A more robust career mode with sponsorships, cash prizes, and a tournament-style atmosphere with rivalries would be nice as well, but those in the mood for a challenging, fast-paced racer -- online or off -- won't be disappointed.

Far and away the best racing game on the system, combining slick looks, beautiful sound, and content overload to create a title that every PSP owner should take a look at.

The game is a beefy excursion that pleases all your senses, and for that, it will be taking plenty of pink slips from other Xbox 360 launch games.

It'll surely be recognized as one of the better puzzle games of 2012, despite its liberal platforming demands in the first person.

Its humorous tone and extremely satisfying random destruction really make it worth playing.

Despite the absence of much role-playing, or perhaps because of it, Westwood has created a game that is quite a lot of fun to play. In fact, it's one of the few MMORPGs that is enjoyable even if you choose not to interact with any other players.

Where sound does suffer is in the audio levels. There are times where dialog gets so drowned out by both the music and the sound effects you can't understand a single word a character's saying.

Despite the minor step backwards in single player depth, SoulCalibur IV remains a gorgeous, fast-paced, accessible fighter that also has enough depth for expert level play. While online is more of a novelty than a functional feature, players looking for a next-gen upgrade to the on-the-couch weapons clasher of the Dreamcast days will find the same addicting gameplay here.

Offers enough playability and action to satisfy any action RPG fan, but it lacks the intricate story and involving quests that would lure in traditional role-playing vets.

Ninjatown is not a particularly difficult game (unless you're going for a perfect score), but it's a fresh and engaging experience.

A gorgeously fast racer, with plenty of compelling action and a surprisingly meaty single player game.

In a crowded market, it's extremely refreshing to see a developer trying something that's so completely different from everything else out there. The cover-based flight combat is a brilliant idea that fits in perfectly with the overall tone of the game.

Although there aren't any online features or a training mode to teach newcomers the characteristics of soccer, the variety of game modes is astounding, and the gameplay is enthralling.

Precisely more of the same. It's bigger, stronger, and deeper. Even the flaws are repeated, as party members still need a lot of hand-holding.

The owners and dynasty one-two could make MVP a must-have for detail-oriented fans, especially those without a PS2 who are locked out of "MLB 2006's" equally strong offering.

Consider it an apology for EA’s underwhelming 360 sports lineup last year.

But what it does have is a visceral feeling of destruction few other games possess.

It's full of story clichés, but plot in these games is as vital as nipples on guys. It's the combat that really matters, and Sacred Stones is just about as good as it gets.

A very addictive game that continues to surprise and delight the more you play. For the money, there's plenty to do, and best of all it lets you focus on what you find fun.

The owners and dynasty one-two could make MVP a must-have for detail-oriented fans, especially those without a PS2 who are locked out of "MLB 2006's" equally strong offering.

Gamers looking for a vast, expansive trick system like the one in the "Tony Hawk" games might find their wings clipped in Downhill Domination, but the responsive physics and no-rules mayhem work surprisingly well. It's fast -- perhaps a little too fast.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves can’t quite conceal its lowly portable origins, but that doesn’t stop it from being a truly fun and innovative game.

The adventure is a first-class effort all the way and well worth the asking price. The newest additions to the toolset are also top notch.

If you enjoy 2D gameplay, Glory Days 2 is certain to appeal. The mix of action and strategy is exceptional, and although the presentation certainly looks and feels 16-bit, the gameplay more than makes up for it.

Places its emphasis on subtle refinements over sweeping changes, which is what tends to happen when the gameplay is seasoned enough to already be considered a class act.

Fortunately the on-screen action moves at a blistering pace, with colorful visuals, impressive animations, and eye-popping embellishments such as motion trails, super jumps, bats bursting into fire after multiple hits, and pitches that defy physics. The depth of features isn’t quite up to the competition’s, but in terms of action and excitement, MLB SlugFest: Loaded covers all the bases.

While short, this is the best experience available on the DS right now, and anyone with a tolerance for candy-colored adventure should give it a try.

This one has the looks, raunch, and laughs, but it also packs a solid volleyball engine. It's what "Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball" should have been.

The boss fights are supremely challenging and satisfying, and you’ll earn totally bitchin’ sets of armor as you accumulate bloody victories. There’s even a very enjoyable chariot race section.

The gorgeous graphics, great sound and level design, and innovative gameplay make this one of the best shooters of the year. It's also a very good reason to upgrade your video card.

So the engine is clunky and the pathfinding is bad. Ultimately that doesn't matter much. This is a great RPG.

Makes destroying humans fun with an original setting, enjoyable alien arsenal, and cleverly designed missions. Its sense of humor may falter once in a while, and content freaks will definitely find the game on the short side.

Hitting bunnies on the heads with shovels – Yeah, it’s as awesome as it sounds. Don’t worry, they have super thick skulls.

