The Godfather has a few real strengths: the movie scene tie-ins, the overall 40s mob atmosphere, and the whole mechanic of extorting businesses to work with the Corleone family all make this game unique and much more than just a GTA clone.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a game that will make DS owners smile.

There's just the right amount of micromanagement to start without feeling like you're "fixing" bad AI by controlling every single movement.

LEGO Star Wars II is a fun romp through the original trilogy of movies, and that crazy LEGO style really gives the whole thing a unique feel.

Overall, Cooking Mama is an oddly entertaining game.

I could only think of one way to share how I feel about it -- mix happiness, cheerfulness, smiles and a heaping spoon of sugar and you have LocoRoco.

Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover is a solid fighting game with a silly amount of moves, characters, and unlockables.

Ultimate Ghosts & Goblins may bring on some nostalgia and looks fun for a while, but unless you are fantastically good at side-scrolling games or just plain masochistic when it comes to your gaming, this one's not worth your money.

Buy this game. Now.

While I like the idea of online play with real voice chat (as opposed to most PC versions of the game), Tikgames' rendition of the game is just too basic and empty to be worth it to most Xbox Live players.

Overall, my recommendation of Madden 07 on the Xbox 360 is conditional – if the items I’ve presented in the above list aren’t game breakers for you, the 360 version is a very worthy heir to the Madden throne.

So, the big question will be, then – is it worth picking up this year's version if you already have 2006? The answer is a definite yes – the new lead blocking controls and the refined superstar mode add a lot to the Madden experience and, as a minor plus, the game seems to run more smoothly.

Dead Rising is not for everyone, as it does include tons of violence and gore, but the sheer number of possibilities in this game make it a wonderful addition to almost any Xbox 360 owner's library.

Overall, Broken World makes for a good, fun expansion. While I feel that the new skill trees should have been added differently, I don’t see it as anything game-breaking.

For those who are jonesing for some classic Ryu-Ken action, I've got to say that overall I think that past ports of similar Street Fighter titles on the Xbox and PS2 were better overall, but few of those have online play, and there probably aren't any players left in those versions' online modes anyway.

This is a purely arcade racer, and its sense of speed isn't nearly as good as, say, Burnout Revenge. Car crashes themselves are fun, but not nearly as satisfying as a destruction-oriented racing game should be.

This is one of a few rare killer apps on Sony's portable console, and truly one of the best fighting games ever made on any portable platform.

In the end, Valkyrie Profile Lenneth is quite the unique RPG and well worth playing for anyone that calls themselves a fan of Japanese RPGs.

If you’re dead-set on getting draft classes for Madden 07 on the 360, go rent the game and play it for a weekend. Admire the pretty graphics and have fun with the gameplay that doesn’t amount to much more than a 60 dollar tech demo – it is still worth a rental just to see what could have been.

Prey brings some unique storytelling and great, interesting features, but it just lacks the polish required to make this game a top-quality shooter.

For its budget price, it won't work if you're looking for great graphics or a lot of all-out action, but once you get into the game's wacky style of play I think you'll find it's wonderful and very satisfying.

Due to some critical flaws in the multiplayer mode, Titan Quest winds up being a blast for you and your trusted friends for at least a couple weeks if not more, but it just won't go any further than that without Iron Lore doing some serious work on the online play.

However, if you enjoy building your team more in Franchise mode than you do actually playing the games, give NFL Head Coach a shot – the game definitely has a lot to offer despite some shortcomings.

Despite the lack of any real innovation and a couple of missing specific features, Capcom has put together a solid package here in Street Fighter Alpha Anthology.

If you’re thinking about picking up MotoGP 06, I’d highly recommend a rental first – make sure you can learn the controls and won’t get too frustrated with the game before you actually buy it.

In all, I can say that I enjoyed Big Brain Academy and feel it is a wonderful addition to the Brain Age-style games. Nintendo has really hit on a different market than the traditional gamers.

While I found that a lot of things that made Half-Life 2 notable – going it alone in many places, using vehicles, interacting with a host of characters – are missing in Episode One, I still really enjoyed the experience, and appreciated how Valve this time made it feel almost like a survival horror game.

Hitman: Blood Money brings together many of the best elements from the series, gives the game a wonderful, updated look, and gives those who want to get that Silent Assassin rating plenty of stealth-based puzzles to figure out.

Overall, Stacked is a mixed bag of experience.

The single-player game is fun but manages to end sooner than it should with no possibility for player created campaigns (yet). Multiplayer is also lacking – a play-by-email system would have been a huge help to the game.

On one hand, you have a game missing the most vital element of any sports game – the career mode. On the other hand, Rockstar has put together a game with great graphics and sound, excellent ball physics and incredible multiplayer options.

