Harmonix has treated the band’s music, art, and history with a respect and reverence that sets it apart from other similar collections. The question is, how will anyone held responsible for a full band game -- Harmonix or otherwise -- ever really be able to clear the bar that’s been set?

Overall, it's a very solid title. Flawed, certainly, but a lot of fun to play if you don't mind a little repetitive combat and a story that feels a bit slow.

DiRT 2 is an absolute triumph, and anyone who had a hand in its production should be very proud of themselves.

If Contra 4 was too frustrating for you, this could end up being your favorite Contra game of this decade. Fans of the series and the run-and-gun genre should pick this up without hesitation. Contra ReBirth is both a nice tribute for fans and the perfect place to start for those Contra virgins who've ever wondered what the series is all about.

A flawed, but ultimately good game. However, here we come to the major malfunction. Barely anybody is playing this thing. Even with 32-player matches available, it's really hard find a game populated by even half that number.

An improved experience this year, without a doubt the best of Activision's full-band games to date. There's enough here to satisfy fans of plastic instruments, and if you've got four drum sets, this is the only place you'll get to use them all at the same time. Despite its marked improvements, those who have have pledged their allegiance to other music titles likely won't be swayed, but that doesn't mean Guitar Hero 5 isn't worth your time.

The PSP release should be considered the superior one, running so much more smoothly than is console-based predecessor, packing more content, and feeling at home on a system more suited to its gameplay, despite the fact that playing for too long isn't recommended if you don't like pain in your fingers.

They've got their heads in the right place, and the start of something that could be really good, but they've still got a long way to go in the ways of storytelling, pacing and visuals before this gets up into the pantheon of must-play horror games.

I will admit to being angry and disappointed at the finale of Arkham Asylum and the Batman fanboy in me wants to tell you that Eidos ruined everything. Fact is, they have made a great, great game here. Even the boss battle at the end, the only thing I can honestly say I hate about this title, would probably be enjoyable provided one was willing and able to see past its relationship to the rest of the game. It is absolutely worth your time and money.

Hardcore Final Fantasy nerds will be dazzled by the fan service on offer and will likely let a lot of issues slip by unnoticed, just because Kefka is in it. However, Dissidia really isn't a great game. It's a solid, if annoying, hack n' slash title that had a shedload of potential, but just isn't tight enough to truly realize the greatness it could have achieved.

This is about as well crafted as videogames get.

As a standalone narrative, it's a flimsy thing with little to give to the player other than a few good giggles. But, at the same time, this is a competent adventure title with some intelligent puzzles and decently unique places to explore. If you're a fan, you'll dig this and walk away with that familiar MI afterglow. If you're not, perhaps a trial is in order.

Also of note is the game’s wicked cool take on stat and achievement tracking. Things like how many enemies you’ve performed a melee attack on or mini spider bots you’ve kicked are tracked, and you’re shown updates as they happen.

In terms of balance, it’s brilliant.

The controls may irritate you and the game's attempt at a Zen aesthetic may come off as a little dull, but it nonetheless remains a constantly surprising, wonderfully unclassifiable, and, ultimately, damned satisfying piece of gaming.

The improvements -- the tackling, the animations, the authenticity in general -- work together to make this one of the best football titles ever created. There’s no reason not to own this thing if you’re looking for a videogame that recreates the NFL experience in a fun, immersive, and competitive way.

The improvements that Madden 10 offers over Madden NFL 09 are vast. In fact, aside from a new console generation, Madden 10 might provide the most significant year-over-year upgrade in the 21-year history of the series. Even gamers who have been wishing for a sequel to ESPN NFL 2K5 will be impressed, and for a football fan, buying this year’s Madden is a no-brainer.

While you don’t necessarily need to enjoy racing games to fully "get it," I'm sure it'd certainly help. There aren’t many games like Trials HD in existence, especially not on Xbox LIVE Arcade, which should be reason enough to get you looking in the first place.

I finished the game in just under four hours. After that, it was another four hours to collect all the Easter eggs and unlock the bonus level. Eight hours of cosmetically solid, wholly original gameplay is worth the ten bucks in my opinion.

Unfortunately, nostalgia doesn’t operate in this game’s favor: it’s too faithful to the original. The broken levels, mundane combat, meager play options, and short play time are factors that dwarf the delicious presentation and whatever fond memories you may have.

Do yourself a favor and purchase any of the other four Fallout downloadable content packs before even contemplating getting this one.

Fat Princess' charm and sense of humor prevails throughout, and it's backed up by a completely honest, simple, and thoroughly fun war game that contains not one pretentious bone in its body.

A perfectly servicable, if unspectacular finale to Telltale's great Wallace and Gromit series. A new puzzle structure, improved writing, and more challenging brain-twisters make this episode feel entirely fresh. The series may not end with a bang, but The Bogey Man sure as heck isn't a whimper.

