Though it is more approachable than previous versions, Virtua Fighter 5 still takes a lot of work before it becomes fun, and sixty dollars aside, it may be too big an investment for most casual gamers.

For fans of Naruto who know what the Hidden Leaf Village is or are accustom to hearing about Trigram Palm Rotations, this game can provide a deep and challenging fight.

Liberation allows you to play co-op with another friend, heading out together on the same boring missions that comprise the campaign.

Stalker attempts to be many things, which is a lofty and worthy goal, but its inability to deliver is a huge disappointment. It wants to be an RPG, offering you an inventory and items with modifiers, and yet has no implementation of experience, skills or adjusting your attributes. It also wants to be a free-roam, huge world, Oblivion/GTA hybrid, but comes across as having bitten off more than it could chew.

It’s important to stress that this game is not going to replace Wii Play on your kegger nights. SSX Blur requires a good deal of time to become competent at, and will reward you well for doing so. If you need a game that’s easy to pick up and play, you won’t find it here. What you will find is a solid evolution of an established franchise that was in need of a change.

Much like an orchestra with a flat brass section, Eternal Sonata strings together a great battle system and beautiful presentation to the backdrop of an out-of-tune story and lacking character development.

Since the graphics aren’t anything special compared to the PS3 and 360 versions, the control scheme is obviously the star of this version of Call of Duty 3; and unfortunately things come out a little less supernova than we had hoped for.

Overall this game doesn’t take any chances and it suffers because of it.

The new Weapons system is a fun addition, and actually manages to make the game a bit friendlier to new players. The gameplay itself is solid, but the overall presentation is still lacking. Here’s hoping to a more robust online mode and a better use of the ESPN license in the 09 iteration.

Quite entertaining. It’s not going to be enough to draw in new fans to this type of gameplay. Let’s face it – this is a love it or hate it genre.

This game is definitely good for those of you who long for the carnival experience and can provide a really fun multiplayer experience as well. In the already very crowded Wii mini-game collection this one may not be the best, but it’s worth checking out.

When it comes right down to it, Sid Meier's Pirates for the PSP is a good game but a bad port.

The controls are solid enough, but there have been so many other stellar shooters over this holiday season, I can’t see why anybody would choose this game.

As a whole, however, this game wouldn’t necessarily warrant a purchase from anyone but hardcore fans of the Jackass franchise.

A few things need tweaking, mostly the funky camera which just zooms in way to close with no option to move it around. If you are looking for a fun game to pick up and play with your buddy, make sure he is a patient one and an experienced gamer.

So while this game puts up a valiant effort to inject some life into the sometimes mundane adventure genre, it falters with a complex interface and a certain sense of hatred you will develop for the female lead.

A nice homage to the days when you had to line quarters on the rim of a cabinet just to secure your spot in line.

A few things need tweaking, mostly the funky camera which just zooms in way to close with no option to move it around. If you are looking for a fun game to pick up and play with your buddy, make sure he is a patient one and an experienced gamer.

There were a few moments where I felt like Pirates could actually spark my interest, but I left bored in the long run.

The story won’t leave you in tears and the gameplay doesn’t break the mold in any way, but as the first epic Japanese RPG on the Xbox 360, Blue Dragon is adequate.

All in all, this is a great game that suffers a bit on the player-stumping side of things. But for fans of Agatha Christie? There’s no question, this is your game of choice.

I had never felt so frustrated in a wrestling game until I played this one.

If this title was offered up at a lower price or with more tables, it might be one of our favorite arcade games. As it stands, Pinball FX shook us a little bit, but not enough to TILT.

Dragoneer's Aria misses the mark in critical categories, especially in light of recent competition. You can do far worse than Dragoneer's, that's for sure...but with Brave Story out, you can now do far better.

There’s more of a focus on web-based combat that shows through nicely, but it just didn’t quite do it for us. Although you’ll unlock a good deal of moves eventually, the initial experience may not be compelling enough to make you want to play through enough to get there.

