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.

Unfortunately, you'll finish solo tour mode within a couple of hours, there's no online multiplayer and the original master tracks aren't available.

Pointless minigames failed to hold our interest, while a horrid MIDI-based soundtrack, comprised of "hits" like Happy Birthday and Jingle Bell Rock, had us reaching for Guitar Hero.

The game just has a smooth, arcade flow that I really appreciate. The action's fast paced, it's really easy to score, but at the same time, the defense is smart enough to pick off bad passes and swat horrible shots.

Spider-Man 3 on Xbox 360 stands out as the best version, thanks to slightly improved graphics and numerous achievements to unlock. Unfortunately, the awful camera, frustrating combat, bad character models and cheesy voice acting make it less than stellar.

Despite an arsenal of moves, the process of switching between weapons is labored and will most certainly result in your demise. The lack of a dedicated single player campaign mode hurts as well. Worst of all, Confrontation includes a ridiculous amount of technical bugs.

Publisher Codemasters didn't complement Barker's original story with an enjoyable video game.

While not a deep or especially polished adventure, it'll keep you entertained for a weekend.

Contra deserves more than one play-through, but the bugs make it one of Xbox Live Arcade's black sheep. Hopefully, Konami will pull out all the stops for a version of "Super Contra."

One of the best horror games to come out this fall, with horrifically imaginative creatures and dark, blood-covered environments.

Game Night is definitely the way to go if you don't own the original games, or if you're too lazy to drag them out of the closet.

The battle system wears thin quicker than expected and the story comes across as a little flimsy, especially when compared to more current Final Fantasy games. Nevertheless, it offers hours of enjoyment.

Although the game contains an interesting tactical set-up and numerous races to choose from (Klingons included), the game just isn't fun to play. Not only is it unnecessarily complicated, but also slow and sloppy.

Gearbox has once again delivered a superb presentation with Mad Moxxi.

The whole collection theme grows tiring, with players having to repeat races to find items to proceed. The DS-exclusive enhancements don't help either, and end up being pointless.

NBA 07's offensively charged gameplay makes it one of the PlayStation 3's best launch games. Instead of relying on playbooks, Sony San Diego focused on sick dunks and dazzling off balance jump shots.

As it stands, it's just another fighter that tries – and fails – to knock Street Fighter IV off its mighty throne.

You'll be able to solve all five cases and locate all the "secret movies" within a matter of hours. Fans should check it out; others might want to rent it.

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.

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.

Fans of the franchise will be drawn to the game's authentic anime stylings, but might soon be turned off by repetitive missions, brainless AI and problems with saving and restarting missions.

The combat grows repetitive, but the various power-ups, including fire and electricity, are awesome.

Its skill tree, with powers dependent on the levels of other abilities, provides an innovative approach even though it can be viewed as limiting from a certain perspective.

At its best during four player matches, where everyone runs around the ring, bounces off the ropes and delivers bone-rattling special moves. Outside of its enjoyable multiplayer, however, the game isn't much fun.

Despite these complaints, Mario Party 8's motion controls, fresh new options and accessible bonus content make it a party that shouldn't be missed -- not even by those who thought that the series' best days were already long gone.

First and foremost, it has just as much charm as id's classic Doom, with hilariously bad pre-rendered enemies, a fresh feeling of exploration and multiplayer options galore, both off-line and through Xbox Live. The second is a rapid frame rate that induces motion sickness.

Ratatouille won't astound those looking for something more original. On the other hand, it still gets by with a healthy portion of fine content, enough to be worth a rent – or a purchase to those with young kids. This rat hasn't quite produced a prime rib, but at least the meal didn't stink.

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.