A new combination counter and streamlined abilities system make playing the game easier and more rewarding. Dramatically reducing the penalties for death, as well as the roots causes behind it, make playing Maximo vs. Army of Zin a less frustrating and more pleasant experience.

Colorful, detailed, and challenging, the game evolves the series’ gameplay and style. With a ton of unlockable features, including extras available only with connection to a GameCube, Rayman 3 has plenty of playing value.

If you are a racing fan of simulation style real world physics car races, IndyCar Series 2005 is a must have - as no other title in the genre is as indepth.

The addition of the 3D camera and terrain gives it an edge over other titles in the area.

It's an all around feast for your eyes, ears, and gaming appetite.

What makes MF fun to play is its intelligent design.

An impressive project, and I have an ocean full of respect and admiration for the ambition, energy, and devotion that the developers poured into this game.

If your favorite RPG character was the rogue, your favorite hero a thief, or your favorite game as a child hide-n-go-seek, without a moment's hesitation go buy this game.

As long as you're patient and can handle the complexity that goes into managing a hotel, you'll do just fine with Hotel Giant.

Definitely not flashy in the presentation department, Gal Civ more than makes up for it with excellent gameplay that is updated with new tweaks, bug fixes, and content very often.

A masterpiece within its time.

All in all any fan of RTS would be foolish if they did not run to the local game store and pick up a copy of Generals immediately.

While the graphics may not be ground breaking for either the PS2 or the Xbox game system they do provide players with a well represented city that is both visually stimulating and just plain fun to play in.

Deep character customization and development systems utilizing the series’ unique job system makes the game highly enjoyable and rewarding.

Complimented by challenging dogfighting missions, intuitive controls, and a balanced reward system, Wings is a solid, challenging game.

There were a thousand things that could have gone wrong, making the gameplay experience a chore, or making it boring, but none of those things went wrong, and the gameplay is exciting and fun.

As a fast-paced and intense gameplay title, it is appealing to those who have no idea what Star Trek Voyager is.

The addition of action elements to this adventure game really help keep it moving and exciting.

A remarkable peripheral.

Perhaps the most intricate simulation out there, Project Gotham Racing 2 offers nearly unlimited gameplay with a wealth of licensed automobiles and gorgeous courses.

Although not graphically superior, KSPS holds the essence of surfing in solid gameplay, authenticity, and depth.

The game's gorgeous graphical presentation makes for a pleasant experience that eases the moments when excessively polished design bogs gameplay down.

With outstanding visuals and audio to showcase its gameplay, Praetorians is a must-have for genre fans and a great introduction for newcomers to PC gaming.

Faithfully extends the Rayman universe with a solid action-platform experience brimming with style.

RPG fans may scoff at it's hack-n-slash nature, but they are missing out in this case, as Dungeon Siege provides spades of real-time tactical delight.

It has a very good RPG system for those who like that kind of thing, but it also has that twitch reflex element that I loved so much about the other sidescrolling Megaman games.

New mercenaries, new toys, new game engine, an enhanced role-playing aspect, and more combat options combine to make this another winner from Sir-Tech.

Brings back the old-school 2D brawler style with plenty of innovation and plenty of depth to keep the most hardcore gamers jaws dropped for hours on end.

Political climate aside, this is a great game. It is well designed and features great replay ability.

The graphics are superb, the gameplay is fun and the overall package is amazing.

One of the most interactive football titles to date with some of the best game play I have ever seen in a football game.

Intelligent design makes playing each game a breeze, while the inclusion of a records list and patches makes conquering each game a challenge.

May not be perfect, as it does have some flaws in the graphics department and enemy A.I. causing the game to seem unbalanced at times, but with the new features and enhanced gameplay of this title easily makes it a Must Have game.

The thing that makes this game good enough to warrant purchase is its clever design and game play, along with graphics that’ll have your eyes bugging out of your head.

If you love Star Wars and enjoy RTS games look no further.

The game is immensely fun, and incredibly innovative. It takes what is great about Monopoly and transfers it perfectly into the builder genre.

If you are interested in solving a mystery and running down dangerous corridors then this is the game for you.

Not overly fun and addictive, but it's still pretty cool

It's a lot of fun, features some good writing and an engaging story, and is the best first person RPG experience I have had in years.

A triumph of gameplay over technology, Culdcept offers highly rewarding and deep gameplay emphasizing the formulation of individual strategies to overcome challenging opponents.

The only thing I can complain about is the sound, but the added features and modes definitely make this worthy of a purchase in my books.

Has a huge amount of game play options and is one of the most intriguing RTS games I have played since Civilization. The only concern I had was with the amount of horsepower required by your computer to play in a bigger game.

The single most immersive action gaming experience I have ever had. Every element – graphics, gameplay, sound, story – works together to form a very cohesive unit and blow your little gaming mind.

I called "Shogun" the closest thing I had seen to a perfect game, well Medieval: Total War improves on that achievement and delivers one of, if not the best strategy gaming out there.

The rich, continuing back story is among the most fascinating found in the MMORPGs, and the fact that players can take part in the story truly adds to the experience.

One of the year's best surprises, offering a wonderful mixture of strategic gameplay, imagination, and colorful story telling.

A must-have expansion for any serious monument builder, with the added attraction of being able to skip those frustrating levels for anyone having difficulty completing the original game.

While some may find it extremely difficult due to the emphasis on realism, Korea provides a healthy challenge best conquered by learning the game’s well-designed controls and interface.

The controls are tight and deep, the Dynasty Mode is great, and the gameplay is realistic and fun.

Bright, colorful visuals relay a fast-paced shootout across several stages of intense first-person gameplay.

