It just doesn't have enough substance to stand out on it's own.

It just doesn't have enough substance to stand out on it's own.

I'm not a fan of working out, but I still enjoy the time I spend with EA Sports Active. After a workout with the game, I always walk away feeling like I just went through the same intensive, full-body workout that I'd only get from hitting the gym five days a week. It's this feeling that sets EA Sports Active 2 apart from the rest of the exercise games on the market, and it's why, if you're serious about getting into shape (and you can deal with the hefty price tag), you should definitely try EA Sports Active 2.

This one's still really good and a lot of fun; you should buy it. Partly because it's a blast, but also because I really want to see Housemarque use this engine for a brilliant sequel.

They know traditional pinball well enough to design a great table, and they know how to complement a table videogame with gimmickry without upstaging the gameplay.

While the experience is definitely fun, blazing through the game's six levels (plus four bonus games) only takes about an hour. So, unless you're absolutely hungering for a short, cooperative experience, just wait for the real game to release in January.

While the game does a solid job of recreating the console tracks and maintaining a steady frame rate, the scaled-down visuals don't always depict how your competitors are wrecked, which sucks away a lot of the appeal of the experience.

If the best we can hope for to mark the silver anniversary of one of the most monumental video game masterpieces is a quick and dirty rerelease with a bit of pretty but insubstantial packaging, it's little surprise that so few people take gaming seriously as a medium.

As much as it pains me to say it, Tron: Evolution proves that it takes a lot more than nostalgia and shiny graphics to make an enjoyable videogame.

As much as it pains me to say it, Tron: Evolution proves that it takes a lot more than nostalgia and shiny graphics to make an enjoyable videogame.

Dark Dawn may not be a great game, but it's striving to become something better. Despite its flaws, it has charm enough to be worth a look -- even on a platform glutted with RPGs.

The good news is that developer Eurocom has managed to craft a new GoldenEye that, despite a few hiccups, makes a valiant effort to straddle the divide between nostalgia and a new generation of first-person shooters.

It's the most enjoyable experience to be found in arcade racing this year, and it provides that feel through fantastic courses that allow for deep strategic moves, especially when your team works together.

It's the most enjoyable experience to be found in arcade racing this year, and it provides that feel through fantastic courses that allow for deep strategic moves, especially when your team works together.

It's easy to say that this is Treyarch's best game...when it's not just trying to imitate Infinity Ward.

It's easy to say that this is Treyarch's best game...when it's not just trying to imitate Infinity Ward.

Donkey Kong Country Returns hits all the right spots; it's filled with childhood nostalgia, stunning visuals, and mentally taxing challenges.

Epic Mickey despite its mechanical flaws and sometimes over-reliance on gaming tropes, makes me want to play through it again and see how the world would be different if I wasn't so nice.

If there's a lesson to be learned from Gran Turismo 5 (the game itself, not its epic journey to stores), it's not about braking zones, exhaust manifolds, and curve apexes -- it's about patience. Because Gran Turismo 5 contains a seemingly unending supply of driving experience to enjoy, if you just allow yourself the time to discover it.

Reviving Dreamcast games for the HD generation should involve a little more effort than putting out a slapdash port of the original.

Reviving Dreamcast games for the HD generation should involve a little more effort than putting out a slapdash port of the original.

After a workout with the game, I always walk away feeling like I just went through the same intensive, full-body workout that I'd only get from hitting the gym five days a week. It's this feeling that sets EA Sports Active 2 apart from the rest of the exercise games on the market, and it's why, if you're serious about getting into shape (and you can deal with the hefty price tag), you should definitely try EA Sports Active 2.

If you have friends to play with and any measure of nostalgia for the arcade original, there's no doubt that you'll get every penny's worth from NBA Jam. If you have plans to play it alone or against random strangers, there are better options out there -- and it doesn't even take calculus to figure that out.

If you have friends to play with and any measure of nostalgia for the arcade original, there's no doubt that you'll get every penny's worth from NBA Jam. If you have plans to play it alone or against random strangers, there are better options out there -- and it doesn't even take calculus to figure that out.

So much in this game speaks to either a lack of time or pure laziness on the part of the developers.

If you play the game on 360, there's a Kinect mode that consists of a series of gameplay challenges (hold out against the Death Eaters chief among them), but the implementation is awful.

Despite some of the end-game content feeling designed to annoy the hell out of those who made it that far, the tally of cheap deaths can't detract from the facts: Sonic Colors is the best 3D Sonic game in ages.

The multiplayer aspects aren't that engaging for me -- there's just not enough to do to balance out the frustration of not being able to defend myself in a fight. However, I love how deep the team has managed to make the single-player portion of the game (again).