High production values, awesome details and options and generally involving play dynamics made last years' World Series one of the greatest ball games ever, and the minor improvements to this year's game seem to be enough to keep Sega Sports' franchise on top of the pack.

7 weak mini-games do not make for a good game. With only 2 out of the 7 warranting continual play, I'd say that's a pretty pathetic batting average.

You'll be impressed by the graphics. They don't seem as jaw-dropping as they did three years ago, but they have held up nicely and allow for an astonishing number of different ships and other space objects onscreen at the same time, which makes for some very hectic battles.

Tenchu's disjointed mission structure, temperamental camera and disappointing enemy AI will leave new gamers looking for something a bit more polished and sophisticated.

Isn't so much terrible as it is pointless. The success of a stealth-based game relies very heavily on complex AI and interesting moves. Sadly, IGI 2 fails on these fronts.

A port handled as well as this comes up practically as often as a deal like this. Bear in mind, it's still a port, and noticeably aged compared to brand new RPGs. But it's still a terrific game.

What really takes me away from the serious nature of Post Mortem are the shoddy character animations. The characters fidget and jerk in repetitive, awkward ways. It really gets distracting and pulls you out of the narrative. Less movement would be have been far more effective.

Harbinger defines mediocrity.

With both this expansion and its predecessor, Heroes IV expansions only give you more of the same... and charge you $30 for the pleasure. Does that make this a bad game? No, it doesn't, but it is a bad expansion.

While I disagree that the future of RPGs entails such a separation between movie and game elements, the two still propel one another in the best interests of the story.

The developers and testers got so used to this game's ponderous interface and extreme complexity that they lost sight of the average gamer, whose primary goal is to have fun.

Everblue 2 does a nice job of being strange. Unfortunately, it does a poor job of being fun.

Its style and abundance of butt-kicking goodness provide enough fun for the whole ninja clan, though it's a little light on depth for the more hardcore fighters.

Better than average combat through exotic locales is always fun. Just steady that camera, grab your wetsuit and don't eat the monkey brains.

Splinter Cell's gameplay is perfectly adapted to the mouse and keyboard.

The refreshing battle system is worthy of props.

Filled with innumerable challenges, likable characters and a high production value. But beneath the surface, the lightweight story and characters combined with the almost rigidly episodic game flow still hold it back.

Its story concept and great visuals give it a nice boost, but its lack of options and frustrating AI add some unnecessary weight.

It flexes its muscles with artistic creativity, much like "Ico" and even "Rez" before it. But those two were much, much stronger in the gameplay department.

Carried over from the last generation, this fighting game just feels old and fights with no heart whatsoever.

Even though Capcom vs. SNK 2: EO for the Xbox is about as fresh as a two-day old bagel, the online capabilities of the Xbox revive this tired title.

It's a much slower-paced affair than most other recent RTS games like "WarCraft 3" and "Impossible Creatures," but the slower movement makes for a more strategic game.

"Everquest Lite." It's not a bad game and I give it credit for being the first true console MMORPG, but it gets boring to play since you can only go forward.

I disagree with the "improved" character design, feel irked by the hateful camera, and in all, the game has aged in the short time between the PS2 and the Gamecube.

What it has gained in control it has lost in style and pacing.

From the demon rock musician, I-no, to the back broken zombie, Zappa, there is something unmistakably Japanese in the extreme garishness of it all.

Considering it's a port, I would have been much happier if more attention was given to the audio and video.

While technically polished, the artistic vision of the first game has been lost. There's just not enough style or substance to DMC 2.