The first person mode of this game features a fantastic control scheme and can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately the other half of the game, cycle mode, offers clunky controls and slow game play, making the game feel incomplete.

It's cool that Sega has continued the series, but sadly, the finished product is about three years too late.

It wants so badly to be liked and allows you to break the rules like a good, over-the-top game really should. But it has flaws within its presentation, and it doesn't really keep your attention for long as you bust dealer after dealer.

It just really fails to excite you in the long run, despite the production team's efforts to keep you hooked.

Repetitious gameplay isn't always a bad thing if the game is properly designed around it. Unfortunately, Digimon World 4 doesn't fall into that category.

Chibi-Robo is the first official disappointment of 2006, a game that is so monotonous and annoying that not even this Nintendo fan can put up with its BS.

Fans will find plenty to enjoy, as the frenetic, pounding action of the sport seems to be intact, but many might find themselves left out by the tacked-on presentation and season mode.

After gaining psychic powers, the game becomes amazingly easy. Additionally, the storytelling isn't very good and the game is riddled with bugs and design flaws.

Instead of a deep plot with equally deep profound characters and an enjoyable, intricate battle system to boot, you get a shallow plot with boring characters and broken combat.

The game is beaten rather quickly, and somehow lacks the inventive touches that the film itself possesses. Still, it could've been worse. "Oompa Loompa DDR," anyone?

One of the saddest stories of 2004, as it's a game that's chock full of everything a rhythm game should have, but it trips and falls off the stage because the actual singing aspect has been so poorly developed. It's just heartbreaking to sing a song perfectly and score fewer points than someone who's making it up as they go.

It doesn't suck, but it's good for all of the wrong reasons.

Its presentation doesn't stand out, its gameplay doesn't deliver like it should, and its fun is limited. The legend deserves a little bit better than this, and, hopefully, next year, he'll get it.

The technical execution of virtually every aspect of this potentially great game is embarrassing beyond reproach. Even patched, there are a myriad of crashes, glitches, heinous load times and other bugs that should have never gotten past beta.

A wonderful looking game that really shows off the Xbox 360's horsepower yet at the same time it exposes Electronic Arts as a sloppy publisher that's losing touch with the definition of quality gameplay.

It should be titled - "Aura: Puzzles for the Ages", because in all honesty this is a vaguely shrouded adventure game layered in a multitude of dizzying puzzles, wrapped in an enigma of conundrums.

Releasing the likes of The Rise of Kasai after the testosterone-pumping brilliance that was "God of War" is like trying to reintroduce yourself to a McDonald's burger after you've tasted the glory of In n' Out Burger...why bother?

It fits its ideal child audience and will amuse those young enough to appreciate the cartoons. But Unite isn't really the best thing you can own on the DS right now, especially when you have "Mario Kart DS" and "Mario and Luigi: Partners In Time" available for the same system.

Just average. There's almost no diversity in available forces, and very few things are upgradeable. The graphics are fair, but are blown out of the water by recent entries. Sound is tolerable, but just there as filler.

Alias the game almost grabbed my attention as well, but it just kept falling behind with too many gameplay flaws and not nearly enough innovation to stand in a league all its own.

While the game is well designed and looks pretty good, it is incredibly hard and has some performance issues. An adventure game should be challenging, but not require a Ph.D. in astrophysics to beat.

The single player mode gets boring very quickly, the game's frame rate needs improvement, and it's often times difficult to communicate strategies with other players.

The graphics are extremely old, which detracts from the game's enjoyment, and there is an overall unfinished feeling to this title.

MtB:RS is a rather short, uncomplicated "budget" strategy game that certainly helps teach the fundamentals of "how to" play an RTS to gamers just breaking into the genre, but will offer virtually nothing to the experienced strategist.

It's way too monotonous. Lots of button mashing, frustration, and stupid AI don't a good game make, at least not in 2005.

Fun to play but it's best in small doses. Running around, diving behind things and performing the no look with an M4 5.56mm is a lot of fun, until I realized that was all I was doing for two hours.

A fun arcade port with very few new additions and a ridiculously high price tag, which means it's better experienced as a weekend rental.

The lack of refinement and execution hold the game back from being frightening and that's not a good thing.

The developers managed to do an excellent job with its presentation and fans of the series will no doubt gobble up the anime footage, the items that can be purchased, and the numerous missions, but the gameplay is extremely sub par.

It also reeks of sloppy development, making it a decent title for the brain dead, but an absolute bore fest for those looking for even the cheapest of thrills.

This latest Party shows too many similarities to last year's part six, and not nearly enough improvements. Fans can dig in, but the rest of us need a livelier Party.

Sonic Riders tries to put some zesty racing action on the line here, but suffers due to inadequate gameplay and the kind of AI that makes you want to bash your controller into pieces with a hammer.

