The game is somewhat short however, and there are some frustratingly cheap places for the monkey king to blow it. Which, in turn, blows some of the games potential replay value.

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.

Unfortunately, when the best part of a game is the absurdly vulgar audio, there's definitely a problem in the overall design.

As survivor horror games go, Cold Fear is lukewarm. The graphics attempt to mask a mediocre plot and flawed action, but it does succeed in making your skin crawl--in a good way.

The biggest attraction to most fans will be the staggering collection of licensed clubs. For fans of unpronounceable teams from Arabic lands, there's no other solution.

There’s enough great gameplay here to make Web of Shadows recommendable for Spider-Man fans. The sheer level of glitches in the game, however, manages to take the fun factor down several notches.

While the outdoor and indoor locales making up the game’s 15 stages are beautiful to behold, they are limiting in what you can and cannot do, which is disappointing.

Icon is serviceable, but it’s not something you’ll be spinning in your disc tray for very long.

The run-of-the-mill level grinding in Vanguard is no better or worse than any other MMO. It’s a little disappointing that we still have to deal with crap like this. But there are some neat ideas in Vanguard.

Offers bigger, more intricate levels than what was found in the original title, a cooperative element that makes you feel like you're part of a team, more intriguing characters that help expand the combat options, and an artistic merit that few games have achieved on PS2.

While Madden NFL 2005 is playable in its current form, most will tire of the shaky visuals and slippery controls faster than Mr. Madden slaps ham on a hoagie.

It's too complex for the very young, and there's not much of interest here for older players. As such, the game seems best suited for parents seeking some non-offensive entertainment for their kids.

If the connection to the TV show doesn't make it plain, Battle Network is really intended for younger players.

Even with all of the cosmetic and gameplay changes, the improvements from the first game are minimal. They're not enough to bump it up an extra star.

Soon enough, Dawn of a New World settles down to standard fantasy-quest plot starring standard fantasy characters.

Avoid this one; it's a hairball that's not worth coughing up the cash to play.

Its ties to its namesake feel tenuous at best, and despite some interesting play mechanics, it's not nearly as deep as some of the other games on the market right now.

The Wii version is graphically inferior to the 360 and PS3; Ron and Hermione have a nasty way of blocking your path in tight quarters; and there are the aforementioned, seemingly endless fetch-quests. Even with all that, this is easily the best Harry Potter game to date, and it’s simply one of the most entertaining movie tie-ins on the market.

This is more in the line of a free Flash game on the web, or something Namco could have pitched at DS download kiosks.

Any of the game’s flaws are somewhat balanced by the ability to stab someone in the face, or burn them alive in an incinerator. Well, if you’re into that sort of thing, anyway.

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

The races behave in unique, meaningful ways and we really appreciate the attempt to minimize the strategic tedium. That’s why it’s so strange to see a game that is clearly trying hard to attract new players to the genre come up with an interface that is at time incredibly hostile.

Despite the repetition that plagues the game’s progression, the satisfying combat and epic army battles help it stand out. Fans of exploration, Viking myths, and limbs separating from torsos will find much to love here.

Juiced can be highly irritating at some times and completely unfair at others. Why, for instance, do you have to help pay to repair other racers' cars yet no one helps you get your car back into racing shape?

In trying to capture the inherently difficult nature of baseball (it has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in any sport), 2K has failed to grasp the fundamentals of making a video game. Sure it can be hard, but people beyond a hardened fanbase should be able to play it. Otherwise you'll always be just second best.

Other problems include a strange sense of physics where you can push or slide other vehicles away from you, intensely aggressive pedestrians and gang members who swarm like bees, and frustrating timed races that will have you contemplating whether or not you should use your GBA as a Frisbee.

The races are challenging and exciting, plus the management features give the game a considerable amount of depth. The game goes beyond its high concept and delivers a rather enjoyable hybrid of arcade and simulation-styled gameplay.

While there are many characters to unlock and compete with, it takes a long time to see any of them thanks to the incredibly slow rate at which you acquire powerful cards.

We can't stress how much fun we had with Super Off Road. It truly is one of the more timeless arcade racing games.

It’s not innovative or great in any regard, but it does provide plenty of explosions and challenge. It’s also far and away the only decent game to yet come from the franchise.

