This brings me to my main complaint about the game: the ridiculous level of difficulty. Even on easy mode, the CPU will trounce you, and there's almost nothing you can do about it. This is due, in part, to the highly aggressive AI, but it's mostly the game's weak interface and awkward gameplay mechanics that hinder you.

This camera adds an unwelcome degree of challenge to the game based simply on its poor design. Now, I am all for a challenging game, but I draw the line when this challenge is based in frustration over a game's inherent flaws.

A fairly simplistic game, an hour or even less spent with DDRMax2 will make even the most jaded gamer realize its charm. Even if it is not your cup of tea, I suggest you give it a try at least once.

In fact, the only thing that Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg has in spades other than cuteness is aggravation. Honestly, this is the electronic equivalent of that puppy that tears your sneakers to shreds yet is so adorable that you cannot help but love it.

This is not the "Baldur's Gate" killer people were hoping for, and I fear that once "Dark Alliance II" hits retail, our four Heroes will become but a distant memory for another 150 years.

It is true that it isn't the longest, or most difficult game in the world, but for the few hours it takes to complete Boktai, players will have in their hands not only the sun, but pure enjoyment as well.

The "create a wrestler" feature is not as deep or detailed as "Smackdown 4" and presumably "Smackdown 5" will be.

The music is pretty cheesy, but the sound effects are spot on perfect. From the radio chatter to the roar of the engines, the audio in Lethal Skies II is a rich tapestry of eardrum nirvana.

A game that will delight casual and hardcore fans of hockey alike.

The game is mindless, shooting mayhem that is extremely evocative of sprite based shooting games of yesteryear.

The Judge System and a few other gripes do keep this game from being truly excellent. But hey! At least there's no slow text like in the original.

On the visual front, everything about Runaway: A Road Adventure screams style. Rather than going with pre-rendered backdrops and stiff CG animated characters, Runaway instead gives us beautifully detailed cartoon landscapes populated with very animated, and believable 2D and 3D characters.

What Bombastic offers is a new take on a classic puzzle game. Unfortunately this new take is far too complex for its own good as it attempts to build on an already terrific game.

The PS2 controller provides a much more intuitive fighting game experience than either the Gamecube or Xbox.

If you’re looking for a showcase title to impress your friends, this is it. But, I think focusing so much on the visuals takes something away from the game. Its gameplay is far more impressive, and the fact that the art design has trumped every other action title out there is just icing on the cake.

The controls in Soul Calibur II are nearly flawlessly executed, and considering the Xbox and Gamecube controller configurations, just making a fighting game playable, let alone as fluid as Soul Calibur II, is a miracle unto itself.

The controls in Soul Calibur II are nearly flawlessly executed.

Delivers breathtaking visuals, set against a fairly average game.

It is a fine pinball game, though the difficulty of it seems to be lacking severely, the “Catch ‘em All” theme is still prevailing. At first, the game does catch your attention and shows its depth, but after a while, repetitiveness does drag down the fun factor a bit.

Speaking of unlockables, diehard players will find it near impossible to get everything.

At no more than 7 hours from start to finish, I’m sure most players can spare an evening.

There are enough bells and whistles to make Alter Echo appeal to some, such as the title’s unique combo system that serves to make combat quite entertaining. Sadly, however, the game is far too short to be considered anything other than a weekend rental.

It is fun, plain and simple. Any fan of racing games should give this one a try, at least as a rental. I promise a worthwhile experience.

Provides a decent PC role-playing experience, but it is simply not as refined as the Fallout games that it is derived from.

I defy there to be a better football game this year.

For a racing game, Freaky Flyers offers a good deal of entertainment value. My main gripe is the speed, which is just too slow for a game centered on racing. Still, the game is fun.

My only minor complaint is an aesthetic one: I like to see my guns in a FPS, and not seeing anything at all except an open screen with a cursor on it is somehow not as satisfying and can tend to lead to some inaccuracy when shooting.

This game also has quite a bit of replay ability to, with 3 different endings to see, and additional scenes to be seen on replay. My only qualm with this game is that it’s too short, at only 5 hours on your first play through and maybe half that each additional time.

It is a sad fact that there are simply not many people playing the game, and I was hard pressed to find a single person to play with.

100% completion can be had in a few days play, and after that I am afraid the game will be yet another dust magnet on the shelf. In that time, however, players can experience a truly well made, and magical game.

