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.