Offers a wide variety of things to do, but no real direction in a lot of important areas. Romancing SaGa is ultimately a role-playing game with a lot of gameplay substance but no cohesive storyline to back it up.

The minigames are a blast although the replay value probably dies off once you have won the World Tour.

A true expansion in every sense of the word.

The campaign is lackluster both in terms of plot and scope (even the optional "side" missions, while still present, aren’t nearly as creative or engaging as the original’s – and where’s my damn singing sailors?).

I love the music, the graphics, and the gameplay. If you did not have enough reasons to buy a Nintendo DS, this would be it.

It is fun while you are playing the game, even though the game can be extremely unforgiving with your moves, as it should be if you were actually operating on someone.

What Zero 4 is is a deeper experience with lots of tiny extras tacked onto the classic 2D style gameplay that all Blue Bomber fans enjoy.

Dragonshard has so much going for it: great graphics, good sound, an entertaining and functional setting, innovative elements like the home base structuring and the familiarity of the D&D license.

A significantly better game than the original. With better AI and unit pathfinding, and the inclusion of a more practical camera, it would be one of the better World War II RTS games around.

Perhaps the biggest design gaffe in the entire game is that you cannot quickly skip races to get to a race that contains one of your horses. There are weeks when you may not even have a horse running, but you still have to go to the track and manually "skip" each race.

While there is not much new to offer to the genre, it is something to pick up if you enjoy the rest of the series.

And what little new has been added fails to measure up in the implementation department.

A sure bet for old school gamers and for the youngsters who never had a chance to experience these game in the arcades - and the price is unbeatable. Highly recommended.

The gameplay mixes up peddle-to-the-metal action with enough thinking stealth elements to provide a fun challenge.

The fact that Midway has pared down the number of games from previous offerings does not worry me nearly as much as how much they pared down the historical extras.

A sure bet for old school gamers and for the youngsters who never had a chance to experience these game in the arcades - and the price is unbeatable. Highly recommended.

Just like "Sly 2," Sly 3 controls like a dream. In very short order any gamer of moderate skill will have Sly and the gang traveling quickly about the levels and running roughshod over the bad guys with the very tight and responsive controls.

If you’ve absolutely positively have to have a tennis game for your PlayStation 2, check out eBay for "Sega Sports Tennis."

Day of Defeat is not only a great looking game, but an enjoyable WWII multiplayer experience that gives you more than your money’s worth.

It should be an instant classic, but the bugs and design oversights keep it from reaching its lofty potential.

With the great graphical style that Ultimate Spiderman brings and the spectacular cutscenes, Ultimate Spiderman really is a feast for the eyes, although the PS2 version did have slow downs at times that the Xbox didn’t.

There are way too many game elements that hinder the game's overall fun factor – and without a patch, you may have problems with a variety of bugs - including the ability to save your game.

A niche title geared towards fans of fantasy themed turn-based strategy games looking for something light and fun.

Undeniably charming. Technically, it's not the best role-playing game on the market but it is loaded so much personality that its problems melt away underneath a blanket of just plain fun.

Like all the classic games that are a moment to learn and long in the mastering, We Love Katamari will find itself spinning in many gamers’ PS2s and will be the center of attention at your parties long after other games are on the shelf collecting dust.

Unfortunately being forced to play through the storyline mode is what really brings this game down.

A word about multiplayer - Heroes is vastly improved in this area over its predecessor, delivering six-player online play via Xbox Live with a myriad of variations including deathmatch and team play.

You will find destroying environments very satisfying, as well as the enemies. The storyline is fantastic and true to the Marvel world.

Frantix is a no-frills puzzler in dire need of a personality transplant.

The biggest weakness of DK: King of Swing is that the play mechanic of swinging between countless pegs can get a little repetitive.

It may be one of the few games that can be played by a child and parent together without insulting the intelligence of the adult or frying the brain of the youngster.

Its lack of any type of multiplayer support is a serious hindrance to its long-term enjoyment, but lonely strategy fans gaming on the Cube will find it a must-buy.

Along with the many hidden features in the game, power ups, skills you can gain, the latest entry into the long line of Mortal Kombat games is definitely worth checking out and has our hopes up that there will be future installments.

A satisfactory diversion on the PSP that’s hampered by some control and camera issues. It could have been a lot more fun.

