For me, The Minish Cap has marked a point at which I seem to have become blasé to the brilliance of the series, at least in terms of its largely unchanging design foundations.

I wonder if we haven't reached the point where games like this can start leaving out the plot entirely. It's a game about giving the player a gun and telling them to go nuts.

And as a videogame, there's not much in Chain of Memories that I haven't seen before…except card breaks and room synthesis.

If the gameplay was incredibly fun, or the graphics fantastic, then perhaps playing basically the same mission over and over again for ten hours could have been bearable, or even mildly entertaining. Torrente, by comparison, was more like pulling teeth.

Carrying on the same kind of rough, unpolished quality into a sequel without any innovation is completely unacceptable to me, Star Wars or otherwise.

If nothing else, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within proves that good gameplay always trumps bad style choices.

Kojima is both retro and eccentric, and unless you're willing to accept that, his work won't fly for you. But if you are, if you are on his wave-length and able to appreciate all the witty touches that make his games sing, his work becomes rewarding in ways almost no other games are.

This is not the worst game ever made, but it's so inept at so many different points that it inspires more anger than a genuinely awful game.

A game about toy-car-racing with a unique although not spectacular racing system that chooses to imbed this racing, like an egg, inside a pretty bland and lifeless RPG that features toy cars that yell at you for coming into their house. It's not for everybody.

More than anything else, I suppose, Half-Life 2 is the story of a group of developers in love with their physics engine.

The ideas and situations in Bloodlines are so rich they deserve more than just being abstracted into an unwieldy numerical system that can only roughly approximate the nuance of a world so vivid.

Finest Hour is a heavily-scripted experience, almost to the point of being completely on rails. Things happen because they're scripted to happen, not because they're an organic outgrowth of the gameplay.

This is one of those rare experiences where the follow-up actually surpasses the original in terms of playability.

I mean, the game's already five years past being relevant, it would have killed them to take another six months to make it decent?

True, nearly everything in Echoes was also in its predecessor, but the merit in maintaining that game's superb balance whilst still making careful additions (Echoes bears the burden of flawlessly updating the screw attack into 3D with great élan), giving nearly every interface a new lick of paint (dig the sleek new menu design) and imbuing the game with its own uniquely foreboding atmosphere (with a moody synth score that's equal parts John Williams, Kraftwerk and Joy Division) cannot be understated.

I was just plain happy with Terrorist Takedown, and given the cost, and I think there are plenty of action game fans people who'll feel the same way.

Perhaps this is just a pitiful attempt to justify my horn dog instincts and guilty pleasure in playing Rumble Roses behind some twisted logic. But who could blame me? After all, I'm only a man. My wife, while rolling her eyes, sympathizes.

AntiGrav is a superb idea and a very innovative use of a new technology, but the jumping and grinding action of the game wouldn't really be that interesting apart from the interface, and it doesn't do anything that you couldn't do better with a controller.

I can only hope that when Guerilla gets around to making the sequel they obviously have planned for the PS3, they can make it the beautiful, polished experience they obviously wanted this one to be.

Sure, the offline mode can get old fast, but arcade racing fans with an internet-ready PS2 will find that the title's playability grows almost exponentially when experienced with a group of other human beings.

The spinning intensity of "FreQuency" and the glowing, surreal world of "Rez" are perfect examples of the synergy that can be achieved by blending traditional videogames with the energy and visceral response music can command. Arika's effort seems to want to carve itself a similar sort of alternative niche, but possesses only a fraction of the gameplay required for relevance. As a result, it fails vapidly.

This is arguably the most important videogame this year - yes, even more important than "Halo 2" - not only because it's a superbly crafted videogame, but because it's also a bona fide sociological artifact, one that manages to effectively evoke a specific time and place in American history—in this case, a hot and hazy California during the nascent days of hip-hop culture.

Too much effort was spent trying to force loveable, quirky characters down my throat with all the believability of The DaVinci Code's plotline.

