If you have a GeForce III or comparably advanced graphics card, the game might be worth picking up as a showcase, or as a simple and fun -- if slightly disappointing -- arcade-style shooter.

The best thing that can be said for OUaK is that there's plenty to do. The RPG and RTS games are distinctly different and each are enjoyable for several days of time you'd otherwise waste watching "Gilligan's Island" reruns or possibly eating.

There is no comparison to Grand Theft Auto IV in terms of gunplay, presentation, story, ambient city life, or driving. Rockstar has this beat by a country mile. But while Row’s lack of polish and rough exterior make it the less attractive choice from a technical standpoint, for those who felt shortchanged by GTA IV's scaled-back features (especially when compared to San Andreas), Saints Row 2 will help fill the void.

Fans of the anime will love the look, but the game just retreads the plot. Aside from the fantastic dismemberment, Afro Samurai doesn't manage to be anything loftier than essentially the same beat 'em up that we've been playing since Double Dragon. On the other hand, it is fun in short doses, looks great, and can be hilarious.

Prinny’s still a good time for players who don’t feel the need to prove their manhood, and if you do have something to prove…well, step right up and try your hand.

But those ideas don't hold much water when the AI acts up as often as it does. That, coupled with the numerous other bugs we encountered, really makes Pacific Assault a minor disappointment.

An interesting attempt at breaking the first-person shooter mould, and it could have been something special if the rest of the game weren’t rather mediocre.

A bit of a disappointment. It’s a great game on the PC that lost some luster thanks to a less than ambitious porting job. Still, it’s a good game, providing you can get over that initial difficulty hump and you have a solid group of friends to play with.

While there’s a lot of action here, traditional real-time strategy gamers might be thrown off by its complexity.

For Wii owners looking for something a little more adult, Deadly Creatures satisfies your sadistic cravings for carnage and blood, but lacks the polish to make it a keeper for any collection.

Although Brain Training asks you to figure out increasingly intricate problems in a short amount of time, there's something quite relaxing about the whole thing. Not worth full price, since there are only nine different games to play here, but definitely a fun time-waster. [JPN Import]

Considering the game’s budget price tag of $20 is less than the green fees for most public golf courses, the repetitive nature of the sound and animations is hardly an issue if you don’t mind some spanking, slapping, grinding, stroking, and gyrating in your golf.

Any time life drives you to the point of taking out a submachine gun and opening up in a public place, a few minutes with this game is the perfect solution.

The bar has been set higher by "ESPN NHL 2K5," whose presentation, sense of realism, and play modes simply outclass, outshine, and outperform those found in NHL 2005.

Are we operating under regulation Xbox parameters here? Visually speaking, everything's bland, blocky, and the visibility is poor. The game is not pretty. Enemy movements are sluggish as if they're suffering from joint pain as they fire at you.

For most players, however, sifting through Dark Motives is much like real forensic work -- arduous and repetitive.

It's riddled with great ideas that are realized using merely decent execution, and saddled with a painfully linear level design.

Rise of the Argonauts is an unquestionably flawed game. This should not be taken to mean it's not fun to play. Even with the underwhelming aspects of the game factored in, this is a truly ambitious game. It feels like an A-list title made with a C-list budget, but there is heart to it.

My Sims is a nice beginning for a potentially new game franchise. Right now, it has more in common with creativity software than a video game.

Alias is not a great game, but it's a solid stealth action title for fans of the TV show who have never played "Metal Gear Solid" or "Splinter Cell" and don't know any better.

Harmlessly addictive, if not wholly derivative. But it's great for the kids, and offers a satisfying, officially licensed Harry Potter experience.

It’s easy to make fun of a game series entirely focused at hitting the seemingly elusive teen and pre-teen girl demographic, yet games like Nancy Drew: the White Wolf of Icicle Creek pull most of the right strings.

Disappointingly dull opposition and having to strictly adhere to the game's go-here-do-this structure keep this title from being a great or remarkable game.

Although the flaky sense of physics and controls bring it down a couple notches, Bandits: Phoenix Rising is still an entertainingly destructive auto combat game.

You may weary of war before you've won the relatively short campaign. And if you do slog on, you'll be "rewarded" with an even tougher difficulty setting.

Big things lie in store for the series -- but not in its first incarnation. Take this beginning episode with a grain of salt and save it for a rental.

There’s potential here, but Capcom needs to put more varied action in this action-RPG.

There's nothing deep in Big Mutha Truckers, of course, but the humorous gameplay makes this a surprisingly fun driving game, especially for only $20. Offbeat, distinctive, and reasonably original, there's nothing else like it on the Xbox.

It's tough to keep calling FIFA on issues of accuracy, especially when Konami seems to have soccer realism cornered.

Despite the dull window dressing, Winter Sports does have lots of game modes. There are more good events than bad ones. The good ones actually show some pretty well thought out ways to use the Wii controls to good effect - a solid effort.

