Despite the knocks against rivals mode and the fact that the new controls are mostly borrowed from what many consider to be a more simple golf franchise, Tiger Woods 06 is still a solid game. Where rivals fails, the more realistic PGA Tour mode is still fun, as is skills 18, a set of target-based minigames.

Far from a perfect game, MadWorld is perhaps the answer to gamers’ pleas for a hardcore title to arrive on the Wii. You’ll be able to clean up the city in a little under seven hours without breaking a sweat – but it’s seven hours of pure bloody mayhem that you won’t find in most twenty-hour games.

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

The increased emphasis on exploring different lots on campus serves to exacerbate the tedium involved in getting your sims from point A to point B, and the time traveling logic it entails.

Casual fans will be in awe at the sheer beauty and polish of the game. Hardcore fighting game enthusiasts will appreciate the adjustments made to the fighting engine. Players looking for the most bang for their buck might be disappointed with the sparse selection of game modes, but should look into the character creation mode to keep them busy.

If you are an "Everquest" regular, you'll have a hard time not buying the latest and greatest.

Oh-so-close to being the perfect handheld game. Its rich, entertaining gameplay can be enjoyed in nuggets, and simply put, it’s beautifully designed.

With tons of secrets to uncover, and a surprising array of different gameplay options, Mortal Kombat: Deception is a surprisingly fun package.

For a game that didn't need to do much to succeed, Madden NFL 13 went above and beyond to innovate the already-strong core gameplay.

Mediocre presentation also holds it back a bit, but Kohan II is otherwise a solid and unique strategy game.

Besides the fine graphics and well-balanced combat, Episode III does a lot of little things right, details in the interface like pop-up balloons for conversations (to make chatting in towns easier) and a thoroughly hyperlinked shop menu for quick and simple equipment updates.

Thanks to the numerous computer-related balancing issues and somewhat punishing controls, it can oftentimes be more annoying than fun.

A top notch conversion of a great board game. A good match generally takes less than an hour and there’s no clean up after you’re done. Well worth 10 bucks.

A step down from the audio and visuals, unfortunately, is the gameplay. The No. 1 culprit has to be the frustrating batting mechanics.

The most ambitious and complicated real-time strategy game ever made. This will make it a joy to devout fans of the genre, but an overwhelming mess to everyone else.

Crashing through flaming glass hoops while pulling off death-defying aerial stunts at 98 mph makes it a hard game to turn off once you've perfected it, and a thoroughly addictive two-player mode will help you get there.

With a great core story and plenty of incentive to replay, Fatal Frame 2 is a horror-themed title that anyone should consider playing. If you're brave enough, consider playing with the lights off.

It isn't as addictive or diverse as the great pinball videogames, but it'll quench your "Pokemon" thirst.

Hits all the whoops with just the right speed. It has a solid career mode and a potent mix of open freestyle tracks and classic lap-based indoor/outdoor tracks.

The gameplay is so enjoyable, however, that it should almost be required to at least try - especially the multiplayer mode.

Sure, a few of you may balk at this “sacrilegious” abbreviation of your favorite old school franchise, but you’ll be missing the point: this may just be how adventure gaming survives. Let’s hope so.

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.

With tons of secrets to uncover, and a surprising array of different gameplay options, Mortal Kombat: Deception is a surprisingly fun package.

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

Based on features alone, NBA 2K6 is the slam-dunk choice for Xbox 360 basketball. The player graphics are beautiful, with or without an HDTV, and the controls have slightly improved since the game’s appearance on the original Xbox (players can now enter into a defensive crouch by tapping on the left trigger button).

From a strange glitch that causes dead enemies to bounce around the environments like a Super Ball inside a blender, to the anemic implementation of vehicles into the multiplayer, another six months would have served it well.

With "Winning Eleven" on the market you just expect more, and you get it. FIFA may have high-priced Premiereship licenses and a killer career mode, but at the end of the day, it’s just not as much fun as the competition.

A substantial leap was made in multiplayer support. The classic Free For All and Duel matches are back, but the new star of the online show is the objective-based Siege mode, which pits Rebel and Imperial forces against each other in re-creations of several classic "Star Wars" battles.

