The Americanized version has lost something in translation, but for those who don't know any better; Elite Beat Agents delivers a fresh portable gaming experience with far-reaching appeal.

Few World War II video games are as gripping and brutal as Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

The presentation is the best we've seen yet for a PSP racing game, and the controls are surprisingly manageable. Still, the missing online compatibility and extremely limited car store leave this entry feeling above average when it should've been superb.

Packed with high-speed chases, car combat (you can bump rivals into walls) and ridiculous explosions, the game's still far from perfect. Sloppy looking characters, excessive loading and average on-foot shooting keep it several steps behind the competition. As a rental, however, Wheelman offers some decent thrills.

A worthwhile pick for fans and those in the mood for a wild brawl. Get some friends together and go ninja crazy.

It's fun, but this Crash is in serious need of an overhaul.

Play at your own pace and forgive the technical quirks, though, and you'll appreciate this game for what it is.

Blurry textures, an average story and Peter Parker's voice gets on our nerves, but overall, Web of Shadows is a cool Spider-Man adventure and much better than the horrid "Spider-Man 3."

Thanks to a gripping story, furious gunplay and cool multiplayer, Call of Juarez makes for a smart rental.

Dodging bullets and narrowly escaping capture (as well as an addictive Time Trial mode) make Mirror's Edge worth playing if you have the patience to survive its concrete jungle. Yet Faith's limited punches and kicks result in tedious combat, linear routes make the city surprisingly small and accidental deaths force you to restart numerous times.

No, it won't topple EA's Madden franchise, but this Blitz is worth playing if you want a smash mouth football game with mature issues.

Thanks to the superior handling of the PlayStation 2 analog stick over the PSP's analog nub, the controls have improved. Multiplayer remains elusive, but this Mercury remains a smooth piece of work.

Options like the hotseat multiplayer turn out being a massive waste of time. Lastly, the expansion doesn't integrate very well with Medieval II, with each campaign operating like a stand-alone, multi-part, Total War scenario.

Compared to most movie-based video games, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy, sans Matt Damon, is a miraculous achievement in that it doesn't suck.

Even for $5, we expected more creatures to blast, rooms to explore and weapons to fire. Those glaring omissions make Lost in Nightmares a good, but not great journey into the world of survival horror. Good luck.

It just about looks, sounds and plays as it did before, solidly but without anything "wow"-worthy to justify your $60 purchase.

By dodging most of its NBA Live pitfalls, the company created a solid basketball game that does tremendous things for the sports genre, yet still fails to best the competition.

The way the story and relationships change depending on your choices will keep you hooked, and warrants at least two play-throughs to see what might have been. However, just be aware that you'll have to put up with some problems.

Although it has slim pickings, Pop's enjoyable for a little while. With that said, repeatedly pressing A gets old real quick, and after a while, the thought of being number one in the world loses its luster.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a cinematic masterpiece, an orgy of exquisite full motion video sequences, beautiful music and quality vocal performances. As such, it's not a movie. It's a video game, and as a game, Crisis Core is good, not great.

Rock Band for the PlayStation 2 is like seeing a cover band over the original performers -- you'll have a good time but you'll notice something is missing.

You'll find three excellent Real Bout Fatal Fury games here, all restored to their classic 2-D glory. There's nothing mind-blowing here, but it's far more functional than most of SNK's other compilations.

Hot Brain manages to stand out in an overcrowded genre due to its charm.

The introduction of hooks and slices results in shots that veer off too easily to the left or right, even for the steadiest hand. That's too bad, because the rest of the game lines up nicely.

Sadly, that sums up all the new content. Players can beat it within an hour and never play it again.

A decent rental.

The inability to use your Miis as playable characters hurts. However, for $30, it's a fun game to play with friends, even if competitive figure skating sounds somewhat ridiculous.

Unfortunately, the enemies lack anything resembling intelligence, something that is poorly remedied up by the common solution to such an issue -- adding more enemies. At least the multiplayer is interesting.

Instead of reinventing the franchise, THQ merely tacked on some additions to the formula. That's not enough to wrestle away our $59.99.

The lack of downloadable content is a shame, especially with certain Aerosmith tracks like "Amazing" and "Chip Away At the Stone" missing. The guitar-strumming gameplay is what you would expect from a Guitar Hero game, catchy and entertaining, although there's nothing new.

The graphics look decent (despite some broken animations), and the game allows players to smash both Orcs and Hobbits. That said, the mindless button mashing grows redundant and some enemies are mind-numbingly difficult.

If you need a party game, you could do a lot worse than Lips.

Unfortunately, co-op multiplayer and the Zombie Mode didn't make the cut. World At War on the Wii ends up a distant second to the PS3 and 360 versions, but it's still a fun shooter.

We're also disappointed by the lack of content about the band, interviews or other items that fans might enjoy.

The visuals still look great a year and a half later, but the controls are still sluggish and the campaign is over too quickly.

Hideous dialogue, repetitive gameplay.

