The online mode in PocketBike Racer is fantastic...when it works. If you can get through random crashes and dropped games, the title has a nice, robust, eight-player online mode.

This game is quirky and cool, but just isn't substantial enough to make an explosive impact. For the best of both worlds, buy Lumines II and play the included Every Extend Extra demo.

Those who are already into this stuff, or already have a complete understanding of the rule set will love this game. Those who are trying it out for the first time will be overwhelmed very quickly, and should definitely rent before buying.

The story lines, dialog, and cutscenes in the game effectively emulate the characteristics and nuances that have made the television component so captivating to watch. On the other hand, the gameplay isn't as deep as it could have been.

It's no sexy party in the gameplay department, but it's no smoked meat log, either.

Unfortunately, there's very little actual innovation in the gameplay here, and the overall package is just starting to feel old.

The collection includes a ton of bonus material.

Remains the best of its genre, with its ball physics, ease of play, and wonderful online community. However, aside from the fantastic new control method and character models, not much has changed in the series in five years.

Aside from the new gameplay direction and interface tweaks, Tropico 2 is functionally the same game as the original. It's visually pleasing, but lacks ambient animations that would really help bring your island to life.

It’s a bit too easy to get bored thanks to an overload of boring tasks.

An amusing and often times funny diversion with a lot of cool ideas, but ultimately falls flat as a game. It’s a pretty bold experiment coming from the increasingly-staid House that Sonic built, but one that leaves us feeling passionless.

A good puzzler, but not a great one. The biggest problem is the learning curve. It’s not that steep, but it’s bad enough to leave the player feeling sour after the first couple of plays.

Just misses a top-shelf rating due to some nitpicky decision-making routines.

Although technically sufficient, the deliberate pacing and occasional trial-and-error nature may turn some players off.

While the new camera is a big step forward, in almost every other visual aspect, ASB '05 is behind the times.

While a new game with new characters and gameplay would of course have been preferable to a port, Darkstalkers Chronicles is still a solid and satisfying old-school portable fighting experience, with just the right amount of depth and all of the necessary features.

It sure does look done, but once you slice it open you realize it's only half-baked.

The initial focus on training and gently bringing novice players into the fold is definitely one of the biggest selling points.

It's just another WWII shooter in that sea of WWII shooters we're all drowning in. It's fun enough while it lasts but there's nothing here we haven't see many, many times before.

But if you've never played "Ultima Online," this expansion pack won't give you much of a reason to give it a go. You're better off saving your hard-earned gold on an MMORPG that doesn't look and play like it was created in the century it's set in.

Like a miniature fashion model: short, quite pretty, and as insubstantial as it is fun.

There's a good deal of trial and error involved with The Lost Vikings, an aspect of the game that may seem tedious to some people. But there is a suitably addictive challenge awaiting gamers the first time through.

Neither the best looking 3D fighting game on the market nor is it the most innovative, but the characters ooze with personality and the move lists are impressive.

Even though fans of the series will have seen most of this before, Battle Network 5 is a very strong game in a technical sense.

It's the clunky design that, in my book, fuels Retro City Rampage's undoing. This is a game that plays better on a design document than it does in reality. It is pretty much exactly what the trailers and previews have sold it as, for better and for worse.

If you're looking for a GBA game to show off the system's graphical capabilities, you can't do much better than Iridion 3D. You just may not want to play the actual game.

For all the innovation in Riviera: The Promised Land, it still plays out like a standard RPG. Sure the developers mixed things up--and that's a good thing--but they left in all the excruciatingly dull parts, and that's not so good.

It's not as flashy as Black or Farcry: Instincts, but the patriotic vibe and real-life arsenal make up for the graphical inadequacies.

If anything, fans of driving games who aren't looking for the most hard-core street racing experience will enjoy the somewhat simplified gameplay.

The basics are here and they work. But it's still a little bit shallow. Harry Potter fans will naturally eat this title up.

Fighting multiple opponents is so difficult, gamers lacking dedication will feel like washed-out students under a demanding sensei. The story line may be pop-culture sci-fi, but the gameplay is hard-core.

The slick character design and brutal gameplay should be praised. However, stiff animation and chunky battle controls prevent this game from getting [an 80].

Although technically sufficient, the deliberate pacing and occasional trial-and-error nature may turn some players off.

You could easily spend 40 hours or more if you wanted to explore every inch of the levels and do all the secondary quests in the game...a solid, if not spectacular, gaming experience.