The controls are intuitive, the operations are well-organized, and now that you can tweak the difficulty to your liking, you can challenge yourself as much as you'd like to. It may still bring back memories of playing Operation when you were a kid, but it's the best game of Operation anyone's ever made.

If you want a game with rewarding, blood gushing headshots, the HOTD arcade feeling at home and a Wii game that doesn’t try to be cute or even remotely family friendly, this is a good one to pick up.

With more time and a more powerful platform behind it, the DS sequel takes the notion of a weather-dependent adventure and makes a well-rounded game of it. There’s less frustrating randomness, less tedious stealth gameplay. Instead, there’s more fun – more depth, more action, and more cute ideas that actually work.

Ironically, while it has plenty of levels and action, the story is just too darn weird.

Combines two much-maligned RPG staples, random dungeons and card battles, and somehow pulls it off with aplomb.

It’s not a game for everyone by any means, and just about everyone will hate the combat sections, but it’s definitely a game that adventure fans will appreciate.

It lacks the replay value of the first game, but it's the perfect tech demo for your new handheld and its off-beat humor is as strong as ever.

It’s as fast and frantic a shooter as you’ll find anywhere.

While there could have been more to advance the series in its first trip to the Xbox 360, the violent visuals more than make it worth a few rounds for any fight fans.

To have transformable jets in the follow-up game to Warhawk feels like a natural evolution for Sony's flight combat series. Starhawk's multiplayer showcases this with superb results, so it's that much more of a mystery that the same can't be said about its other modes.

The control scheme is bound to scare lots of people away before they see what it has to offer. And it has a lot to offer. It's not pretty, but it's deep.

Its story is well told, its action is well presented, and though it is a very traditional real-time strategy title, it’s a very good one.

PGA Tour 09 does not reinvent golf in the same way as "NHL 08" completely reinvigorated EA's hockey series, but it is nonetheless an extremely polished and surprisingly addictive title.

Dick Vitale spits out more “babys” than the local maternity ward, but he brings an air of excitement to the game that few announcers can match.

The short length and repetitive sequences make it more of a rental for non-believers, but overall, excellent gameplay, a great presentation, and familiar characters make this the best superhero-based game since, well, "Spider-Man 2."

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.

If a game can make you smarter, or at the very least make you feel like you're getting smarter, maybe our detractors will get with Dr. Kawashima's program and opt for making change and sketching mathematical symbols over tallying curse words and counting sexual acts.

Players who can't stand "Diablo" won't much like Legends, no matter their mutant fanaticism. But for everyone else, the mutant madness will be addictive and appealing.

The first wrestling game to offer online matches, but sadly this feature just isn’t up to snuff. You can select either a standard match or a bra-and-panties match, and then after venting your frustrations on a silent, nameless opponent, you’re done.

Madden NFL 09 is a big improvement over last year's version, if only because it's more playable. The new features aren't earth shattering, and it's hard to fathom why the five-on-five mode wasn't juiced up to provide an even more arcade-like experience.

Strategy players will come up to speed quickly and enjoy the vast array of units and unit abilities, while WWII fans who aren’t too interested in stat tracking will dig the game’s accessibility and--living up to its name--focus on constant action.

This is a full-on game that delivers a rich, beautiful, detailed gaming experience on a small, portable screen, which all makes sense when you consider some of the key development staff are former Naughty Dog employees.

Characters, levels and even the game's menus are beautifully and tastefully designed. Grim Grimoire is a complete package, offering layered strategy play with an eye-popping art style and a cleverly told story.

Great multiplayer action, a decent single-player game, excellent presentation, and hard-hitting action all equal a topnotch military action game.

A ton of different play modes await too, assuring you won't tire of the disc anytime soon.

It's leaps and bounds above the mediocre, movie-based Hulk game, and smashes itself a niche in the genre.

The slick presentation, great gameplay, and nostalgia factor all combine to create a package you simply shouldn't pass up.

If handheld racing is your thing, this rally title should be near the top of your list.

The customizable difficulty settings make for an entertaining arcade racer, while the detailed career mode and tuning garage give gearheads plenty to tinker with. Ratbag has produced another outstanding sprint car simulator.

It offers the perfect style of gameplay makes for those who want to jump online and play an hour or so, then get back to their life.

NFL 2K5 has leveled the field of play significantly with its wallet-friendly price and killer presentation.

Crimson Sea 2 has sharp, exhilarating gameplay and a distinctive style that pervades the story line, characters, and space-opera soundtrack. The variety found in the missions is truly commendable, and you're generally free to play the game at your own pace.

It's true that it won't make you forget "GoldenEye 007", but it's the closest a Bond game has come to that level of quality in years.

A game with a long life span. Colorful imagery, creative levels, and a good score add to the experience.

