Despite the familiarity of City Life’s gameplay, the social element is fresh enough to make it an easy recommendation, despite any political overtones it may carry. If you are a city building fan or just have time to kill until Sim City 5 is released, City Life is a good choice, thanks to its easygoing nature and appealing structure.

All this comes wrapped in what is arguably the best audiovisual package on Live Arcade, with lighting and water effects are so smooth and nuanced that it’s easy to forget, maybe even hard to believe, that this is a downloadable game and not a fully-realized retail release.

If you are someone who wants a game that will challenge their old-school gaming skills, as cliched as that sounds, then Hard Corps: Uprising is definitely for you. It's a game that is initially punishing, but ultimately satisfying.

Overall, Overlord is an exciting romp through a twisted fairy-tale land. While it lacks any incredibly difficult challenges, it delivers a laugh-a-minute story that is very well executed.

The new modes do a good job of forcing players to think during every race, but the lack of popular modes and online play really hurt the overall value of the game.

There are so many things that might have been implemented that would have taken it from being a very good game, to an excellent one. Nonetheless, the game is still a very good one.

Nightlife looks much the same as before, sounds much the same, and plays much the same. On this front, we’d rather spend a night in with the original than shell out the money for this second expansion.

With the exception of Boxing, everything in Wii Sports is entertaining, and there's a little more depth than the simplistic presentation might lead you to believe.

With newer topics, an improved interface, and online play, Box Office Smash is loads better than last year’s rookie attempt.

Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy what Underground brings to the table, and if newcomers can look past the fast-moving story and clunky fighting and enjoy the adventure elements for what they are, then they surely will have a good time as well.

Even though Second Evolution plays pretty much the same as First Departure, don’t let the similar conventions fool you—Second Evolution is a much better game.

The Signal is a great addition to the Alan Wake story but there is not enough here to really understand the reasoning behind it.

It may be underappreciated just for what it is, but those who pick it up and really play into it will quickly find that this one is something special.

Despite the horrible name and the similarities to Lumines, Empty Clip has produced what's probably the best available game on the WiiWare.

EA Sports did what they could, but it's all about the future now. Rest assured, Madden is probably a good way to finally retire your GameCube and Xbox.

If you have an Xbox or PS2, save yourself the pricetag of a brand new game and pick up a version that's frankly just as good and holds greater value. If you just have the 360, you can go ahead and pick this game up, but don't count on it to blow your mind.

Though there are control issues that make it a more clunky experience than we’d like, the quality of the story and jokes is enough to make it worth enduring those issues.

Though the game takes probably around eight or so hours to beat like the first, less if you know what you’re doing, it feels longer than the first episode since there are more variety in the quests that you’re given throughout the game.

Sega Rally Revo has its market and it knows it. You probably won't change your mind about arcade or rally racing games because of this game, but if this is your genre already, or you've just liked the past Sega Rally titles, feel free to jump straight in behind the wheel.

Regardless of some of the stumbles in NBA Live 09, this year’s game is definitely worth a purchase for the first time in years.

Newcomers will love its pick-up-and-play nature, while the hardcore platform enthusiasts will spend a lot of time looking through every nook and cranny in the game to find something special.

The end result is a game that will satisfy neither hardcore fighting gamers nor casual players outside the core MK fanbase. This is a fan game to the core, and can only be recommended to the most devout of the MK faithful.

if you’ve got a PC, and if you’re reading this you obviously do, then you might be better served to just buy Bejeweled 2.

The world of Baten Kaitos is a place of luscious and beautiful color that anybody would want to visit in a fairy tale. But is that enough? If you've played the first game, you're bound to be disappointed with the way the first half of this title turns out.

In the end, this is the same kind of game as the original. It's much more polished and rewarding to play, but it still requires a lot of trial-and-error and quick reflexes.

Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy what Underground brings to the table, and if newcomers can look past the fast-moving story and clunky fighting and enjoy the adventure elements for what they are, then they surely will have a good time as well.

Even the PSP version is online, but there is some noticeable lag with the game, but it really doesn’t kill the gameplay at all.

It’s filled with enough nuance, emotion, and charm to be an instance classic—and with better, more difficult puzzles, could have surpassed the original from every angle.