It's hard to deny that from its humble beginnings to the spectacular finale, Kingdom Hearts II is absolutely what the first game should have been. Its production values are still amazingly high, but the mechanics and tactile experience of play are now equals.

The Warrior's Code is a long slog that's guaranteed to kill some free time—and may even entertain newcomers to the genre—but there isn't anything rewarding or enjoyable about it.

It's not like I need to be barraged by bells and whistles or the world's slickest design, but Rumble Roses XX comes off as cheap and patched-together. Konami should have put more work into making things (besides the women) appealing.

Blazing Angels would be a perfect place for someone who's never played a dogfighting game to start. For someone who's played a dozen, though, it's just more of the same. It's extremely well-executed sameness, but sameness nonetheless.

The variety of games is far better this time around that it was on their first PSP collection, Reloaded, and the overall quality of the selections is quite high.

Were it just another faceless GTA free-roaming clone I'd say EA did a pretty good job, despite a few minor shortcomings. But as it is, The Godfather has a hard time living up to the standard set by its license.

At first glance, Suikoden V looks like just another turn-based RPG in which good and evil face off and destiny conquers all. But in a subtle, subversive way, it shows that we can't take our own goodness for granted. Learning that there is no absolute good in war is an important, and powerful, lesson.

To make an embarrassing story short, Splinter Cell: Essentials is a mess. For a series that leads the stealth genre and has worked hard to make itself more accessible and more polished with each successive sequel, an entry like this—even on a portable— can only be seen as a miserable failure.

Oblivion is a game people will still be calling a classic a decade from now—and in the fickle world of gaming, that's high praise indeed.

Oblivion is a game people will still be calling a classic a decade from now—and in the fickle world of gaming, that's high praise indeed.

If nothing else, Hunters establishes itself as a solid and important entry into the Metroid canon with new elements like peripheral characters and a revamped game structure packaged in a more streamlined, enjoyable adventure than its immediate predecessor. For that alone it deserves respect.

Everything about the game is top-quality. The artificial intelligence provides plenty of interesting moments, the save points are frequent, the story is more accessible than Splinter Cell's dry politi-babble, the voice work and graphics are the best I've seen on the PSP, and the entire game drips with polish and care delivered by people who know what they're doing.

Every aspect of Daxter screams quality, and Ready At Dawn studios deserve an ovation for putting together such a masterful platforming experience.

This is still a very good game, and the volumes of supplemental material have kept me form lowering the score any farther than I have, but it has too many flaws to overlook. Critical flaws that keep it from being anywhere near the perfect game that many were hoping for, and continue to expect from Kojima.

It's shame that the ending is so inadvisably abrupt, opting for a limp 'shock' finale rather than a satisfying closure that would have sat so much better with the game's slow-burning narrative.

I'm very sad to see that the developers have lost the magic that the first Shadow Hearts had. It's clear that they've nailed the technical half of the formula (and have had it down for a while now), but half a game is still half a game— I would have preferred that they spend less time tweaking something that wasn't broken and instead focus on the intellectual side.

At present, Bigbig's casual disregard for the casual gamer has undermined a game that, in almost every other respect, is so perfectly suited to its host platform as to truly be a showcase title. [UK Version]

It may not be the most original or inspired product I've seen, but there's something to be said for nailing the content and pulling it off beautifully.

While many of the game's components have become stereotypes over the years, here they are carefully constructed and fit together perfectly, creating something larger than the sum of its parts.

I'm sure there's a small cadre of super-hardcore math majors into intricate medieval costume drama and puzzling out the mysteries of Generation of Chaos, but I'm not one of them.

Although I suppose that Super Princess Peach is an example of Nintendo slumming for cash, it also proves that even when Nintendo is slumming, it churns out stuff that isn't really that bad. It may not be memorable or very exciting, but it's not bad.

Sadly, I couldn't get past the use of the stylus on what is supposed to be the main event.