While Bookworm Adventures 2 doesn't appear to offer anything startlingly new or different, it does stick by the formula that PopCap seems to have down to a science. The game is high quality and a lot of fun to play, and the only negative thing I can really say about it is that if you don't care for word games, it probably won't appeal to you.

This is a must-own game for fans of Marvel, Capcom, or fighting games in general. I bought it on XBLA, and I plan to buy it again when it drops on PSN in a few weeks, and I'd buy the damn thing again if it ever came to the Wii. It's just that good.

Best of all, Space Bust-A-Move is easy to pick up and play, serving up its puzzle fun in bite-sized doses.

A glimpse into the promising future of what developers can do with the power of the MotionPlus. If you can, for just a moment, get past the fact that the console's motion controls were not 1:1 to begin with and not let that sour the experience, you will get a lot out of it.

The core game is spectacular, even if the presentation framing it is awful, and it's got the potential to be well worth the money. So should you buy it? That depends on what's most important to you, but I'm going to say you most certainly should.

Shatter is a great game, and well worth a play.

’Splosion Man is without doubt one of the most polished, original, and enjoyable games on Xbox LIVE, a great way for Microsoft to kick off its “Summer of Arcade.” If you enjoy stern, sometimes unforgiving platforming challenges, you simply shouldn't miss it.

Man, I really wish the game could have been called Gears of Warcraft: Wii Edition. I'd bet dollars to donuts that with that name, it could have sold a trillion copies.

Fans of the genre should already be accustomed to the repetition that comes along with mercilessly (and sometimes pointlessly) pounding thugs into the ground, stage after stage. Unbound Saga is no different, but it certainly does it well.

Memories of Secret of Money Island are cemented in my brain, and my original experience with the title is intertwined with my gamer soul. This is an incredibly special game already -- a benchmark for future adventure titles -- made even more special for the current-generation player with new art, UI, sound, and voice acting. Don’t miss this.

A relatively decent shooter that is better than it has the right to be, but certainly won't be considered a classic of the XBLA platform. If you absolutely love shooters and want to play every last one, then this will be worth a purchase.

Whether you are a Battlefield fanatic or a series scrub like me, you’ll get your money’s worth from Battlefield 1943, as well as an unrivaled experience in the realm of download-only games.

It is a worthy successor to one of the finest adventure series ever to sail the seven seas. Here is to hoping Telltale can keep the Jolly Roger flying as high as it does here throughout the full length of the Tales season.

Core is compelling enough keep me playing it for a long time. Beat fans, music game fans, shmup fans, retro fans, fast-paced puzzle game fans, and anyone who's interested in playing a truly one-of-a-kind title should pick up Core post-haste.

The lazily created campaign mode, the dreadful level and upgrade design, horrendous lack of bullet feedback and latency are all factors working against it. The great visuals and matchmaking have nothing to do with the core game, which is lifeless, sluggish, and dreadful.

Trine has a fantastic core concept and occasional flashes of true brilliance, but it just doesn't go far enough in exploring its own mechanics. It delivers a perfectly entertaining few hours of gameplay -- much more time than I was expecting from an indie game, honestly -- but I could never shake the feeling that it just plain wasn't as good as it could have been.

Roogoo: Twisted Towers feels like a bunch of missed opportunities hanging out on top of a really great puzzle game. The great idea is there, it just never makes its way down to earth where players can get a piece of it.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood isn’t a terrible game. On the contrary, it’s a game with a ton of unrealized potential that executes with the grain.

It literally feels as if Techland studied the original Call of Juarez, identified all the things that made it feel fresh and interesting, and intentionally left them out of the sequel. What was once a franchise of weirdly intoxicating half-successes has been turned into a dull, unsatisfying, originality-devoid shell of its former self.

The fact that BlazBlue's combat system feels so original is quite an achievement. Add a high level of accessibility, solid online play, and beautifully detailed animation, and you have a must buy for any fans of hand drawn, 2D fighters.

The gameplay is its own reward and once one gets into it, one finds it quite hard to get back out. It's a shame that the plot holds it back, but otherwise Megaman Starforce 3 is pretty bloody good, and well worth your time if you like your roleplayers with a little more action in them.

The gameplay is its own reward and once one gets into it, one finds it quite hard to get back out. It's a shame that the plot holds it back, but otherwise Megaman Starforce 3 is pretty bloody good, and well worth your time if you like your roleplayers with a little more action in them.

Even as an adult I found Treasure World to be a fun experience. It is what it is -- a cool idea, wrapped in twee chicanery and kid-friendly nonsense.

The game we've been presented with works against itself more often than it does not.

