In terms of sheer creepiness only "Silent Hill" can give it a run for its money, and Fatal Frame inspires dread in such a different way that it's really worth experiencing.

If anything, Sing and Dance is a good idea on paper, but absolutely flawed in its execution. Arrows are laid side-by-side, making the more difficult patterns a pain to read correctly, and having to focus on scrolling arrows while watching your singing pattern (to make sure the game is recognizing it correctly) is incredibly counter-intuitive.

The interesting thing about Gun, however, is that it mixes broad free-roaming aspects with some of the most tightly scripted missions we've seen in any game -- quite an achievement for an original game from a company known for skateboarding titles.

The core of the game is simply a fun, great looking button-mashing brawler, and there's a good time to be had with it if that's all you expect.

Rare is still very much Rare: inspiration is taken from multiple sources, a solid-but-unspectacular game is built on that inspiration, every imaginable color and graphical effect is dumped on top of it, and everyone is given an awful pun for a name.

Truth be told, 1UP recently held a group "review" session that lasted late into the night. After a few beers, some leaps off the couch, about 8 renditions of Boston, countless moments of faux-rockstar posturing, and actually stomping so hard that we broke the disc during the thundering finale of "Take Me Out," everyone seemed to agree on a score for Guitar Hero... But our scale only goes up to 10.

The problem with Mario Party is this: the downtime is completely ridiculous. In a game where the sole purpose is to entertain you in a party-like environment, sitting out for periods of up to 10 minutes at a time, waiting for everyone to roll the dice, run around, shop for items, use said items, compete in stale, single-player mini-games, pointless microphone games and other random events drives one to tears of boredom.

For players that can muddle through the often copious and tedious battles and sometimes lackluster environments, this is a worthy Castlevania adventure -- and thanks to the devil forging and item creating, a rather unique one at that.

The notion of hopping into an X-Wing, shooting down a flight of TIE fighters and then boarding an enemy Star Destroyer to disable its shields is one that has been deeply rooted in many a Gen X'ers mind. This is now possible, and while space combat is not as refined or complex as say X-Wing Alliance, it opens up the game beyond ground-based combat.

Ultimately, you'll be much more satisfied playing "2K6" instead or even EA's "NCAA March Madness 2006" for basketball purism.

You don't have to already be a fan, though, to appreciate the game, and that's a big part of its appeal. It's pretty easy to jump in, grab a gun and start starring in your own WWII movie mowing down Nazis.

Not only is the camera annoying, but baiting the enemies into your trap becomes a mundane routine that's based on a few simple tactics -- most of the enemies are too stupid to realize they're being set up for a trap.

The notion of hopping into an X-Wing, shooting down a flight of TIE fighters and then boarding an enemy Star Destroyer to disable its shields is one that has been deeply rooted in many a Gen X'ers mind. This is now possible, and while space combat is not as refined or complex as say X-Wing Alliance, it opens up the game beyond ground-based combat.

You don't have to already be a fan, though, to appreciate the game, and that's a big part of its appeal. It's pretty easy to jump in, grab a gun and start starring in your own WWII movie mowing down Nazis.

It sounds cool on paper, but there's really no telling as to which weapon choices will result in which evolutions, so the entire feature becomes essentially useless to anyone but the truly hardcore who will play through several times.

You don't have to already be a fan, though, to appreciate the game, and that's a big part of its appeal. It's pretty easy to jump in, grab a gun and start starring in your own WWII movie mowing down Nazis.

Those expecting a wildly different gameplay experience will be disappointed. Those who expect to play City of Heroes with a darker setting, evil looking characters and a meaner narrative will love it. It's good to be bad.

The thing that makes RE4 so much fun is that the developers took a cue from modern zombie films, eschewing the clichéd shuffling zombie in favor of savvier, more intelligent opponents.

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.

Playing a new Soul Calibur is like embarking on a two year (or however long it takes Namco to release the next game) journey into personal mastery, constantly pushing yourself and your friends to become better players. That's the mark of a transcendent fighting game, and Soul Calibur III has the makings of a classic.

Pulling its trigger condenses everything that's right about Call of Duty 2 into a single moment. Online or off it is the epitome of visceral thrill seeking.

Ratchet: Deadlocked doesn't push any boundaries; it doesn't break any ground. It's not haute cuisine. But sometimes you're just in the mood for peanut butter and for that, there's nothing better -- it's a little salty, a little sweet, and tremendously satisfying.

There's plenty of good, plenty of bad and plenty of weird on Taito Legends. The games are reproduced well, too, if not precisely up to arcade perfection.

From the mellow sounds of Leonard Nimoy's narration to the polished world view that allows you to smoothly scroll from satellite view to up-close and personal, this is the consummate update of a classic.

Gunstar Super Heroes is a superpowered orgy of 2D effects like you haven't seen since the golden age of video games, primarily on the Sega Genesis.

At the base, the game is very likeable idea, controls brilliantly and does a lot of stuff right. 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.

There's plenty of good, plenty of bad and plenty of weird on Taito Legends. The games are reproduced well, too, if not precisely up to arcade perfection.

The game has all the things that have made "Battlefield" a PC favorite. In particular, the vehicles work well, maybe even better with the controller. Flying a helicopter with two sticks feels natural and the ground vehicles, like tanks and humvees, are a snap.