TMNT has some legitimately neat platforming sequences, but it's more frustrating than a kid-oriented game ought to be, and the combat is completely brain-dead.

A game so utterly devoted to the same flawed concepts as its predecessor that it might as well be the same game with a new story.

While it definitely has a certain sense of style to it, the game itself misses its mark, and the total package isn't one that will hold the interest of most first-person shooter players.

If you're already worn out on the gameplay of other rail-based light-gun games, you'll find little to draw you back in House of the Dead III.

It's not going to replace or even come close to your fighting game of choice.

Though it gets the show's style of humor down pat, Family Guy is derailed by frustrating and uninteresting gameplay.

It's not the best Resident Evil game, and it isn't a stellar light-gun game, but Dead Aim creates an interesting, unique hybrid of the two, and that is a commendable feat.

Though it gets the show's style of humor down pat, Family Guy is derailed by frustrating and uninteresting gameplay.

Judging by Obscure, a survival horror throwback best described as "Resident Evil" in a high school, French developer Hydravision is stuck in 1996.

Death Jr. II is almost a good game, but substandard controls and repetitive combat make it difficult to enjoy.

Those who may be looking for another "SSX" will certainly be disappointed by X-Games' sim-styled approach, but those who are looking for a true-to-life snowboarding experience will be overjoyed.

In spite of its weak gameplay, The Simpsons Wrestling has plenty of laughs in store for devout fans of the series.

Despite its lack of polish or depth in just about every facet of its execution, Lowrider has a lot of heart and is notable for at least trying something new.

Much like Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros. Melee," the game is just plain fun.

Import Tuner Challenge does few things right and faces stiff competition from other racing games, but if you sink enough time into it, it can grow on you.

Balanced well for casual players who don't want to make large time commitments to the game, yet it's this same balance that ultimately keeps the game from being truly compelling at this point in time.

TMNT has some legitimately neat platforming sequences, but it's more frustrating than a kid-oriented game ought to be, and the combat is completely brain-dead.

The game's story isn't strong enough to stand on its own, and the gameplay simply doesn't save it, making the game worth a look for hard-core fans of The Matrix films, but a buggy disappointment for just about anyone else.

It hits certain points well enough that fans of the genre who are willing to overlook the somewhat tired gameplay formula will be rewarded with good atmosphere.

While it definitely has a certain sense of style to it, the game itself misses its mark, and the total package isn't one that will hold the interest of most first-person shooter players.

A slightly updated version of the orange marsupial's 1998 debut on the PlayStation.

Takes the familiar "Settlers" community-management gameplay and manages to not screw it up in any meaningful way.

Despite the fact that Krome Studios was able to translate the story, look, and feel of the film well enough into its offering, the gameplay is simply too lifeless and frustrating to hold your attention the entire way through.

It might be good enough for fans of the film looking to walk in Constantine's shoes, but if you're simply looking for a good action game, you can do better.

Marvel Nemesis has been engineered in such a way that you must slog through the game's weakest parts to gain access to its best features--and you'll have to wrestle with some serious balance and gameplay issues along the way.

The racing itself is fine, but the flawed trick system makes things more simplistic when it should have added more depth.

It's an intriguing experiment that ultimately suffers from shallow, simplistic gameplay and an uninvolving story mode rife with bland characters.

You'll be constantly amazed at the lack of refinement.

Dinosaur Digs isn't nearly as visually or audibly rewarding as it could have been.

Fails as an adventure game, offering no emotional resonance at all. It mostly succeeds well as a puzzle game, though.

If you don't plan on having (four) contestants at a time, you'd be well advised to steer clear of Pyramid and pick up the latest copy of "You Don't Know Jack" instead.

Though it divulges a few more bits of storyline, Outbreak's gameplay is simple and repetitive to the extreme and is even worse off for being just like "Mutation" before it, which in turn was just like the first episode, "Infection," which was marginally good to begin with.

It just doesn't come close to being on the same level as some of the competing sports titles on other platforms.

Provides a perspective on the Tetris formula that's fresh enough and an adequate amount of gameplay variety to keep puzzle fans engaged.

The combat is shallow and repetitive, and, as a whole, the game is awfully brief--perhaps five hours from beginning to end.

Unfortunately, the 3D engine serves only to make Myst a much more frustrating game.