NSMB manages to blend elements from the past seamlessly with gameplay technologies of today. Familiar enemies, powerups and levels all mesh with new elements to form what is the best Mario game to date.

The lively graphics, the varied feel for each level, and the gameplay was enough to hold my interest levels and I would imagine keep other people, particular the younger generation interested in continuing as well.

I think this game could have used a few more months in development to tighten up the campaign and make it more fun, but at the very least I've found the multiplayer to be very entertaining.

Not many games in this genre are released with a $20 price tag, so some gamers out there might not really know how to deal with a game that is a little light on the content but much lighter on the price.

Overall, Spellforce 2 is slightly above average. It take two portions of a game that wouldn’t succeed on their own and combines them into a package that proves to be fun with a large amount of gameplay.

Overall, Factions is an excellent package. While players of Prophecies may look at it and see a $50 price tag and complain, the game is truly complete - it isn't just a straight up expansion pack.

Overall, I found this game to be entertaining with some issues that definitely get in the way of good game play. Hopefully, a future sequel or similar style game will improve on the issues that have been pointed out. Lostmagic has a great core to build a future game around – hopefully Taito takes the chance to do so in the future.

For $20, you get some fun minigames to play that will track your progress along with 100 Sudoku puzzles.

This is probably the deepest baseball game I have ever played - the depth of the stats and things to manage are mind-boggling.

While Lara's adventure this time around is pretty short, the exploration elements, great visuals that the Xbox 360 can produce, and even the surprisingly interesting story all come together to make a pretty solid game anyway.

Despite the game's problems, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is still fun if you play online and don't need any real depth in your first person shooters.

Its brutal, in-your-face action will make you cringe, while the creepy atmosphere will have your heart fluttering as you wonder what's around that next corner. Even the hardened veterans of the world's best horror games will find this to be a fine addition to their collection.

Overall, MLB 2K6 is a worthy replacement to the beloved MVP MLB franchise. While there are some occasional hiccups and glitches and the fielding is off, these are all issues that can be ironed out over the next year - the game is still pretty fun to play.

If you haven't played Far Cry for the Xbox already, then by all means you should pick up Far Cry Instincts: Predator. It's got a satisfying and fun single player mode, and its online play has the unique feature of being able to run both original maps and custom created ones

n the end, the game comes out as nothing more than average. Fans of the Metal Gear universe will want to pick this one up as will those that enjoyed the first game. If you are looking to try out the series, this is definitely the better version. If you absolutely hated the first, though, nothing here will change your mind.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion moves the RPG genre forward with a massive world, a beautiful presentation, deep gameplay and action, and many great plots and quests to finish.

The themed levels are fun, the new game modes add a lot to an already complete franchise and the multiplayer mode is one of the best I've ever seen in a puzzle game.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror is the game that the PSP has been waiting for - one actually made for a portable that is also fun in long stretches. This game will definitely help to sell systems.

The world is drab in this fourth Driver game and the missions are just plain boring, and with about 15 to 20 hours of gameplay, at least it's not excruciatingly long (nothing makes a mediocre game worse than making you trudge through it for 40+ hours to feel like you accomplished something).

With a lack of multiplayer modes or any decent replay value, Black falls flat.

I'd definitely recommend that you play Super Princess Peach. You're very likely to enjoy it if you are a fan of sidescrollers.

The missions are a neat addition to the series but the game truly shines when you get into the single games - with the wide array of scenarios that you can choose from and small settings you can tweak, you'll be playing different games for a long time to come.

While the career mode's lack of difficulty is disappointing, those looking for a challenge will still have plenty of that from the well-made online modes. Fight Night Round 3 is most definitely a winner.

While Empire at War does have an overall decent gameplay system that requires a mix of strategies, as well as a story-based campaign that can be played from the side of either the Rebels or the Empire, there's just not enough here to pull you away from the many great strategy games that are available today.

Sure, the graphics in Full Auto are great and lots of stuff goes boom, but so many other games just plain play better.

In the end, Dead or Alive 4 is to fighting games what Halo 2 was to first person shooters.

Geometry Wars started out as a bonus mini-game inside Bizarre Creations' last flagship title Project Gotham Racing 2 - and while this new version has much improved graphics, you can still play the classic version as well.

It's the perfect rental game, and the really dedicated fans will surely enjoy the purchase.

It's got functional online play and an interesting way to go about delivering a career's worth of single player races, but when it comes down to it, the racing gets old fast.

Sure, the visuals are absolutely brilliant, but the surprisingly good single player game and huge number of of multiplayer options make this so much better than what many were expecting out of a 360 launch game.

Even if you're getting a little sick of the WW2 shooter genre, I'd suggest you give it a shot, as its gameplay is the right mix of fun and realism and the multiplayer modes are plenty of fun.

Condemned is a very solid game with great horror elements, great sounds and voice work, and plenty of in-your-face action.

