As soon as I finished this game (yes, at four in the morning), I pulled my paperback copy of "Dracula" by ol’ Bram Stoker off the shelf and started reading. Anything that makes me want to read up on stuff has got to have something right about it.

The replay value of Shogun: Total War is immense.

Combines spine-tingling combat, sweet character development and solid story with one hell of an editor.

One of the best looking, and surely the smoothest-playing 3D RTS (actually, RTT) games currently available for the PC.

This time the settings are richer and the environment is fuller and he's got help.

Precisely good for two-player gaming; nothing more, and not much less.

Magnificent. Until now, GoldenEye was arguably the best reason for gamers over the age of 16 to own a Nintendo 64. No longer.

The limitless possibilities that Unlimited offers with its tools can be easily overlooked by the fanatical aspiring mayors of PC-land.

Added bonuses like the inclusion of the original side-scrolling turbo-cooling itty-bitty-bit masterpiece plus a tremendous hybrid of classic and new with 3D-ified straight and narrow, linear and delineated track design adds great gobs of icing to the cake.

A few minor tweaks, and maybe some fan-based testing would have put this game closer to greatness, but it still manages to come together and deliver a solid game.

RoK has given gamers the opportunity to take the road less traveled and, if gamers will only grasp onto these new possibilities, this will make all the difference.

More of a strategy-focused game than a real dog-fighter, Allegiance is as simple or as complex as you want to get. Just don’t expect to save the universe from the cockpit of your starship.

Like its predecessor, Thief II is subtle, deep and refined, words associated with the action game genre about as often as they are with fraternity hazing rituals.

The in-game menus are terribly slow to load, f’rinstance, and the era-specific theme music in Evolution mode will quickly drive you over the edge.

Despite some control issues and flaky computer AI, Ridge Racer 64 is an extremely satisfying addition to Namco's prized franchise. It may have taken a full generation for Ridge Racer to hit the N64 but I think you'll agree with me here, it's never too late for this much fun.

A dangerously detailed and addictive experience for the power-mad behavioural researcher in all of us.

Since the X universe limits you to mostly trade and price tracking, X starts to feel like "Excel in Space" only with better graphics than the Microsoft game. Eventually, X’s lack of depth creates a game of commuting, which kills off your urgency to see the main story come to a conclusion.

By the time you finish the game, you’ll have ingested almost a full novel’s worth of text. Button-mashing "Diablo" junkies may balk at this, but Planescape: Torment really isn’t for them in the first place.

Definitely not for the casual gamer or anyone into pretty graphics, Sid Meier’s Antietam! is great game nonetheless, providing an accurate and historic simulation of one of the bloodiest (i.e. casualty-filled) single days in American history.

Every weapon that was in "Unreal" has been given a total facelift for Unreal Tournament. Everything has been totally redrawn and textured - the overall look of the weapons is quite impressive.

As cranky as DK64 made me, I can ill refute the fact that the game is still remarkable. Had this title come from any other game developer in the world I'd be doing back flips raving about how great it is.

The sprawling environments are the game's strongest points and greatest weaknesses---it's terrific to run down the stairs in Andy's living room, or go sliding around on zip-wires in the basement, or flying through the air with the help of a reclining chair launch-mechanism...but at the same time, there seems to be an uninspiring deadness to the world around you; it simply isn't interactive enough.

To say that Rayman 2 impressed me would be a tremendous understatement. About the only blemish the game has is its lack of any multiplayer contests.

Fans of console RPGs will recognize the smooth gameplay and brilliant Final Fantasty-style graphics. It does not have the depth of character interation or development as something like "Fallout" or "Baldur's Gate," but it is a fun ride, taking you into strange policies, and showing intriguing conspiracies and ambitions.

Asheron’s Call is full of successes and problems and provides a game world that provides both excitement and frustration.

Eerily successful at creating a creepy, spine tingling atmosphere. The music and sound effects perfectly match the suspenseful story.

If MOH has a noteable flaw, it’s that the sniper-scope---which you’ll often rely on heavily---has the odd drawback/realism glitch of not allowing you to see farther in actual, raw distance than you would normally...it merely brings targets into clearer, closer focus.

If you have an N64 and you by some freak of causal virtue haven't been exposed to the grim, visceral cosmology that is Resident Evil, I urge you to check out Resident Evil 2. The N64 port holds up in stellar form, and it's packed with moments both atmospherically spooky and downright drop-the-controller scary.