What was once regarded as a fun-but-shallow game series has transformed into a shallow-and-pointless one. Dynasty Warriors 6 does not totally fail as a game, but it has begun my own personal disenchantment with the series.

Let there be no doubt, Surf's Up is strictly for kids in love with the movie. The redundancy of the gameplay will certainly help to break one's obsession with all things penguin in a weekend. Definitely a rental.

It's not a bad game; there are some good ideas here, and once you get a handle on the creation mechanics, then it's a fairly satisfying game.

If there's an upside to this game, it's that despite the shallow combat system, it's rather amusing to spill blood in battle. That's a small upside for a game that costs $60 and demands you sit through hours of talking just to kill stuff.

It shines a little better when using the multiplayer, but even then the shine is dull and lackluster. With revamped controls, multiplayer, and a better weapon system, this game would have been much better.

Though this game will certainly please longtime fans of the franchise with it's original story, the lackluster RPG format relegates this title to the "fans only" designation.

Monster making is the fundamental novelty attributed to Amazing Island. Creating monsters of your own design is fun but the gameplay is not up to the challenge of eclipsing this designing process.

There are some unlockables, but they can all be accessed by the halfway point, and the story is too basic to retain most players' interest.

A severe disappointment to fans of the genre. While EA has added many of the features that were missing from last year’s offering, there are still too many issues that need to be ironed out, including the animations, the flow, the online gameplay, and the challenge.

F&F is fun, popcorn entertainment, exactly what it intended to be.

The game takes an innovative premise and executes it in a way that's incredibly frustrating to deal with. It's so frustrating, in fact, that few people will find it worth the $10 asking price.

It's a totally generic game, almost the action equivalent of a kart racer.

In the end this game feels less like a thrilling adventure and more like an eight to ten hour endurance test.

The graphics are there, the story is there, and the mechanics are just a few tweaks shy of perfect. Yet when it comes to gameplay, that final and most important 10 percent, most folks will find themselves getting bored, lost, annoyed, or all three.

The feel of the bike is there but it's essentially an arcade game. If you can see your way clear around the interfering camera angles, you just might be able to have a good time with this game.

It's lovely and challenges gamers in an unusual way, but it is also hampered by an awkward (and possibly painful) control scheme and dropped frames.

The core gameplay is basic, yet all of Pokémon Rumble's component parts come together to make for a really great mixture of fun. The presentation is polished, but it's all just smoke and mirrors to try and hide the fact that you're not getting much for the whopping 1500 Wii Points being asked for this game.

Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT very similar to the Midnight Club series but less dimensional. It's priced under twenty bucks but I've seen it available on the net for less than ten - and frankly it might not even be worth that much.

On the whole, playing this game is an enjoyable experience. There are countless challenges with reasonable levels of difficulty, the presentation does the trick, and there's often a decent sense of speed.

A fun game but it has no lasting appeal. Even the two-player mode becomes more like a game of chance than a game of skill when player of equal caliber have outgrown the simplistic control system.

SpongeBob Squigglepants is a fun game, and if it would have come out 3-4 years ago, I'm sure it would be well-received. However, the game suffers quite a bit from being nearly a carbon copy of a game that has been imitated to death.

One of the most refreshing games I've played all winter. I didn't say it was the best, but if you're getting a little bored of dungeon crawling, shooting and fighting, then consider Everblue 2 as your winter vacation.

A two-player co-op mode is a great addition. I played it with a friend of mine last night and I seemed to enjoy it much more than the one-player mode. Any Gauntlet fans are advised to try the co-op mode.

It's a rental, plain and simple, and there's nothing wrong with that.

From level to level you won't find much variety in the gameplay. Like the soup at a buffet there's not much spice to it - and there's no way you can add any after the fact.

It takes about 15 hours to get through the game, but it's too boring to be worthwhile.

There are two really solid games in this package, and Razing Storm has a couple fun modes. Compared to most light gun games you'll find lots of great content here. This is a better value than any other recent light gun shooter release.

Weirdly contradictory design and somewhat awkward controls make Steel Diver undecided on whether it's an action game or simulation. The result is that it's neither.

A fascinating romp through a section of Disney history that everyone young and old can enjoy.

There’s a lot of game here, constructed in a way that may prove interesting to a select few. The pacing, however, is slow and mired further by endless random encounters.

Frankly, it's time for this series to die. It's been continually plodding along, getting little love from anyone outside the Mega Man hardcore. Capcom refuses to update the formula in any meaningful way, and as such it's clear that they don't really care.

While it does the multi-player thing better than most games, the single-player mode is nothing more than a single-player version of the multi-player mode. There's no story, no strategy and really nothing that you could call innovative.

I had to look twice to see if perhaps this copy of the game was actually a PSX game accidentally packaged in a PS2 wrapper. Frankly, this game plays so poorly I'm surprised that it's not on a cartridge.

