This year it's pushed farther than it has ever before by "borrowing" from Winning Eleven. As a handheld, it holds up over time -- but we can't help but to hold our breath to see Winning Eleven head-butt back on the PSP.

No, it's not the significant leap 2004's Century of Flight was, and performance -- usually unworthy of mention -- is the big sinker here. Otherwise, Flight Sim X is a solid, if not quite spectacular, tenth iteration.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

Justice League Heroes' kryptonite is its laughably lame story. Wait a second, wasn't this game written by an actual comic writer? That's why it's sad that the story is frickin' terrible.

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.

Maxis hasn't changed the game drastically and shouldn't have to for an expansion pack that is adding a new (and cute!) perspective to an already solid game.

It doesn't help that The Guild 2 ships with technical issues: characters that disappear into walls, visual artifacts that take a restart to clear, buttons that don't work at all, and drop-sync issues with multiplayer games.

How many games are there that take place in a recently Westernized Japan and involve exposing ill-meaning demons, all laid under a campy detective theme? If there are more than Devil Summoner, they're likely not done quite this well.

The combat may feel satisfyingly fresh, but the game's visuals look dated. Bland textures, simple geometry, and bouts of slowdown abound, and distressing load times hearken back to an earlier, more annoying RPG age.

Yes, other brawlers may perfectly replicate the real-life trajectory of a fist making its way to a face. But God Hand takes you back to those days when you were a little kid in Chuck E. Cheese's. And that's far more satisfying -- and impressive.

If you're cool with paying full price for another minor upgrade to last year's already good game, Tiger Woods 07 is for you. That sounds clichéd, but there's nothing so good, so bad, or wildly different this year that will make anyone change their opinion of the series. Only fans need apply.

An outstanding RTS in its own right, and Relic is currently making the best RTS games in the business. For those already addicted to Dawn of War, this a must-have.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Other than the exclusive ArchLord gimmick, we're left with a dated-looking game with limited classes and a lot of grind, and a miniscule chance of something cool at the end if you really throw yourself into it. Not exactly our cup of mead.

A truly awful experience. Put simply, it's a portable piece of ugliness that lacks any humility or wit. It is singularly unpleasant in the way it handles its subject matter, and lacks the style or panache to carry its inadequacies with any dignity.

This is clearly the best-playing FIFA game ever made, but that merely puts it above some of the most average-playing soccer games ever made. Even with the improvements, the game remains far too simple tactically.

This is clearly the best-playing FIFA game ever made, but that merely puts it above some of the most average-playing soccer games ever made. Even with the improvements, the game remains far too simple tactically.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

El Matador's story, characters, and gameplay add nothing new to the shooter genre. There's nothing here that's stupendously bad, but nothing good that's memorable either.

It's a stunning bit of work...Though not a blanket revision, this is a solid upgrade that assuredly fortifies SimBin's position atop the race-sim podium.

At $20, this just may be the finest piece of "budgetware" ever produced, with every bit as much to offer strategywise as RTS games three times its cost. Like the greatest board games, its entry curve is small, its interface elementary, and its potential for strategic depth enormous.

It doesn't possess the solid competence of a game like Saints Row, but a different setting, new toys, and a gameplay experience that's actually a bit fresh have more than made up the difference.

If you're into the unintentional hilarity of films like Turkish Star Wars, Paraworld is the game you've been waiting for all your life. On the other hand, as with most B-movies, the majority of folks will probably go through a lot less buyer's remorse if they just rent this one to knock out a few chuckles.

Online play -- including both co-op and the deathmatches that made Doom such a phenomenon in the first place -- can hardly even be considered "play." The lag is unbearable, the framerate excruciating. Aiming is nearly impossible.

All of a sudden, instead of dealing with urban sprawl and water rights, you're tasked with using a bunch of poorly controlled, dim-bulb A.I. legionnaires to defend against invading hordes. Battles have nothing to do with tactics, being determined only by who has the bigger, better-equipped force.