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.