On paper, it's got the potential to be more than a match for "San Andreas"; in practice, it's nowhere near it.

The enemies almost seem to know you’re at a disadvantage, control-wise. They’re far from the brightest opponents, often standing around seemingly bored when they have clear shots at you. This does keep things from becoming frustrating, but in this era of challenging AI in games like "FarCry" and "Gears of War," Red Steel can sometimes feel like a throwback.

Sure, it might be tempting to focus on the game's weaknesses, such as its repetition or limited focus, but in the end it's hard to dislike such a well-made package.

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.

These improvements to the graphic engine come at a price. The frame rate slows down whenever multiple players are running the bases, and it experiences noticeable hiccups during the batting sequences.

Although these games don't compare to their modern console counterparts, well-developed characters and complex stories compel you to see past the primitive graphics.

In a lot of ways, these games are starting to mimic the films. They get released semi-regularly and right from the get-go we know what to expect; a reasonably engaging time that we'll quickly forget about as soon as we put the controller down.

Though the poor handling doesn’t drag down every mission, the lousy feel did make us put down more than a couple missions in frustration.

We really like Savage. There's a lot of daring gameplay ideas here that work, but it's still pretty rough around the edges. If you're willing to look past these issues, there's a tremendous game here.

If you can stomach the poor writing and the annoying camera, Crimson Sea has some visually rewarding intermissions and some decent battle situations to keep the action game fan happy.

Persona 3's daily structure is both a blessing and a curse. A benefit of the system is that you genuinely look forward to seeing what new characters or events are revealed the next day. Yet having to visit a single dungeon, even one with hundreds of floors, is not always appealing.

It’s not exceptional on any level, but the solid, easy playability and multitude of arcade and career game modes make it a lengthy driving experience.

The game is arguably more suited to a handheld since the fast-paced, somewhat repetitive action is best enjoyed in small doses.

If you’re into quirky stories, environments worth exploring, memorable characters, and a gameplay experience that doesn’t feel like a jumbled bag of puzzles, this is your game.

There's always potential in the realistic shooter, and on paper, Shadow Ops seems pretty strong. But that crucial spark that separates the good from the great is mission in action.

Crippled by a lack of online play and a horrible camera system. Yet despite the problems, the core game is so good that it's still worth playing, as long as you have human opponents to compete against.

Patient, strategy-minded players who don’t mind reading volumes of on-screen text littered with typos may just fall in love. However, the onerous difficulty and complexity, along with grueling amounts of typo-riddled text, will quickly discourage most from trying to conquer this nuclear wasteland.

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.

It’s not a terrifically engaging or lengthy experience, but with its compelling puzzles and interesting atmosphere you could certainly do much worse if you’re looking for some adventure.

But with only 35 songs, unless you’re the ultimate country music fanboy, there will only be a handful of songs you’ll want to sing.

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.

Mercenaries 2 won't entice those expecting glitch-free gaming, diverse missions, gritty realism, and cerebral combat. Yet for the run-and-gun crowd, it's escapist entertainment worth seeking out just for the sheer amount of chaos you can create within the colorful jungle setting. It’s not long, it's not deep, but it's never boring, especially with a friend.

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

Heavy Weapon is a fun, if repetitive, game for one, but it is truly comical multiplayer diversion.

The repetitive races keep it from a higher score. Still, the snarky attitude and sweet physics model of the go karts make for a good deal of fun.

There’s something almost absurd about paying for a game that inundates you with a constant stream of ads.

This isn’t a bad game, but just the same, the audience is certain to be limited to gamers who are still fans of the Capcom legacy.

One has to wonder, however, whether or not there's a price to be paid for the dazzling graphical presentation. Could it explain why the level design is so utterly boring? Aside from background variations, each stage plays almost identical to the others.