Metal Saga has the makings of a good role-playing game, but there's nothing to tie it all together.

A quirky strategy game that's interesting to play--at least for a little while.

If you're absolutely riddled with Pac-Man fever, this game is for you, but if you're anything less than fiendish in your desire to play Pac-Man, then take a pass.

What good is a set of tools that frustrates more than it aids creation?

The additions made to the game seem largely perfunctory when you consider that the underlying gameplay is still quite dull, and that the game simply lacks an engaging storyline or characters worth caring about. The fundamentals needed to make a quality platformer just aren't here.

A fairly lackluster game of hockey that doesn't really need to be in your PSP collection.

Despite the bacchanalian context, this Sims-style strategy game comes off as cold and mechanical, capturing none of the devil-may-care attitude you'd expect and casting Hef's idyllic lifestyle as a hollow grind established purely for the sake of selling more magazines.

The storybook charm of Narnia quickly fades away, leaving a fairly average game that doesn't do much to complement the movie.

While the backdrop may still have some life left in it, Pariah's combat, story, and weapons loadout are all positively lifeless, making the game feel like nothing more than an also-ran shooter that barely stands on its own, let alone stands up to the genre's best.

Perhaps with some additional gameplay modes, or less-archaic graphics and sound, World Race might stand out a bit more, but as it is, the game is only worth playing if you have a specific affinity for the Hot Wheels series.

While the visuals can certainly be pleasant, Dark Fall: Lights Out is ultimately unambitious and relies on very dated and dry presentation methods. It's also very short; you can finish it in a day. Overall, it feels strikingly like its predecessor.

The younger crowd may find Cartoon Network Racing to be an enjoyable racer featuring familiar and likable characters, but anyone else likely won't be as enamored.

Natsume's attempt to marry the air combat and role-playing genres often feels underdeveloped and unpolished.

If you're looking for a frenetic beat-'em-up, à la "Dynasty Warriors," 20XX may scratch your itch, though it's still marred by stilted pacing and a wildly inconsistent frame rate.

Features some good graphics and a decent adaptation of D&D's turn-based tactical combat, but the game is primarily an uninspired dungeon crawl, burdened by repetitive gameplay, a cumbersome interface, and some serious technical issues.

An obsolete 3-year-old fighting game that doesn't even support online play as was originally promised.

An uninteresting story and lackluster gameplay, both online and off, leaves this latest adventure feeling rather flat.

An uninteresting story and lackluster gameplay, both online and off, leaves this latest adventure feeling rather flat.

The lightsaber dueling is ultimately too repetitive and easily exploited to be very fun for long, and each of the 16 missions (and subsequent bonus missions) don't take more than 10 to 20 minutes apiece to complete.

At least the PC version is easier to play, thanks to the wider array of control options offered by the keyboard and mouse.

More often than not, the extra player just causes confusion due to players bunching up on the court. Thankfully, the same rim-rocking, high-flying gameplay has returned, complete with the usual 360-degree tomahawk dunks from the top of the key.

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.

It's by no means a Quake III Arena, but fans of big explosions and warfare should be pleased.

Those willing to overlook AI and interface issues (and fans of the "Rainbow Six"-style action games) would do well to check out Hidden and Dangerous.

It simply exists in an inoffensive and unexciting realm of commonplaceness that makes it incapable of standing out among the pack of infinitely better racers available for any of its chosen platforms.

Die-hard action-game players will find the game far too easy and much too tedious to be of any real value, but children and Dr. Seuss fans should be well satisfied.

While Invasion includes online multiplayer capability, a feature not included in the original, the game's single-player campaign still suffers from the same bland gameplay and mission design that plagued its predecessor.

The cute claymation couple look and sound pretty good in this mission-based platformer, but the gameplay isn't all that compelling.

Stiff controls, some questionable AI, and other quirk...ruin an otherwise entertaining experience.

The simplifications that have been made to the formula ultimately make the game best suited for novice players.

It's inhibited by ponderous combat controls, its repetitious nature, and an overall lack of depth.

The charming visuals may hook you in, but Band of Bugs is too simplistic to be addictive and too frustrating for players looking for a casual strategy fix.