With its reliance on disguises and cool gadgets, the game brings a couple of interesting concepts to the stealth genre. It doesn't quite have the superb presentation or tight gameplay to fully back them up, but we're sure another title will "borrow" the best from this game and improve on it.

It's just sort of a bummer not to see anything new brought to the table other than a digital Steven Tyler (which actually looks less freakish than the real Steven Tyler).

Fans will undoubtedly be disappointed by the character choices, lame music and announcer, and balance issues.

While Lost Kingdoms certainly has plenty of flaws, this is still an impressive first-generation role-playing game for a system that desperately needs one.

There is a bit of difficulty with the camera, however--that being the lack of a universally useful view of the pitch. The default side camera is restrictive when it comes to all that punting, and more than once a bit of critical action took place out of view. That's fine for art films, but frustrating here.

Even when padded with so many routine elements, RPG players will probably enjoy Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, and why not? What seems routine to a non-fan is just genre convention to an insider.

The combat is entertaining, but with its poorly balanced racing, Full Auto just ends up feeling rather hollow.

What brings this game down is its completion time. Most players will finish the game in half an hour.

Plays it safe for the most part. It takes familiar gameplay and runs with it, without trying to innovate much beyond the fun brawling.

Not an ambitious sequel, but it’s a frightfully intense experience for horror enthusiasts who like to share their scares.

Soulstorm is not only a ridiculously long title but a ridiculously very solid package of content. It’s a killer bundle for RTS fans that aren’t too picky about graphics. The problem is that fans of the series, who have already purchased the earlier expansions, are really only getting two new factions and a handful of units.

Engaging, if not innovative.

Though we've managed to tune the game, the clunky interface and hidden Sim settings are definitely a turn-off.

It’s a real shame that the only down side to this game is basically the system Capcom chose to release it on.

Heavy on the text, and some of it is dry and repetitive. There's great depth and nearly endless variety, but only a certain type of gamer will make a match with Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII.

Unfortunately, the difficulty level and the enemy AI have been dumbed down, making the game feel even shorter on the Xbox than it did on the PC. With six hours of play for single players and iffy Xbox Live play, go buy "Rainbow Six 3" or wait for "Halo 2" to drop at the end of the year.

The controls just aren’t responsive. You’ll never feel like your player is doing what you want, when you want.

The groundwork is laid here for something truly interesting and special if a follow-up is made, but this initial outing is merely average.

Point and click newbies may find some of the puzzles challenging but most people will be wishing for more adventure and depth to Touch Detective.

Mild annoyances in the interface, a design mode without anything to design, and some questionable racing physics keep the game from the top of the podium. With that said, Apex is an enjoyable and mildly addictive title with plenty of arcade action for racing fans.

It has that "just one more turn" kind of addictiveness that all good turn-based strategy games have in spades.

The touch controls work well, and while Honeycomb Beat suffers from a dangerous amount of redundancy, the gameplay is relatively fun and original.

The beefed-up single-player is nice, but when the main focus of the game comes up so short, it's hard not to feel disappointed.

On the other hand, if all you want out of your video game is a bloody binge, Dead to Rights II is the gaming equivalent of sitting alone in a dark room and downing shot after shot of cheap, hard liquor. If you're in the mood, it gets the job done just fine.

In particular, it's disappointing to see that extra processing power hasn't gone to make the horses feel more responsive and real.

The lack of any camera controls is somewhat annoying, but seldom intrusive, and the ability to save at any time is especially welcome.

Even with the weak campaign, O.R.B.'s compelling and interestingly paced skirmish mode more than make up for it.

If some of the difficulty settings didn't feel so unbalanced, we'd have liked more time in North Africa, as that campaign feels the most fresh out of the three.

A pleasant change from "The Sims" that is tailored to those who would find the constant reinventing of personal style an appealing diversion.

We would have liked more maps and a solid fix for the sound problems.

It’s a testament to the game that despite all of these problems, Sacred is still fun to play. No really, it is!... But there’s still no excuse for releasing a game in such shoddy condition.

If you're up for the puzzle-like gameplay and the repetition, Prisoner of War greatly expands what a stealth game can accomplish.

Rumble Roses will probably go over very well at fraternity houses, bachelor parties, and the bedrooms of sexually frustrated teenage boys everywhere. It's too bad that there's a pretty good game underneath all the fluff here.

Solo players could find it a chore, Older gamers may find reason to snore, But if you share with a friend You’ll enjoy it for a weekend And yearn for a few hours more.