Droplitz is the most addictive, challenging and fun puzzle game I have seen in years. It's simple to play, challenging to try and master and completely absorbing.

Try FNR4 if you’re looking for a good boxing game or want to experience the glory of current generation pugilism all over again. It’s worth it. Just don’t venture online with wide eyes and innocence. You’ll be rocked.

It doesn’t matter if you care about boxing; this superb game is worth a look from everybody, especially since face button punching will be added in September. My complaints with FNR4 are mostly about ultimately trivial window dressing; the game itself is a blast to play, and that’s what stands out.

Is The Conduit disappointing? No, not at all. I think it turned out to be exactly what we all thought it was going to be: a well executed Wii FPS with some ups and downs that's fun to play.

If you've got the strategy chops and don't mind a bit of a challenge, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a fantastic role-playing experience on the DS. Its time-based, branching story and clever blend of both strategy and turn-based game play styles make for a highly original title.

As tepid as gaming gets, put forth with the bare minimum of effort in a quick and cynical attempt to grab some free cash. It's not good in the slightest, and it's not even remarkable enough to be considered bad. It's just there, doing the one thing it's supposed to do -- make a load of money for two weeks, then disappear into obscurity where it firmly belongs.

Pangya: Fantasy Golf takes approachable, easy-to-play golf action and stacks on a ton of game play and even more unlockable content.

Fans of the original will be prepared for the game's less savory moments and will be more than happy to struggle through for the end result. The ride is incredibly bumpy, but ultimately worth it.

It's been a while since a Dynasty Warriors game was this addictive, and that's a huge bonus. While established fans will find the game to be incredibly fun, it's highly doubtful that longtime DW haters will be drawn into the series by this new one. Definitely a worthy purchase for those that like Koei's work.

A game for puzzle fans who have a high tolerance for frustrating design. It's a great game that sometimes fights with players due to its loose and sometimes confused stylus control, but the game's fun-factor and satisfying puzzling gameplay overrides the annoyances to create a pretty good little portable title.

For baseball fans who find the MLB series to be a too realistic, but think that Mario Superstar Baseball isn't quite realistic enough, Little League World Series Baseball 2009 offers a good middle ground.

One of the finest games I've ever played based on a film property. It's a good title but not a staggeringly good one. The single-player campaign is entertaining for its eight- to ten-hour run but doesn't have a whole lot of replay value, making this a highly recommended.

t's just a shame that, where the Wii version is concerned, bustin' didn't make me feel good.

This game is a flat out 3, you should really play it.

The total lack of strategy needed to beat the game, the fact that all levels play pretty much identically, the lack of any notable level design, the lack of bosses, and the total lack of difficulty, make Eduardo feel like an hour and a half long tutorial mode of a good run-and-gun platformer that is yet to be made.

The story mode will allow you to get to know nine surprisingly interesting characters, and in the process serves as a meditation on relationships, park life, and the glory of throwing a ball at a strangers head.

The writing is quite funny and Wallace's nervously polite disposition is out in full force upon the realization that Monty Muzzle is not the philanthropist he appears to be. And the twist ending sets up what I hope will be a very uncomfortable situation for the hapless inventor in the upcoming finale of the series.

There's nothing groundbreaking or original here -- just something fun and different. I was looking for something a bit more crazy and off-the-wall in Let's Tap, though. Here's hoping they take the control scheme and do something a bit more edgy with it in the future.

The ease of play, robust upgrade system and mindless shooting should provide plenty of fun if you choose to download. But like my scuffed and worn loafers, the game is showing its age.

The controls frustrate, the missions bore and the multiplayer has the potential of being quite unfair. While the basic idea is sound, the failure to implement its features in a compelling way makes LEGO Battles one you can easily skip.

Prototype has problems. Lots of problems. Luckily, it's also one of the most fun and thrilling games to have come out in a while. Its flaws stop the game from being considered superb, but it's such a blast and there is so much to play with that it remains a great title.

There's so much depth to be found in Class of Heroes for fans of the dungeon crawling genre, it's almost overwhelming how much time you can spend playing with the details. On the other hand, the learning curve is much steeper than other games of its kind, and it may turn off gamers who pick it up due to the cute anime look and have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

RPGs are going to have to do a lot more these days than simply say "Look at how old school I am" in order to impress. This game has not done that. It's not really done anything well at all.

Even with downloadable content, it’s hard to compete with the staying power of the console versions, mainly because it removes a group from the equation. But as a casual pick-up and play, on-the-go music experience, Rock Band Unplugged certainly delivers a fun experience, certainly worthy of a look.

The Wii MotionPlus definitely makes the game. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 might not have been as good of a game without the added control sensitivity and accuracy, but now it has evolved to the point that I can't imagine another golf game without it.

