You can pick it up and play with barely any learning curve, and the multiplayer of the game gives it nearly infinite replay value.

It gets a bit repetitive after the halfway point, and then it ends quickly after that. There's no real replay value to it once you have amassed everything.

It oozes style and has enough heart n' soul to clearly illustrate how much the developers really loved their baby.

The music selection kicks ass. No Doubt, Powerman 5000, Orbital, Crystal Method, and more. The sound effects also kick much but. Control is dead on.

The thing that stands out the most is the commentary, which is usually a weak part to most sports games.

If 2D fighters are ever a crime, I'll heartily plead Guilty.

Lots of real life mountains, different drop points and huge, realistic environments are this game's strongest points.

New sounds, better quality, more levels, a park editor that lets you do everything but make you the King of England. The best part is the movies and the near DVD quality presentation they show.

The only thing that really kept StarFox 64 from taking off was its lack of difficulty. The game was insanely easy, almost to the point of amazement.

MP3 retains all of the wonderfully simplistic features that made its predecessors easy to pick up and tough to put down, while adding a ton of new mini-games to the mix.

With all this brilliance, it would be easy to overlook the sound in the game, but this is one of the high points of the makeover.

The game itself just needs more depth; they should have put the Thunder Cards in like the PlayStation version.

What makes the game so visually stunning is the multitude of graphical styles.

The game graphically is not much of a leap from the previous year but is somewhat easier on the eyes, with smoother character rendering and slightly sharper stadium backgrounds.

But what really makes SSX Tricky a great reissue is the trick system. Before, where squatting in preparation to jump locked you into a straight line, now you can turn when using the analog stick.

A great game if you have a bunch of buddies who want to play with you, or if your existing Quake / Unreal Tournament etc. clan is looking for a new title to explore. However, as a single player sitting at home playing over the internet, I felt the game was lacking something that it wasn't when battling it out at E3 on S2 Games' LAN.

With some new gameplay, a ton of new loot, and lots more choices for character creation and advancement, Hordes of the Underdark is a must buy for fans of the original game.

How did I enjoy "OOT," but not MM? Simple, I knew that "Ocarina Of Time" was based almost entirely around the ocarina and the shifting of time, Majora's Mask simply took the 1st idea and exploited the necessity of travel, thus leaving Majora's Mask nothing more than a rehash of the first.

This is a lot of fun. The car damage alone makes it worth it.

The humor and style of Ankh delivers a fun and appealing quest and players will have a melon tweaking time with the numerous puzzles found through out the game.

Dawn of War was a finely tuned game with huge battles and many disposable troops. Dawn of War II is faster, lighter, smaller, in some ways more interesting and in other ways somewhat lacking in its execution. But taken as a whole it’s impossible to not recommend the game to 40K fans and to those who are willing to accept that this is not a linear sequel to an aging franchise.

It's an ace introduction to a genre that isn't well-represented on consoles, and it's funny and engaging enough to capture you for hours at a time… even if you're all by your lonesome.

It's an ace introduction to a genre that isn't well-represented on consoles, and it's funny and engaging enough to capture you for hours at a time… even if you're all by your lonesome.

It’s an “A” game saddled with “C” game issues, but it’s still an addicting experience. I routinely found myself playing into the wee hours of the night, butchering gnomes with glee; camera issues (and all sense of morality) be damned.

While not every change has been positive, the series was in desperate need of a fresh start, and now, in its sixth major iteration, it has one.

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.

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.

Yes, the hide-and-seek multiplayer gameplay is alluring and incredibly immersive thanks to the graphics and well-done audio presentation, but the amount of effort put into detailing the game's back story and the 'briefing' for each level makes me feel a plot-driven singleplayer component would have been well justified.

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.

NHL 09 is not a simulation of professional hockey. It’s a game. A fun game, no doubt, but it’s more like an entertaining movie based on a good book which was based on actual events.

It’s creative, relentless, and low fantasy – and you should play it.

GrimGrimoire brings real-time strategy, magic and anime together to create an interesting and cool game experience worth checking out. The game is obviously not for everyone, but those that can "get" what the game is trying to accomplish certainly will enjoy it.

There are reasons to choose this game over others in the field-namely the heavier-feeling physics, the visual design, and more thoughtful multiplayer options, but I question if it has a distinct enough identity to hold its own without reference or comparison to other titles.

Although Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars is definitely one of the best games of the launch, it is also a far cry from the "killer app" the platform needs largely due to its almost complete avoidance of any of the unique features the platform offers. With that said, it is also one of the only truly new and original titles for the 3DS among a number of rushed ports and perfunctory franchise entries.

This is a must buy for fans of the original Bangai-O, Treasure addicts looking for an excellent, sustained fix, and old-school shooter fans of all breeds.

Final Fantasy fans that can live without actual RPG elements and can enjoy a myriad of mini-games and light card battles should also giving this game a look.

