Even though NASCAR Kart Racing may not be the most innovative racer on the market, that shouldn’t turn you away. The game is an unabashed "Mario Kart" clone that, while not looking nearly as good, plays almost exactly the same.

What was born in the arcades has moved to the home, and while the frights were replaced with winks, it still managed to retain all of the entertainment of the original. House of the Dead: Overkill is a must own for Wii owners looking to push a little more use out of their system.

Onechanbara on the 360 looks terrible. I forgave a lot of the graphical problems the Wii version had since it was a game on the Wii. No next-gen game should ever look this terrible, even if it does only cost $40.

Simply put, such a unique game deserves to succeed, and there’s no doubt that Deadly Creatures is worth looking into for Wii owners.

While I don’t recommend it for most things in life, in this case, judging a book by its cover works just fine. X-Blades is exactly what you expected it to be; a mediocre fantasy action game with a heroine that appeals to the basest of men’s instincts.

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins isn’t a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. It gives gamers a unique experience that while not always successful, certainly gives its all.

At its core, My World, My Way is a very basic, repetitive RPG with a gimmicky twist that loses its novelty pretty quickly.

Savage Moon isn’t a bad game, but a good one with a number of technical and focus issues.

With its baffling design choices and shoddy controls, Rygar: The Battle of Argus fails to deliver as much fun and satisfaction as the original game.

It’s close to being amazing, and there are times when it is, but there are too many times where it just simply isn’t up to par with the current generation’s standards. The camera is too jumpy, the bosses are too frustrating, and the platforming just isn’t any fun.

It’s close to being amazing, and there are times when it is, but there are too many times where it just simply isn’t up to par with the current generation’s standards. The camera is too jumpy, the bosses are too frustrating, and the platforming just isn’t any fun.

Operation: Anchorage plays like a giant action movie taking place in the Fallout 3 universe, and those of you who enjoyed the main game but haven’t tried this out yet are really missing out.

The best thing I can say about Coraline is that it’s not broken. It works, and just about anyone could play it from start to finish, but I don’t understand why anyone would want to.

To say MLB Front Office Manager was a good attempt at a console management simulation is like spitting on your dirty dishes and saying they’re washed.

To say MLB Front Office Manager was a good attempt at a console management simulation is like spitting on your dirty dishes and saying they’re washed.

Big Bang Mini is a tremendous success. It isn’t an incredibly deep game, but the mechanics work on a number of levels, and set a bar for what gamers should grow to expect from budget titles.

There’s just not much more to say about it; there was potential here, but it just didn’t go anywhere. The animals aren’t characterized at all, and look and act about as bland as the game feels.

Skate 2 may not have the jaw-dropping impact of its predecessor. It can’t. It is, however, a far more polished, robust and fulfilling experience than the original.

It’s a real shame, too, because NIS America has brought some great games to our shores, and I’m sure they will do so again in the future. Ar Tonelico 2 would have received a higher score if not for a technical problem that easily could have been avoided with proper testing.

I’m still willing to give the other games in the series a try, but my patience for this franchise as a whole is wearing thin.

Despite its many flaws, there is some fun to be had. Poor design choices, sloppy controls and a lack of any soul or polish keep it from being anything but a brief distraction, but hacking your way through the armies of Sauron to the tune of Howard Shore’s epic soundtrack is enjoyable up to a point.

The game would be much better and more complete with some kind of a competitive experience. Even without multiplayer, Moon is still worth trying out, and hopefully a sequel will polish up the remaining faults and take another small step towards the creation of the definitive DS FPS. It might not be Halo for the DS, but it’s definitely one giant leap towards that sort of an experience.

It’s fast, original, and beautiful – everything you should expect from a holiday blockbuster. If you’re easily frustrated by difficult games it might be wise to rent it first, but be warned; the beauty and addictive race modes might pull you in for a purchase.

There’s a ton of challenge there if your brain is up to it.

For PS3-owning mahjong fans, there’s enough to like, despite the poor multiplayer options.

The story is nonsense, the puzzles are ugly and blurry, the clues are often indecipherable, and the game reeks of laziness, lack of polish and bargain-bin production values. To top it all off, it’ll run you 800 Microsoft Points, which is too much by half.

The constant glitches awful enough to dissuade even the strongest at heart from playing for more than a few hours, and Rise of the Argonauts might be one of the most disapointing games of the generation.

It’s simply too painful. At one point they might have had something special, but the entertaining combat and interesting leveling mechanics aren't good enough to prevent the constant, boring, grinding questing.