Aside from its superior presentation, about the only really good thing that can be said for Urban Reign is that it is not available to offend on more than one console. That’s right PS2 owners, you can be proud you took the bullet for all gamerdom.

Audio is superb – from the excellent EA Trax to the sounds of metal crashing into medal, you want to make sure you hook up the headphones for this game.

For me, Burnout Revenge is more of the same – new tracks, new cars, new events, but same basic gameplay.

Evil Dead Regeneration is all in all a fun and funny game to play, definitely the best Evil Dead game to date, and even with the very apparent bugs and rather short game play time, there is only one word to describe this game. Groovy.

There's a ton of cool content and some great puzzles but it's all weighed down by loose driving controls.

Only two things really let me down. First off was the combat system. The dated concept puts two players against each other while lacking the fun multiplayer options most of the other games have.

A fun, bright and colorful world filled with lots of oddballs and cut-ups that make the overall presentation a lot of fun to play through - despite the actual role-playing being an average experience.

Its slower, more thoughtful play style coupled with the ability to save mid-battle makes it a perfect game for on-the-go playing.

Bugs and roster issues aside, for $20 this is a no-brainer for hockey fans – it's one of the best, if not the best, hockey games of all time and no fan of the sport should miss it.

Unlike many racing games, it doesn't feel repetitive. It feels as though you're always doing something new.

If you were hoping to get some historical insight into a company that has been around 50 years and in the latter half of its existence adapted very successfully to the new video game medium, forget it.

The minigames, which could have filled out the shortcomings of its multiplayer and single player components, were a major let down.

Yuke's has done a decent job of improving the GameCube franchise, but it is still playing catch-up with the "SmackDown" series.

Even with no multiplayer, Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a game that is well worth the time.

Beatdown is a solid fighting themed action role-playing game brought down a notch by too much area transition loading and some limited promised features (like the ability to interrogate every character in the game).

A disappointment. It is quite simply more of the same. If you liked the original PS2 game, there's nothing really new here that requires a purchase.

The control of the Hulk is a love/hate relationship.

Beatdown is a solid fighting themed action role-playing game brought down a notch by too much area transition loading and some limited promised features (like the ability to interrogate every character in the game).

Just about everything in the Hulk can be destroyed and just about everything you can find can be used as a weapon.

And while it is clearly geared for a younger crowd, it nonetheless shows off well the DS experience – something that no other system currently has a prayer of duplicating.

And while it is clearly geared for a younger crowd, it nonetheless shows off well the DS experience – something that no other system currently has a prayer of duplicating.

And while it is clearly geared for a younger crowd, it nonetheless shows off well the DS experience – something that no other system currently has a prayer of duplicating.

About the sharpest criticism that can be leveled at Darkwatch is that it really adds nothing original in the gameplay department. Aside from its extremely well executed western/horror environment, Darkwatch is a pretty generic FPS game with a weaker multiplayer mode.

Along with the fantastic storyline which gets more intricate and complex as the game progresses, and the hack and slash style gameplay that many action RPG gamers will recognize and feel comfortable with, Dungeon Siege 2 is definitely worth checking out for some hectic sword swinging action.

Although singleplayer is over quick, online play is a lot of fun and unlike other vampire games, Darkwatch sure doesn't suck!

Overall, for $29.99, it's not a bad deal to get 3 "A" tier games, 2 "B" tier games and a lot of junky Game Gear games.

The spiritual possession adventure/puzzle solving aspects of the game were very fun and refreshing. Unfortunately the game's engine just could not quite deliver on the other elements of the game that strung it all together.

It is both fun and engaging with a magnificent story, great dialog and a score that is not to be missed. It’s an experience that is well worth the money.

With the Madden 360 version looming on the horizon, the swan song on the current Xbox is a solid game with some of the same old frustrations combined with some sharp new features.

All in all, with a price of $29.99, Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike has a few flaws and annoyances that can be over looked for the punch it packs.

In the end, the game does end up being rather short -- toping out at around thirty hours -- but it still makes sure to satisfy.

Where the game seriously losses points is in its presentation. Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is a two-year-old computer game and it shows it.

I suppose where Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life loses a couple points is in the innovation put into the game. There is just not enough different about this game over its very recent predecessor to recommend that the average gamer buy what is roughly the same game again.

Sadly, the bugs I encountered during the game (especially with the way the graphics engine started chugging so severely in the later levels) really hurt my experience, and the action just eventually ended up being reduced to using the same strategy over and over again.

