Sidetracked is a perfect example of a great idea that didn’t get the proper work to make it shine. With a little more effort, the game could have gone from mediocre to must own.

Doesn't deliver the exact experience of that on the PC, but in watering the formula down just a tad, EA has managed to create an experience all its own.

Where the game has been severely improved over its last title on the Xbox, on a next-generation system, the hardware is not effectively utilized to make this game a viable choice over its cheaper Xbox cousin.

If you want Japanese oddities on the GameCube, stick to Pikmin and Super Monkey Ball. This game is just a frustrating mess.

Oh my fudge, this game is well worth the price if you or anyone you know is big on A: History (WWII Era), B: Control Freak or C: Gets a kick out of screwing with said history. If you like Risk you will enjoy this. Seriously.

If you're a fan of Silent Hill, you need to buy this. And if you're a publisher releasing titles on UMD, you need to get this so you can see how it should be done.

For the die-hard hoops fans this is of interest, mostly for the story aspect. The gameplay can be a bit… awkward at times, but veteran players of basketball games shouldn’t have much of a problem.

The over the top acting would have been a welcome release, but the poor sound and graphical presentation just put a bullet in it.

Tourist Trophy delivers to motorcycle fans the same sort of thrill that Gran Turismo delivers to auto aficionados. The only downside is that there’s far fewer bike makers involved in Tourist Trophy than there were auto makers involved in even the first Gran Turismo.

MLB 2K6 is solid, but graphic ugliness ruins the whole stew.

A good step forward and an idea of how 2K Games will utilize their exclusive license.

Keepsake is a very enjoyable game for the most part, although you may find yourself pulling your hair out at times. You should definitely give this game a try, if only for the beautiful graphics and design.

There are some good concepts here, but they get bogged down in some technical problems and major game clichés. Looking good is one thing, but not being able to run smoothly on qualified machines is another.

A supremely wonderful adventure game with some dark subject matter. Though it has some faults, they are very small and don't really detract from the great story. Get this if you love a good mystery adventure.

Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 isn't the best choice for exposing anyone to the platforming genre for the first time, but for those seriously dedicated to the genre, this is a mildly fun weekend retreat.

Top Spin 2 is the first next-gen tennis game, and that in itself is bound to attract some attention. However, even with all the bells and whistles it still isn't any more fun than Virtua Tennis was so many years ago, and in fact it suffers nnumerous crippling flaws. Only the most devoted tennis fans should really care about this one.

The biggest flaw of the game, what makes it just about unplayable, is the horrific camera and its lack to obey any command you shout at it.

For the die-hard hoops fans this is of interest, mostly for the story aspect. The gameplay can be a bit... awkward at times, but veteran players of basketball games shouldn't have much of a problem.

Forget your opinions about the original Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts II improves on its predecessor in just about every possible way, and is a must-have title for Disney fans and Square Enix fans alike.

It’s a thinking man’s war game worth a shot if you’re in the mood for something different.

Get a better game such as "Guitar Hero" or "Taiko Drum Master."

While improved in many ways, Untold Legends: The Warrior’s Code is still too generic to tell an emotionally-satisfying tale that can compete with Final Fantasy.

In fact, with the frustratingly confusing new progression system, this game is a lot less satisfying, even for those who only want to see more boobies.

While River King: A Wonderful Journey has acceptable graphics and a wealth of locations and varieties of fish to catch, the main problem is that the game just lacks challenge and any feeling that much effort was put into the RPG aspect of the game.

The most fun I've had with a Dynasty Warriors game yet. Rather than going through some arbitrary story, the notion of expanding my own territory into the Chinese Empire makes me more invested in how things turn out. Great fun.

American Conquest is a solid RTS that will entertain many a history buff and the casual gamer alike. Though it does have its share of issues, the game is still worth checking out.

If you’re a fan of the Sim City series, then give this a look. It’s a nice diversion for a few hours, but I really can’t advise spending a lot of money to buy it. You’ll be more than happy if you play for a week, so try renting it.