The game sets out with a gorgeous anime/Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic that is as beautiful as it is fully realized.

And Yet it Moves provides an adventure that is both challenging and relaxing in equal measure and shows that complicated controls and crazy move sets aren't needed to give players a compelling platforming experience.

While the game is rather short, and the love/hate activations of the some of the Viewtiful powers, this is an extremely fun game.

However, for all its posturing, the add-on is an extension of an experience you already enjoy. For even casual fans this is a worthwhile grab, but anyone who's already had their fill of muscled necks and chainsaws will probably find this indistinguishable from what they've already played.

Really, though, it's the characters, not to mention their well done dialog, and story resolution that make the DLC something any fan of the main game should experience.

This is a game of beautiful sights and sounds, of collecting and learning, and the sheer joy of exploring. If you’re looking for hardcore mechanics or twitch action, you’re in the wrong place, but anyone looking for a relaxing change of pace will be right at home.

Despite any grandiose new features, NCAA 07 is a smashing success. Yes, it's a glorified patch for last year's game – but it plays such a better game of football that the lack of new snazzy features should not stop fans from grabbing a copy.

All told it’s a compelling package that makes NHL 10 an outstanding upgrade over NHL 09 and it’s hard to ask for much more than that from a yearly sports release.

Lapses like the holds in pit-lane, the AI nuisances, and lousy rules enforcement prevent this game from reaching its full 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.

Not all of the sports are winners and having a house full of people is still the best way to get the most enjoyment out of the game, but even with these slight caveats, it's hard not to recommend Wii Sports Resort to gamers of all ages and experience levels.

Even with its repetitiveness and awkward camera angles, Devil May Cry 4 provides a solid addition to the series and even towards the end, with its descent into a puddle of annoyance, the game features some exceptional gameplay and cinematics.

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

Even with its limited count of four main levels and a couple of secondary modes, expect Every Extend Extra Extreme to scoop up a great deal of time whenever it is played.

The game has lots of extras like "catch cards" and “recipes” to make new items, so it definitely has a high replayability factor.

If the game only had a little more depth and online play, it would be easy to recommend this without question. As it is, it’s right up there with Power Pros as one of the more enjoyable Wii experiences you can have in a baseball game.

The graphical updates, online play and extra modes from the original release more than make up for the $10 price.

Civilization: Revolution for the DS does a remarkably good job in retaining the best features of its PC predecessors.

Here's a fair litmus test. If you're on the fence about this game, and you have a Wii, spend $5 on the Virtual Console version of The Legend of Zelda. Spend an hour or two with it. Did you enjoy that? Now imagine it with gorgeous graphics and a lot of self-referential humor. That's 3D Dot Game Heroes, and while it's not for everyone, it's one of the most unique, charming and fun PS3 exclusives released so far this year.

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.

It’s an “A” game saddled with “C” game issues, but it’s still an addicting experience. I routinely found myself playing into the wee hours of the night, butchering gnomes with glee; camera issues (and all sense of morality) be damned.

Darksiders has set 2010 off to a running start. With gory hack-and-slash action, challenging dungeon puzzles, an intriguing (albeit sometimes annoying) guardian demon, gorgeous scenery and a story that begins with killing mankind, you get a little bit of everything.

Overall the game is polished, the map is gorgeous, and the emphasis on goals other than war is a refreshing change from the vast majority of strategy titles out there.

If nothing else, Armed Assault can be considered just short of being a “flawed masterpiece”, desperately in need of the proper time and development to shine the way it truly should.

It’s a great ‘show off’ game for the PSP.

Grab your sense of humor and your plastic axe and give Lego Rock Band a try.

Regardless of these nitpicks, ClaDun X2 delivers on NIS's promise of providing twice as much stuff as in the original.

Ultimately, for the $20 price D.N.A. isn’t a bad experience at all, and the official website offers several demo options to learn more about the game before splurging, so it’s definitely worth a look for casual gamers on the go.

DJ Hero will only give you a glimpse into the realities of mixing and scratching, with some of the coolest mash-ups I’ve ever heard to entertain along the way.

The gameplay mechanics in Gun are a lot of fun, and can be picked up and learned pretty easily with a little tiny bit of practice.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D doesn't intend to be a full survival horror experience but it is well designed for short-burst gameplay and, despite the series' history of drawn-out immersion, it works. It's very likely that down the road when a more robust entry makes its way to the 3DS, we'll look back on The Mercenaries as a less-than-full experience but for now it's a fantastic distraction that delivers polished action.

The Conduit may not redefine the shooter experience, but it's got a good beat and I can dance to it and sometimes that's all you need.

If working as a doctor ever interested you, this game has it’s moments of fun. It will not give you training for the real world, but it does pass the time nicely.

With the vast choice of characters to choose from and the huge number of gameplay modes, it is easily the best fighter for the PSP.