Aimed at the younger demographic, Sinbad is a decent little production but the gameplay is repetitive and it doesn't last very long. It's pretty much hack and slash from beginning to end.

That doesn't mean it is completely unrewarding, it just can't hang with the competition. In the end, this is a distinct take on football that is worth playing as a rental, but even at its discounted retail price isn't worth the price of admission.

Painfully low production values, unsatisfying action, and outright confusing controls.

But for fans, seeing Domon Kasshu beat the ever loving piss out of those pansies from Gundam Seed is just plain awesome.

There's no use mincing words. Commandos Strike Force is a dumbed down version of the Commandos series. It's more accessible, more forgiving and for the right player it can be a whole lot of fun.

The aesthetics of the game create an illusion of quality. God Mode, at its core, feels as cheap as the price tag might suggest. The one-note shooting can’t sustain the game through all five maps.

I will never fault a game for not being violent but that doesn't mean it should be void of fun. Even Curios George himself wouldn't find much interest in this game should ever come across it - and as we all know, he's exceptionally curious

There are, of course, issues with the title, but they are so small that it won’t matter to the player it is designed for. Heck, even those that are an older audience will have a hard time faulting the game, for its presentation and scope of gameplay are quite nice.

It's just hard to play this for more than a few minutes at a time without getting frustrated with the controls.

Being a Rayman fans it's frustrating to play a game that's so close to the original but yet so far away. Since it doesn't use the touch screen in any innovative ways it really doesn't make much sense for this game to be on this system.

Dull, tedious, repetitive. Any sense of creativity seems largely wasted.

A rock-solid, dungeon-style RPG that pays a good deal of homage to the Silent Hill universe. It's probably not quite what the diehards would have wanted, but that doesn't mean that it's bad.

Beijing 2008 doesn't escape from the stereotypical Olympic Games video game mold – it's a series of some good and bad mini-games that, while somewhat fun with others, don’t amount to much entertainment.

The story mode is extremely short, and the online offerings feel a bit hollow.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash will do ya if you're big on using buttons instead of swinging Wii Remotes or if you absolutely must perform fancy shots. Just know that this is a full-priced game that says, “Here, play some tennis,” and not much else.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Eagle Eye Golf is for the birdies but it’s definitely not a hole in one.

Deep customization drives the core shooter gameplay, which is only held back by a fear of repetition and a few bugs.

Even though the challenge of the game has not matured, it is ideal for anyone looking for a great Spider-Man experience.

In the end Jackass: The Game fails to capture what made the show so funny, and this is not for a lack of effort. It does feel like they tried to turn it into a legitimate title, but this is just not an ideal show to do it with.

The dull plot and repetitive game play can get boring after you play it for a couple of hours. The only true replay value this game has is with multiplayer because it has no online support.

The extra video with Bruce talking about the game and his experience over the years is worth the price alone.

The story mode is extremely short, and the online offerings feel a bit hollow.

The humor and style of the film translate well here and are helpful in filling the gaps where the simplistic gameplay and rushed mini-game mode fall short.

It lasts just about as long as Jackie Chan movie - and you're hungry for more action two hours after that.

Another problem that I have with the game is that enemies will respawn in empty rooms. As soon as you think you've cleared a room of enemies there will be another round of them mysteriously appearing from the ether.

The shooting, platforming, and boss encounters are all enjoyable, but the game is incredibly short. It's also a very conventional formula that plays out a bit too simplistically.

This game will only be done correctly on the next gen machines. No load times. Communication via headset. Expanded gameplay not limited by 5 year old technology. That's the way it should be.

The sounds of vehicles, guns and explosions are crisp and loud, perfectly suited for a game of this caliber (pun intended).

Despite the seemingly lewd nature of the premise, this game approaches relationships in an almost clinical fashion. Yes, there is nudity but unless you get hot looking at a mannequin without a shirt, you're not likely to become too aroused when playing this game.

Let's not split "hares" about this game. Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Stackers is Puyo Pop in cheap clothing. If Mel Blanc were alive today he would probably…be old.

I suspect that the reason this game was so popular at this year's Otakon was its controls, and ease of play. You can pick it up and start slashing almost immediately.

Parts of the game aren't entirely bad, but its simplistic approach will leave golf fans feeling cheapened. At best, this is a golf game for people who dislike golf.

As a fan of the Norrath series, I hope SOE can salvage this mess for future releases because this simply doesn’t cut it, especially on the dawn of the next-gen console race.

Though Bleach: Soul Resurreccion is undoubtedly a fun game, it does not live up to its potential, and could have been much better overall.

The concept is solid, the music is admittedly catchy (for the most part), and the style is there; we'd just like to see more of it coupled with better gameplay implementation.

As it is, it’s a fascinating combination of different gameplay elements, and it works surprisingly well. Anyone who likes swordfighting, the freedom of an open-world, and the opportunity to shape a story would be well-advised to pick it up.