So if you think a very traditional RTS covered in mini-guns and mammoths, energy cannons and iguanodons sounds good, be all means, go buy Paraworld. However, if you were just excited by the peanut butter cup goodness of video games and dinosaurs, you are in for a lot more than you bargained for, and that may not be a good thing.

It's just missing that compulsive factor that separates a great puzzle game from all the rest. It doesn't have that “just one more time” sensation that keeps propelling you forward. And frankly, it gets so brutally tough that you'll be hard-pressed to keep at it, ultimately moving on to some other game.

Silent Hunter features countless bugs you'll find on every machine, and this is unforgivable. It's a betrayal to a loyal fanbase and a detriment to gaining new fans. Unfortunately, it's also an exact replay of what happened two years ago when Silent Hunter III shipped. Deja'vu all over again, as Yogi Berra once said.

Yet one more DS game that rises above minimal expectations. It’s not a must-have by any means, it doesn’t reinvent the genre and really doesn’t add anything new, but it doesn’t come across as a half-assed attempt to capitalize on a license.

When all is said and done, the only thing I'm left with is an insatiable desire to play Episode Two. With a bargain price of $20 Half-Life 2: Episode One is a requisite PC experience. I just wish they had pushed the envelope a little more like they did in Half-Life 2.

The presentation is fantastic and the multiplayer is surprisingly fun, but unfortunately Airborne’s new features feel like a desperate attempt to get one more iteration out of this aging series. Medal of Honor: Airborne just screams of a game with lots of interesting ideas that no one actually sat down to play and decide if they were fun.

Overall, as aeronautic enthusiasts, we were pretty happy with this game. Currently it serves as the only way to use the Sixaxis as a flight controller, even if it’ kind of lame.

Naruto may be a simple and confusing game, but one thing it’s sure to do is make fans of the license happy.

I appreciate the game for being an extension of the show and carrying the same humorous spirit, but I think that it could benefit with less attention to the show and more quality game craftsmanship.

If you can get past the frustrating gameplay mechanics, Medal of Honor: Airborne can be an enjoyable experience. The presentation is fantastic and the multiplayer is surprisingly fun, but unfortunately Airborne’s new features feel like a desperate attempt to get one more iteration out of this aging series.

The camera seems really buggy at times. While, for the most part, it does an acceptable job of keeping the action onscreen, there’s no way to easily re-center your view and so things get confusing at times.

There were a few moments where I felt like Pirates could actually spark my interest, but I left bored in the long run. There’s a decent amount of fun that can be had with this game, but you’ve got to be in the right mindset. Much like the movies, At World’s End is at best a popcorn game.

It’s an accessible and easy-to-master Wii game, providing simplistic gameplay and a neat art style. It’s certainly not "Call of Duty," but on the Wii that may be a good thing.

It offers a lot of options for your 800-points and 16-player team battles can be quite enjoyable, but there's just not enough meat on its bones to constitute a satisfying meal.

This is supposed to be the big racing title at launch, the game that should convince guys like me to buy this system, and it just plain doesn’t.

If you’re a fan of the Shrek movies, there is some fun to be had here. Granted, it’s forgettable and uninspired fun that fades pretty quickly, but it’s still fun for that short while.

If it weren't for the horrible way in which you have to find critical information, I'd happily recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in tactical combat games.

I simply found the game too age distinctive. Overall, it is a fantastic game for kids.

If you’re a fan of the Shrek movies, there is some fun to be had here. Granted, it’s forgettable and uninspired fun that fades pretty quickly, but it’s still fun for that short while.

While the gameplay is fairly easy, Starfox Command is a step back in the right direction for the franchise after the missteps during the Gamecube years.

If you’re looking for a portable Mario Party fix, minus the Party aspect, be sure to pick up Cooking Mama.

If goofy, over-the-top minigames are appealing, then Virtua Tennis is the only game in town. If you happen to take the sport of tennis seriously and want more of a simulation, then Smash Court Tennis 3 fills the bill well enough. The only problem I have with both of these games is their overall refusal to advance the genre beyond what we've seen countless times before.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is a good concept and can be fun in short bursts with friends, but it simply doesn’t have the staying power to keep any but the most dedicated of fans playing too far into the game alone.