Lives up to its name. It's competent enough as far as blatant rip-offs of the great-granddaddy of survival horror go, and the co-op mode certainly adds appeal, but so much has been cobbled together from remnants of other games that Obscure has no distinct identity of its own.

Breaks no new ground and puts too much emphasis on puzzles, but its meticulously detailed world and paranormal detective story generally keep things entertaining.

The game delivers a fun, but ultimately short, gaming experience.

The new addition of roads from Nagoya and Osaka doesn't change the fact that, even as a budget title, TXR3 doesn't stand up to the other games in the genre.

Flaws like poorly blended animations, an erratic frame rate, a horribly flawed free-throw-shooting mechanic, and the lack of a franchise mode combine to keep NBA Live 06 from being the great basketball game it could have been.

The game itself is decent, offering up a variety of different moves and letting players dish out long and damaging attack combinations--but it's not going to replace or even come close to your fighting game of choice.

There is a certain superficiality to The Moment of Silence that prevents you from getting totally immersed in the story.

Were it not for the part where you actually have to play it, fans of the film could have had a conceivably great time with Oogie's Revenge.

The game's somewhat sticky control and straightlaced mission design keep Gun Metal's gameplay from living up to the strength of the idea.

Corner Shop is silly and fun in the beginning, but the gameplay quickly wears thin.

It's fraught with lots of minor gameplay problems that eventually add up to one major headache. Rising Sun isn't completely without merit, since it comes packaged with some nice extra materials and mostly solid production values, but the weakness of the gameplay itself undermines what could have been a much more enjoyable experience.

With the exception of its unique super-move system, it doesn't really have any strong points for or against it.

Once you get over the whole rewriting-the-end-of-the-movie thing, Scarface: The World Is Yours is a competent but usually uninteresting action game.

Considering how rich your upgrade options actually are, it's disappointing that the combat itself falls a bit flat. This is a straightforward hack-and-slash that is saddled with an unnecessary partner system and masses of foes that can be easily killed.

With versions in the works for both the PlayStation 2 and the Dreamcast, though, owners of multiple consoles are probably better off waiting for the graphical enhancement that will come with a more powerful console.

While you should be enjoying yourself, considering who should be hitting cleanup versus lefties, among other things, you'll instead find yourself constantly thinking about how much easier everything would be with a drag-and-drop interface.

Based on 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception, this version gains some extra characters but little else to make it worthwhile for fans of Midway's gory fighting-game series.

Eragon is short and the touch-screen controls don't work very well, but it's still a fairly decent action adventure game.

Xiaolin Showdown has its problems, but it's generally a solid beat-'em-up.

A thoroughly original title that brings to a new audience, through parody, a touch of what makes Japanese culture so appealing to so many Westerners.

While it definitely has a certain sense of style to it, the game itself misses its mark, and the total package isn't one that will hold the interest of most first-person shooter players.

While some are more interesting than others, in practice, Core Combat's new additions don't seem to add much to PlanetSide.

Were it not for the part where you actually have to play it, fans of the film could have had a conceivably great time with Oogie's Revenge.

Even the most ardent X-Men fans should probably just rent Next Dimension rather than buy it.

Though derivative, Egg Mania provides a perspective on the Tetris formula that's fresh enough and an adequate amount of gameplay variety to keep puzzle fans engaged.

"Elite's" worst problem is that there's no real incentive in it -- the lack of story and repetitive combat offer no good reason to stick with the game.

It's an intriguing experiment that ultimately suffers from shallow, simplistic gameplay and an uninvolving story mode rife with bland characters.

Scramble on the 360 is a faithful rendition of the original arcade game. If that alone doesn't get you excited, you should probably take a pass.

Diner Dash is a challenging game that will keep you on your toes from start to finish, but it's too simple to keep you coming back.

This certainly isn't a bad game of pool, but it lives up to few expectations beyond what its meager price tag would suggest.

Steel isn't a game for everyone, and the repetitive mission structure will more than likely deter all but the Superman faithful.

While Konami has toned down the simulation elements of Winter X-Games Snowboarding 2002 so that it will appeal to a broader audience, the challenging controls and plodding snowboarder mode will turn off all but the most ardent snowboarders.

It might be good enough for fans of the film looking to walk in Constantine's shoes, but if you're simply looking for a good action game, you can do better.

This is a huge game, but not in a good way. There simply just isn't enough action or variety to keep your attention, and the complex economic structure feels just a tad bit too complex for its own good.