Whoever was in charge of programming the AI fell asleep at the wheel. The computer is at time[s] such an unholy bastard that playing against it makes me want slam my PSP against a wall. The AI will do whatever is necessary to make sure that you lose.

It all amounts to a game that'll keep you busy for a few hours, but only because you want to unlock bonus content or score achievement points/trophies. If you're into disposable content and transforming robots, Revenge is a decent rental.

Here's what you will recognize: a convoluted plot involving a missing daughter and rampant, depraved ghosts; frequent switching between the "real" world and a ghastly nightmare realm; and many locked doors with craftily hidden keys.

The developers do a crappy job filling in the story's gaps, and much of the gameplay relies on trial and error, which leads to tons of unnecessary deaths.

Midway didn't update its roster (Jason Kidd plays for Dallas, not New Jersey), the story mode (what there is of it) makes no sense and the artificial intelligence is quite boneheaded. We dig Ballers for its multiplayer mode, but that's not enough to warrant a $60 purchase.

The graphics don't look bad and the music is a well-chosen, energetic mix of EA Trax. However, the game feels more like a rehash than a full-blown sequel, with little improvement in the controls and not much to explore outside of decent online play and unexpectedly short modes.

While you're unlikely to find many online players to compete with, TiQal does offer a fun, albeit contrived, puzzle game experience.

It certainly looks amazing, and the epic soundtrack fits the game's fantasy theme, but Lair suffers from repetitive missions, cheesy voice acting and choppy animation. Fighting for ten minutes, dying and restarting from the beginning gets old real fast, and the cookie cutter story failed to hold our interests.

The events don't show much diversity, outside of a few creative "dream" events. Worse yet, the controls are haphazard, sometimes reading perfectly and other times barely registering. As a result, it earns a bronze metal, at best.

The graphics look good and the multiplayer options (including Game Sharing) are acceptable, but the lopsided racing kills the fun.

The in-game graphics are screwed up by constant glitches, a bothersome camera system and unpolished environments. Furthermore, the multiplayer options are weighed down with several flaws and a lack of online competition.

It's still fun to play, especially when you play online. Overall, though, this Tour will leave you less than thrilled.

The card battling system works, although not as well as it did on the GBA. Sadly, this re-imagining has come a bit too late for a series ready for its PS3 debut.

The game appeals to kids, thanks to its colorful characters, but adults will find it too easy. The tricks lack complexity and the game can be beaten in a couple of sittings.

Merely average, but worth a look for Sega fanboys and girls.

The DS version retains some of the original game's addictiveness, thrusting gamers into tense situations in which they must multitask in order to please impatient customers. At the same time, they must contend with wonky touch screen controls.

Sure, uploading tokens to one's Pogo.com account is a great idea, and wireless competition against friends will keep people busy, the product feels disappointingly limited. Good for rabid Pogo fans, but everyone else should stick to meatier products, most notably Nintendo's "Clubhouse Games."

So while G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra provides momentary thrills, it's little more than an overpriced and shallow romp through drab looking levels full of idiotic bad guys.

Kids will probably love it too, as well as some adults that enjoy Cartoon Networks shows and characters.

Copying enemy abilities and working alongside helper characters is cool, and we dig the imaginative environments, but there's not enough to keep us hooked.

You'll probably enjoy shooting enemies for a little while, and the various power-ups (yes, you can cloak) keep things varied. For $10, D-A-C has its moments. Just don't expect to boldly go where no Star Trek game has gone before.

Although the platforming isn't bad, the lack of replay value and small visual problems take away from the overall adventure. However, if you've got kids or you're a fan of Spike Jonze's film, you might be up for some Rumpus.

There are Achievements and Trophies to unlock, but more levels and characters (no Silk Spectre II) would've made this something to really watch.

Here's what you will recognize: a convoluted plot involving a missing daughter and rampant, depraved ghosts; frequent switching between the "real" world and a ghastly nightmare realm; and many locked doors with craftily hidden keys.

With no clue as to when Lumines Live! will actually contain all of the features listed in its menu, nor how much it will cost to get them there, it's tough to recommend until these details are made available.

One of the Wii's best trivia games, but we recommend that you pick up the downloadable WiiWare version instead for a mere $10.

A moderately engaging shooter with some interesting power-ups and lots of enemies to shoot at. The bad news is that the creativity is muted by underdevelopment.

Although the platforming isn't bad, the lack of replay value and small visual problems take away from the overall adventure. However, if you've got kids or you're a fan of Spike Jonze's film, you might be up for some Rumpus.

It's still fun to play, especially when you play online. Overall, though, this Tour will leave you less than thrilled.

Getting knocked down proves disorientating, the lack of quick weapon switching sucks and the game's weapons aren't nearly as imaginative as the ones from previous Turok games. Multiplayer adds value, but not enough to make this one a keeper.

TMNT comes with a turtle shell full of problems, yet the game still has appeal buried beneath them.

Turn-based battles are simplistic, repetitive and random, while the one-dimensional story failed to hold our interests. Nevertheless, the game's upgraded 2-D sprites, luscious pre-rendered backdrops and 3-D over world boost the presentation, and the music is, thankfully, timeless.