Humor is this game's selling point-not battle systems or graphics or game engines-and gamers who value a smart and entertaining tale well told will certainly be able to look past the game's other problems.

With multiple endings, several unlockables, and a nice difficulty curve it's an enjoyable play. What frustrates me about Neo Contra is that it could have been another "Gunstar Heroes" had it taken the quality of its humor more seriously.

In this day of deformable environments, realistic injuries and true physics, it's just a light, fun experience, and a perfectly acceptable beginning to the new KOF franchise. I can only hope that next time around they try to accomplish something truly new, rather than just new to them.

Players craving the classic Japanese RPG will probably find its eccentric identity empty and uninviting, but those patient few willing to find sustenance in the battle system, customization, and unique atmosphere will find Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne impressive and overflowing.

It's not a perfect game, but it does so many things well that missing out on it would be a crime.

Its battles are strangely beautiful. Most of all, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the most fun I've had spending 50 hours-and 50 dollars-in a long, long time.

It's not a perfect game, but it does so many things well that missing out on it would be a crime.

I do admit that I gleaned more than a few moments of guilty enjoyment from the experience, it's really just a terrible, terrible game that wouldn't be able to justify its own existence without the gleefully gratuitous content.

Strikes me as a good idea, but in its current state it falls obscenely short of the fun and playability that usually comes with a Mario game.

The excellent balancing of gameplay and humor make this game a worthy companion piece to VU Games' superlative "No One Lives Forever" franchise.

A decidedly mediocre game. There's nothing really new here, and nothing that hasn't been done better elsewhere.

Everything that worked in the first game has been improved, and everything that didn't has been fixed or discarded. Is there anything new here? No. It's the exact same game that Headhunter was, only better.

In essence, you've seen it all before. Unless you want to see yourself.

Easily the best of the X-Men games to ever appear on a console and a shining example that not all games based on licensed properties like comics and movies have to suck.

I'm far more excited by the ridiculousness of watching a lop-sided ball of junk made of houses, cars, welcome mats, sushi pieces and little girls, with a totem pole jutting out of one side and a herd of cows stuck to the other, rise up into outer space to transform into a star.

Everything that worked in the first game has been improved, and everything that didn't has been fixed or discarded. Is there anything new here? No. It's the exact same game that Headhunter was, only better.

With slightly more vivacious level designs and a little American bombast here and there, this very British title could have turned a lot more heads.

Everything that Dawn of War does it does exceptionally well. The only real problem is that everything it does has already been done a hundred times before.

Gradius V may not reinvent the wheel that is the space shooter, but it refines it to near perfection. This is a title that no serious gamer should miss.

It portrays the killing of specific, theoretically real (in that they're virtual stand-ins for the actual soldiers that fought in the war) people as nothing more than a gruesome shooting gallery...At some point everyone has to decide when enough is enough. And now I have.

One of the stated goals of the developers was to immerse the player, allowing her to experience the sense of satisfaction of pulling off an intricate heist, tangoing with the law or paragliding across a Prague estate while remaining dapper and collected. In this I think Sucker Punch definitely delivered.

For all its advertising about a virtual world governed by cause and effect, Fable is really just a terribly unambitious hack and slash game in a bad marriage with a personality simulator. The hack and slash works fairly well-everything else, not so much.

It's starting to look really long in the fang and could use an extended rest at some abandoned sanitarium. Otherwise, the only thing that's going to be scary about these games is the frightening pace Konami churns them out and just how far they've fallen from the original.

Takedown, whether it's making my heart pump or the hair stand up on the back of my neck, not only represents a dramatic step in the right direction for the series, but also for the racing game genre in general.

Now, it's possible that this game only looks as great as it does because the game it's following set those expectations so abysmally low, but even without taking that into consideration, it's still an incredibly fun game.

The story kept me interested to the end of the game, and the battles were fast and furious for the sixty-five hours I happily put into it.

