Misses the mark slightly by adding a couple of things that don't work quite as well they could have.

Once one gets past the controls and somewhat cold, distant storytelling, what remains makes for a pretty good time.

Its presentation and slick detail are a credit to the developers, but the often laborious pace will put off those seeking more intensity in their RTS offerings.

A deceptive "kiddie" game that brought back frightening memories of the mental anguish I battled after losing race after race to a 16-year old Japanese school girl while playing "Mario Kart 64."

Play it for a few hours, play it with your friends, after that, go to sleep and dream of SSX 5.

Barrels explode, smoke, environmental damage (i.e. bullet holes), flying bodies… it’s all good. Provided you have the hardware that can handle it.

With save points laid at logical points throughout, there’s little chance you’ll be frustrated with some of the more difficult puzzles or encounters in Rival Swords, making it a great entry point for newcomers to the series – even if the story will likely seem convoluted.

Taking flight for the seemingly last time, Spyro gets regrettably grounded by some debilitating gameplay features, most notably the camera that will have gamers madly spewing fire and brimstone.

Even with it’s limited numbers of racing modes and small number of courses and cars, RC Cars remains a pick-up and play title for younger gamers or those that like a little fantasy with their racing.

It’s a very nuts and bolts sort of RPG with a fair amount of nooks and crannies to check out, but the game lacks the pop that will keep a player glued to their seat until the wee morning hours.

If you want a taste of fighting in the Guilty Gear universe, skip this title, and get "Guilty Gear X2" instead.

In 30-minute stretches it’s a fine challenge.

It’s also over rather quickly, with very little in the way of replay value. Still, it’s a great looking package with a solid game attached, which is more than can be said of most licensed titles.

Despite some inane gameplay features, the arcade-style flying and fighting is very good.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star sure isn't like the Paper Mario games that have come before it. So much so, that's it's hard to think of Sticker Star as a role-playing game. If role-playing is defined as collecting and using stickers, then it would fit, but it doesn't.

It definitely takes the edge off for younger players who just want to have fun but it provides little risk for those expecting some kind of severe punishment or challenge.

Though the DS touch screen screams to me “Customized playbook!” it must have been screaming something else to the developers.

The Club is one of those games that you are really going to fall in love with, or discard fairly quickly.

A difficult FPS-style game that suffers from a few short-comings that prevent it from being a truly great game.

It's a lengthy romp with plenty of action, though it does fall somewhat flat when it comes to being memorable or offering stand-out encounters; it's gory entertainment, doesn't take itself seriously -- the recent release of "Viscera Cleanup Detail" confirms that -- and has some good first-person swordplay for $40.

APE is quite tactical, the control is good and it should keep fans interested, even with the fog-of-war, funnel levels, and pathfinding problems - a good RTS entry.

While the game is fun to play, it’s not too fun to look at.

This genre is notably absent from the console world. A number of real-time strategy games have made in-roads in establishing this almost PC-exclusive genre on consoles but until mouse and keyboard get the nod, it has hit a wall. I'm just glad it has done so with a steel drum beat.

Blue Dragon is a harmless, lighthearted role-playing game at its core with too many cutscenes but with some really great strategic battles.

Had Madness Returns cut its length by half and tossed in a few more gameplay mechanics, it could have easily been one of the best titles released this year.

If the overhead perspective doesn't frighten you off, Grand Theft Auto Advance is a good GTA game to take on the road.

The kind of game that will appeal for immediate accessibility but perfectionists will be turned off by the shear repetition required to get everything in the game.

With bigger guns and even bigger levels, Unreal Tournament 2003 seems to say: size does matter.