The game purposely lacks the depth found in 2K Sports' NBA 2K7, making it ideal for kids and parents. Everyone else should stick to more option heavy basketball games.

It's not every day that Square Enix releases a game for Xbox 360, so we expected Infinite Undiscovery to be an original and exciting action RPG. What we received is a boring, by-the-numbers adventure that once again casts us as a weak and at times clueless young boy that must destroy evil.

Although the game provides mild amusement, thanks to well-designed stages and different types of marbles, it only takes a few hours to beat.. Its lack of difficulty combined with limited modes keep it from justifying its $39.99 price.

While The Eternal Night tastes delicious, the benefits of that flavor aren't enough to make it worth eating.

Hardcore gamers who grew to love grand adventure games from a decade ago will have a blast. The game mechanics are tired, but there's nostalgic value to it. Fans of the series will also enjoy learning more about the characters. None of this negates the fact, however, that a fresh coat of high definition paint can't mask the fact that the Yakuza series needs to end or change with the times.

Unfortunately, perfecting one's craft requires much trial and error, thanks to the game's shoddy motion controls. Things work ok most of the time, but like the DS version, every once and a while the game fails to register the simplest of actions.

The graphics don't look bad and the music is a well-chosen, energetic mix of EA Trax. However, the game feels more like a rehash than a full-blown sequel, with little improvement in the controls and not much to explore outside of decent online play and unexpectedly short modes.

It all amounts to a game that'll keep you busy for a few hours, but only because you want to unlock bonus content or score achievement points/trophies. If you're into disposable content and transforming robots, Revenge is a decent rental.

The game has plenty of quality moments, ranging from battles with humongous aliens to beautiful scenery and animation. Unfortunately, sloppy controls and a boring multiplayer mode keep Lost Planet from dominating the Xbox 360.

There are Achievements and Trophies to unlock, but more levels and characters (no Silk Spectre II) would've made this something to really watch.

Karaoke fans probably won't mind, but without more songs count and variety, this one can't hold the tune.

Call of Juarez resembles an archaeological dig -- in order to locate treasure, players must dig through lots of crap.

Even worse, the game gets boring quickly. It offers decent fun, especially with four players, but Buzz could've used more organization, spontaneity and humor to liven things up.

No matter how delightful main character Parin and her amusing dialog, dull combat amounts to little more than frequent taps of X and most gamers will breeze through the simple puzzles.

Once you discover the game's deeply flawed combat system and bland storyline, you'll question if it's a journey worth taking.

With a little more work, Tenchu Z could've been a big hit, right up there with Team Ninja's more vigorous Ninja Gaiden games. The stealth kill system, customization options and co-op sessions give the game more weight than expected. Nevertheless, the game doesn't deliver a quality ninja experience.

Despite such changes and an energetic attempt to put more intensity into the game, it reeks of familiarity. The graphics haven't improved over the last two NFL Streets, and the attitude through celebrations and taunts fails to impress.

A pretty decent basketball game. That is, if you can deal with being unable to shoot while double teamed and character models that look nothing like their real-life counterparts. If you're cool with such mediocrity, then this one's for you.

An intriguing effort from a first time development company and it warrants a look.

Several ideas don't work well, particularly the lame light-gun bubble shooting mode and multiplayer. Having eight players in a game can be entertaining, but it relies more on blind luck instead of skill.

On paper, expanding upon each aspect of the well-received Phantasy Star Online appears attractive, yet a shoddy execution lacks the finely-tuned balance the game was known for.

Though they may lack the depth and complexity of the modern games they inspired, Final Fantasy 1 & 2 are still quite enjoyable, and definitely worth playing if you're a fan of RPGs.

The single-player missions don't take long to beat and the game's multiplayer lacks depth. Armored Core 4 should keep robot lovers busy, but it failed to improve nearly as much as expected.

Fantastic Four manages to stick to its roots and, as a result, wins the day with good ol' fashioned action and non-stop comic book action, like the film itself. Check it out.

The motion controls end up mixed between good and bad items and the multiplayer falls short in comparison to the heavily-loaded competition on other machines. At least it wasn't another "Far Cry Vengeance."

It's overly repetitive and squanders its Wi-Fi Connection advantage by only allowing quick SOS emails to go out to other users. It's not bad, but it's hardly innovative.

To some, SingStar 80's is pure nostalgic bliss, but it needs more content.

While introducing the finer points of the Nintendo Wii remote through mini-games like billiards and a cattle-racing game, all of them come up short in replay value, even with the ability to compete against a friend.

Although the action's decent and the games have a somewhat scary edge (thanks to Alma, a homicidal, ghostly little girl), neither held our interests for very long. Despite a handful of new enemies and weapons, you repeatedly slaughter the same foes, and the 2005 quality visuals can't compete with the 360's recent shooters, namely Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.

Regardless of its shortcomings, Barnyard's mini-games and activities on the farm make it worth at least a rental. Just accept the fact that bovines ride bikes and mix drinks.