Though there are some neat ideas like a very slick presentation and skill points that allow you to customize your characters, the gameplay is bogged down by sloppy controls, and the game has a horrible save system and poor AI.

Because the fighting is slow paced and repetitive, playing the game is rather tedious, especially if you want to suffer through the single player mode to unlock playable characters.

The mediocre level designs, awful voice acting, spotty controls, and the boring/mindless Story Mode keep it from being as cool as its box art suggests.

Road to Freedom isn't terrible, but it's exactly like a boring significant other. The fire burns out way to quickly, and what you'll be left with is an empty shell of a game that you'll dread coming home to night after night.

The online play extends its life ever so slightly, but after dealing with the nails-on-a chalkboard voices, the cheap AI, and stiff as a board character animations, I had no choice but to eject this drivel from my Xbox and apologize to "Dead or Alive Ultimate" for neglecting it.

Definitely more improved than its predecessor in that there's more stuff to do and it looks nicer, but the gameplay is still a buggy mess. It's also not even in the same league as the other wrestling games on the market.

There is strategy and action to be found, but it takes a great deal of searching, and more patience than a Buddhist monk.

It feels terrific and has the look and sound of a well-oiled machine, but something truly went wrong during the ride.

The actual game is an uninspired snooze fest that not only insults the popular franchise but its target audience as well.

This theme has been tried before with Microsoft's Zoo Tycoon, so what will Wildlife Park have to differentiate it from the rest of the field? Well, as it turns out, a more natural look and.....not much else, really.

The result is a collection of good intentions and ideas that sound great in theory, but play poorly.

The game has plenty of features to offer, including a full integration of ESPN's services online, a decent Dynasty mode, and some stellar gameplay ideas, but the execution feels rushed in too many areas and the game comes up short of being a winner.

At $20, Slugfest 2006 isn't what I'd call a terrible title. It has the same great gameplay as previous entries and does deliver a fast game of arcade baseball. But we've seen this before, and done better, and unless Midway's planning to give it all they've got for a next-generation edition, maybe it's best to let someone else round the bases. This Slugfest has lost a bit of its punch.

It's not that Fatal Shadows is a horrible game, it's just that we've seen it before- it fails to distinguish itself from "Wrath of Heaven" and even keeps some of its most crucial flaws.

Most of the gameplay from the first game is back, but it's all wrapped around a dull storyline and some poor presentation problems. Worse yet, the excitement wears off after a mere couple of hours.

The mini games are fun but it also feels like the game can get pretty repetitious.

Lack of any good documentation lead us to hours of agony and frustration just to get started. It's a compelling game, and it would have been worthwhile if we knew what we were doing from the outset.

Those familiar with the Pitfall name and legacy are probably going to want to take a pass, as the game has taken a turn into typical cutesy platforming action.

Red Sun isn't as polished as the rest of the series. The game requires a few too many needless quests to get the meat and potatoes : the Net Battles.

The stop and stutter gameplay makes completing Sonic Heroes and exercise in frustration, and when you couple that with some ridiculous boss battles, horrible voice acting and a nasty camera, it wouldn't surprise me if gamers snub Sega's effort and reject Sonic for the industry's better crafted platformers.

If you love your RPGs cliched, tired, and boring, then MS Saga will keep you busy, but personally, I can't stand it.

Over G Fighters manages to get into the sky, but fails to put on a memorable show.

I'm not much of a cook, but I do know how to make a mediocre game. You toss in some bland graphics, ridiculously boring combat, and then top that off with an atrocious story.

A disappointment. The controls are more sticky than they need to be, and the general presentation feels like a step back rather than a step forward.

If turning the third installment into a party game is Sony's idea of fun, then the franchise (if you can even call it that) is dead. I like the cel-shaded graphics and the music is all right, but the gameplay is a huge let down, especially when you consider the other party games on the market.

The Story Mode is a joke, and the Challenge Mode and mini-games are mere shells of what's been included in previous adventures. This Monkey Ball got dropped. Hard.

This game certainly has some really great graphics and animations but it comes up short on being able to keep things moving at an enjoyable pace, not to mention that it's very difficult to control.

The game's shortcomings seal its fate and leave it miles behind the likes of Sam Fisher and Solid Snake, whose latest endeavors are far more worth your investment.

It's great for the first 30 minutes, but after that you'll be ready to move on to something else.

Lacks the fun and diversity of the Viewtiful games before it. Dare I say it's a Henshin-a-no-no, baby.

You can only ride on the license for so long before things get stale, and that's exactly what's happened here. If you loved the first two, you'll still probably love this one, but when do fighting game fans get to have fun with a DBZ game?

Just a cookie cutter style platform adventure wrapped around a horrible license that's apparently brain washed lots of impressionable children. But not this guy! NOT...THIS...GUY!