Problems with the camera and controls hold it back from mass appeal, and unless you have the broadband adapter, you're missing out on a large chunk of the experience. With that said, there's definitely enough here to for serious players to enjoy if they're willing to devote the time necessary to really dive into the game.

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.

Mana and magic system aside, the game’s primary selling point is the same as so many other RPGs: a couple dozen hours of content. And if merely killing time is the goal, then it could fill the bill.

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.

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.

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

Nightshade isn't the sharpest depiction of ninjitsu out there. But we can't say it's entirely demanding of seppuku either. Some will enjoy the mindless mayhem, warts aside.

The AI of your opponents seems to be geared for younger gamers, although not to the point where the game feels absurdly easy.

There's no question that Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree will be divisive among gamers. The hardcore will balk at its lightweight mini-games and family-friendly vibe.

Typically, the gameplay here is cheap and full of unsatisfying ways to die.

Maybe our blue buddy needs to take a breather for a little while, replace his outdated circuitry, and make another run in a few years' time.

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.

What ultimately makes or breaks NBA Jam is its computer AI, which is every bit as nasty and unfair as previous games.

Break ‘Em All was released, rather smartly, as a budget game, and while it’s an amusing diversion with a nostalgic bent, it’s clear that this classic game style isn’t holding up to the test of time.

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.

Lost Magic for the Nintendo DS combines all the fun of drawing letters, trying to remember arcane symbols, dying repeatedly, cursing like a sailor at having died repeatedly, and getting carpal tunnel syndrome repeatedly tapping a stylus against a touch screen in order to fast-forward through a series of conversations that manage to be simultaneously inane and overlong.

Yes, Deadlight is a short game, one that feels especially brisk when the puzzles lack challenge.

The RPG elements, especially item creation and character development, are as deep as fans of the genre have come to expect and the team-play elements are excellent. Despite the numerous short-comings and ridiculous name, Infinite Undiscovery ends up being well worth playing.

Most weapons, like the enemy-seeking suicide hamsters, are worth the effort.

Offers mesmerizing, high-speed racing and crazy bike-to-bike combat on zanier tracks. Play on extremely large TV screens may induce apparent-motion-related vomiting. Consider it yet another bonus feature.

Seems intent on trying to incorporate all the cool stuff in other, better shooters. The problem is that it doesn't do it very well.

Juiced can be highly irritating at some times and completely unfair at others. Why, for instance, do you have to help pay to repair other racers' cars yet no one helps you get your car back into racing shape?

For now, though, PSU’s online half gets a thumbs-up. What made the original PSO a hit is still there – fun cooperative combat, smooth social interaction, and lots of loot to grab.

Perhaps the single outstanding aspect of Legends is the visual presentation, which really works well.

It blends the genre lines seamlessly in a fast-paced game that is both fun and challenging. The new story line and gameplay improvements will appeal to fans of the original and it also does a good job of bringing newcomers up to speed.

It’s not innovative or great in any regard, but it does provide plenty of explosions and challenge. It’s also far and away the only decent game to yet come from the franchise.

It's all very frustrating because Sigma Star Saga hints at greatness. More time spent tweaking the shooter mechanic and the leveling structure would have sent this game into the stratosphere.

Incredibly disappointing. Derivative, buggy, and underwhelming on almost every level, this is a game that is marred by distracting problems that should have been fixed well before release.

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.

Armored Core V is what people have come to expect of mech-combat games: it's fun, pretty, and provides overall smooth gameplay; however it's nothing groundbreaking and is so impossibly confusing that only hardcore fans will truly enjoy it.

The general AI of the characters seems confused when not actively engaged in grappling. This is especially true of tag matches, where the computer will sometimes forget whose side it's on.

A great-looking game that takes "WWE Raw," and adds some impressive new features without correcting some of the control and AI issues from the first game. If you can deal with that, then you may have loads of fun with the game's better play modes.

Can be fun in limited amounts, but amounts to one gigantic action binge—packing in extra characters and drawing out its action sequences to excess.

It's not cutting-edge, but this gritty, violent, and incredibly dark adventure into the occult is just the thing for horror fans looking for something smart and very off beat.