Quite simply it screams bargain bin. You could say it’s so bad, it could be a cult classic, but you’ll have to give it a few years. Otherwise, avoid it.

FMA 2 does a grand job of portraying the boys as they are in the show and improves on the weaker elements of the first game to create an action adventure that is fun and easy to play. It's a real shame that it's so short.

If you're looking to check out a racing game that features some intense game play, gorgeous graphics, incredible physics, as well as some of the most entertaining mini games seen in a while, then Flat Out is definitely the way you'll want to go.

Has some great features on paper, but when played out, it underperforms and seems to be more gimmick than fun. The game excels as a multiplayer football game online or with a friend. As a simulation or for a stat gamer, the game fails miserably.

After a day of intense gaming with the Coagulation Cabal, it is clear the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack is a welcome addition for the Halo 2 player and will help keep the multiplayer experience fresh for some time to come.

It uses the touch screen to great affect and is a terrific demonstration of what Nintendo’s new handheld is all about.

The storyline ends up feeling quite fresh in the overused area. It is a refreshing storyline that will have you commit to playing it from beginning to the end, trying to unlock all aspects of the game.

It is sad that such great superheroes as the Fantastic 4 should catch the double whammy of average movie and game.

The coop is a nice, but not perfect, feature that not many games have lately, but unfortunately that may not be enough to save this game from its terrible graphics and seriously repetitive gameplay.

Overall, Fantastic 4 continues the proud tradition of mediocrity set by the majority of both movie-based and superhero games.

If Pandemic had not so thoroughly nailed almost all the presentation aspects of this game, I would probably have given it only three sharks. But the out-of-this-world attention to detail and sci-fi insider humor raise the score by a full point.

Battlefield 2 is a game that can offer tremendous amounts of online fun, but the effort required to actually get there is almost a turn-off in itself at times.

Reloaded must first stand on its single-player experience. There it pales in comparison to the king of Xbox action/adventure platformers: "Psychonauts."

A rather short game, pulling in at about 6-7 hours to complete, the repetitiveness and the arduousness of the gameplay and fighting style, makes it seem much longer, although, admittedly, it is one of the better Batman games to be released in some time.

I honestly cannot give Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas a decent score in good conscience just because this could have easily been so much better as a PC title Let’s hope some patches roll around quickly to resolve the worst of the damage.

There's a lot of replay value, and although the game could have mixed up its level variety a bit more, it certainly gets the job done.

The only real downside to Knights of Honor is that the tech is totally lackluster. The graphics are adequate and certainly not the massive three dimensional scale of the Total Annihilation series.

As a public service, let me just state that I while I did have some fun playing Restricted Area, it is really not worth spending decent money on. For the same price you could get Painkiller Black, Doom 3, Bard’s Tale or Brother’s in Arms.

It is a terrific game with an innovative control scheme that really has to be tried. My only concern is how silly I look while playing it in public.

One of the best dungeon romps I've played this year. The scale of the adventure may not be epic but the overall package is pure unadulterated addiction. If you like role-playing games then you'll love FATE.

This whole thing came as something of a disappointment for me given Cold Winter’s focus on being something of a "realistic shooter", and the consistent gaps in AI behavior became really noticeable over time.

If you have the patience to deal with the game's problems and don't mind a patch or two then you might want to pick up this game, otherwise wait for Gothic 3 or some other action RPG to waste your time on.

Although a lack of an infrastructure network mode is disappointing, there’s no doubt that the fun factor and replay value of the game are very high.

It handily out Gran Turismos even Gran Turismo itself in almost every way.

An average game that is held back by brutal difficulty and a design that would seem to fit better with a turn based model.

While it is unquestionably about fighting other guilds after you reach the cap, there is also a very solid PvE (player vs. environment) game as well.

Still hamstrung by the lack of voice communication among human players online and workman-like AI for non-human-controlled allied characters in the single-player mode, the game just fails to differentiate itself enough to avoid a comparison with the new "Resident Evil 4" kid on the block.

The game combines colorful artwork, character animations, adult themed language, and a very mature storyline that gives the game a nice overall feel that fans of the genre will appreciate.

As well as its gameplay is executed, and with first-class presentation, ultimately Area 51 cannot quite rise above the pack of other good first-person shooters on the Xbox.

The best platform game ever to grace the Xbox. The combination of solid gameplay and a clever and intelligently written story make this a game that must be experienced to be fully appreciated.