Thor: God of Thunder looks terrible, plays poorly, and was obviously rushed out to market with no fine-tuning whatsoever. Considering that the DS version is so much better by comparison (along with the vastly superior free Flash title from Marvel Studios), I'm saddened that this game had to ever exist.

Fable III was released in October of last year and, somewhat bizarrely, is only now getting a PC port. The good news is that the PC version comes prepackaged with the contents of the Limited Collector's Edition and all of the DLC packs. The bad news is that the keyboard and mouse controller arrangement is awkward, with particular problems involving camera angles during combat. While you're manipulating the WASD keys to move your character, you'll also be utilizing the mouse to move the camera -- so you'll often find the camera is looking the one way you don't need it to. Using a console controller solves this problem, but PC purists will wish the game was better mapped to keyboard and mouse controls.

It's by no means perfect, but Virtua Tennis 4 shows there is still life (and maybe a few trick shots) left in the tennis simulator genre.

All in all, a disappointing effort given that Pirates of the Caribbean should have been a natural fit for the franchise. Maybe I was a mistaken on that front, or maybe it was just poor execution on the part of the developers, but this is certainly one of the weaker entries in the series. And yet, for all my complaints, the formula still works. It's still fun to unlock new characters and hunt for secret collectibles.

Brink is about two or three updates from being one of my favorite shooters of all time, but I'm not reviewing the game I want it to be. I'm reviewing the game that it is, and what it is is something just short of being the awesome experience that I want.

Samurai Girl is a Korean 2-D RPG that offers a bizarre spectrum of creatures to defeat, admittedly fun combat, and some truly beautiful art. Too bad the level grinding and uninspired maps make it a chore to play through.

Absolutely. Bangai-O is similar, but not quite like a typical arcade-style "bullet hell" shooter, since you have more effective ways of fighting back. So if that brand of insanity doesn't appeal to you, perhaps Bangai-O's will. Not to mention that it's better and cheaper than its DS predecessor.

With vector graphics and line-drawing mechanics, A.I.R Defense has just enough to distinguish itself from other tower defense games. But its brutal difficulty and limited depth may turn some players away.

It's hard to take Destructopus! seriously. Yet, the cartoony looks, the trash-metal title track, the tongue-in-cheek environmentalism--are actually assets in the game's favor. Sadly, all of the ironic, ridiculous stuffing can't distract the player enough from the realization that they're playing a thin, easily-forgettable experience.

High Voltage's shooter sequel is certainly not a vast improvement over The Conduit, but its campy campaign and decent multiplayer is enough to make Conduit 2 worth recommending to fans of the first game. And if you're a fan of shooters who's willing to look past the game's many flaws, you might want to give the game a chance.

The nonsensical setup and steep difficulty makes this a game that wouldn't have felt out of place in an arcade 20 years ago, so it's a good thing that this is just a $0.99 App Store download; otherwise I'd be perpetually out of quarters.

The running control scheme could stand for a little bit more precision tuning, and sometimes it's possible to force one's way through a level by randomly changing the gravity, but iJumpman feels like a game that should cost much more than it does.

Really, I don't blame WayForward or Sega for such a boring game -- both companies have had their share of excellent games. But it's like being given a painter's canvas and three crayons -- you can create all you want, but the material you're given isn't the best to work with. But when I think of all the other things I've could've done on my Saturday -- went for a walk, strolled by the beach, gone to see a movie -- I can only gaze up at the heavens and curse Thor's name.

No matter how you slice it, Elements has very little to offer: If you prefer a top-notch strategy experience, stick with the essentials, like StarCraft 2, Shogun 2, and Dawn of War 2. If you want to play a great Kalypso-produced title, give Tropico 3 a try. And if you're just looking to play an RTS on the cheap, type "GemCraft Labyrinth" into Google. It's a free Flash-based tower defense game that's light years ahead of Elements of War in terms of fun and playability.

Trouble Witches Neo is a fantastic value for its price: It's easily one of the best shooters on XBLA, and offers a depth of play and wealth of content that will keep you coming back for more. While it's still a bit rough around the edges, the core game is so solid that you can't help but be charmed.

Darkspore probably won't replace your favorite dungeon crawler anytime soon. The satisfying controls and mountains of loot really only serve as a baseline in terms of this genre's gameplay. It would've been great if Maxis could have added some variety in the game's missions, but as it stands, Darkspore is a fairly redundant game with a slightly interesting character editor.

Considering everything you get with this title -- a solid single player campaign, a diverse multiplayer suite, and just plain fun shooter gameplay -- Section 8: Prejudice is a steal at $15.

Thematically brain dead.

Word Searcher Deluxe offers a great value for fans of the word puzzle genre, but it's clearly geared towards a very specific clientele. With plenty of puzzles, a local co-op mode, and downloadable content, word search aficionados looking for a new way to play their favorite newspaper-to-arcade game should check this title out. Everyone else may find the game lacking.

If you've ever had dreams of being a wartime tank commander, you just absolutely have to try it out.

For $5, you get a great-looking game as finely-tuned as any of Cave's other arcade-style games, making it more than the sum of its parts. Anyone into platforming action should give Nin2-Jump a go.

All quibbles aside, though, there's a worthwhile experience waiting to be unearthed for lovers of aesthetics and adventure alike.

Cut the Rope should be another huge hit for Chillingo. The simple premise is executed with clean, beautiful graphics, responsive multi-touch controls, awesome physics, and top-notch level design. Om Nom never ate so well.

The fact that Ubisoft was able to remaster one of the greatest chapters of the Splinter Cell on a portable platform with only minor downgrades is a small miracle. Splinter Cell 3DS is far greater than it has any right to be, given the drastic overhaul made to the control scheme and the newness of portable 3D gaming.

Sometimes a game can be a little too authentic. This is one of those occasions. While a dose of realism is a good thing in a game, My Little Baby takes it a little too far. Besides being a ton of work, infants also bring great joy, a feeling not experienced while playing My Little Baby.

For only $10, Fancy Pants Adventures offers gamers plenty of bang for their buck. If you are up to the challenge, and don't mind the game's occasionally derivative feel, you'll be pleased with your purchase.

Branching the Lego brand off into RTS territory is a good idea, and one that, at times, can be seen bearing some fruit. Unfortunately, there are just too many problems to make this game worth recommending. With a graphical overhaul and a few tweaks, this game might be able to briefly make the kids forget about their desires to catch all those Pokemon. However, like that space jet you attempted to construct when you were five, this game is probably better off forgotten.

There isn't much originality in the tower defense genre, but browser-port GemCraft adds RPG elements and additional modes that help separate it from the masses.