With summer here there is going to be more gaming on the go as handhelds get taken on road trips. And just in time, Nintendo has given us a blast from the past to take along and relive the fun of our wasted youths. The game mechanics show a bit of their age, but it is still a lot of great, simple fun.

Ultimately, this is the type of title that will live in my handheld for months, like Honeycomb Beat and Planet Puzzle League before it – a simple, wildly addictive puzzler with great presentation and a boatload of content. It brings a nice twist to a classic game, looks great in 3D, and totally distracted me from the massive release field this October – not bad for a "little port" from Japan.

MLB 09: The Show on the PSP is the second best baseball title of the year, losing only to The Show on the PS3. I don't know if that's more of a sign of how sub-par 2K's offering this year was or a real testament to the handheld developers of The Show, but there's no arguing with the end result, no matter the cause.

The online-focus and lack of plot are sure to rub some people the wrong way, but FPS-fans and zombie aficionados have never played anything quite like Left 4 Dead. It is a near-perfect mixture of decayed ambiance and relentless pacing that pushes the boundaries of sanity to the breaking point.

What’s most impressive is the game’s physics engine.

The fast and frenetic shooting action combined with the number of levels more than makes up the 25 dollar difference.

Packed with so much stuff to see and kill, Borderlands offers plenty of things to aim your spiffy new weapons at, all the while providing one of the best co-op experiences of the year.

It is easy to sink hour after hour into Din's Curse and never really get bored even if the whole thing looks familiar. It's a game with easy charms in spite of its obvious flaws.

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.

Looking at the whole product on paper, Tales of Vesperia really doesn’t do anything new or exciting. Instead, Namco Bandai takes the components for RPG success—a serviceable story, stellar writing, combat which doesn’t become a chore, anime-inspired visuals, and a fantasy setting with some roots in reality—and puts them together so well that the game just works. Is the game groundbreaking? No. Is it fun? You bet.

It seems fitting somehow that Okamiden be one of the games that closes out the DS's reign as the game's themes of youth combined with tradition seems to mirror the current transition from one console to the next.

In the end, Star Ocean: First Departure is a wonderful translation of a game Americans were robbed of so long ago. With superb voice acting, phenomenal replayability, and a great translation with new hybrid 2D/3D graphics, Square Enix’s remake team did a great job.

DiRT is a great game to show off your Xbox 360’s graphical capabilities and is a fun and addictive racing game with a high amount of replay value.

Once you have beaten the game, there is no need to replay it, as there is no extra content unlocked by doing so. It would be like reading a book over and over again, which could get boring.

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.

What Red Dead Redemption does best is allowing players to do whatever they want, whenever they want in a setting unlike any other.

While gamers new to (or averse to) anime style may not enjoy Atelier Totori, the committed JRPG audience will likely be pleased with what the game has to offer. For us JRPG enthusiasts, a good game means beautiful anime-style graphics, expressive musical scores, eccentric characters and dialog and complex gameplay mechanics; despite its somewhat simplified approach to combat, Atelier Totori scores on all points.

It’s still an arcade game, no question about it; this is not a pure simulation of the sport, because of the over the top hitting and offensive AI, but as arcade hockey games go, this one’s a winner.

If other games had the problems found in Deadly Premonition, they would be laughed off the 360 and into obscurity, but this game just has that staying power, that "je ne sais quoi" that makes you want to keep playing, to keep going forward, to keep unraveling the mystery, no matter how awful the controls and graphics.

There’s a fantastic amount of gameplay in Tiger Woods ’08 for the DS, and the most satisfying set of golf mechanics on the console to date.

It’s quite short and the plot is almost nonexistent, but in terms of pure action, Desperate Escape often outshines its own parent.

This game doesn’t really bring anything new to the series, but it’s still a really fun racer, especially with a lot of friends. The tracks are nice, the music is rockin’, and the graphics show what the PS2 can do when it’s being utilized at peak performance.

Fact is, I lost a lot of sleep due to Armored Princess, and gleefully played until the wee hours of the morning so despite its familiarity, it's impossible to not recommend it.

I’ve always been fond of GTA for the story, as ludicrous as it may be, because it closely resembles all the great combat and intrigue of a summer blockbuster. What’s different about this is that, while full of gun, porn and explosions, there’s a complex and mature story beneath it all.

Half-Life 2: Episode One might not introduce any major new weapons or stunning plot twists, but the further insight it gives into the universe and characters who dwell within is unquestionably worth the experience – if only to see the enigmatic "G-Man" get well and truly pissed.

Even with a couple of minor demerits that tend to fade into the background when you're playing a multiplayer game with friends, Risk: Factions is a great addition to the Xbox Live Arcade library.

What’s most impressive is the game’s physics engine.

Graphics are very good, and sounds are even better. Control is very easy once you get the hang of it, and the game gives you a great tutorial to start things off.