Players who were burned by last year's NASCAR game should feel quite a bit better with 09. Although I personally miss the "Total Team Control" feature from a couple of years back, the new Rep and Career mode is compelling enough to keep you coming back for more. Solid graphics, solid racing, solid features.

While it has a few issues (namely the lack of analog stick hitting/pitching) that keep it from being the hands-down, across the board best baseball on the market, MLB 09: The Show does just about everything else it can to give players a challenging, rewarding and realistic baseball experience. It looks incredible, plays smoothly, and offers enough on field and off-field goodies to please/occupy baseball fans for a long, long time.

May not be the perfect ninja sim, but it's a ton of fun, and that's far more important than some minor flaws.

The toolset is immense but you're not required to use every feature to make a basic track. The familiar, albeit modified LBP user interface will make it easy for longtime fans to hit the ground running.

It’s half a step behind EA’s "March Madness," but with a $20 price tag ESPN College Hoops 2K5 costs less than a hot dog at the Final Four.

A good jumping-off point for a whole new story line in the vein of the original series, and offers just enough new mechanics to make it worth a play for both fans of the series and Onimusha virgins alike.

The combination of stunning graphics and frenzied gameplay make Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner a must-have for anime RPG fans or, heck, anyone with a functioning pair of eyeballs.

A fine example of what video games do best. They give players a sense of time and place that is unmatched in any other medium. In United Offensive you are there. And even though it’s short, it’s a great ride.

Setting PRD apart from other games in the genre, the AI is intelligent, responsive, and unforgiving. Seeing a group of opponents jockeying for position as they approach a bend is not uncommon. Players must earn every win, as the AI cars will take advantage of every mistake.

Even after getting all the initial enjoyment out of the game, Pure is still definitely fun to pick up for short, satisfying bursts of speed.

Buildings are built noticeably faster now. Especially huge projects like the airport. Now there is a random damage element courtesy of the elements themselves, occasional storms will pass through and they can put a final nail in your faltering economy, or at least slow down a burgeoning one (this feature is optional).

An improvement on the original, and the new environments add a considerable level of depth. Fans of the series will also appreciate the tweaks to the character development system, like the two new classes and special abilities.

A handful of tracks will have you scratching your head, wondering why they were included, but you’ll forget all about that once you’re centerstage, and the beat drops for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

Great dialogue, visceral, vicarious violence, and a well-realized first-person experience might make you wish you could serve a little more of your sentence.

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.

Refined, entertaining, and simple, it's a refreshing change of pace from most of the more violent, dark themes that tend to hound games lately.

Star Ocean: Last Hope won’t make anyone forget that FF XIII is on the horizon. But as far as holding us over in the meantime, this game more than succeeds.

It features a tighter back story, a more streamlined and interactive combat model, the ability to play the game the way you want to play, and best of all, does so in an easy to understand, even friendly manner.

It's a living, breathing example of the Xbox's graphical prowess and a lesson in accessibility for novice gameplayers as well as the more experienced.

Given the open-ended nature of the series, most hard-core fans will enjoy investing their time here acquiring elusive ingredients and perfecting their hocus pocus, while casual fans will get a kick out of the chaos they can cause spending a few hours playing around with it.

Just as Diablo recreated the sheer joy of finding fifty bucks on the sidewalk, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates rinds and nails a perfect loot-rinse-repeat rhythm.

It's the respectable hitting that makes all the difference. With solid action at the plate, MLB becomes the best handheld baseball game on the market. That it’s also the best-looking doesn’t bother us one bit.

Sniper Elite delivers the sort of slow-paced and rewarding gameplay experience not usually found on consoles. Gamers with the right mindset will love every mission here, while more impatient ones will be pulling their hair out long before the end of the first one.

Along with the huge single-player campaign and the various online modes mixed with the sheer variety of the racing on hand makes for one awesome racing game. And when you mix all that with the now-standard Colin McRae level of excellence, you have a game racing fans shouldn’t pass up.

A good and stylish mix of the factual and the fanciful.

The game encourages and, more importantly reduces, the tedium of grinding by rewarding exploration – an act that, for most of us, is a reward in and of itself.

Easy playability, a solid presentation, and one of the most satisfyingly off-beat and engaging storylines in any game all make Amped 3 one of the more suprising Xbox 360 launch games.

If you're a fan of Neverwinter Nights 2 then this is a no-brainer purchase. The over land map section of the game is hardly revolutionary but does add a much more open feeling to the game - and finding random magic weapons and toys hiding in the trees on the way to town is always a nice bonus.

It was my intention to give this game 3 out five, but we couldn’t put it down, despite its flaws, we had to see what was around the next corner, and that makes it 4 in our world.

In addition to an in-game instant replay feature, FIFA provides a neat highlight package at the end of games that shows the top six plays of the game.

With more imaginative level design, The Clone Wars would have been near-perfect. As it stands, the multiplayer mode is so good, it makes up for most of the title's shortcomings.