As a casual rhythm game, Battle of the Bands gets big points for charm and humor, and the intended audience is sure to appreciate the ability to actually play this without too much difficulty. Guitar heroes looking for their next challenging digital wankery, however, are advised to move along. This one's just for laughs.

If you want a good dungeon crawl, play the punishing-but-oh-so-satisfying Shiren the Wanderer. If you just want to collect 500 cute little guys and power-level the hell out of them, you can't go wrong with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.

If you want a good dungeon crawl, play the punishing-but-oh-so-satisfying Shiren the Wanderer. If you just want to collect 500 cute little guys and power-level the hell out of them, you can't go wrong with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.

Assuming you have dipped your feet in the pool of endless Dynasty Warriors content, it's almost absurd at this point to have to pay 30 bucks for either the PS2 or Xbox 360 flavor of what is barely more than preconceived, half-assed, tacked-on downloadable content.

If you don't have the resources to do something like Rocky and Bullwinkle justice, don't bother making a game at all.

It's downright cruel -- the fans who might be able to stomach the interface are exactly the ones who will be let down by the A.I. And the casual players who might not realize how bad the A.I. is won't get past the interface.

Rondo of Swords can be a frustrating game. But those frustrations feel like an intentional part of the design; it's not meant as a cakewalk.

Immature as Prologue's online play is, it provides just enough basic functionality to avoid undermining everything that the game's single-player mode offers. It also doesn't hurt that the game looks amazing.

For younger Twilight Princess fans, this is your true coming-of-age adventure...and for older gamers free of nostalgia's shackles, Okami provides a far more refreshing, creatively stimulating journey.

The odd bit of slowdown and mostly forgettable minigames (aside from the amusing Big Brain Challenge) further detract from the experience, but with great presentation and a genuinely funny narrative that recalls the zaniness of "Earthworm Jim" and "Dead Head Fred," I cannot help but be charmed by Teenage Zombies.

Playing the same boring minigames over and over again in each stage (sometimes five or six times, without deviation), coupled with simple driving tasks and a lack of significant variation between missions make this a joyless grind with little reward.

While this won't replace MLB 08: The Show -- the best portable hardcore baseball game out there -- it's tailored for tots and casual seamheads on the go.

While it borrows unabashedly from several other titles, the game does a great job of providing its own fun and unique flair.

Sure, it doesn't do anything new with the gameplay (do any of the episodes?), but What's New, Beelzebub? is a fitting wrap-up to Season 2, and it's arguably the most enjoyable episode since season-starter "Ice Station Santa."

Crystal-clear graphics and Achievements are certainly appealing, but the bigger draws are online multiplayer with the leaderboards and downloadable replays. At the very least, it will likely refresh your interest in the game (and subsequent determination to finish it off).

The designers put all of their eggs in the city-design basket and forgot about actual mission design.

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

And the core game is familiar territory these days -- familiar to the point of contempt.

The core gameplay is sound, so it's a shame that it's burdened by a derivative plot, generic characters, and archaic visuals (reminiscent of the 32-bit era in a bad way).

The most frustrating thing about Octomania isn't the awfully voiced rapping tree with a rainbow 'fro or having to play through the same few short story mode battles over and over in order to unlock new characters -- it's that winning not only takes a bit of patience and strategy (as you wait for enough colors to be available for large combos), but it also takes a heaping help of luck.

TiQal falls squarely on the casual side of the puzzle spectrum, but it's an interesting change of pace for hardened veterans looking for a more relaxing puzzle experience, and a solid primer for block-dropping novices.

So it's not for multiplayer fans or story fans or innovation fans, but Dark Sector is certainly a good game. When it all comes together and you're ducking in and out of cover while shooting and throwing the Glaive at groups of enemies, it's a lot of fun, and the visual spark and A.I./pacing/combat polish make it worth playing.

So it's not for multiplayer fans or story fans or innovation fans, but Dark Sector is certainly a good game. When it all comes together and you're ducking in and out of cover while shooting and throwing the Glaive at groups of enemies, it's a lot of fun, and the visual spark and A.I./pacing/combat polish make it worth playing.

Universe at War does what they said couldn't be done, and it makes a large-scale real-time strategy game -- of the sort thought to be exclusively a PC domain -- fun to play from the couch.

Viking: Battle for Asgard falls far short of its potential.

Viking: Battle for Asgard falls far short of its potential.

For fans, Ultimate Ninja 3 has a lot to offer.

As an RPG, it's pretty standard, yet it manages to be just plain comforting thanks to its quirky looks and sounds -- and even its easy one-handed control option.