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.