The type of game you and a friend will rent, get home with, open up, start playing and both say “This is awesome” simultaneously. Unfortunately a half hour later you will both want to play something else because your fun level has just plummeted nose first into the ground.

Some of the aspects of the game that were frustrating to me also make the game more suitable for younger players: the challenge of earning enough money to care for your pet can teach kids responsibility and the value of prioritizing and planning their spending, and the factors that limit daily game time (like your pony’s stamina) can help build good habits of taking breaks between bouts of gaming.

Gothic 3 takes some role-playing aspects to a new high with its excellent quest system and fully interactive world. Too bad other critical elements, from combat to graphics performance, fall so short.

If you enjoyed the Myst series of games or want to relive those retro-adventures from the late 90’s then Rhem fits the bill perfectly. The graphics are surprising good and support some devious puzzle designs that require careful exploration and all of your analytical skills.

If you are a fan of shooters and are tired of getting your butt stomped in Ikaruga, then give Aces of the Galaxy a try.

This is a game that will likely sit on my PS3 hard drive... forgotten until I need the disc space for something else.

Despite the average graphics, sound, and gameplay length, HSX: HyperSonic Extreme is a great racing game that will keep you mesmerized for as long as you play it.

Interface is really the main problem with Create, whether it is the actual puzzle solving, level creation or even the navigation of the online component of the game. Nothing comes easy regardless of what controller you use.

The graphics are dated, the gameplay is buggy, and the online mode is virtually unplayable.

EA has more than a year to polish this game and it came out pretty bad, or at least below expectations. For every nice touch, there was something far worse to overshadow it, for every new feature, we lost three, and I have never seen such a waste of the ESPN license.

It overuses the air-spells (where you manually cast your own), but manages to maintain an interesting story, decent gameplay, sound, and graphics.

At times I felt like I was driving a real stock car. Other times I slammed the controller down due to the frustrating controls because I didn’t adjust them right away.

If you are the slightest bit motivated, you will probably find a DVD program like P90X will give you much better results. But if you must have a video game style workout program, EA Sports Active 2 is certainly worth consideration.

If you are looking for a portable version of the PS3 or 360 versions of Madden 09, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Madden NFL 09 on the PSP is a good game with its share of oversights and flaws. But it is the only NFL game on the PSP.

Emergency 3 really has a lot going for it, and breathes new life into a stagnant market full of destructive gaming. Still, the nagging issues of a clunky interface, coupled with rather monotonous gameplay, may present some problems.

Everybody Dance is no Dance Central, nor is it a Just Dance, but it is a heck of a lot of fun.

It'll probably get a bit boring after a few levels, but as far as a game to pop in and play to pass the time goes... well, it works.

Toy shop is a fun and engaging game and not all that difficult but it is not the exciting or action filled game that some reviewers seem to be looking for.

Just felt incomplete and unpolished, or perhaps just rushed out the door.

There is enough to like about Aerial Strike to provide $20 worth of entertainment to a good home. It may be a shaggy dog, but it is still a good dog.

Tom Clancy’s EndWar on the Nintendo DS is a pretty good game if you enjoy turn based strategy, and it does have plenty of levels to keep you busy.

It has all the features and polish of a big-budget simulation, at least until you leave the pit area, and find yourself in a slick arcade racer with a lot of features and some aggressive computer AI. The multiplayer could be fun but I never found anyone playing online so good luck with that.

Despite the addition of a Monopoly-based game that you might not play a whole lot of (except to unlock certain characters), it is a fun way of going through a rough history lesson of feudal Japan, although it may not be completely accurate.

This is Hollywood’s version of the mob taken even further over the top, but it does make for interesting and amusing game material. The game is hampered in many ways though, and it drags down the entire experience. Perhaps Mediamobster will whip the game into shape with a few patches.

The Incredibles is just not that "incredible". It's an okay game, fraught with minor issues on a technical front and saved by high production values and attention to detail in less substantial areas.

As a game, 24 is not that strong of an entry into the PS2 library, but as a videogame treatment of a TV show, it does a remarkable job of nailing the presentation and style of the original content.

Although Vigilante 8 Arcade for XBLA maintains the spirit of chaos and destruction of it's 1998 namesake, it lacks the polish one would expect from a game released for a 7th generation platform. However, if you and your friends have an insatiable urge to blow each other up in glorious vehicular combat but you don't want to throw down $60 each for GTA IV, this is certainly a viable alternative that could easily fill a few hours.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames certainly lives up to its name. It's as if Pandemic made a game just to show of “hey look at the cool explosions we can do!” It's too bad the AI and graphical glitches bring such a promising game to a frustrating halt.