

Personally speaking, though, Axis is unbearable: A hodgepodge of ideas with no aesthetic consistency. It includes practically every Tetris derivative mini-game to have been pushed out the door by various licensees over the past decade, both good and bad, making it a sort of omnibus. At the same time, the whole thing feels cheap and generic, and there's very little visual consistency from mode to mode.

Radiata Stories is a game that coasts on charm and stirs up some clever ideas. Like its hero, however, it's too slow, simple, and obvious to overcome its routine existence.

If the design were just a little tighter, and the presentation just a little crisper, I am convinced that this game would be one of my all-time favorites. As it is, I still find Valkyrie Profile's gameplay and branching storyline fascinating, and I will absolutely be adding it to my personal collection.

Flashy, fun, and playable -- albeit in slightly handicapped form -- this fantastic compilation is superior in many ways to Capcom's own superlative "Street Fighter Anniversary Collection," and sets an early standard for handheld 2D fighters.

While Army of Two does have its high points (an attack on an aircraft carrier being one), levels often lack excitement and instead deliver much of the same over and over. As mentioned before, it's not bad gameplay, but it never builds to much of anything. In fact, the entire game is rather anticlimactic.

A disappointing compilation of ambition without practical delivery. It's a game broken into several fundamental components that never work on their own and never contribute to a whole that can be appreciated.

If you're looking for some stealth gameplay in a sandbox environment, this is a great beginner's course into the world of Agent 47. If, however, you're expecting something as revolutionary as the multiplayer in "Pandora Tomorrow," or the high polish of "Snake Eater," this isn't for you.

Sure, not everything here is a winner, but there's enough good stuff that the flops are a sort of bonus rather than a nuisance.

A more general problem is that the gameplay doesn't do much new, or even contemporary for that matter. You do the general flip-switching and item collecting types of missions, and your firepower is very typical.

It's huge, nicely-reproduced and sells for a great price. But the genuine classics part? Well, not so much. To be frank, there are two types of games in Treasures 2: decrepit hits, and obscure leftovers.

The PSP's analog nub also works well here with just the right balance of sensitivity and full range of motion, from tiny course-correcting nudges to hand over fist power-sliding.