This compilation of arcade driving games proves that you can take the game out of the arcade--it's just not much fun.

The ports are nearly arcade-perfect for the most part, though a few of the games suffer from control issues. Still, at a retail price of less than $20, AAE can be worthwhile if you're feeling nostalgic.

It simply exists in an inoffensive and unexciting realm of commonplaceness that makes it incapable of standing out among the pack of infinitely better racers available for any of its chosen platforms.

The gameplay interface can prove to be very cumbersome, but if you can learn to tolerate how it plays, Maximum Pool is a great deal.

A disappointing effort on all fronts, and probably isn't worth your time.

Attempts to deliver some "Prince of Persia"-like acrobatics, but its sharp graphics are offset by bad control, weak voice work, and shoddy gameplay.

Seasoned fans of the freestyle sports genre will whip through Razor Freestyle Scooter in an afternoon, no questions asked.

While a solid offering that represents its respective license quite well, Looney Tunes Racing isn't the genre-busting piece of software that a last-generation game is supposed to be.

Despite the bacchanalian context, this Sims-style strategy game comes off as cold and mechanical, capturing none of the devil-may-care attitude you'd expect and casting Hef's idyllic lifestyle as a hollow grind established purely for the sake of selling more magazines.

For most players, THQ's Virtua Tennis is simply a better option. It has more variety in the way of techniques and options, and you don't have to wait 20 minutes or so to save your game.

Juka's quest is aesthetically pleasing and incorporates a couple of twists on the usual action role-playing game blueprint, but the easygoing gameplay is clearly geared toward inexperienced players.

The pity is that you get the feeling the game would be a lot more effective if the main character had a drier, more morbid sense of humor. As it is, the attempts to crack weird jokes takes away from the otherwise eerie atmosphere of the game.

An uninteresting story and lackluster gameplay, both online and off, leaves this latest adventure feeling rather flat.

Really fun and truly invigorating--at least until you play through all 16 levels or grow tired of killing things.

This budget-priced "Arkanoid" clone has its moments of creativity, but mostly it's just a serviceable puzzler that offers little outside of well-worn territory.

The core concepts found within the game are of a proven ilk, but the devil's in the details, as they say, and the sloppy execution of said concepts can't keep the game enjoyable for very long.

A capable shooter in its own right.

Adults will find it far too easy, and kids will bemoan its torpid controls. Nasira's Revenge does succeed at being fun at times, but the game ends right around the time it begins.

Eragon has some exciting moments, but they are overshadowed by frustrating controls and tedious level designs.

If unadulterated speed and kaleidoscopic imagery sounds like fun, Ballistics is your ticket to paradise. But many racing fans may well find that paradise short-lived.

Yet despite the bacchanalian context, this Sims-style strategy game comes off as cold and mechanical, capturing none of the devil-may-care attitude you'd expect and casting Hef's idyllic lifestyle as a hollow grind established purely for the sake of selling more magazines.

A poor translation, very repetitive gameplay, and a lack of any multiplayer features mar what otherwise could have been an excellent take on this type of game.

Konami's sights may be locked dead on the retrogaming audience, but Gradius III & IV are both excellent, albeit incredibly difficult, games in their own right.

Practically every criticism you could lobby against the original game is still an issue here, along with a host of new issues that make this version decidedly less fun to play.

Once again, the strategy elements of the empires mode do a lot to make up for the mundanity of the aging Warriors combat system, but it's not quite enough.

So many of the games included here relied so heavily on custom arcade hardware that they lose much of their appeal in the translation.

It's just too bad the developers didn't see fit to add any new gameplay features or a multiplayer mode.

Xtreme Legends is the archetypal Dynasty Warriors expansion pack, adding more ways to experience the same tired gameplay.

The good news for PC owners is that the PC version happens to be a port of the 360/PS3 version. The bad news is that this port doesn't quite cut it. The control scheme is totally unplayable unless you have a good dual-analog gamepad, and a number of performance problems frequently get in the way of the action.

Kao's latest adventure isn't very innovative or challenging, but it is varied enough to hold a player's attention for an entire weekend.

For what it is, RC Cars isn't a bad game. However, the distinct lack of features, compared to Creat's previous RC racing title, is a pretty big disappointment. There's just not much here beyond the scant few single- and two-player modes and the currently vacant online mode.