The quality of the action and the intuitive controls will not disappoint wrestling fans.

If you’re a Ninja Gaiden fan, or even just someone who loves action games, don’t let the camera woes scare you off. This is still one of the most expertly designed combat systems around, and gamers looking for a true challenge in this era of games designed to be beaten by anyone with enough time on their hands will appreciate Ninja Gaiden II for what it is – One of the last games around that values skill over perseverance.

It's hard to recommend a game that ultimately turns into running in circles while attempting to unload your weapons faster than the next guy.

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

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.

The multiple ways to approach TOCA 2 are undeniably fun. And it’s really very impressive that Codemasters was able to pack so many different kinds of racing into one game.

With "Winning Eleven" on the market you just expect more, and you get it. FIFA may have high-priced Premiereship licenses and a killer career mode, but at the end of the day, it’s just not as much fun as the competition.

As impressive as a racer like "PGR3" can be, the learning curve and time investment aren't for everyone. OutRun 2 is just as entertaining, and almost as challenging, no matter what sort of digital driver you happen to be.

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

Unless you love Monkey Ball more than Orangutans love Tang, you can safely pass this one up. But if you haven't played Monkey Ball before, you can't go really wrong with Deluxe.

MLB 2006 places such a huge emphasis on the cat-and-mouse battle between pitcher and batter that it will delight those looking for the subtle strategies in each at-bat and will likely annoy those who just want to hack away.

PoP is a group of interesting ideas searching for a stronger game to hold them all together.

One of the most creative and enjoyable games to come around in a long time. Its mixture of creativity, solid gameplay, and sense of humor make it a game to die for.

Smart, different, and engaging, it gives action gamers something new to test their mettle with, both on and off-line.

As a multiplayer sports game it's fast, furious, and fun, but gamers running plays out of the single-back set might want to kick this one around as a rental before calling an all-out blitz.

Deserves a look. Not only because the control scheme is something completely new and surprisingly effective, but because the game wrapped around the gimmick is the type of quality stuff we've come to expect from Nintendo's best games.

The lack of a true career mode or create-a-player feature is also a letdown, as is the inability to acquire additional special moves or to put points into improving a character's core abilities.

You'll find everyone from inspired role-players to hardcore number crunchers, transplants from both WoW and LOTRO, in this game. How long they'll stay is anyone's guess, but it seems like Age of Conan has plenty of room to grow.

You'll still find AI that makes terrible decisions, or find yourself waiting forever while the game ponders through the turns for the other civilizations. But the addition of several new scenarios and tons of new units can help you overlook that fact until Civilization VI inevitably comes out.

The game looks and sounds fantastic, and offers an impressive level of control and combat refinement that fans have come to expect from the series.

We’re happy to report that since applying the patch, we have not encountered any more crashes.

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

Every cut scene makes reference to events or characters from previous titles, and newcomers will likely be lost as to their significance. Since the gameplay itself is subpar to the point of being at times unforgivably dull, those not here for the story will find little to hold their attention.

While there's room for improvement in terms of graphics and sound, it easily makes up for it in realism.

It’s a game about the fantastical, but it’s grounded in reality. And that’s refreshing. We wish more developers would try it sometime.

With its unique setup and variety of multiplayer modes, Ecks vs. Sever is a title worth checking out.

The game tells a finely crafted and interesting story at its own pace, and those without the patience to appreciate it may not understand what all the fuss is about.

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.

Maybe material that still feels as fresh, fun and challenging as Gitaroo Man Lives! still deserves an encore.

With its lengthy campaigns, replayability, and solid multiplayer, strategy fans will keep coming back to this one.

So, yes, there is a little bit of hand-holding going on here. When you're going to play a game for dozens of hours, it’s nice to feel like the game's designers care enough about you to stand by your side.

The inclusion of an intuitive, open character building system, commendable AI, and great multiplayer options make this a fine choice for fans of the original game, and those looking for a good action-heavy role-playing experience.

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

A game that looks like it came from a major animation studio. The fluid movement in this game is no less impressive.