This game won't change your life or the way you think about gaming, but for those nights when you just wanna turn off your brain and shoot things, you could do far worse.

I see no reason to purchase and play a mediocre amalgamation with no exceptional qualities to recommend it, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised because nearly every game employing dragons as anything but enemies ends up stinking.

Its goals and identity are crystal clear, and the developers stick to them... [and] it takes full advantage of the PSP, not only by replacing raw horsepower with style and finesse, but also by keeping in mind that portable games should be different than console games by their very nature.

Even if the game can't provide a consistent level of excellence, there are enough great parts to recommend the whole package, as hit-and-miss as it may be.

That's not to say that it won't provide a few diverting hours of stylus-rubbing and microphone-blowing, but don't expect anything but a standard "part two" effort without a lot of meat to it.

Eminently playable.

I can't praise the structural work and the interconnecting quests enough.

This game is so weak and poorly constructed that I can't imagine playing it online with real people would make it any better.

To put it bluntly, Ape Escape Academy is a textbook case of monkey-see, monkey-do; it goes through the motions and mimics the best it can, but lacks the intelligence and understanding required to imbue its efforts with any sort of elegance.

The gameplay, while child-friendly, is still challenging enough to keep veteran players interested.

Wild Arms 4 evolves a little compared to other titles in this genre, but infantile graphics and immature, uninspired sections hinder it's full growth into JRPG-post-puberty. After all, coming of age ain't as easy as it seems to be.

This kind of thing seems like a perfect fit for squeezing in a few minutes on a portable system, not to mention that it's a brand-new game and not a spin off or sequel to something found on the PS2.

Videogames this ain't. Art it might be. But what is it? Electroplankton is. And that's all it sets out to be.

Simply put, Team Ninja deserves a truckload of praise for their work on this game.

The best thing to happen to the series in years. The AI programming system and shift to hands-off combat give Armored Core an incredible sense of freshness and renewed vigor.

It's weird, but familiar in all the right ways. I was addicted, but it did drive me batty.

A nice way to kill a few hours when guests are over, but I wouldn't have paid full price for it.

It's a good RPG with varied gameplay and an interesting story that unfolds at a nice pace.

Hammer & Sickle is something of a strange case—it's by no means a perfect game, but it features a perfect game engine.

By removing the questionable focus-group aesthetics and getting back to what made the game so great in the first place, The Two Thrones succeeds in delivering a rock-solid adventure experience from start to finish.

It's a shame because the art style attractively breaks away from the typical anime-esque lines and also sports some gorgeous animated cutscenes more interesting than the game itself. Despite these meager positives, there's nothing to recommend it outside of the fact that it's an RPG on the PSP.

My complaints about the storytelling and button-pressing aside, it's impossible to deny that Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is engaging from a tactile perspective—taking out evil toadstools by kicking a red shell back and forth between the mustache brothers just never gets old.

Between the fun I had playing it, the fitness boost I've gained from it (body fat now 13% and dropping if you want numbers), the awareness and discipline it's taught me and the sheer enthusiasm it's reawakened in me to turn on my PS2 for an hour almost every night, EyeToy: Kinetic distinguishes itself until it is, almost, virtually unassailable.

King Kong is short and still manages to be a flawed and redundant gaming experience. This isn't a bad game-just one that manages to underachieve in a lot of ways.

It has moments where it's genuinely fun, but these are too soon replaced by a sense of tedium as the "been there, done that" element comes to color later races.

There's nothing "next gen" about this title other than the graphics and sound. The gameplay would barely pass as mediocre on the last generation of consoles.

This is the kind of thing that should be handed out by uniformed men in mall parking lots, not sold in stores.

Although the animation and framerate aren't as optimized as they could be (one of the qualities common to Terminal Reality's other titles) and some of the combat sequences can occasionally be frustrating, looking past Charlize Theron's digitized face reveals Aeon Flux to be finely in tune with its animated soul-and a darker, more artistically challenging thrill ride than players are usually privy to.