It's not that the game is very bad, it's that the game doesn't ever try to be very good.

Unremarkable but not awful. About as average as it gets.

Without the infrastructure and game sharing, the game fails to capitalize on a lucrative multiplayer experience and instead settles for mediocrity.

Game Tycoon 1.5 needs a 1.6 patch to fix some out-standing issues, but otherwise provides a solid game as well as a trip down memory lane, from 1982 to present!

I guess Crime Stories is good for an hour or so of play, but I guarantee if you play for much longer if the disjointed dialogue doesn’t get you, the poor translation will.

In the final analysis, Suikoden V brings the series back to basics in terms of what made past titles appealing, after a radical departure in Suikoden IV.

Even though the game has the spirit of previous Splinter Cell titles, not to mention the exact missions, it's without innovation and comes off as a stale installment in an otherwise fantastic series.

Take a look up yonder and read over the tracklist to see if it suits you, because it was seriously lacking for both me and Lisa.

Outside of the Solid Eye feature, the game’s story is much better this time out, the combat system improved, the graphics far better looking, and the game filled to the brim with imposing bosses and intense combat.

A note to those hoping Tao's Adventure might fill the gaping hole in the DS lineup caused by a lack of RPGs - you're better off with the gaping hole.

For anyone who is a sim junkie, this is worth checking out.

It all comes down to the freedom to play the game any way you want, and that is something that Oblivion does amazingly well.

Not a perfect version of Tetris by far, but still a good one, and the online play should be enough of a selling point for anyone who's a fan of the game.

Don't buy this game expecting an experience like the GameCube Metroid Prime titles. This is Quake with a thin layer of Metroid paint. But hey, that's okay if you like Quake.

Syphon Filter Dark Mirror showcases all of the possibilities of the platform and executes them flawlessly.

Worth a purchase for fans of the original or great car chases.

The best platformer on the PSP and almost the best title period on the console.

This is the best version of one of the best PS2 games ever made. Sure, the online mode isn't perfect, but even so, there’s more than enough here for any Metal Gear fan to feast on.

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown ought to be called Scrat’s Adventure, since Manfred, Sid and Diego make only token appearances.

Ultimate Masters is ultimately far short of a masterpiece. It's Total Eyestrain Theatre.

The game is rated “M” and one of the descriptors is “Language.” This is because the nondescript soldiers shout out obscenities when under fire, randomly and without much purpose. It’s a weird little quirk, and one wonders if the designers did just to ensure an “M” rating.

So eventhough this game isn't the horrible likes of which Ghost Recon 2 was, it's still got its fair share of flaws in how short and monotonous the single-player storyline is.

Scratches would have been a runaway hit … 10 years ago. Today? It’s just fairly tedious. This one’s only for die-hard point-and-click fans; others will be bored stiff.

It’s hard to find fault with a game that does so many things so well.

Save the money and get the original Xbox version.

While it’s awesome in small chunks of a couple levels at a time, the average gamer will get tired of the same mission types over and over again.

Dawn of Dreams is a superior title from a graphic standpoint, but lacks its own identity, and recycles more bosses from earlier games than most fans might like.

If you’ve never played a Burnout game, this isn’t a bad place to start, and if you’re a Burnout fan looking for the best version of Burnout Revenge, this is it.

Repeating the same button-mashing gameplay of old and offering just about no other gametypes beyond ad hoc multiplayer, Samurai Warriors: State of War offers nothing new to the player to warrant any amount of time with the title.

It's a decent game, even if you'll have a sense of déjà vu the entire time. For hardcore SpongeBob fans only.

A good game that should have been better. Hopefully there will be a sequel to bring more game modes in, but the Pokemon theme needs to be turned down if not tossed completely.

The heart of Atlantis Quest has the addictive gameplay, but the difficulty of later levels make this much more than a time waster.

DDO is definitely good for a week or two, but after that it doesn’t really offer anything new or rewarding.

The game’s story and presentation are good. Really good. And we’d like to be able to see what happens. But the gameplay is just “okay”, and you get the feeling you’re just playing through it for the story.