The game suffers from collision detection problems, clunky controls, awful A.I. and sub par graphics. While Showdown may entertain old school wrestling fans, it will certainly leave most people frustrated and disappointed.

All of this is overshadowed by awkward controls, yucky graphics, slow down, and too much loading. It's a mess that's beyond repair.

This one is only for those who need clan-based pvp warfare very, very badly, as they will have to go through twenty levels of the most monotonous gameplay ever experienced.

It's extremely frustrating because the game's unbalanced, and repeatedly having to read the same dialogue over and over puts a damper on the overall experience.

It has its moments of well-timed chaos scattered across a tale of monotony and deja vu, and that does not a classic make.

A flawed, tiresome combat system and bland level design should be reason enough to stay out of Gotham.

A while back I played a terrible FPS for the PS2 called "Fugitive Hunter," and within 30 minutes of playing Rogue Agent I realized that Goldeneye's almost the exact same game. It's an atrocious first person shooter that reeks of lazy development, and EA should be ashamed of what it's done.

It has its moments, like some neat lighting effects and some balls-out action, but it's marred too often by lack of imagination and solid control, not to mention too many moments of "let's press the elevator button".

There's a decent selection of songs, but the frequent loading, limited game play and repetitive nature of the title just make it too boring for most to handle after a handful of sessions with the game.

The gameplay's been tweaked but not really improved, and the game doesn't have a single aspect that propels it into the competition. This Auto's out of gas.

You can't help but feel that the whole Outlaw theme has run its course, like the old, fat biker who insists he can't be beat at shot drinking and then collapses after two drinks.

I gave Spy Hunter: Nowhere To Run plenty of chances to impress me, but it came up short, with its glitched-out graphics and a control scheme that's too wonky for its own good, whether you're on foot or in the car.

What we basically have here is a glossed-over version of the game with very little addition and a $20 price drop, not to mention some horrible freezing problems that send this game to the showers.

This should have been released as a much cheaper booster pack instead of an expansion. It simply doesn't offer enough to justify the asking price.

There are a ton of great ideas here, but they were all executed badly. What we have is an utter mess of wasted potential.

Cartoon Network Block Party sadly joins that group of misfit games due to its lack of multiplayer interaction and any sort of gameplay quirks to make it stick out from the bunch.

A lack of online play and multiplayer extras don't help, and the pace of the game just seems to grind almost to a halt.

The graphics seem mostly unimpressive despite some quirks, and the gameplay never really meshes. Only some online options and multiplayer goodies keep this from being completely imperfect.

Beyond frustrating. It incites rage instead of happiness. Having to tell someone to shoot a monster that's right in front of them is just ridiculous, but telling Rio to run and watching her die because she did something else is just unacceptable.

It has some good ideas but they're overthrown by a particular lack of anything that stands out, aside from the herky-jerky camera and the occasional booty shots.

A game that could have been an amazing return of the CRPG, due to a severe lack of polish and some big issues with bugs and failed ventures, becomes premature bargain bin stuffing.

It's still a solid game if you've never played it before, with a stirring storyline and a few shocks, but otherwise it's just the same old Evil.

Nothing more than a total button mashing snooze fest that's about as entertaining as eating a pile of boiled eggs, which for me isn't too entertaining.

The graphics aren't exactly awe-inspiring and neither is the gameplay. Hardcore RTS fans might want to consider this one, but if you don't qualify as hardcore then don't bother.

The story mode is so razor thin and pointless I didn't know who the enemy was, and after breezing through most of the game, to have the last decisive battle be beyond difficult (because of the controls) made the game very unbalanced.

The potential behind the game is unmatched, but an extremely poor online interface coupled with lackluster servers and a relatively boring single player experience makes Chromehounds a chrome donkey.

The game is missing several things, including a crucial control scheme during a majority of the shootouts, the car and speedboat chases that threw in diversity in previous versions, and a multiplayer mode that generates interest.

While complete in packaging, still feels like a shallow product, as the energy of the arcade game still isn't accurately captured.

Unfortunately, it's not really all that fun for those of us that aren't hardcore either. After playing this game, I'm in no real hurry to hop into another jetfighter sim anytime soon.

The game suffers from lackluster gameplay, as well as uninspired work in the graphic and audio department. It does have moments of appeal, but they're buried beneath a pile of rushed presentation.

Ubisoft's game would have gone over much better had they given us more freedom to use the team at hand for better purposes, and not stuck us with only so many puzzles to solve or obvious hints at what needs to be found where. Furthermore, the game simply isn't fun to play, using a clunky interface.

Sadly, EA's worst Bond game is just as bad on the DS as it is on the Xbox.

But the game's built by the basics, and the randomized 3,000+ questions run into problems with repetition. It's like...the Gunther of the gaming community. (Sorry, Gunther.)

An acquired taste. There's so many things that make you really want to delve into its world, but then there's so many limitations that you run into that make you wonder what the point really is.