Jackass: The Game fails to capture what made the show so funny, and this is not for a lack of effort. It does feel like they tried to turn it into a legitimate title, but this is just not an ideal show to do it with.

There are some unlockables, but they can all be accessed by the halfway point, and the story is too basic to retain most players' interest.

There were several moments that induced frustration-whether due to the wonky controls, throw-happy enemies, or artificial limits on Ryu's ability usage-that were clearly just poor design choices.

For the casual gamers looking for the title to help them ease into the puzzle solving teamwork games, this is a great stepping-stone. For the hardcore gamer looking for the next great challenge, this one might waste your time with its simplicity.

Obviously, Alone in the Dark didn't come close to living up to expectations.

If you can get past the fairly boxy-looking and unlikeable characters, there is some fun to be had creating objects, playing mini-games, completing the game's story, and customizing the kingdom's appearance. Just don't expect to be wowed by the storyline or to enjoy all of the included mini-games.

If I had a chance to play this during the years I was a complete Wolverine fanatic I would have passed out from pleasure overload. No kidding... This is the one of the finest comic book games to date.

It's a little easier to master than most extreme sport games and it dishes out the fun while it lasts. It just doesn't dish out for long.

There isn't a lot of replay value here with only three modes, one being nothing more than a sliding picture puzzle mode. It's also very short, clocking in at a couple of hours.

There's certainly no shortage of content in Race-O-Rama, and quite a few of the tracks are truly enjoyable. However, the overworld has had little love put into it, and there are many minor issues and bugs that come together to create a fairly uninspired package.

You would be better off spending a few extra bucks and getting the "Zero Mission" game if you don't already have it. Otherwise I would be very hesitant to spend the twenty bucks on this old clunker.

You aren't going to get a lot of replay value out of it, but if you like things a little on the "quirky" side of gaming, at least give it a test drive.

Those who pick up the title out of sheer curiosity will find the game's initial excessive dialogue and thickly condensed story mode tedious and annoying. However, if they're able to pass the story mode, the unlockables are almost worth playing through the lackluster story mode.

This is definitely an average game, and with all of the good racing games available, there's no reason to consider purchasing this one. If you enjoyed the movie, don't let this game spoil the fantasy for you.

There's a ton of content, but it all feels the same to play.

Parents with children that watch the show faithfully will please their progeny by purchasing this title, but others may find themselves unimpressed by the uninspired platforming and confusing characters.

Dawnspire is like a cross between "Diablo" and "Gauntlet," but neither game was meant to be played with bots.

Although it won't be Grand Turismo or PGR, the racing engine is good enough, and the variability of racing events really makes this one very playable, not only for children, but for grown-ups who want to get in on the action too.

The game has some pretty cool features, even though many of them are old hat at this point. Overall, the package feels slapped together - more a proof of concept than an actual game. The location of most save points is sure to be a source of frustration for most folks, and ultimately, it's a game that begs to not be played.

An average handheld experience. It has about eight hours of gameplay that is very conducive to the pick-up-and-play experience. Most mobile gamers looking for a portable experience will probably enjoy the fun hack n' slash gameplay along with the fun mini-games. But as a fan of the original console version, I just feel that this game lacked a little of the prowess of its predecessor.

It can be addicting thanks to the easy control system but keep in mind that what may originally attract you, may ultimately repel you.

The voice recognition controls are probably the best any video game as incorporated, and certainly recommended over traditional controls. However, the overly abridged story paired with limited gameplay can't help but mark this venture as a work still in process.

It will take some time to reach a level of Zen with the control system. It takes plenty of mindfulness to reach a state of mindlessness. Once the controls become second nature Iron Phoenix comes to life.

I myself enjoy a casual, east to play game every once in a while. But if you're looking for a hard-hitting, cutting-edge RPG that will have you fighting bosses and strategizing until the early morning hours, then I suggest you look elsewhere.

If you've dreamed of becoming a computer programmer or a videogame developer, then you have to check this one out. The rest of us will be anxiously waiting to play whatever it is that you create.

Turn based strategy fans have to be really desperate to seek out Salvo. It's not a terrible game by any stretch but it's just too slow and ponderous to shake me out of the doldrums. I know a game is in trouble when all I do is think about things that would make it better.

There are, of course, issues with the title, but they are so small that it won’t matter to the player it is designed for. Heck, even those that are an older audience will have a hard time faulting the game, for its presentation and scope of gameplay are quite nice.

A darn good game.

Fun but flawed. While the anime cutscenes are awesome, the story is more often told through extremely slow moving walls of text. While the characters all have their original voice actors (or very similar voice actors in the case of some of the villains), the music is very generic. While the battles have lots of satisfying quick time events and cutscenes, the load times in the game are absolutely criminal.