Final Fight: Streetwise pretty much fails to please. A boring story greets you in the main form of gameplay, while the alternate Arcade mode focuses on the lackluster combat.

Y’s The Ark of Napishtim was an okay PS2 title. Now, it’s an okay PSP title with virtually nothing new to offer. At least the game’s low-res textures look better on PSP’s lower-res screen.

Generation of Chaos delivers real-time strategy thrills on the go; but Disgaea fans be warned: this is not turn-based tactics!

Most of the game will be spent staring at constant loading screens, 30 second races where you either win or lose by a huge margin, or cursing your team leader for constantly starting a turf war when you want to go back to your garage and update your car.

falls down due to graphical flaws that, while forgivable on PSP, just aren’t when it comes to PS2 titles.

This year’s outing of MLB ’06 is a solid baseball game with plenty of features built in specifically to appeal to the PSP market.

Can Donald Trump fire himself for greenlighting this?

Gamers would do well to let the past die and move on.

The game’s two biggest failings are that it’s too short and too easy.

Novice or expert, TOCA is your game. The sheer range of features and novelties make this game an absolute pleasure to play. Get it now!

At the core of this mess is a title that was once one of the best games on the GameCube, but it has since grown stale with age, has lost the perfect controls that helped to define it, and traded in elements of the presentation that worked for others that only make the game worse.

MS Saga: A New Dawn is a sharp RPG that introduces the Mobile Suit franchise into the genre with style.

A somewhat okay RPG with pretty characters and some all right game play, but far too tedious for the average gamer.

For absolute diehard Sonic fans only (and even then it shouldn't be played)

The Rainbow Six series has taken a major step back, and is nowhere near as good as it used to be. Let’s just hope Red Storm goes back to basics in the next outing, and we forget this rather unfortunate incident.

If you like biting your controller and being frustrated at a game that freezes after you've failed to save it for 8 missions, it's for you.

The only way this game could be any better is if it were WiFi compatible.

Get this game if you’ve got a 360 and friends to play against, you’ll have a blast.

The design of the game will be familiar to all fans of the series, and I believe it’s safe to saw that Grandia III may be the best installment of the series so far. A must-have, especially for fans of the series.

Is it fun? Barely. It's an untapped section of the WWII experiance so it does have a bit of novelty there.

It all just seems like a misguided mixture of various RTS games. There’s a dash of Age of Empires, a shake of Civilisation and a spoonful of Rise of Nations; there just isn’t enough there to make Empire Earth II: Art of Supremacy an original game in its own right.

If you like biting your controller and being frustrated at a game that freezes after you've failed to save it for 8 missions, it's for you.

The company promised Soul Calibur and delivered Street Fighter in its battle system. The final verdict on Tales of Legendia is that it’s a solid entry and an enjoyable game

Destined for the bottom of the bargain bin. Stay away from this one.

You get a fairly standard sports game that doesnt harken to one person or another, its just the sports. Really at this price, its a good deal for the kids.

Torino 2006 for the Xbox also suffers from the same stale one button simplicity of the PS2 version.

GT Legends may appeal more to hardened racers, but it may tempt the more inexperienced group of gamers too.

True Swing Golf DS has a great control scheme... and nothing else to recommend it.

A sad attempt to revive a neato franchise.

As it stands, this game is a collection of mediocre and fairly short minigames, failing to offer a viable reason to partake in its offerings.

Grab your net and get to it. There be monkeys to catch!

The only slightly redeeming qualities of 25 to Life are the soundtrack and game play over Xbox Live.

One thing that will never be said about the Wild ARMs series of RPGs is that they’re all cookie-cutter games.

Four worthwhile games, two stinkers, and one oddity.

PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient isn’t a great tool for any real standardized measurement of how brainy a person is, but it is a very well done variant on the puzzle genre.

For those with fond memories of battling Sigma long into the night, this is worth checking out.

This is not a game, but it's also not the audiovisual tool Nintendo would like you to think it is. It's a toy, and it won't hold your attention for too long.