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.

Despite a few quirks here and there (you can bet into the negative chips during poker, you can’t split a hand in blackjack), Clubhouse Games is a worthwhile purchase no matter what sort of gamer you may be. This is the stuff the DS excels at.

There's more than enough meat to the single-player component in Dark Crusade to justify a purchase.

Desperate Housewives: The Game is cheapened, slightly, by rampant product placement. Every time your character washes her hands or throws a dark load into the washer, you're exposed to the name of some corporate sponsor.

The stuff that fills the holes between the normally brief – albeit mostly fun – combat takes up way too much time, and feels so banal and lifeless, it manages to overpower the good bits and drag down the whole experience.

There’s a good game in here somewhere, but it’s buried beneath a layer of unpolished graphics, clumsy controls, and boring missions.

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

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

A good game design need to fire in all cylinders. Mage Knight Apocalypse stumbles on so many levels, it’s a wonder they ever got it out the door.

At its core the game is fiendishly clever. Like the game's baroque visuals, the mechanics are equally ornate – nearly diabolically so. It's a shame to discover such a meticulously crafted game cobbled together with duct-tape.

The players to whom that would really be a problem have probably already done something about it, though. To regular humans who don't know about imports and don't care that there might be a better version on another continent, Clash of Ninja 2 is the best Naruto game on the market.

An extremely refreshing puzzler that should find a huge audience on Nintendo DS. It may not have the legacy of Lemmings or the multiplayer gaming of Worms, but its stages are brilliantly crafted and the creator can't be beat.

It's telling that Nintendo stepped up and published this game itself – Namco, which released the original, was unable or uninterested.

Rocket Slime’s charm and variety of gameplay make it one of the absolute best for the DS, even if you’ve never played a Dragon Quest before.

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.

It takes the WWII setting and applies it to the kinds of game-related stuff we want to see and do. It’s a game about superior use of tactics and terrain, not overwhelming firepower. In short, it’s an excellent strategy game.

But it would take a very hardcore Star Wars fan to actually plod on and replay the same levels again and again. As such, LSWII might be best rented.

If the developers can make playing defense as fun as the offense, tightening up the computer AI in the process, then future installments of the NHL series are sure to turn heads.

Though casual fans might initially find the level of control to be more complicated than the average tax code, the best part of NHL 2K7 and the entire NHL 2K series is its depth, from the robust franchise mode to its online play over Xbox Live, fun mini-games, and diverse assortment of bonus content.

It's like one of those pricey meals that foodies order at swank restaurants. Three bites and the plate is clean. It's a good thing that Cooking Mama has an early bird special price tag, because right about now we're ready for the desert menu.

This game will make you want to spend your entire life at sea, watching the flowing waves, dodging water spouts, dueling with enemy ships, and plundering booty. The rest of the game, sadly, feels more like a chore than an adventure.

Completely relying on the stylus to handle the ball is a bold design choice, but tends to feel unnecessary and rather gimmicky.

Bad Day L.A. aims for the biting wit of the "Dave Chapelle Show" but ends up more akin to the jackassery of "Mind of Mencia." Just sort of sad and unfunny.

But mostly, the game is so lacking in charisma and character that the miles sort of tick away, leaving less impact than a skid mark and the smell of burnt rubber.

Test Drive Unlimited is a triumph in packaging. It wraps a familiar suite of racing objectives in a appealing shared space and gives players the tools to socialize in this enormous setting.

Judgment itself may not be anything special, but it's a good enough freebie to go with a legitimately great game.

If you're a sucker for Japanese gangster cinema, you'll likely be able to forgive Yakuza's many flaws long enough to get caught up in the riveting story line and cast of complex characters. But long before the end, you'll be sick of the repetitive combat that takes up far too much of Yakuza's gameplay time.

Those allergic to whimsy may react violently to the saccharine soundtrack and rosy world-view. But they'd be missing out on a rare experience – a game that honors classic game play while forging new ground in style.

The fielding controls are slow and unresponsive, the baserunning interface is a mess, you can’t check your swing, and—for a nice dose of creepy—the wispy-voiced but obviously adult announcer casually mentions that he’s got to run because his mom is coming to pick him up.

The video game equivalent to a straight-to-video B-movie: it can be entertaining in spots, even though you know the whole is painfully lame.

Although the set-up is weak, and the emphasis on commercialism and bling is rather trite, Def Jam Fight for New York: the Takeover is a surprisingly adept fighting game.

The ability to make your own dance patterns is not a dumb idea per se. Dance Factory would be an interesting gimmick if it was attached to an otherwise good DDR clone.

