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

There just isn't much gameplay in this gaming gumbo to set it apart from the countless other platformers out there.

There's a good bit of game here and some occasional flashes of brilliance, but it's sweeter than a chocolate and butterscotch sandwich and could have used a few more months in the incubator.

From the moment DMX's "Party Up" plays in the background, you'll realize this is not your father's golf game. The action is fast, the commentary is rife with dry humor, and the desire to personalize your character is too good to pass up.

An invaluable addition to an already great game. The driving missions are a fun and sometimes useful diversion. But the real winner here is how you can more easily deal with their traffic problems.

The new challenge mode and sub-divisions further enhance the "Command & Conquer"-style of gameplay, and the increased features, tweaks, and improvements make it an essential purchase for fans of the series.

Its galling brevity combined with the inability to actually watch many of your tricky labors make it a one-shot deal at best, with little replay value -- except perhaps in real life.

You're not going to get the butterflies in your stomach the way you did the first time you stormed the beach at Normandy, but the visceral gameplay and scripted events make you feel like you're never too far from the troop transport.

Though there's room for improvement in its dynasty mode, controls, and overall presentation, NHL 2004 is a huge step in the right direction for a franchise that was recently skating on thin ice.

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 game doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look good enough for an action game whose major draw is its audiovisual presentation.

It has enough useful, new features to make it a worthy addition to the family, including the tremendous inclusion of Internet play and a fully fleshed-out career mode.

With copious patience and enough time, a path through the bugs and design flaws might lead to an enjoyable experience for some persistent players of ToEE. However, digging through garbage to find a gem is still digging through garbage.

It offers up some solid improvement but doesn't stray too far from what made it so loved to begin with. It's not the groundbreaking title that the original was, but it's an excellent follow-up that delivers as promised.

From the first tutorial moments to its satisfying special collector's reward, The Simpsons: Hit & Run drips with humor and excellent voice-acting by the original cast members. The missions can get a bit repetitive, but the car-and-driver gameplay is the best seen in television-inspired games.

A fairly standard action/puzzle game. The environments are very detailed -- albeit with the minor visual hiccups endemic to the isometric perspective. The sunlight adds an unusual strategic challenge, but players must resign themselves to sometimes having to wait for the break of dawn to resume gameplay.

Capcom may have moved to true 3-D environments, but its design philosophy is still stuck in the old pre-rendered graphics days of the PS. This is a good series. Its third installment deserves a whole lot better.

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.

An amazing trick system only bolsters the game's personality. You can literally land three or four maneuvers before touching down, given enough momentum.

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.

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.

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.

Actually, the increased difficulty isn't such bad news. If you're a loyal player who has stuck with the series this far, your character is a considerably buffed presence by now. Indeed, one of the cooler aspects of the game is that some of your missions involve helping newer, greener players.

Keeps a tight formation between fun and realism and is a great start to the year's run of PS2 air-combat games.

It isn't a great game, and it quickly becomes redundant, but it's a guilty pleasure you can get for cheap.

A great choice for gamers who enjoyed "NHL 2K3" but wanted something a little flashier in the audiovisual department. But it isn't as ambitious as "NHL 2004" in terms of control options or depth in franchise play. ESPN Hockey's biggest knock is its goalie AI, which isn't reflective of the sport and seems artificially enhanced in an attempt to create low-scoring games.

There's no sense of continuity since you have to keep stopping and starting. And where are the puzzles or something other to do besides shooting at hard-to-see robots?

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.