While the vibrant color, cheerful sound, and whimsical theme are classic Nintendo, the title’s surprisingly narrow scope will make you wonder if Touch & Go was originally supposed to be a minigame for another title.

The biggest fault of Star Ocean: The Second Evolution is that there's almost no conflict. Everybody in the game is polite.

A nice diversion, but its clunky progression scheme makes tedious what has been natural for far too long.

While the production values are pretty good, the gameplay is pretty shallow. If you're into action games, this is worth playing once.

The visuals are in need of an upgrade. It could be that EA is just phoning the graphics in until the next-gen systems arrive, and that's a shame. EA Trax is just as annoying as ever. Please stop it.

Veteran platformers will make it through with little challenge, but that detriment makes it perfect for less experienced, older, or much younger players looking for a cute diversion.

The game really does roughly the same thing as "Dynasty Warriors," but with slightly less complexity, though with some new and flashy magic effects.

The sights, sounds, and feel of the game are so similar to the last two games that you’ll find the entire thing less scary. Enemies will feel less threatening, locations will remind you of past locations, and the whole thing will lose some of its edge.

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.

As a full-priced retail game, it would have been a dismal failure, but it’s a fun, cheap download that offers plenty of on and offline opportunities to kill some time.

New scenery, new enemies, and new quests abound for fans of the third Elder Scrolls game, but the familiar story line and lack of any real innovation keeps Bloodmoon from shining too brightly.

A solid follow-up to "Massive Assault" and "Massive Assault Network," featuring a huge amount of new offline content and gameplay options that will keep fans busy for weeks.

Overall Kane & Lynch is an interesting -- if overly violent -- take on the “buddy” game. The tag-team setup adds something to what would already be a solid action game and makes it that much better.

Driver ’76 offers a number of fun missions playable through an entertaining driving engine that will make you want to set up some heavy duty police chases and go tearing through the city. Unfortunately the miniscule police presence really puts a damper on the fun, and the tired out graphics engine just can’t cope.

Enough depth in its skate tour of Springfield to satisfy most fans of the show.

It's kid-friendly and quirky at the same time, extending its appeal to pretty far reaches. Legacy of the Spirits may not be the king of GBA role-playing games, but it still deserves to hold court.

Like a toaster wrapped in gold leaf under the Christmas tree. The contents simply defy the billing. But if you're looking for some disposable, forgettable fun, this is one Xbox game that'll cure your itchy trigger finger.

As a history lesson it scores high. But as a game, it’s a slow starter with graphics that can’t hold a candle to The Sims. Still, watching history unfold makes it worth a go -- particularly on the PlayStation 2, where there are three more missions than in the Xbox version.

A mostly average button masher that has the good luck of being associated with the hottest kids' property to come along in years.

Aside from an inability to fully control Batman in the first-person mode, many of the things he can do -- such as sneak along walls and use the Bat Grappling Hook -- end up as fairly clichéd means to add puzzle sequences or even just length to the game.

Featuring an interesting story line and fresh spin on classic gameplay, it may just barely make its way onto the short list of great pirate-themed titles to hit videogame consoles.

A flawed, yet entertaining game. Like previous 3D attempts at the series, it never comes close to the greatness of the GBA and recent DS versions, but it's fun if you don’t mind wandering.

At heart, Battlefront is just "Battlefield 1942" hosed down in Star Wars juice. The constant lag and lack of online modes suck a lot of the fun out of what should be the consummate Star Wars multiplayer game.

While older players will gnaw through Chicken Little in a matter of hours, younger fans will savor the game's bite-sized levels and tasty characters.

The buddy system is fully fleshed-out and the combat system is deep, but the game is marred by easy, repetitive puzzles and flawed jumping mechanics.

The game is simple and sweet, is easy to pick up and play, and should entertain most gamers. However, there isn't much to it, and it's rather short, even though it offers a number of extra unlockable challenges.

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

This is certainly a solid addition to the series, but overall it's hardly worth upgrading from the previous outing.

In fact, aside from the visual style, nothing from the movie is licensed for the game--not even the voice actors.

There are more than a few problems with the game. But there are some really nice ideas suspended down there beneath the crusty surface.

It's certainly not a great game, and looks extremely dated, but still worth some shooting time.

It's a full-fledged expansion pack that provides some great additions to the game. If you're new to "Disciples," this is the one to buy.

Lacks some of the technological prowess of other shooters, but its personality and extras keep its head above water.

Old-school gameplay has never worked quite as well in 3D, and the entire production feels rough around the edges. Action fans risk dying of boredom with this one.

Elebits is fun, but manages to feel more like a technical demonstration than a complete game.

The game won't win any awards for sound design, but the eye-popping graphics more than make up for that.