There’s no doubt that fans of 2D action will love this difficult quest, but if you weren’t into side scrollers before, it seems unlikely that anything here will change your mind.

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.

This one is too vacant, tries too hard to be cool, and fails to be compelling in either single- or multiplayer.

Perhaps the most puzzling element of Grand Adventure is the lack of a four-player mode, which is an essential ingredient for the fast-paced, item collecting, button-mashing style of fighting game.

It’s been said that tactical RPGs are similar to recreational drugs. If that’s the case then Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is definitely not a gateway drug. The gameplay is almost too complex and deep for newcomers. However, if you’re already addicted to this genre or are interested in it then this game will keep you hooked for a long, long time.

Between the dull kill-and-rob action, dopey wanna-be movie plot and the sheer fact that this game is recycled from a game that pretty much everybody hates there's not much to recommend this game – apart from the price tag.

The great selection of poker styles is ruined by limited play options, a horrible presentation and crappy player A.I. Save yourself some cash and just buy a deck of cards instead.

The game goes overboard, too, when it attempts to be clever or creative. When Row tries desperately to outdo "Grand Theft Auto" in terms of its in-game radio stations—accessed when players hijack cars—it fails miserably.

The sole fact that Star Fox Command is entirely about dogfighting is enough to make fans of the series rejoice. The action is intense; single-player is packed with replay; and the controls will quickly grow on you like a tick on a dog.

As simple and effective the control scheme is, other elements in the game are rough around the edges. It’s a little surprising that more ship types aren’t available in the game (less than a dozen). The visuals are nice, but not exactly jaw-dropping.

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.

And this is one mythical, three-headed dog that could possibly have some bite in it, if only the damn thing would only, for one second, consider ceasing its infernal barking.

The addition of perspective and emotional content comes out of left field, but is amazingly well done. It’s the rare button masher that can play on a person’s sympathies, and Nights proves it has both heart and brains to go with its mindless exterior.

"King's Field" was a slow, clumsy, fairly-boring-to-look-at first-person hack-and-slasher with a legendarily lousy framerate. Deep Labyrinth is all of those too, except that its framerate isn't bad enough to pass into legend.

It borrows or attempt to borrow conventions from several popular shoot-'em-'ups, but in the end it's just a confused mess that's not very fun and not very impressive.

A bunch of nice ideas and fun combat wrapped up in a fairly bland game. There’s nothing particularly deep going on here, but it sure is a big galaxy.

If you didn't know what "taisen" means, you can probably give it a pass.

It’s unfortunate that it didn’t try harder to give players a truly satisfying quest.

The striking visuals, the hard-driving licensed soundtrack, and the variety of events make for an appealing, fast-paced game that's perfect for venting a little steam.

Quaint graphics, recognizable characters, easy gameplay, and many mini-games give Barnyard some staying power with its target audience. For older gamers, the game is entirely standard and boring.

Quaint graphics, recognizable characters, easy gameplay, and many mini-games give Barnyard some staying power with its target audience. For older gamers, the game is entirely standard and boring.

It doesn't take new hardware to crank out good-looking graphics, and you definitely don't need to buy a PSP or DS to find memorable handheld gameplay.

Besides some of the best graphics and sound on the PSP, this Tekken has enough breadth and depth to match its console cousins.

The added scenarios, especially the alternate history ones are just icing on an already sweet, sweet cake.

Civ City: Rome doesn’t do much to meaningfully innovate, but it does successfully take the more important design elements of past games and incorporates them into a challenging, great looking, and great playing package.

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.

Warpath isn't horrible, but it is incredibly uninspired. The design is, on every level, lackluster, as if the developers were so sick of the genre that they didn't even try this time.

Warpath isn’t horrible, but it is incredibly uninspired. The design is, on every level, lackluster, as if the developers were so sick of the genre that they didn’t even try this time.

Evidently Square Enix didn't have the time or the inclination to do serious work under Valkyrie's hood. Instead, we get this sloppy emulated version, with all the warts of the original and more.

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

A game needs more than good atmosphere. Monster House could have been a spiritual successor to the GameCube launch title, Luigi’s Mansion, and rips off plenty of elements from Nintendo’s haunted, vacuum cleaner-endowed game. It just doesn’t do it very well.

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

It's the breakneck pace afforded by Tommy's spirit world resurrections and the dizzying effects of promiscuous gravitational pull that makes Prey such a fresh gaming experience.

A fairly simple game that offers little challenge once you understand the basics. Yet it’s still charming in its own right.

More open-ended environments, greater character customization, trickier puzzles, and smarter enemies would have all made for a memorable trip.