Quite shallow, and while it could easily tide over Godzilla fans for a while, it ultimately relies on the strength of its license to compensate for its weakness as a game.

This year's game does put a greater emphasis on its included pro players, and the online multiplayer is certainly a draw, but the offline play is still a bit mundane, thanks to off-kilter artificial intelligence and lackluster presentation.

Despite some bright spots, this isn't a fitting sequel to X-COM, and, on its own merits, it just isn't a good tactical combat simulator.

This game might make a few halfhearted attempts to try to rope new players into the Tenchu fold, between its original story and its tutorial mode, but the gameplay itself is cumbersome, and the presentation isn't going to be good enough to hold most players' interest when the gameplay fails to.

It's fraught with lots of minor gameplay problems that eventually add up to one major headache. Rising Sun isn't completely without merit, since it comes packaged with some nice extra materials and mostly solid production values, but the weakness of the gameplay itself undermines what could have been a much more enjoyable experience.

year's game does put a greater emphasis on its included pro players, and the online multiplayer is certainly a draw, but the offline play is still a bit mundane, thanks to off-kilter artificial intelligence and lackluster presentation.

The game's story isn't strong enough to stand on its own, and the gameplay simply doesn't save it, making the game worth a look for hard-core fans of The Matrix films, but a buggy disappointment for just about anyone else.

It's as mindless of a shooter as they come, and you can't help but be disappointed at the thought of this, in light of the series' roots as a mentally stimulating strategy game.

Despite the fact that Krome Studios was able to translate the story, look, and feel of the film well enough into its offering, the gameplay is simply too lifeless and frustrating to hold your attention the entire way through.

This year's game does put a greater emphasis on its included pro players, and the online multiplayer is certainly a draw, but the offline play is still a bit mundane, thanks to off-kilter artificial intelligence and lackluster presentation.

Though derivative, Egg Mania provides a perspective on the "Tetris" formula that's fresh enough and an adequate amount of gameplay variety to keep puzzle fans engaged.

Outside of a few bug fixes and a few insignificant additions, this is the exact same game you played last year.

A straightforward game that is every bit as forgettable as what you did on your real spring break, after the beer began to flow.

While this action adventure game flexes a bit of the PlayStation 3's graphical muscle with its mythical Japanese scenery, its rather shallow, derivative gameplay makes it difficult to recommend.

Due to a serious flaw in the game's single-player component, the only way to squeeze your money's worth out of this 2D punchfest is to track down two or three other people with the game and play them in linked games.

The game's sharp graphics and elaborate universe--well, elaborate for a fighting game, anyway--are nullified by its subpar gameplay.

Hard-core "Time Crisis" fans and those just looking for a good gun game would do well to pick up this game, but the antiquated presentation, lack of options, and brutal continue system will make this at best a rental for most.

Unfortunately, there's not much here that stands out, making this feel more like a series of tweaks than what we've come to expect from a fully featured expansion.

Its good premise is almost enough to outweigh its frustrating design flaws.

Marvel Nemesis has been engineered in such a way that you must slog through the game's weakest parts to gain access to its best features--and you'll have to wrestle with some serious balance and gameplay issues along the way.

Borrows too heavily from other games and lacks that "hook" to make it worth dealing with excessive defending, a thin story you'd expect to see on Power Rangers, and aural competence.

Online Chess Kingdoms is predictably unsuccessful in its attempts to change or enhance the timeless classic, but thankfully it does let you play classic chess online or off.

Like the original game on launch day, this expansion pack balances good points with bad almost every step of the way, resulting in yet another turn-based fantasy adventure that isn't all that it could be.

Unfortunately, humor is the only thing Whiplash seems to really nail, and chuckles alone aren't enough to carry an entire game.

The game's heavy emphasis on a disjointed and needless plot and some generally unimpressive production values are Frogger's Adventures main drawbacks, though they don't prevent the game from being enjoyable overall.

Exhibits bouts of outrageously bad AI and displays little quirks that make it seem as though the game is simulating incompetent high school football players as opposed to seasoned professionals.

While it looks and sounds good and is a solid-playing game, it is not without a few annoying quirks that pop up at moments when you least need or want them. The addition of being able to play as a villain is a welcome change.

Rebirth makes some minor improvements on the familiar formula, but it's still hampered by repetitive, tedious gameplay and a story that never seems to get anywhere.