It's sad when a gaming icon known for eschewing cliches gets mired in so many of them that he becomes part of the me-tooism he originally tried to combat.

Newcomers or devotees to the RPG genre may find some basic value in it, but my feeling is that most players who've been there and done that probably won't want another helping.

An adrenaline rush can be a very welcome thing, and playing something this fast and trigger-happy on the PSP made me feel glad that I had spent the money on the unit after so many months of boring, flawed games.

Dragon Quest VIII succeeds brilliantly by taking time-tested traditional-RPG gameplay and placing it in a uniquely vast and beautiful world that is a pure joy to explore and inhabit.

In between the unsatisfying battles and the go-nowhere story, there's a lot of searching for the right area or person that will trigger the next cutscene, and a lot of wandering back and forth for the sake of extending the game's playtime.

I'm not sure just why Activision was in such a rush to release the game that they didn't let Luxoflux actually finish it.

From Russia With Love is a great film. From Russia With Love is not a great adaptation of that film, as it seems to believe that what the source material really needed was a few more rocket launchers and gatling guns.

The simple fact is that even with the elemental tweaks and team attacks, this game is sorely average in terms of the challenges and ideas presented to players.

After the credits rolled I sat in my dim room feeling like a betrayed lover, staring at the title screen with empty eyes and worn down by exhaustion. Disbelieving and frustrated, I once again expressed a wish: blue pill, please.

All in all, it's just a game that works some of the time but doesn't have enough drive and ambition behind it to vault it to the upper echelon of must play experiences.

The game is what it is, and nothing I could say in this review will effectively capture the sensation of holding the guitar controller straight up in the air and slamming through an insane series of notes on reflex, not really understanding how I did it - and not really caring.

Sadly, anything good about the game gets bogged down in the mindless, repetitive blasting.

The story may be as dull as dirt and the graphics may lack a satisfying level of detail, but there's no denying that Trapt (and its three predecessors) provide a crazy sort of skewed gameplay that simply can't be had anywhere else. Very few projects actually make me laugh out loud with maniacal glee, but this was one.

It's a piece of satisfyingly decrepit eye candy. The gameplay carries on the Castlevania tradition of whipping bastions of undead into submission.

As it stands it's just a good game with a few very awkward parts.

I can accept but no longer appreciate the conventions of the past that Soul Calibur III upholds and I look forward to a game that embodies the newer and more reality-based ideals of competitive fighting.

In all fairness, Ratchet: Deadlocked should have been put out at a bargain price (around $20 sounds right) and labeled as an add-on or mission pack instead of positioned as a full-priced title.

It seems a shame that this inferior sequel makes us all take turns.

Perhaps the greatest legacy of Liberty City Stories will be to serve as a cautionary tale. As the power of portables becomes more analogous to home consoles, developers will be well-served to remember that even though the screen may be smaller, it does a great job of magnifying flaws.

The end result of their labor is a rock-solid videogame that almost perfectly captures the dread, majesty, and sheer abject terror of Lovecraft's world. One doesn't need to have read the fiction to enjoy the game, but those who're familiar with the world of Cthulhu and Innsmouth will find the game even more enjoyable because it works on multiple levels.

A rock-solid game. While it's not the Shining game I would have asked for, it's definitely one of the better hack-and-slash titles out there for the console market.

My first time through the game was the best eight hours of gameplay I've experienced in years, and it's game's only gotten better with subsequent playthroughs.

Despite the roughness and ever-present loadtimes, I can honestly say that The Con took me by surprise by being more interesting and engaging than I would have expected.

There's no denying that this year's game is a triumphant return to form for the franchise. It's nice to see skating back as the focus after the two Underground titles.

Due to the fact that both elements of F.E.A.R., the horror and the action, are crafted so thoughtfully they seamlessly merge together to create a, if not unique, then at least very polished experience.