Even though it's most definitely a must-buy masterpiece, in my hard-headed opinion Pikmin 2 is still a tad bit shy of toppling the classic original. [JPN Import]

The level designs may lack the intricacy, and consequently the intensity, of the studio's high watermark titles (Ikaruga; Gunstar Heroes) and the constant left-to-right blandness is a possible criticism, but, primarily because of the narrative ingenuity injected into a typically 'action-at-all-costs' genre, Astro Boy still feels like something of a landmark title for the GBA, and for side-scrolling games in general.

The game's central silliness charmed me. Were the game exactly the same in every respect except for the ghosts, and I was playing some kind of a futurecop battling crooks in jetpacks, the game would have been a five—just good enough.

Duffers who like to spend more time on the couch than on the greens will find much to enjoy here and they can do it without looking like a dork in a pair of knickers.

An exquisite experience from start to finish. Its huge set pieces, impressive vistas, and engaging mechanics are as strong as the sense of personality and creatorship behind them.

Another shortcoming is that the game's world is relatively engaging with its cotton candy color scheme and map hinting at tons of locations to explore, and yet the real world of the game is little more than a series of interconnected pathways with arbitrary roadblocks to keep players progressing in the most linear fashion possible.

The devil is really in the details. I was obsessed with collecting recipes all over the world, by seeking out the elusive Wonder Chef, whose dishes provide various healing effects after fights.

To pan the game for not being more like GTA 3 is misguided, disrespectful to the each title's unique contributions, and also speaks volumes of the lack of critical thinking of the X-Play critics and the industry as a whole.

A landmark superhero game that offers an experience not only unique to superhero games, but gaming in general.

I can't thank Capcom and Atomic Planet enough. They've let me into a world I wasn't developmentally ready for 15 years ago, but which still makes me feel like a kid again. I always knew I'd come back to Monsteropolis someday. Thanks for waiting, Mega Man.

Only a masochist would have the patience and stamina to finish it. I was on one of the game's final missions when, after what was at least my twenty-fifth re-start, I impulsively hit the OFF switch on my television. I'd had enough. I opened a beer, then sat in the darkness, enjoying the sudden silence and the fact that this game, which had been vexing me for days, was once and for all out of my life.

From the dull as dirt level design to the ugly graphics to the obscene amounts of backtracking required to power up all the characters' attacks, there's nothing at all to recommend about the game.

Frustrating, boring, and poorly executed, this is a game that is destined for the dustbin.

Despite all of my moral problems with the game, I can't deny that it's an incredible experience, one that has to be played to be believed. It's worth buying just to get a glimpse at a perfectly designed control scheme.

Despite all of my moral problems with the game, I can't deny that it's an incredible experience, one that has to be played to be believed. It's worth buying just to get a glimpse at a perfectly designed control scheme.

It may not be a technical marvel or something that will keep you occupied for days on end (it's best played in 30-minute bursts, in my opinion), but it's hard to deny the energy and enthusiasm the game brings with its off-kilter PaRappa-style characters, a kooky sense of humor, and the welcoming playability that developer Jamworks has packed onto the disc.

Oh, and one final message to the developers, a little note for next time-if you're not going to bother making your characters able to climb stairs, a good way to disguise this massively unrealistic shortcoming is to not put any stairs in the game! Something to keep in mind.

It's rare that a game of such impeccable design and ingenious execution is seen. It's paced wonderfully through an interesting story; features well-developed, appealing characters; and blends numerous gameplay types into one flawlessly executed adventure.

Greater diversity is always a good thing, and if there are more quality gems like this on the way, then I'll be quite happy holding a Controller S for some time to come.

It excels in creating a gripping narrative that lends a strong contextual backdrop to the gameplay.

The ability to freeze time while scanning the level layout is an excellent feature, allowing the player to plan ahead and appreciate the strategic side of these spatial conundrums. However, the correct path through each level is a little more obvious and straightforward than in the GameBoy original, so planning your progress now takes more of a back seat to time-pressed platform expertise.

