While it doesn't do anything new for the genre and pales in comparison to some of the more substantial XBLA racing games that are currently available, there is fun to be had with Sega Rally Online Arcade if you know what you're getting yourself into. It's a family friendly title, and a good starter game if you're looking to indoctrinate one of your kids (or wife). And if you're a racing aficionado with a nostalgic bent, it's not a bad way to spend some time.

At the risk of repeating myself, the game is just broken. And in this age of "eh, we'll fix that with a first-week patch," it's particularly sad to see what feels like so little effort put into living up to what can even objectively be described as a legendary property.

It's a bold, cinematic step forward in a genre that's dying for innovation, and its implementation of the MotionScan technology is truly a game-changer.

Whether you're playing against the challenging AI or your friends, tChess Pro gets every knight and rook right.

Longevity aside, it's only a dollar, and if the concept of a sea-based mammal blasting robotic sharks with a laser cannon strapped to his back appeals to you in the least, I'd recommend taking the plunge.

If you want a battle simulator with support roles and a grand tactical battlefield, play MAG. If you want an old-school test of reflexes and headshot-ing skill, SOCOM 4 is just what the grenade spamming sniper doctor ordered.

Dirt 3 doesn't disappoint anywhere else, and it's easily one of the most interesting "simulation" racing games to come out in the last couple of years. Play this game if you're a racing fan, or just play it if you want a change of pace -- the bumps in the road are worth it.

This is a title made for a specific type of gamer -- someone who views an unbalanced game as a challenge and not as a flaw. For the rest of us, Overflow's poor gameplay mechanics and inaccurate controls will remind us how fun this game could have been.

It's amazing that Mythos made it out at all, even more so considering how solid its core mechanics managed to be in the final product. Flagship's DNA comes through clearly even as you sift through the unnecessary crap. But with so many competent Diablo clones out there already, there's little reason to play through the piles of slapped-together content that Mythos offers.

Fortunately, checkpoints are doled out steadily -- which is good, since missions can last over an hour. Along the same lines, you have to reconcile your play style with what the mission calls for in your loadout: In an escort mission, say, would you rather stay close to the front lines, or provide more backup? You can only carry two guns, and the default pair never felt ideal for me. Here's where you're encouraged to truly experiment, because your performance affects how much you can upgrade stats like combat-readiness or how long you can run without getting winded. It's just too bad that your performance will suffer because you had to babysit your wingmen.

It's a fair package -- more expansive than Dead Money but not quite as rich as Point Lookout, which is the current gold standard for Fallout DLC. And, of course, it's a long way from the expansion packs of yore, where $30 could occasionally yield what amounted to an entirely new game. Ten dollars is a fair price for what Honest Hearts brings to the table, but its ultimate appeal is down to whether or not you're still in the middle of a campaign. As it is, this four hour romp through Zion National Park isn't quite worth dusting off your seven-month old copy of New Vegas.

The Witcher 2 embodies everything that's good about PC development, and everything that makes it, in my mind, the best platform out there. It tells a mature tale full of intrigue, mystery, and frustrating but satisfying combat, and while it is difficult (remember, there is no shame in playing on easy if you're having trouble; no one's going to take your gamer cred away from you for doing so), it's bound to please any RPG player who gives it a try.

At $3, you're getting a near perfect port of a PSP Mini game that was originally six dollars.

And with all this fixing, adding, and rearranging, you get the sense that Dark Energy Digital desperately wants you to like their game, going as far as including an in-game "Dev Feedback" menu, letting players vote various aspects of the game up or down, as well as citing the reasons for those votes. But it reveals Dark Energy's focus on fixing the individual components of a fundamentally broken game, and while Prophecy's improvements make for a better experience, they only serve to make a bad experience into just another disappointment.



SpongeBob SquigglePants has a few problems that can be justified -- the lack of impressive 3D effects doesn't sting since the game includes a variety of cool art styles, and the game's derivation from the WarioWario formula can be forgiven since the core gameplay is entertaining. Unfortunately, there's no good reason for the game's biggest problem: the extreme dearth of content. At $40, there's not nearly enough of SpongeBob SquigglePants to justify a purchase.

Despite a terrible port job, Golden Axe III's old school barbaric aesthetic still allows you to crush your enemies, see them driven before you; and hear the lamentation of their women.

But aside from a boring narrative and some excessive backtracking, the cute art aesthetic and challenging platforming make this a satisfactory experience.

If you're an action RPG fan, don't make the mistake of ignoring Spiral Knights just because it's an MMO, as it is a sublime example of where you can take the genre.

If nothing else, The First Templar is an interesting look at what happens when an established developer moves beyond its comfort zone. Unsurprisingly, the results are mixed: a few glimmering moments of innovation diluted by hours of decade-old design.

It's a bold, cinematic step forward in a genre that's dying for innovation, and its implementation of the MotionScan technology is truly a game-changer.

The problem with Star Raiders is that it feels too bland.

True to the game's title, MX vs. ATV Alive is a game competing against itself. On one hand, you've got an amazing experience that any racing fan should check out -- it's truly the realization of a series that has been refined to near-perfection over the last half-dozen years. On the other hand, the game's pricing strategy has created a bit of an uneven value in which the available content is too lean for beginners to keep racing, especially if they're unable to go online. Fortunately, the game's positives are currently outpacing the negatives, and THQ's ability to create constant, quality DLC at a fair price can only widen the gap even further.

Despite showing its age, MDK2 is a great port. Ahead of its time when it was originally released, this updated model of an off-the-wall third-person shooter is well worth a look.

Even when you're not babysitting customers or fiddling with the iPhone's screen, the basic premise of tracing tattoos still turns out be to a mundane and banal experience.

Despite the lack of multiplayer capabilities and dearth of social options, the free game is definitely worth a look-- for shock value alone.

Basically, Dream Trigger is a shooter that comes off like it was trying to reinvent shooters, but falls pretty flat. And that's probably not the kind of "trip" it was going for.

This spooky social game is fun for a while, but an overemphasis on sitting and waiting may shorten the time it spends on your iOS device.

Kitty's Tattoo has a unique premise: gain fame by becoming the best tattoo artist in LA. But when you're not babysitting customers or fiddling with the iPhone's screen, the basic premise of tracing tattoos turns out be to a mundane and banal experience.