While the basic premise of The Warriors on the silver screen remains intact in its videogame adaptation, it is confronted with a gritty sense of realism, which gives the original artistic vision of Hill a whole new angle. And that, dear Mr. Ebert, is art indeed.

Despite the half-done feeling of chapter five, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney remains the sort of game that I live for. It's intelligent, creative, and never ever loses its sense of humor.

Digital Devil Saga 2 isn't just about maturity; it has maturity, and that's a major accomplishment.

It may not be very original or innovative when compared to the rest of the games in the series, but Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow succeeds in bringing a similar level of polish and quality to the Nintendo DS.

There's nothing else on shelves quite like it, and it's a perfect example of the sort of out-of-the-box thinking that will transform Nintendo's fliptop from an ungraded GameBoy into a true next-generation handheld machine, conceptually as well as physically.

The co-op gameplay is what makes this game special, and while there are enough bugs and hitches in the co-op mechanic to ensure players will be annoyed a little on their way to the fun, it's still a worthwhile experience.

I may not have agreed— or even enjoyed—many of the choices that were made and implemented in the final product, but I have to admit that I'd usually take a flawed, unusual experience like Lost in Blue over most of the inspiration-free stuff clogging shelves today.

It's just about the perfect casual game, just right for people who are looking to kill ten or fifteen minutes at a time dodging dinosaurs and snacking on flies.

Frankly, I think the entire action-centric, Island of Dr. Moreau direction the game takes in its latter half is unnecessary. The game is more than suspenseful enough just by placing the player against impossible odds, and the game's lush tropical locales are much more compelling than the indoor corridors that appear a bit later on.

If video games were running shoes, Cold War would be the designer lookalike sold on the streets of Chinatown for nest to nothing.

It gets halfway there with an elaborate backstory and interesting premise, but it gets too stuck in standard FPS design conventions to ever really distinguish itself as anything special.

The developers obviously care greatly about the source material, and it shows in everything from the spot-on controls to the excellent voice acting.

Ultimate Spider-Man is nothing more than a bargain-bin effort that would be over and forgotten in an hour or two except for the pointless required side missions artificially extending playtime.

By forgetting some of the market expectations and putting a bit of themselves into their work, the game's creators (some of them at least) have made confident and convincing strides towards evolving the genre, and struck a balance between Eastern and Western gaming tastes that only Nintendo is normally capable of nailing so well. [Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher]

We Love Katamari is a loving, faithful rendition of Katamari Damacy—right down to its camera, which still wedges itself in places and sputters like an old lawnmower.

I would have liked a longer game with a little more challenge to it, but at the end of the day Genji does so many things well that I found myself willing to live with the flaws.

I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Quantic Dream's work is an achievement for dramatic storytelling and a bold step forward towards maturation of the medium. Games like this are what I live for as a player and as a critic.

A good game that will give gamers roughly twenty hours of offline entertainment and countless more online with friends. My biggest beef remains the fact that the game feels more like an expansion of last year's title as opposed to a new experience.

For fans of the show it's a wonderful new piece of new Animaniacs content. For everyone who isn't lucky enough to have seen the show, it's a solid piece of gameplay along with an opportunity to connect with some really wonderful comic characters.

One-on-one battles were a great way in the past to offer quick diversions in the middle of a longer AC campaign, but they are not enough to sustain a game all by themselves. Toss in the fact that the game's graphics are still as bare-bones as they were five years ago, and that there's virtually no new content with much of the material being recycled from previous games, and you've got something that would be a $20 add-on at best.

I honestly do think that Sir Daniel Fortesque is a good character with potential, but I would have much rather seen an all-new game with a nod towards current methodology than a rehash of something that honestly wasn't all that great in the first place.

These characters deserve a bigger canvas on which to tell their tale.

There isn't a plot to speak of, nor any gameplay elements beyond the fighting. But the fighting really is exceptionally fun for novices and experts, which makes this game extremely successful on its own terms.