Whether it’s because we all expect more from our games now, or whether it’s because there’s just no way Blue Dragon could possibly live up to the hype it received due to its famous designers, the game just isn’t that impressive. Fun, but nothing special.

Basketball fans looking for the best rendition of the sport should let NBA Live 06 dribble through their fingers and score a copy of NBA 2K6 instead. Next year’s battle will hopefully be more competitive.

Shining Force Neo does its job, but it’s a bit too tough considering that you pretty much have to wait for your character to get stronger rather than improving it on your own.

Justice League Heroes is not perfect, and it’s definitely not innovative, but it makes a solid action adventure out of the familiar gameplay and well-loved characters.

Innovation isn't the point here. It's just flat out fun (in a messy, bloody sort of way). This is a fantastic and enjoyable way to blow off some steam, shoot tons of baddies, and, ultimately, satisfy the bloodlust that strikes the best of us.

But since the web, which plays such an important role in solving many of the puzzles, makes it easy to cheat, only pick it up if you’re certain you can resist temptation.

The game play and physics feel almost as if they were ripped from the original PSOne game, and the genre has come a long way since then. While the single-player game is weak, the multiplayer is mostly fun and creative. It's disappointing that after such a long wait, the game didn't evolve more, but fans of the original are certain to enjoy this blast from the past.

More enjoyable the younger you are and the more enamored you are with the cast, Ice Age 2 will nonetheless provide any gamer with a few hours of enjoyment, along with a couple of laughs along the way.

Certain of the mech types, such as the underpowered and, surprisingly, oftentimes sluggish-moving scouts are simply less fun to play than others.

Odama's craziness is not for everyone. And even the people who like it won't find it to be more than a brief diversion.

While it's not really fair to judge the last generation's hardware by the standards of the next one, the PS2 versions of these games are getting harder and harder on the eyes. Koei's development teams have done their best to keep up, and the character modeling here is still pretty impressive, but the drab backgrounds and draw-in show the age of the technology.

The graphical improvements are not terribly impressive, and the extra content is more of the same.

The most striking difference of the Xbox version is just how much the game has improved visually. It always looked good, but the polygon count is significantly higher, character models are far less blocky, the weapons look downright incredible, and the texture detail is noticeably more complex in some sections.

For mindless, violent action, the title reigns second to none. However, we've played the same game four times over, and it's high time the franchise had a face-lift.

The learning curve is steep, and the first half-dozen battles serve to show you the ropes. After this initiation, things pick up and Kingdom becomes quite compelling.

Tense gunfights, unnerving corridor crawls, a surprisingly engaging plot, fantastic sound work, and gameplay that provides an entertaining mix of old-school action and exploration all help make this a solid science fiction gaming experience.

A perfect example of why shooters have become such a niche genre. It's a good game that's well made. It's even got an interesting hook to keep the hard core happy. But the insane difficulty will keep most players from getting past the first level before giving up. And with the ultra-short playing time, even shooter fans might not find enough to like here.

Despite some frustrating and inconsistent controls and an overpowering serve/volley design, Smash Court Tennis 3 offers a deep and rewarding tennis experience.

Succeeds in the crucial areas where a strategic card game should. It’s got a solid set of rules and is fun to play. We would like to see more cards, though – 139 is just enough to keep things interesting. As a video game, it leaves a bit to be desired in terms of looks and innovation.

Race Pro is less Michael Schumacher and more Jacques Villeneuve. It does a few things well, a lot of things mediocre, and is kind of annoying when you have to deal with it for more than an hour at a time.

A solid foot soldier, meeting gamers' expectations and occasionally rising above and beyond the call of duty. But like a new recruit, it misses the mark more than once.

The questionable control layout makes actually enjoying the good points harder than it should be.

Easily the game's worst trait is its sound. The Formula One cars sound more like lawn mowers burning nitrous oxide than like the most responsive and powerful automobiles in existence.

The overhead camera feels constrained. We simply want an isometric view to get a better perspective.

If you can get past the graphics and immerse yourself in the gameplay, you might be disappointed at the lack of depth.

Basically, if looks aren’t important to you; if a great personality and big brain is your thing, this is the game for you.

The presence of only two playable sides, mission brevity, and overall simplicity will likely be a disappointment to some fans. However, it's a competently designed and well-packaged game that should appeal to casual gamers.

Over 20 truly bizarre and inspired characters, great backdrops, fantastic special moves, and plenty of game modes all add up to a solid, if faulty package.

The emphasis on huge battles and great action does manage to shine through, but this release still feels half-baked.

It has tons of potential and just begs to be liked. And we do like it. After all, this may be the first game that can play itself while you’re playing something else.

Our beef is more with the choice of porting it to the PSP and then skimping on multiplayer. Without easy multiplayer match-ups, the game just doesn’t have legs.

Ridiculously difficult.