Swords & Soldiers is a cute game with a lot of moments that are really, really fun. It can get pretty intense in later campaign levels and it's satisfying to complete them.

In the end, no other DS title plays like Knights in the Nightmare. It's one of those games that gives you as much as you put into it.

The number of unlocks is astounding, which in turn makes the pacing really good. Better yet, you can even earn XP by creating your own custom matches rather than resorting to playing against people you don't know.

It's simple to get into, it looks good and at the end of the day it provides some incredibly good racing action. Purists will hate it, but those who just want to have a laugh without worrying about hardcore racing simulation will enjoy Fuel for what it is.

It's a very casual puzzle-like game that can slowly sneak up on you with a hidden complexity. It will not be fun for all players and even fans of the puzzle genre may be left scratching their heads.

Damnation is not exactly a terrible game. As a shooter, it does the bare minimum required to be considered competent. It's just incredibly mediocre and pointless that it's made me wonder exactly how games like this even get the green light.

It is not an amazing experience which will change your life but a very competent open-world shooter with some good ideas and a few shortcomings in the execution. It's very easy to recommend as a rental since the game can be completed on a spare weekend and absolutely worth playing once.

It's far from sophisticated, but it's so shameless and so strange that never becomes truly mediocre.

If you’ve been thirsting for a puzzle title on Xbox LIVE Arcade, you really can’t go wrong with this playful creation. There is a ton of play time, along with local and Xbox LIVE multiplayer support, as well as the promise of downloadable content. Sometimes the difficulty of Puzzle Mode will get you down, but it’s a sidebar to what the game has to offer as a whole. Spend those points.

Addictive and inherently fun (knocking stuff over never really gets old, does it?), Boom Blox Bash Party is a must-have for your Wii collection. The only question now is, how much trade in credit will you get for the original now that the new model’s rendered it outdated?

It isn't worth your time for the 30 seconds worth of fun that it produces.

It isn't what I would call a bad game but it's far from being a good one and the possibilities for it being great went unrealized.

While I’m still a bit bitter that it’s taken 15 years for Nintendo to deliver a new Punch-Out!!, it was unquestionably worth the wait. As a Punch-Out!! fan, I couldn’t ask for more -- classic gameplay that feels familiar, with a handful of fresh and unexpected challenges that are as entertaining as they are challenging.

Certainly worth a play, but only a true Pinball fan will want to slap down the cash.

A good Star Trek title is hard to find and it’s definitely not here. D-A-C doesn’t offer much in terms of replay value. If you rock out by yourself or even via Xbox LIVE, you’ll quickly become numb to the action. The simple victory parameters coupled with the painfully basic shooting provide an experience that you can become accustomed to in seconds, but there’s nothing there to explore. No strategy, no campaign, and no complexity.

Atlus has worked hard to improve every aspect of the first title in this sequel, and the result is a shining example of what happens when game developers listen to their user base.

As a Fable II fan, it pains me to say this, but "See the Future" is a gauche and ultimately boring addition to Fable II.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is, by most counts, a really bad game. However, for such a technical disaster, I have been playing it solidly for a week since I got the thing. It's a technical mess and its flaws are impossible to ignore, but its sheer character and the strength of some incredibly addictive gameplay have allowed it to surpass all its problems and become a truly fun game.

If you’re a fan of the series, then this should be an easy get. If you’re not, then it might be best to consider if the frustration with backtracking and boss battles is worth your time.

The final surprise the game offered was its at first vanilla, then definitively Vanilla Sky storyline.

The most outstanding feature of this incredibly fun title is its personality. Every inch of Plants vs. Zombies is jam-packed with humor and attention to detail, and I never once stopped enjoying its clever take on the genre even after I had exhausted everything it had to offer. Do not miss this game -- titles this good don't come around often.

If you haven't already bought the Wallace and Gromit episodes, don't start with this one -- if you have, then I'm sure you'll join me in looking forward to the next, hopefully more exciting chapter in the saga.

When stood on its own, NPC! DK JB is great, and one of the best platformers for the Wii I've yet played. If you missed out on it the first time around or hated the bongo controls, I implore you to go out and pick it up so that you can experience this strange and wonderful game.

A good game. A damn good game. For many it'll be a rent, but for fans of the character I would say there's enough incentive for a purchase, especially since there are some neat extras such as the ability to unlock classic comic book costumes for Wolverine to wear.

A very interesting mix. You won't find a groundbreaking story here, but you will find both classic role-playing influences and new battle system ideas, all adorned with ridiculous female busts and robots and revolvers.

Banjo-Tooie's gameplay is an mid-point between the simplicity of Banjo-Kazooie and batshit insanity of Donkey Kong 64, though it can be immensely frustrating like the latter game a lot of the time.