I have spent well over 50 hours with this game thus far, and I find myself still revisiting it. It has deep, rewarding gameplay, as was as an immensely satisfying multiplayer experience.

While I applaud the developers for shedding the trappings of contemporary role-playing games that opt for style over substance, that does not excuse the fact that the actual gameplay is many times awkward and cumbersome.

What it all boils down to is a game worth playing if only to see how great the GBA can look and sound, but an average player shouldn't expect to get more than two or three long road trips worth of play out of this one.

If you can get the multiplayer to work for you, or have friends in the room with you to play with, the game can really show its colors. Still, with the single player campaign only taking 8-10 hours to complete, this may be best played as a rental.

Although it is one of the silliest game concepts in years, these 5-second games are somehow able to hold your attention for hours on end.

With all of its unique features and amounts of item/soul collection, Aria could be considered second to only one other game in the Castlevania series – the masterpiece, "Symphony of the Night."

The single player campaign, while enjoyable for what it is, pales substantially to its online multiplayer counterpart.

The ability to communicate vocally is hand over fist an improvement over the keyboard and icon based communication in the other versions of the game.

In short, this is the current crème of the crop when it comes to 2D shooters. Following the path of "Radiant Silvergun," Ikaruga will long be thought of as a great example of what a 'shmup' can be.

The first time I hit the nitrous on the incline of a culvert and launched an El Camino over a short one-story building to win a race, I thought this was a great racing game. But, three hours later when I jumped a motorcycle over a six-lane expressway after popping a wheelie up the extended arm of a utility truck, I knew this game was pure gold.

There is a strange depth to Link, a seemingly simple, shallow hero of adventures, which all Zelda fans recognize and fall in love with. That depth has never been more physically apparent in Link, despite the cell-shaded graphics and childish look.

The storyline and backgrounds for the characters are very deep for a fighting game, which is an advantage of the small roster.

While visually that game is unmatched, there just isn't enough game here to warrant anything other than a rental.

My friends, this game is gorgeous, but while the "Armored Core" series was innovative and addicting, this game is boring and repetitive. Like that cheerleader in high school you always wanted to date, once you get past the looks, these is nothing but hot air.

If anything, the game is a great time killer, but since it’s pretty much an exact copy of what’s readily available for free on their website, it really doesn’t warrant a purchase.

Fun, and can be good for laughs, but just like the films it pokes fun at, the game is about as deep as a candy dish.

This sequel magnifies everything the original did right, and corrects nearly everything it did wrong.

Everything about Apex's visuals set the bar for future racing titles. The way the game uses reflections to make everything look shiny and new is simply stunning.

The game looks like a late generation PS1 title that was switched mid-way through development to PS2, but they simply forgot to update the graphics.

If you are looking at getting this game but have a PS2 or DC already, go with those versions. But if you’ve only got an Xbox, then this version is probably worth getting.

It's just a simple fact that Vexx brings nothing new to the table, and too much about the game comes off as unfinished and rushed.

Where the game shines is control. Not to say the other features contained in Guilty Gear X2 are not spectacular, because indeed they are, but I have not in recent memory played a fighting game with such fluid control.

I didn't find myself level grinding at all, because the amount of random battles is more than enough to raise your characters to the point where the bosses are only moderate challenges.

The game simply bores me to tears. The original game still has me coming back for more, and yet I cannot imagine stomaching another trip through this sequel, even though the adventure is significantly shorter this time around.

What is there is well-done and highly enjoyable, just wish there was more of it. It's a good break for those getting tired of destruction and looking for fun, but not a "must-have" title except for the very hardcore DOA fans.

The driving missions are decent but frustrating, as it is sometimes difficult to know where the game wants you to go without a map.

Everything about the game's gameplay is entertaining.

Another aspect of the controls that could have been painful, but instead turned out flawless and elegant is the camera.

Any kind of story or action present in the game is quickly drowned by the boring repetition that drags this title down like a quagmire.

It really is impressive seeing Street Fighter Alpha 3 running on the GBA hardware.

There are a variety of attacks and moves that can be mastered for the Diskarmor, but sadly you will often find yourself simply using the most straightforward attacks as they are not only the easiest to execute, but also are less likely to leave Rygar open for attack by any one for the handful of different enemies in the game.

There are times when the frame rate staggers at an almost sickening pace. Couple this with a camera that moves like it’s suspended on a strand of stringy taffy, and you can quickly see why this game is so hard to look at, let alone play.

