The bland single player holds it back, but things get much better when you play with friends.

While the "Mega Man Anniversary Collection" contained more meat, there's simply a ton of robots to blast, dozens of armor capsules to grab, and really no good reason not to let ol' Blue back in your life once again.

While not nearly as atmospheric as Lost in Nightmares, Desperate Escape is a very tense but short trip that's worthy of a playthrough for Resident Evil 5 veterans and those looking for an extra challenge that does not stray from the original campaign.

There's a lot to appreciate hidden behind Maelstrom's ugly exterior. With any luck, KDV Games will be greenlit for a sequel and will have the opportunity to polish up the aesthetics to match the good gameplay.

While it is to some degree better than "Nascar 2001," in many ways it is almost the same game (aside from the new foil cover). It features the same oval tracks, same types of cars and the same types of options.

Worth a look. Even if you are not a fan of the period or prefer more traditional RTS games, you will probably find that the challenges offered by the diverse campaigns will suck in more of your time than you expected.

Although Mission: Impossible puts strong emphasis on espionage tactics, some of the puzzles you are required to solve are rather obtuse, resembling mindless busy work, while others are downright (forgive the pun) puzzling.

Although surprisingly well made graphically, aurally, and, uh, olfactorily (err, that's just my gym sock), it loses shield strength in the gameplay department.

Though some of the round choices are odd and the commentary could use a bit more humor, the core trivia game here is a great choice for the casual game player looking for a trivia party game.

Ignore the RPG part and you might trade in the game after two hours; ignore the third-person shooter part and you might replay the game three times over. In short, it needs a sequel to get everything right. Look beyond its obvious faults and Alpha Protocol isn’t frustratingly bad, but frustratingly good; that is, if you care to look that hard.

Mobilized is an impressive package from a technical standpoint, even though it won’t keep you entertained for that long. But it’s definitely a fun experience while it lasts, assuming you’re a fan of DS first-person shooters. I’d steer clear otherwise — unless, you know, you like drunkenly shooting at pigeons.

After three games packed with at least twenty hours of consistently engaging platforming, action and driving, it's difficult to see Jak X as anything but an odd diversion. Even taken within the context of combat racers (as the title requests) there's little to make it stand out.

As with all fighting games, Tekken 6 - just like a certain something else - is fun to mess around with by yourself, but certainly more enjoyable if you can play with someone who knows what they’re doing.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game makes for one of the better movie-based games out there. It carries its homage to old beat 'em up games a little too far, forgoing online play and a consistent checkpoint system, especially for a game that's not meant to be played by yourself.

There's so much in this game to like, I almost feel like a jerk having to complain about its myriad bug issues, but a final release with this many problems just isn't acceptable. If it were any other type of product, from a television to a pork chop, I'd return it to the store.

While 1942: Joint Strike brings nothing new to its series, it’s just good nostalgic fun when you’ve got a wingman with you.

The characters are as amusing as ever, the story is easy to follow and broken up enough to keep it interesting, and there's always a fight to be had (complete with Goku getting hit, which I think could be considered child abuse in some areas). It's just a shame that the actual fighting is just as boring as it's ever been.

Liberty City Stories is unequivocally the lamest GTA to appear on the PS2, the first real blemish on its hitherto clean record, but that doesn’t make it a bad game.

By making the game more accessible to general consumers, they also took out some of the much needed depth. What it does, it does fine, but it doesn't do too much.

Excellent physics and suspension, aggressive opponents, and humongous and well-planned out environments give a bit of shine to a game that is otherwise strictly last generation.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game makes for one of the better movie-based games out there. It carries its homage to old beat 'em up games a little too far, forgoing online play and a consistent checkpoint system, especially for a game that's not meant to be played by yourself.

It takes risks, which we love, and builds off the risks of yesteryear, which is even better. However, little in this game is streamlined or intuitive, the fielding is awful, and some of the lapses are unforgivably sloppy.

There's not a great deal here that you haven't played before - like, last year - and we can't help but feel that this particular dungeon-crawl epic needs more updating and fewer characters. A little more, shall we say, mutation?

Wet is definitely enjoyable for those of us who like our action games with plenty of hack and extra slash, but like most of these titles, it’s not going to break the mold.

The biggest problem with this collection is the interface. How did we play these games back in the day? Dials, trackballs, joysticks, and those arcade micro-switch buttons with that distinctive 'click'. Sure, the game is playable with a mouse and keyboard, but to the people who want this game the most, it isn't the same.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift might be the game its progenitor wanted to be, but it isn’t quite the game it could be when compared to its peers. Pacific Rift is a competent, robust, and fun racer, but not a particularly deep or innovative one.

Going past its flaws, Bit.Trip Beat is a solid buy for 600 Wii Points. It's a fitting revival of one of the oldest, yet most memorable, games ever - this time for the 2000s.

All the while, the voice-acting is of adequately Thespian caliber, terribly British and snooty in all the right ways—hopefully something that won’t be changed as the game makes its way to the American market.