It doesn't really raise the bar or set a new standard, doesn't offer anything I haven't seen before, and is unlikely to make any converts. Considering who made it, I guess we can all just be happy that it actually works.

Next Life could have been fantastic. It is by no means bad – just held back by some strange design oversights.

The more you know about football then the more you'll get out of this game. There are some superb play-calling aspects on offer, like the ability to change routes on the fly for your receivers, but again, this is something only the hardcore will make use of.

If you’re the type who can get behind some solid-yet-repetitive gameplay with plenty of fast paced action, EDF 2017 might be the game for you.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity’s problems keep it from being a consistent blast - but it has its moments.

So while this was a great opportunity to revamp an aging game and work out any flaws it had for a re-release, the company took the safe route and merely ported this over without fixing anything.

Ultimately, you can’t help but feel that there’s a fantastic game in Every Extend Extra just begging to be set free, but this current incarnation just wasn’t cooked enough to be worth eating.

Although Final Fantasy II isn't one of the better Final Fantasy games, it's an interesting cog in the 20-year history of the series, and shows how much the series has grown and evolved since its inception.

The real problem for Shrek lies in those controls and the remote and nunchuck sensitivity. It seems the slightest movement of either one will initiate one of your attacks.

The final part of the game, which I won’t give away here, should have been FULL of terrifying stuff hitting fans of every size and speed imaginable, and yet… nothing. More non-paranormal enemies. It is, quite simply, the most colossal anti-climax since Halo 2.

You’ll wonder why you bought this game when you could just be picking random numbers out of a hat. When you see this title on the shelf of your local retailer, if you’re smarter than a fifth grader your final answer will be “No Deal.”

Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam gets an A for effort, but a D for execution.

Added abilities for the multiplayer add some needed depth.

Multiplayer is about as weak as the in-game humor.

Just like the empty vacuum that is outer space, Star Trek: Legacy pretty much just sucks. Set your phasers to “pass” on this one.

Jericho shows a great deal of thought put into the final product, but it just doesn’t rise above its own problems, unfortunately.

Now, this game does have a saving grace – the achievements. They come early, they come often, and they come easy. If you need to boost your ego a little, play this game for a day or two and you’ll have an easy 1000 gamerscore stacked onto your overall total.

Luminous Arc just comes across as a competent game with no single aspect that excels or attempts to push the genre forward. It's basically a generic strategy RPG that benefits from supporting WFC, though even this aspect is bare-bones. You could do worse...you could do better.

There is no reason to buy this game for at least 6 months, unless you are a glutton for punishment. Hopefully by six months the majority of the bugs will be taken care of and Vanguard will resemble a game instead of a proof-of-concept.

Balls of Fury was entertaining for a short period of time, but it does get repetitive pretty fast. Thankfully it’s priced appropriately and provides enough entertainment in small doses to justify the cost.

The layout of the levels is classic Hawk as well. The cities do a good job of recreating the east coast habitat they’re meant to mimic, but the dingy and gritty style makes it all look kind of ugly. In an over-the-top whimsical game like this, I’d expect a little more lighthearted style because this doesn’t exactly work.

One game-breaking aspect of The Sims 2 Castaway is the load screens. The loading times are much too long and occurs much too often.

Similar to most Michael Bay films - graphically intense, but shallow in terms of character and story. Add to that boring combat and you have a game good for fans of the upcoming movie only, though not even Transformer fan in general.

Multiplayer mode is basic and simple one-on-one combat, with no frills added on. Since this game is bare-bones to begin with, this is no surprise. So while this game tries to offer an enjoyable boxing experience, the lack of features simply knocks this one down for the count.

When it all boils down to it, this is nothing more than another straight laced shooter with little to offer people in the value department.

Even if it’s just to have chess or checkers to play online, you may want to look into this title. The camera support adds a little bit of extra fun to a very bare-bones package.