For its time, it's not the best one (I'll leave that honor to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 back from 2000), but it's still a lot of fun - as long as pro players don't mind how easy it'll be for them, nor if the newbies don't mind how hard it is for them.

While the racing is certainly fun and online play works great, I still have to question whether this is truly what we'd consider a next-generation game.

The gameplay's neither terribly exciting nor really unique in the world of action games, and what uniqueness we get from the setting is about all it really has (other than the core story which happens to be pretty damn good).

While Need for Speed: Most Wanted lacks a few key features that take it over the top, it's still a solid game and winds up being the best installment in the NFS series in years.

Despite some minor problems, The Movies breaks new ground in the sim genre by putting business elements together with people-sim elements to create a wholly unique experience.

Harmonix has another excellent game on their hands with Guitar Hero, but the reliance on an uncomfortable controller not only raises the game's price but it also is just sometimes too much effort to even want to play.

The AI is better than ever and the action is the perfect mix of tactics and full-on gunfights - and the regenerating health system means I have to worry less about how much health I have left and more about how to take out the overwhelming numbers of Germans.

Still, Sam nails exactly what it's aiming to do, which is to throw scores of enemies at you in some of the most frantic firefights you'll ever experience.

I really can’t recommend this game enough.

The tense and exhilarating action is broken up perfectly by moments of true serenity that really make the world feel more real, even if it is "emptier" than what most gamers are used to.

On an absolute scale, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is an incredible game.

But if you're looking for fantastic action and a good scare or creep-out mixed in, then F.E.A.R.'s dingy and abandoned alleys, rooftops, and office complexes will certainly satisfy.

I had a ton of fun playing Quake 4, and while the game started off kind of slow, it picked up quickly and wound up being a solid, action-packed experience without the dreaded "realistic" limitations on combat that so many recent games put on the player.

Even though it's not a one-on-one fighting game, I still think that Shaolin Monks is by far the best Mortal Kombat game to come out in many years.

Despite a few complaints about the in-game graphics quality, the full Burnout experience has really made it to the PSP.

Between the new tracks, hugely satisfying new features, challenging re-worked Crash mode, and hot new advancement system, Revenge manages to take out just about all the bad and add plenty of good to this popular franchise.

The racing's solid, but the AI needs work and the lack of internet play is inexcusable.

While those who played and loved the original Conker's Bad Fur Day might scoff at the purchase of this new remake, I can still mostly recommend it due to the multiplayer mode.

With a completion time of under eight hours and a few half-decent extras, one has to wonder if Batman Begins was essentially targeted directly as a rental game.

Rockstar has delivered their best PC port of a GTA game yet with San Andreas.

It's still quite possibly the best game ever made, and Rockstar's done pretty much all they could to make San Andreas the best it could be on the Xbox.

With the new melee action gameplay and a brute-force approach with dozens of arenas, characters, mutators, and options, there should be enough here for any online gunslingers to just go crazy with.

The world is imaginative and beautiful, and the characters are very interesting and present many new options for the player. This one easily lives up to the Bioware name and goes alongside many of their past titles as instant classics.

Irrational Games' SWAT 4 delivers an interesting first person shooter experience that rewards superior tactics and patience above all else.

God of War is a must-have for any action gamer. It's a remarkable experience with plenty of depth, great graphics, intense and rewarding combat, and one of the biggest badasses you'll ever get to take control of in any action title.

Gearbox has put an enormous amount of effort into making Brothers in Arms authentic and realistic, but still fun at the same time. Their brand of tactical action meshes perfectly with the first person viewpoint, and the story and characters are some of the best you'll see in a game like this.

While Star Wars: Republic Commando is a pretty solid game overall, it's entirely forgettable and will wind up in that large pile of good-but-not-great titles that LucasArts has building up recently.

I hate to say it, because this game is actually very fun, but Fight Night Round 2 is less of a boxing game than last year's attempt.

Obsidian has done an incredible job with Knights of the Old Republic 2. Even though the introduction and ending are a bit iffy, the game's more than worth the effort of going through.

World of Warcraft may not be the great savior of MMORPGs, but it's certainly the most solid one to come out in a long time.

Half-Life 2 will dominate the first person shooter market for years.

Yes, Troika has delivered an action-RPG that's on par with the System Shock or Deus Ex while delving into a unique and compelling setting.

While I can't say that GTA: San Andreas is another revolution in gaming like GTA3 was, it is an evolution that goes light years beyond what we saw with the last two titles in the series.

The new gameplay modes, massive new levels, customizability, and online play all work together to really make this year's game something special on the PC.

Those who liked Deadly Alliance's general style - its fighting system, story mode, collecting Koins and unlocking Koffins - will certainly enjoy Mortal Kombat: Deception.