Poor touch controls and a lack of dedicated online multiplayer drag down an otherwise serviceable portable Dynasty Warriors game. Fans of the series will find things to like in Next, but the offering is mediocre at best.

The game could also benefit from more dynamic camera angles and a more exciting presentation with color stat overlays, sideline close-ups, and so forth. The developers opted for a realistic, on-court feel by removing play-by-play announcers, but the crowd and music fail to pick up the slack.

Even though fans of the series will have seen most of this before, Battle Network 5 is a very strong game in a technical sense.

Given that there is no ability to create your own rider or play online, the feature set is substandard to other extreme sports titles on the market.

Another problem that's at odds with the kid-friendly design is a surprising number of vague objectives.

More about the story it presents than the game play used to advance the plot. Luckily, said story is so compelling that it largely makes up for the sins committed in other aspects of the title, keeping the game interesting despite the trial-and-error mission setup and sometimes-confusing objectives.

For all its lack of innovation, there's an involving, if convoluted story here, and some commendably spooky moments.

The engine is a couple years old and not as cool-looking as contemporary games or even "MechAssault" for the Xbox... Also, the audio is unremarkable.

A little bit of humor and a fun bunch of characters go a long way towards making all the dungeon-hackery go by smoothly.

Sloppy combat controls hamper the fun, and the lack of online play really limits the multiplayer appeal on the Xbox. Just the same, it's a great-looking, enjoyable take on a classic.

The attempt to add depth to the game hasn’t really succeeded, but the combat still feels fun.

Those who enjoyed "Tennis 2K2" or "Top Spin" probably won’t appreciate Smash Court Tennis as much, since the game isn’t nearly as accessible. Yet if you felt these titles were lacking in realism and challenge, Smash Court will easily satisfy your inner Roddick or Williams.

The abysmal controls and resulting frustrations are unforgiveable.

There's a good bit of game here and some occasional flashes of brilliance, but it's sweeter than a chocolate and butterscotch sandwich and could have used a few more months in the incubator.

If ever a game deserved the description of “Xtreme” or some spelling variation thereof, it’s this one. Total Overdose takes every stale action game stereotype and cranks it up to 11, presenting a game that’s lame and self-parodying, but despite that still manages to be fun--fun enough for a rental, that is.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh offers a solid foundation with high production values and surprisingly good combat as the first of perhaps many episodes to come, but is it worth sacrificing your Jackson for a chance to slip into Rorschach’s trench coat? The answer is… up to you really.

Dungeon Siege lovers, however, might appreciate the accurate look and feel of Throne of Agony, but won’t appreciate how the core RPG elements like in depth character creation and party-based exploration have been discarded.

The campaigns are too dry, too random, and the combat too long and thoughtful by half.

Your appreciation of Tak 2 largely depends on the number of 3D platform games you’ve seen over the years. The more you’ve experienced, the less impressive Tak 2 is to play, which means younger audiences will love it.

It's a different style of game than previous versions, one that dumps some of the innovations from earlier titles in favor of crowd-pleasing simplicity.

And this wouldn't be so bad, except for the draconian daily qualification requirements you face during the Olympic Games mode.

At best, Romancing SaGa is an eight-part RPG miniseries contained in one overflowing DVD. At worst, it's an unbalanced snooze-fest whose surface you won't feel too compelled to scratch.

With more options and extensive play modes (such as a fantasy draft or minor league system), fewer restrictions placed on defense, and the added ability to tweak computer AI, this series can help set a new benchmark.

Devil May Cry 4 is also nothing close to the full next-gen transformation that the moody, gothic world of Capcom’s demons deserved.

Fans of first-person shooters will likely find issues with the game's controls and slower pacing, and the PS3 game is not a smooth port of the Xbox 360 version.

A respectable compilation of the blue bomber's other adventures, though it pales a bit in comparison to the Anniversary Collection released a couple of years back.

Definitely scores a high Bond quotient, and it's a decent game in its own right. It's short and has a few problems with its driving sections, but it does throw in multiplayer options and a simple blackjack game for good measure.

While Silent Hunter’s harder-nosed target demographic shouldn’t have to wait for more patching to fix this flawed diamond, chances are they will.

The finer details can be hard to discern. This reviewer found himself straining his eyes in an effort to keep up. But as it's packed with plenty of action, gameplayers should be ready for some serious button banging.

Looks great and sounds OK. With its decent tutorial and reliable squad mates, it'll help those new to squad-based tactical games feel at home. It's also a pretty linear experience, but has enough environmental variety to justify the price of admission.