This is a game designed specifically for a general audience, and thus, the bulk of what would normally make an adventure game challenging or unique has been stripped away in favor of the most user-friendly interface and game design possible.

While it may share some visual qualities with Konami's internationally popular "ISS Pro Evolution" series, it plays entirely differently.

The developers may have designed a serious hockey simulation for the serious hockey fan, but the dated, almost DOS-like interface and absence of nifty accessories, like career play, make it an acquired taste.

Don't expect any grand, over-the-top treatment of Spartan history, as Sparta: Ancient Wars is a very generic real-time strategy game.

Despite some wonderful depth and a great alternate-history ambience, this game is more work than play.

Vexx does little more than imitate, which just isn't enough these days... Feels outdated right out of the gate.

Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner is built on a solid concept that is enjoyable at times, but the rest of the game just feels underdeveloped.

While the level of customization is nice, the RPG section of the game and the actual combat leave a lot to be desired.

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.

Fans will appreciate the good-looking characters and hard-hitting attacks, but Clash of Ninja is an experience cut short by a pervasive lack of depth.

Parts of L.A. Rush come across as competent and enjoyable, but those parts aren't enough to make it stand out amid stiff competition.

Attempts to deliver some "Prince of Persia"-like acrobatics, but its sharp graphics are offset by bad control, weak voice work, and shoddy gameplay.

QuickSpot has about as much lasting value as you'd expect from a game that is exclusively about spotting differences between two pictures, which is to say, not much.

It's a just passably competent old-school shooter that sets its sights pretty low and then manages to hit that mark.

Packs about 15 to 20 hours' worth of gameplay, and it's not a bad game for younger gamers.

An ambitious but seriously flawed shooter. Though much of its gameplay is otherwise decent, Devastation is ultimately plagued by too many incomplete concepts and annoying issues to recommend it.

Fans of the show or Greek mythology will enjoy controlling the familiar characters. Hercules isn't godly, but as a whole it's a decent adventure.

The small problems that have been apparent throughout the series are still intact, along with a couple of new quirks that make the game overly easy. Even so, Buu's Fury is still a decent game for Dragon Ball Z fans.

TMNT doesn't wear its nostalgic aspects particularly well, and the remaining components simply don't make for a very entertaining experience.

Vexx does little more than imitate, which just isn't enough these days.

The lack of originality and one particularly glaring multiplayer flaw make Jungle Storm less than exciting overall.

A shallow fighting game with a lame single-player mode but an awesome multiplayer mode.

Broken World brings a couple of welcome new features to an already good game, but the short campaign and lack of compelling content will leave you feeling disappointed.

Though classical music aficionados may get a kick out of getting to conduct some of their favorite pieces, the gameplay will likely be too simplistic or boring for rhythm junkies and average gamers.

While the game isn't especially amazing to look at or play, City Crisis scores points for originality.

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.

Not only does SVC Chaos simply not play particularly well by the standards of 2D fighting games, but also the game's implementation of Xbox Live support is flawed.

Ar tonelico is built on a solid role-playing foundation, but the lengthy character exchanges and lack of any challenge take a lot of the fun out of the game.

The game's transition from console to PC wasn't handled as smoothly as you might have expected, thus leaving a game that was already a little uneven feeling a little broken in some spots.

A simplistic but pleasant beat-'em-up. The combat isn't complicated, and there isn't much payoff for beating the whole thing, but the ride does have its moments.

It's an arcade-perfect port of Dig Dug, an experience that still stands up well enough, but easy achievements and a lack of additional features keep it from lasting too long.

Gyruss isn't exactly the most famous shooter in the world, but if you remember it--and remember liking it--you'll get enough out of it to justify the $5 purchase price.

Are you dying to play some more Ms. Pac-Man? If so, then pick this up, but keep in mind that it's a very barebones emulation of the original game.

The cute claymation couple look and sound pretty good in this mission-based platformer, but the gameplay isn't all that compelling.

Enjoyable as it can be in spurts, Raiden III doesn't do anything unique to stand out from other modern shoot-'em-ups, and that it isn't priced at a flat-out budget rate is a bit disquieting.