But this game is not for gamers with a low attention span. Oftentimes I found myself wondering what to do next and waiting for time to pass…in other words, slow slow and slow.

All in all, Circle of Doom’s hack and slash formula feels out of place alongside the other games of the series, and more appropriate next to Gauntlet. Frilly-collared warrior needs food badly!

Taking into account the shortcomings of the platform when dealing with this type of gameplay, RS:V pulls it off fairly well. It’s still not great, but you can have fun with it for a while if you’re not frustrated easily. Don’t, however, expect anything near the caliber of the experience that you may have already had with the far superior 360 version of the game.

If you already own FS2004 and have a moderate computer, my suggestion is to put the $70 towards some addons to extend the life of FS2004, and wait to see how the DirectX 10 patch fares.

One of those rhythm games like "Guitar Hero" and "Dance Dance Revolution," minus the depth, size, playability, replayability, scope, addictiveness or polish of either of those two games. Granted, it's an arcade title, but at 800 points you expect to get a little more boom boom for your buck.

It's not the breakthrough title that Nintendo set it up to be.

Very similar to most Michael Bay films - graphically intense, but shallow in terms of character and story. Add to that boring combat and you have a game good for fans of the upcoming movie only, though not even Transformer fan in general.

The minigames aren’t anything you haven’t seen before on the DS, but they do a good job of breaking up the tedium of travelling Hogwarts.

Though Microsoft's Games for Windows Live is an interesting system, they shouldn't have used a poor port of Halo 2 to demonstrate it, and instead focused on creating a great new title for the PC.

Monster Madness could’ve been fun. It looks good enough to hold its own, and the general concept is pretty cool, but the execution just falls flat of the standards we should all hold for “next-gen” games.

Very similar to most Michael Bay films - graphically intense, but shallow in terms of character and story. Add to that boring combat and you have a game good for fans of the upcoming movie only, though not even Transformer fan in general.

This game takes many hours of back-study with the show to know what the hell is going on, which means you are going to be confused, guaranteed. But for you Lyoko-heads out there, this should be right up your data-stream.

When it comes to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, fans expect one thing: fighting. That's what the Turtles do. So why come out with a game on an extremely popular platform that treats fighting as third-rate while boring and linear jumping is its central theme? The mind boggles.

Multiplayer may have been a saving grace, but you won't find any infrastructure play on offer, meaning you'll have to find up to three other people within local WiFi range if you want to get your game on. The original Alien Syndrome was all about co-op alien killing, but the ball has been fumbled in this remake.

A short, bland, and ultimately forgettable experience.

Besides the tired gameplay, Mario Party 8 has some serious presentation issues that will make you wonder if you’re still playing a Gamecube game.

Only fans of the license should buy this game. It’s got almost everything you’d expect from a Transformers: The Movie game. It’s got robots, it’s got explosions, it’s got Peter Cullen. What it doesn’t have, unfortunately, is fun gameplay.

If you've played Crazy Taxi and its sequels, then you've played this new version. It controls well, looks fine, sounds good...but it's Crazy Taxi, a game that is better off remembered instead of regurgitated.

For its price, this game’s capabilities are pretty good. I’ve got another cliché yet relevant quote to end: “never judge a book by its cover.” And in this case, don’t judge this DS game by its cover either.

An exercise in futility, a poorly designed and frustrating experience that questions how loose of a definition we should give to the word “game”.

If you go into Valhalla Knights expecting a mindless, empty and soulless dungeon romp, then your expectations will be fulfilled. If that's what you want out of a game, Valhalla Knights delivers. However, if you foolishly come to this game anticipating a riveting story that propels the action with great characters and plot twists, expect to fall into a bottomless pit of frustration.

If an easily amused player can get over the difficulty and monotony, they’ll find an afternoon’s worth of enjoyment here.

[A] less than stellar adventure.

It is sad to see something that has so much potential go down the drain. If the game had made use of the stylus it may have been saved, but right now it has about as much staying power as an ice cube in an oven.