Even with its quirks, I find it hard to put the game down -- it's so easy and fun to hop back in and whip up a couple quick, satisfying dishes. In its silly simplicity, Cooking Mama does what many can't: keep me heading back to the kitchen for one more snack.

Damn, is this one fine game. If you've ever dreamed of shredding blistering licks in front of an adoring audience, you need to pick up Guitar Hero III.

Soldier of Fortune doesn't cross the line of being a bad game, but it hardly ever breaks the surface of mediocrity either. The visuals and sound show lots of polish, but the generic story, horrible voice acting, and cut-scenes, along with the kamikaze A.I. and boring level design, simply don't.

Let me just get this out the way: Fire Pro Wrestling Returns is the best wrestling game ever. That's not an exaggerated statement -- you will not find a better mat simulator on the market.

Given the game's low price and close temporal proximity to its forerunner, it's unsurprising that the visuals, sounds, and gameplay haven't changed at all since Portable Ops.

The year of development shaped Rise of Kunark into an admirable expansion. Even though PVP content is largely ignored and midrange characters will level elsewhere, it's apparent that SOE's finally hatched an add-on that puts a shine on the entire game.

Galaxy proves that Mario matters just as much today as he did 25 years ago, and that makes him one of a kind in this medium. But don't play Galaxy simply because Mario is the timeless godfather of gaming. No, play Galaxy because it's fantastic.

I don't dislike this game. Aside from a few minor graphical bugs and hiccups, BlackSite is unquestionably competent at what it does. It's just that what it does isn't particularly notable, or innovative, or memorable -- in either a good or a bad way. It's not even memorably mediocre. It's just...diverting, for 10 hours or so. You could say worse things about a game.

BlackSite the narrative and BlackSite the game never meet in the middle.

Squad Command is far from perfect, but it is also the closest thing to playing actual Warhammer 40K on a videogame system. Turn-based strategy enthusiasts will definitely want to check this game out, and if you are a Warhammer fan then it is really a no-brainer.

If you've never understood the tongue-in-cheek appeal of the series this obviously won't change your mind, but if you're constantly suppressing the urge to pull out someone's spine while on the bus to work, it's a relatively inexpensive and consequence-free route to doing so.

Sam & Max's design crew runs a well-oiled humor machine, and Ice Station Santa flaunts everything from suicidal alley rats to demented gift exchanges to a trio of time-displaced Christmas spirits who turn the expected feel-good story cliché on its head.

Sure, it's predictable, conventional, and a little bit short, not to mention ill-suited for brief pick-up-and-play sessions on the bus, but we're encouraged to see developers making an original, console-quality experience for PSP.

The majority of the environments are quite sparse, with few buildings yet plenty of fog to help hide the fact that the draw distance here isn't that spectacular. The lack of vision also doesn't help when you're traversing the grassy plains and trying to get a read on your enemy's position.

The majority of the environments are quite sparse, with few buildings yet plenty of fog to help hide the fact that the draw distance here isn't that spectacular. The lack of vision also doesn't help when you're traversing the grassy plains and trying to get a read on your enemy's position.

It's certainly not a bad game by any means -- it has plenty of depth and looks fantastic -- but it never quite rises above the sensation that it's just a warm-up for better things coming (hopefully next year) in the form "Dragon Quest IX."

This one-note sex queen takes the series down a peg. Rick Goodman (creator of Empire Earth) is probably rolling over in his grave.

The complexity in the competition's certainly a step up from "Wii Sports" and "Wii Play," but without the option to play how you want and when you want, this feels like just another souped-up minigame collection. It's enjoyable -- and to be honest, more fun than I expected -- but it's not quite the evolution of Wii Sports we've been looking for.

While the flying levels are frustrating and the change-characters-to-hit-this-switch mechanic gets old, the great humor and extras make Lego Star Wars worth playing if you haven't tried it yet.

While the flying levels are frustrating and the change-characters-to-hit-this-switch mechanic gets old, the great humor and extras make Lego Star Wars worth playing if you haven't tried it yet.

While the flying levels are frustrating and the change-characters-to-hit-this-switch mechanic gets old, the great humor and extras make Lego Star Wars worth playing if you haven't tried it yet.

Although some crucial elements come up short (cut-scenes, buggy A.I.), Complete Saga still emerges as a great value in the big picture. The lengthy single-player game, extras, and minigames provide plenty to do, and generally atone for the bothersome flaws.

Gas Powered preaches to the choir: They've improved just about everything the faithful could have prayed for -- but they're not nabbing many converts.

When Tactical Strike works, it works really, really well. In spite of the soul-crushing frustration I experienced, those moments of genius made it worth soldiering on for me. If you have an extraordinarily high tolerance for cheap deaths, long load times, and insubordination, you could have a pretty darn good time with this game.

Gears is most likely to appeal to console gamers already in love with the game, who can now see it in glorious high-res detail and at superfast framerates -- with a muscular enough PC, that is.

While Scene It? is only just full enough of movie quizzing to hold up for several parties, it's a near-perfect translation from tabletop to 360 and, in fact, probably plays more closely to what its original creators intended.

The environments lack the rich visuals 360 owners have grown accustomed to since seeing Gears of War. Surfaces all appear to be flat, with muddy textures and stark lighting that only heighten the effect. By comparison to current standards, the thought that it could be an original Xbox game may even cross your mind.

It's a surprisingly silent, boring affair, and you're probably better off just watching the ATHF clips with your pal, or one of the four full episodes included on the disc (one of which has never been aired, and is awesome).