To be breezily blunt, it’s possible to be Over G Fighters after a few hours’ worth of play.

The stop-and-go gameplay here seems catered to those with Ritalin prescriptions than those yearning for Mario Kart-style action.

There's good work here, on the graphics, the soundtrack, the interface, and even the combat system, for all that it doesn't work out in the long run.

Sadly, the gruesome body flinging missions are few and far between. Much of the to-do list in Crusty Demons was already stale on a skateboard.

The vast world with bandits and weapon-packed vehicles is an interesting idea, but being forced to meander back and forth across it just to earn a few scraps of cash makes the whole thing boring.

Fans of a license like this deserve better, though. Whether or not you like the Naruto cartoons, you have to admit that they're pretty great fighting-game fodder -- bright, violent, over-the-top action. We'll have to wait and see if Bandai gets it right the next time.

Can something be entirely derivative and almost great? Why not! Titan Quest does for action-RPGs what "Serious Sam" did for shooters and offers something enjoyable to mouse-poke-poke-poke until Blizzard gets off its collective derriere and dishes up a proper sequel.

There’s better acting in a preschool production of Equus than in this game. As atrocious as the voice-acting is—and it is unbelievably godawful—the writing is worse.

There’s something decidedly satisfying seeing your hard work and meticulous planning pay off with a trip to the Super Bowl. But that trip is fraught with so many pitfalls – the most annoying being the rigid scheduling issues – that you’ll need superhuman patience to see it through to the end.

Console-style role-playing badly needs to move forward, and games like this are just keeping it stuck in the last century.

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.

There’s something decidedly satisfying seeing your hard work and meticulous planning pay off with a trip to the Super Bowl. But that trip is fraught with so many pitfalls – the most annoying being the rigid scheduling issues – that you’ll need superhuman patience to see it through to the end.

Ridiculously difficult.

Gem Fighter for giggles, Alpha for nostalgia, Alpha 2 to see how a few critical tweaks can re-unite divided fans, and finally Alpha 3 for the whole caboodle and sheer pleasure of 2D fighting perfection.

The presentation is weak, the gameplay flawed, and the reliance on insanely in-depth customization will likely end up annoying most gamers.

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 you ever run into one of the erstwhile developers of Stainless Stell Studios, you should probably buy him or her a beer and let them cry on your shoulder; it’s gotta hurt to see a game you made that obviously started out with a lot of potential get released in such an unfinished state.

Overall Rush for Berlin just feels a lot better than most of the other RTS games out there. It’s a great blend between realism and fast-paced gameplay wrapped in a solid package that RTS fans will love. They’ll love it, that is, if they can get over this being yet another themed WWII game in a sea of olive drab releases.

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.

It’s a shame that the one good idea in this streetball title had to be overshadowed by bad execution and a mediocre presentation.

Astonishia Story offers no compelling gameplay, nothing like a gripping narrative, nothing much to listen to (the MIDI-riffic music hasn't aged well over 12 years), and a great deal of waiting.

The presentation is excellent as well. Though not as sharp as the PS2 version, the graphics look excellent, the audio is solid, and overall, this is a very well-rounded racing simulation with plenty to do.

The rest of the Grand Theft Auto series is dirt cheap now, and offers better gameplay in a far more massive world, with vastly superior graphics. So, unless you have absolutely maxed out on all things GTA, it’s unlikely that Liberty City Stories will be anything but a minor curiosity.

In other words, if you're not the gotta catch 'em all type, this expansion pack feels like it actually expands an already great game.

There’s little variation among the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions of Cars, and each hits the mark in terms of racing game basics such as framerate and sense of speed. Rainbow Studios has performed admirably here.

It's a shame that the one good idea in this streetball title had to be overshadowed by bad execution and a mediocre presentation.

There's little variation among the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions of Cars, and each hits the mark in terms of racing game basics such as framerate and sense of speed. Rainbow Studios has performed admirably here.

There's little variation among the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions of Cars, and each hits the mark in terms of racing game basics such as framerate and sense of speed. Rainbow Studios has performed admirably here.

It's not far out to score Big Brain Academy slightly higher than its predecessor, mostly because the game contains none of the maddening verbal and writing input issues.

The social twist on urban planning is a welcome one. But there’s no escaping the mechanical, almost passionless way you need to play the game in order to be successful.

Episode One offers a unique solution. Smaller, more frequent doses of high-quality gaming for less money. Ultimately, every player will have to decide if 20 bucks is too much for content in the vein of Half-Life 2: Episode One. For us, the quality here is well worth the price of admission.