While the average base capture can be pretty repetitive, there are huge difficult battles every so often that are more fun than anything, and these will keep me coming back for awhile.

Despite the recycled graphics engine and undulating difficulty, Shadow Magic offers outstanding gameplay with unlimited playability in a variety of gameplay modes.

With an incredible, engrossing campaign, Halo could stand on its own; fortunately, the addition of Internet multiplayer sweetened with two new vehicles, two new weapons, and six new maps makes the PC version even more worthwhile. Unfortunately, performance issues plague the game, preventing easy play through the game’s campaign due to poor framerates.

Super Mario Advance might be nothing more than a beefed-up port of an old game, but hell, it’s a Nintendo classic.

The variety of options available made me enjoy this game more, but it balanced out with the not so great graphics and audio.

It does a fantastic job stripping away the boring, monotonous aspects of most RTS games and manages to focus almost solely on the fun stuff.

A satisfying single-player campaign along with an incredibly engaging character creation system, however, makes this one a heartily recommended buy.

An excellent racing game that has plenty of depth and unlockable features.

One of the best space flight sims out there, with a believable interface for commanding a large capital ship.

While Mario has aged well, A Link to the Past feels a little old. Unlike other GBA ports, the game definitely shows its age graphically, especially when compared to Four Swords.

One of the most enjoyable multiplayer games on Xbox, and is probably the best arena-party fighting game on the system.

The random beatings you can inflict on people always makes for a good laugh when you’re with friends, and the versatility of this game provides you with the best of all worlds.

The multiplayer is outstanding and there are tons of unlockables.

I really enjoyed the missions, and even though they could be tough, the movie-like atmosphere makes for a truly compelling gaming experience.

Although it borrows heavily from "Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II," Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest is an improved experience full of visual and audio beauty, and outstanding gameplay.

Moonbase Commander will stand out as the sleeper hit of 2002 and it deserves all the praise I am sure it will get.

One of my favorite games of the year. I think once the novelty of the Diggles' antics wears off there is plenty of playtime left.

The fact that players must watch their units and stockpiles carefully is an extra, and welcome, dose of realism. Nothing is worse than having a mutiny on your hands or losing your structures to your enemy.

Definitely one of the more interesting governing and building game out there. It is unique in a lot of ways, and the gameplay is excellent.

"Dark Reign 2" gave me everything I was expecting: solid gameplay, great graphics, and a fun way to kill several hours.

It's extremely fast, it's even more intense, and it has replay value to boot. What more could you ask for in an arcade racer?

The graphics are astounding, the levels are very clever.

This game is truly a remarkable trade sim, and the number options available to you through the course of this game is staggering. While the game is not without it's problems, they are easy to overlook in light of the many strong points of the game.

Very average racer, but nothing more than that.

The game is held back from greatness by a few gameplay issues that sometimes create feelings of repetitiveness (in campaign mode), confusion (losing track of heroes and important characters in battle), and frustration (heroes dying because you cannot locate them in pitched battles, and accidentally misdirecting troops due to erroneous mouse clicking).

A title that deserves credit for breaking the cookie-cutter mold that RTS games have fallen into. Even maps with simple goals can turn into endeavors that last for hours, if you take time to smell the roses and just enjoy playing with powerful, fully customizable avatar with the ability to raise a monstrous force.

Even though it doesn't offer much improvement over the original in terms of gameplay and presentation, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II stands as a solid role-playing game both sides of the gate can appreciate.

JO is a fun game with plenty of action and unique areas but I just had a feeling that I had done all this before.

What makes DB a good puzzle game is it’s intelligent design masked by a cute, cartoon façade.

Tremendously realistic graphics and audio bring the world of space travel to brilliant life. While the story serves as a driving force for the single player campaign, it never fully develops into anything worthwhile.

More beautiful than the game’s musical bliss however, is the controls.

Even though it doesn’t offer much improvement over the original in terms of gameplay and presentation, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II stands as a solid role-playing game both sides of the gate can appreciate.

The graphics are superb and the sound is awesome. The game play is very deep and the types of races are an excellent assortment of race types.

The new story mode is nothing too serious, although I did have some gripes with the new style of level design, but the new multiplayer modes and upgrades will have anyone coming back for more.

It’s unfortunate that the game is bogged down by a lot of glitches and flaws, but it is still an extremely entertaining title that is deep in every aspect.

The crowning glory of Golden Sun lies in its stunning graphics. Great environments, characters, and especially fight scenes.

Another problem that I found with the audio was that the voices of soldiers and prisoners did not match up at all with the movement of their mouths.

Such a well-crafted, polished (aside from the camera), and entertaining experience that it managed to win over this jaded gaming cynic, inevitable merchandising tie-ins and all.

For the first time I truly felt like I was on the track controlling a fully functional Nascar vehicle, and I believe that is what they were trying to accomplish.

That's one of the beauties of a game like AC: there really isn't an end game, or a finale. The world just keeps going and going, with new adventures and new locations to explore constantly available.

The dark and mature theme gave this game a distinctive feel and the graphics take the player in deep within the prison world.

Great story and intriguing plot twists, complete with graphical and aural pleasures, will keep you coming back for more.

The music and graphics will blow you away, and the game is pretty fun as well.

While the game is still a good one, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone who was looking for a good RTS.

Give this improbable but welcome follow-up the benefit of the doubt and chances are you’ll find it offers some of the most action, humor, and--dare I say it--fun you’ve had with a console RPG in a long time.

A very good game, with great graphics and gameplay, but with lackluster sound. I really liked this game and that’s why I was quite disappointed with the length of it.

It adds a lot of fun and magic, as well as some interesting new items and jobs to partake in.

Its attention to detail and wealth of customization options counter minor physics engine draws and interface issues.