Transformers might be a good purchase for crazy, obsessive fans of the license (like me), but for anyone who demands rich play experiences and balanced design, this is one of the few times that Optimus Prime has failed to complete his mission.

Everything from the graphics to the storyline feels half-baked.

A breath of fresh air for me, breaking away from genre conventions and striking out in interesting directions.

But Van Helsing's missions are all means to an end, which is to rehash the film's plot in a videogame.

It's not as pretty as "Splinter Cell", it's not as engaging as "SOCOM 2", and it features a frustration factor that's almost in the realm of "Ninja Gaiden"—without the rewards.

Enjoying La Pucelle Tactics requires a compulsive temperament and a perverse sense of humor.

Like making love to an armadillo; it may be rough and full of bumps, but underneath it all is one sweet ride.

A great popcorn thrill-ride from start to finish. It may not be the deepest or most thought-provoking thing out there, but there's no question it delivers on its promise of slam-bang action and enough plot to hold it together.

The game has the energy and vibe of a Roger Corman film, and like Corman's movies, Serious Sam: Next Encounter not only feels like it was created in just a few days on a very low budget, but it's also obvious from the puckish spirit of the final product that the people who made the game had one hell of a time doing so.

The combination of brutal, mostly unwinnable combat and the level-scouring required to solve some of the puzzles might be frustrating to some.

Yes, the EyeToy has potential. Groove is an example that the potential has yet to be realized.

Worth playing because its one of only a few videogames on the market that does not lead me from point A to point B and just flat out refuses to do any of the hand-holding that gamers are accustomed to.

My only real complaint about the game is that there aren't any bonuses or historical materials giving props to the original game.

Just about every feature in Fight Night lives up to the hype and feels right, if not outstanding.

Hacking and slashing my way through legions of intelligent monsters was surprisingly enjoyable, as was the addictive challenge to always increase my combo count. Overall, the space opera mixed with kick alien ass produced a fun bout of story-driven hack-n-slash, that gives as good as it gets.

I've never had an interest in MMORPGs until now, and since this game has released, I've got a full-fledged addiction (witnessed by my 14 full days of playtime since the PlayStation 2 launch last month).

The shooting was fun and all, but it would have been much more satisfying had I felt like all of my murdering had been in service of something.

In sharp contrast to many other games' hackneyed, hastily tossed-together multiplayer, Pandora Tomorrow offers one of the most creative and compelling online games ever made.

A mildly diverting shooting gallery, a mediocre FPS, and a slap in the face to those of us who have been waiting for seven years for a decent western-themed shooter.

With flat, repetitive environments and uninspiring combat, Breakdown doesn't have much to recommend it.

Sure, the game has flaws. But they're transcended by its ability to put us in awe of our own lives. We see our daily tedium through fresh eyes, feel it through newly excited thumbs.

Enemies in Return from Darkness are dumb. They're not so bad at visually spotting a character, but when it comes to chasing a spotted ninja down, they suck.

Rather from the bold, unique effort I hoped it would be, it's a weak, contrived bore that never gets off the ground. A four alarm blaze? More like a soggy day-old campfire.

The bland graphics, clunky controls, and atrocious load times (nearing 40 seconds in some instances) are nearly insurmountable shortcomings.

Playing this game was like witnessing the Broadway musical of Metal Gear Solid. Or maybe it's more like the movie adaptation of the book. You don't learn anything particularly new things about the characters or the story.

To recap: imagine playing the most uninspired, atmosphere-free "Resident Evil" clone that could exist... Then instead of using a control pad, you must verbally tell your brain-free character exactly what to do every step of the way. This is what Lifeline is like.

While developer Cavia has done a fine job of aping what makes "Panzer Dragoon" so much fun, the "Dynasty Warriors" elements of the game are sorely lacking.

With a string of never-ending combos rattling off my fingertips intuitively, without thought, I now stand my ground against one and all, confident in my abilities, quite certain of my power. And it's exhilarating, in the face of such overwhelming adversity, to be able to do so.