The few moments of true excellence are sadly overshadowed by some dull level design and lackluster enemy AI. Still, the game provides enough juice to keep the avid "Medal of Honor" fan happy.

It’s got some excellent gameplay ideas that are marred by sloppy execution and balance issues. A lot of these problems could have been fixed in the PC port, but they haven't been.

Throwing kicks, punches, taunts, and even princesses in homage to '70s era martial arts, this laugh-and-punch thrill ride is a ton of fun. Stupid fun, yes, but fun nonetheless.

We Ski doesn't feel like it's quite ready for prime time, which may be due to the publisher's need to schedule the game to coincide with Wii Fit.

Light on substance and heavy on style. If you're a One Piece madman who simply has to have everything to do with the series, it's not a horrible game. It's just not exceptional. As a multiplayer party game, it's good for a quick fix every once in a while.

Sure, there's more variety in Star Fox: Assault than in past games in the series, but why give us half-baked concepts when all we want is another traditional Star Fox game?

If you love the show and have loved the other CSI titles there’s no reason you won’t love this one. However, there’s absolutely nothing here that will woo non-fans, and so most should choose to avoid it.

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.

The action comes up a little short when it comes to the visceral sense of combat. The game is devoid of blood, which can either be good or bad depending on your taste in such things. The lack of the red stuff is just one example of how the game comes across as overly sanitized and not quite as brutal as it could be.

Falls into the same sequel trap that many other games tumble into, where the emphasis in development is placed more on improving visual aspects rather than addressing flaws in the gameplay.

The painfully simplistic controls and short nature of the mini-games aren't going to satisfy most players, even those who routinely fire up the Wii to play with friends.

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.

The end result is strategy overload for the action gamer and action overload for the strategy gamer. Those in between won't be particularly impressed, either.

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.

Online mode is fine if you can find the players. It’s compatible with EyeToy and the USB headset, and matches are easy enough to set up and play. But for all that hassle, why not just get a deck of card and have some friends over?

In terms of fun factor, it doesn’t get much better than this. The game is definitely rough around the edges in a number of places and its slim production values often show through the seams of the otherwise lovely game engine, but none of that really matters. If you like shooting stuff, you will love this game.

While there are problems--too cutscene-heavy, some lame objectives, and the fact that there are infinitely more zombies than little green men--Area 51 is more than enough to make a believer out of you.

There’s enough great gameplay here to make Web of Shadows recommendable for Spider-Man fans. The sheer level of glitches in the game, however, manages to take the fun factor down several notches.

Wreckateer nails what Kinect play ought to be. You feel utterly ridiculous flapping your arms around, but it's fun rather than frustrating.

The visuals are on par with previous entries in the series. They're colorful and cartoon-like, with non-threatening enemies and friendly characters.

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

An agreeable kind of game so long as you lower your expectations a bit.

What starts out as a fantastic concept -- even though you have to slog through endless diaries to figure out what the heck is going on – never gathers steam.

The game is definitely over-priced. With that said, this is still one of the most engaging new multiplayer-only games out there.

While it does have generally high production values, nobody would give this title a second glance if it didn't have the Dragon Ball Z license attached to it.

Although games of this type don't need to be flashy to be enjoyable, Dungeon Dice Monsters takes an embarrassing, bare-bones approach to presentation that does little to bring the player into the game's world.

While it isn't the defining UFC console experience, the career mode and two-player competitions are worth your time, especially when you've created and developed your own fighter.

You're better served dusting off your copy of "Parappa" or "DDR" when you want to feel the rhythm move you.

In just about every way "Motorstorm" bests this one, particularly in the feeling of intensity.

The collection includes a ton of bonus material.

This academy takes all the shortcuts it can afford in your educational experience, and treats you like a faceless student with no real incentive to get noticed.

The only real downside here is the presentation – the updated art and menus are garish and much of the writing feels dashed off. Good thing Adol isn’t exactly the chatty type.

Even if there are some design tricks here that all developers could learn from, the game's negatives outweigh the positives, leaving this Galleon to be forgotten at the bottom of the bargain bin.

Offers no meaningful reason why you should pick it up over other four-wheeled fun. $30 price tag or no, with better titles like "Re-Volt" buried in bargain bins across the nation, you're better off making tracks in a different direction.