It seems as if those at Midway decided that the “hook” they would use in the game would be the good Doctor’s ability to change into various inane things, such as a spider or squirrel. The whole game in fact is based around this concept, and it is easily one of the most contrived, useless gimmicks I have seen in a game to date.

Blatant lack of innovation and anything particularly new.

The effects used in the game are as good, if not better, than Super Metroid on the SNES. The sound effects are also excellent, boasting superb music and clear voice effects during much of the game, along with the normal bleeps and booms from constant enemy killing.

This is not the Metroid you may remember, but this is the best game to come along on any platform in a long time.

So many little things were done right in Arx Fatalis that any fan of the computer role playing game genre owes it to them to pick this game up and give it a try.

Shinobi is, in a word, average. There are other adjectives I could throw at it, such a repetitive and frustrating, but I think average describes it best.

The control of the characters in the game could not be tighter.

It offers a unique take on the giant robot game type, and pulls off this new spin while still offering an enjoyable gaming experience.

A great fast paced mech game for *one person*. *sigh*

So yeah, MGS2 is a great game. It's just a pity that the game is so often hamstrung by its own plot, which, whilst fun to puzzle out, is ultimately quite silly and forces so many frustrating cutscene interruptions.

It's certainly the closest I've ever gotten to a perfect gaming experience with an RTS game.

Epic in scale, grandiose in presentation, and fun to play. This kind of game comes along so rarely, and when it does it shows off what a RPG can be.

You spend too much time learning patterns, and not enough just running around blow stuff up.

The one thing that makes this game interesting is if you play the game as it’s supposed to be played, the other team will keep it relatively clean. If you start going out to pick fights, the people you beat up will remember you, and come back and beat you into a corner.

With a ton of side quests, the game easily takes 30+ hours to complete, and it stands as one of better choices for gamers interested in a new role-playing experience this time of year.

The sequel just seems to abandon all of what I thought made the original unique and special, and has in effect become just another pretty face in a crowded genre.

Nothing here will leave a strong impression one way or the other, and perhaps that in and of itself is a negative.

Overall, TimeSplitters 2 has a great deal to offer anybody willing to put in the time and effort to gather the bonus features, and offers a lot of replayability afterwards.

The only real complaint is that the game is perhaps a bit too shallow. Most likely to be left as a rental for the masses, the game is nonetheless a fun and very original gaming experience.

Should be one of the best racing games available, yet on the xBox it just comes off as slow and clunky.

An average role playing game that perhaps tries too hard to hold onto its old school roots.

It is a dungeon crawl, plain and simple, though thinly masked behind a veil of role-playing icing. If you enjoy character building, combat, and dungeon exploring, then this game is a "can't miss" for your collection.

The on screen combat in Robotech: Battlecry can get a little hectic at times. This can lead to confusion and panic, as it can quickly become unclear as to what is going on with so much happening on the screen at one time.

The responsivness of the controls, as well as the forgiving nature of the action button make this game very intuitive.

The game is also quite easy. Baku is able to practically heal on demand, so even boss fights basically go on until you win.

The game controls are extremely tight.

Where the game begins to lose some of its luster is in the areas of sound and story, and a camera that suffers from a lack of intuition. The music is not so much repetitive as it is boring.

A highly addictive and entertaining game, with hundreds of hours of depth available. The animals are cute, with their own personality quirks. And if they annoy you, just remember they can't read.

It is a great quest game that is definitely aimed to appeal to the generation of gamers that grew up in a time when the adventure game genre took center stage.

The final nitpick I will make is the load times. Dear god! They are easily over a minute. It's like the code for the game is being written on the fly between levels.

This time around there is more character interaction, more action, more techniques, and THANKFULLY the game is much longer.

The control aspect is passable at times, and downright painful at others. Whoever wrote the code for this "nodes" system needs to be taken out in the road and ran over.

For the real effect of the game, watch the movie before you play it. It really sets the mood. Even if you have seen this classic film before, watch it again. It makes the whole thing that much more scary.

A great game for action lovers, even though it lags at points. It doesn't quite compare to the total immersion of "GTA3," but when you're more kicking ass than Charles Bronson and looking better than John Shaft while doing it, who cares?

A great visual stunner and full of action packed fighting sequences that will keep you going even if the pitfalls kill you more than your enemies do. Great for rental.

The control is passable, following a Diablo-esque "click-move-click again-move" schema. Boring, but sufficient.