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.

Like an over-encumbered sherpa, Drake stumbles occasionally under the weight of all the gadgets and gimmicks included with the new system. For better or worse, Uncharted demonstrates just about everything the Vita can deliver.

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.

One of the best LEGO titles yet. It manages to find a brilliant sweet spot between linear set-pieces and larger puzzles and exploration that make it a joy to play through.

NBA Street Homecourt is cake without the frosting, or for those who hate cake, "Baywatch" without Pam Anderson.

With great graphics, challenging gameplay, and plenty of ways to play, Codename: Panzers, Phase Two lives up to expectations.

An engaging card battle game wrapped up in a solidly mediocre story.

Despite the anticlimactic ending, shoddy boss fights, and lackluster multiplayer, The Darkness 2 is an extremely impressive game. It oozes style, packs an emotional punch, and manages to be effectively balance bombastic violence with understated character development, ensuring that when the Darkness is unleashed you care.

Lesser games in the extreme sports genre have a tendency to wade in a shallow pool of standard cliches, but Wakeboarding Unleashed keeps the focus squarely on the gameplay, where it should be.

It's not worth rushing out and buying four GBAs and link cables (you'll probably never use all that equipment ever again), but it's a must-have if you and your friends already have most of the required hardware and love multiplayer gaming. There's no other title quite like it.

The add-in combines a new and intriguing story with plenty of varied gameplay to steal forty or fifty more hours of your life.

The cups in this golf game don't exactly runneth over in terms of significant content, but at the same time, players shouldn't feel like they’re getting shafted. This is what the first Xbox 360 golf game should have been all along, a familiar but fun time on the links with striking visuals.

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.

King Kong is short... really short. The average player will finish the game in about six hours, and for $60, that’s not exactly a great value.

A really classy expansion.

While others have hinted at RPG and RTS crossover, or have tried and not quite succeeded, SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars delivers.

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

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

Moto GP 06 on Xbox 360 is no cheap date, but rest assured that you get what you pay for. This baby puts out like nobody's business.

Fate certainly isn’t the most innovative title out there. In fact, it’s quite easily labeled as a "Diablo" clone, and inherits its predecessor’s endlessly repetitive combat and gameplay. However, this game also somehow manages to stay fun hour after hour.

Easily the most beautiful and engaging racer on the PS3. The lack of tracks and obvious multiplayer problems drag it down a notch.

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

The actual strategy aspect is drastically limited, thanks to the small arenas and abbreviated unit types. With only two short campaigns that interest will quickly turn to boredom.

Harmonix's own "Guitar Hero" is still tops--mainly due to its cool factor--but if you need to entertain a rowdy group at your next gathering, nothing says hours of good times like Karaoke Revolution Party.

A fantastic RPG plagued by bugs and errors that point to either a rushed job or sloppy coding. The deep role-playing system is a successful translation of the pen-and-paper game it’s based on, and that’s no small feat.

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.

A solid platformer that will elicit nostalgia in some and déjà vu in others.

Even without a deep Dynasty mode (we really expect it next year) this is easily the best basketball available on a handheld.

Gamers who crave challenge, plot and the chance to really get their hands dirty with the Wii motion control will respond well to Trauma Center: Second Opinion.

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.

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

While it lacks the polish we’ve come to expect from original developer Infinity Ward, it’s still a fun, if dangerously familiar campaign through 1940’s Europe. It’s just doesn’t offer anything unique or new to the genre.

The bonuses left us dissatisfied. Sure, new outfits and craft are cool, but they lose their novelty if they don't help your performance. You can earn enough points to buy a hot new ride, but the upgrade is purely cosmetic.

Fans of classic horror and science fiction will enjoy it more than most, but the emphasis on action will win over gamers whose tastes are in tune with competitive games like "Twisted Metal" and lighter fighting game fare.

If you have the determination to master the many nuances of motorcycle racing, you'll find that MotoGP3 delivers an exceptionally exhilarating ride. It's a game for enthusiasts, but a great game nonetheless.

The type of game that makes you want to dust off that green felt cloak and curl up with a sack of dice.