The game doesn't really do anything to differentiate itself from these older foot-racing games and doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Frogger Beyond brings the gameplay back to the frantic puzzle action that made "Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge" an enjoyable little title.

It has all the necessary fundamentals intact, but a general lack of polish and a long list of annoying quirks make it difficult to recommend.

A fairly standard car combat game with extremely repetitive gameplay and a hip-hop theme that feels about as fake and forced as possible.

The result isn't going to convince anyone who took Postal 2 the wrong way to give it a second chance, but it's a better game now than before, and those looking for some seriously lowbrow humor in first-person shooter form would likely get a kick out of it.

There are some decent ideas in Street Racing Syndicate, but the fairly uninspired interpretation of racing in the game makes it pretty boring overall.

Take the complicated controls of this popular superspy series and make them even more finicky, lose the online versus mode, and you get Double Agent for the Wii.

This simple adventure game should be just right for younger players and anyone that wants an inoffensive game based on their favorite movie.

Rather short. It only takes a couple of hours to finish the entire quest and a few more after that to collect all the film reels.

Sonic Riders can occasionally be quite entertaining, but too many of those entertaining moments are overridden by bouts of frustration and weak mechanics.

There's not much plot development, and more importantly, the gameplay has numerous shortcomings.

While "The Simpsons" is often entertaining and enjoyable, The Simpsons Road Rage for the Xbox is not.

For three decades pop culture has ingrained the voices of these central characters into our lives and to have them not sounding like expected is a disappointment.

Even though it's being offered at a budget price, there just isn't any reason to play Worms 4: Mayhem if you've played either of the last two games in the series.

While it probably won't appeal to anyone other than historical wargamers, these players will find Combat Command 2 a satisfying experience.

Though there are a few good scenes--such as the first time you see Pyramid Head--it becomes quickly apparent that there aren't many startling, truly scary moments to support the mood.

Delivers a more focused, more satisfying experience that seems less like an abstract interpretation of horse racing and more like the real thing.

The game's arcade elements aren't done well enough to ever balance with the simulation elements, and the end result is a game that's too wacky to be a sim game and too simulation-based to be an arcade game.

Blazing Angels is shot out of the sky by its shaky graphical performance and overly floaty control options.

While it all could have worked out nicely and been a solid action game, the game's touchy and occasionally awkward control pushes the game past the "nice, firm challenge" stage and up into the "frustrating trial-and-error" difficulty level.

Rough around the edges, it's thematically incoherent, and it's a victim of feature creep, but along with fast-paced action, it has some interesting twists that give it a little depth.

Hardly a terrible game, but it has its share of issues and won't appeal to a large group of gamers.

Fails to measure up, primarily because of maddening technical issues that impair user control.

It is most definitely King Kong in the palm of your hand, but the sacrifices and compromises made to get it there ultimately suck away much of its appeal.

Hardwood Spades is a Spades game for Spades fans, but even fans of the card game will probably be a little put off by the dull graphics and sound.

A pretty standard hack-and-slash action game that doesn't deliver on much of the stumblingly bombastic charm of its title character.

Though we wanted to like Joan of Arc, we found it burdened by a number of rookie mistakes, including a bad camera, poor pathfinding, and lackluster artificial intelligence.

Road Rage suffers from a number of problems, not the least of which is bad collision detection. You'll often find yourself clipping a corner of a building or slamming into another car even though you have room to spare.

The game initially seems to offer everything you'd want out of an action-packed military-themed shooter. However, online multiplayer features are of little value when the action itself isn't good.

It has all of the same ingredients that made the earlier releases so popular, but the excitement is gone, and what once felt new and energetic is now old and tired.

The controls are just a little too sluggish, making it feel as though you're driving a run-down school bus instead of a quick and nimble jet fighter or helicopter.

The graphics, audio, and overall gameplay still come across as decidedly old school, but this touch-centric platformer does at least manage to revive a classic in a way that some people should find interesting.

The game tries to deliver an authentic street racing experience, but the racing itself tends to be rather unexciting.

Tak 3 certainly has some adorable moments, but they're overshadowed by a frustrating design and sloppy gameplay mechanics.

Sadly, the AI is very predictable, so after you've gotten the hang of the game, you'll have no trouble winning almost every race.

Doesn't really do anything to differentiate itself from these older foot-racing games and doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Fans of the film will enjoy interacting with the lovable characters and playing through the movie-inspired sequences, but those diligent enough to go through and complete every objective will probably come away from the game feeling a little disappointed.

Hanging 10 in this movie-licensed surfing game has its moments--just don't expect to enjoy it for very long.

The game is as far from original as you can get and in need of much better balancing.

A sharp-looking, amusing romp through a handful of levels that should please those with a taste for the game's whimsical nature.

If you're looking for a fishing game that comes pretty close to re-creating the actual sport, you'll be pleased with this game.

It's an interesting idea to play the part of the invading alien, and there's a very colorful, bizarre visual style at work here, but the single-player game is short, the gameplay is simple, and the game just doesn't seem to go anywhere.

Rocky Balboa has plenty of heart, but it's counted out by a poor fighting system and frustrating controls.

For a game from the same people who brought you such memorable stinkpots as "Mortyr" and the transcendentally lousy "Sniper: Path of Vengeance", Mortyr 2 is actually a semi-competent piece of work.

What was once groundbreaking is now mundane, since this new game remains largely unchanged from what was so refreshing five years ago.

An inadequate addition to the mission-based sci-fi sim genre. The branching mission paths are a nice idea, but, in practice, they could have allowed for more mission variety than what the final product actually delivers.

The game doesn't buck the trend of mediocrity, offering a fairly unremarkable experience that puts you through the motions of the film's plot without capturing any of its essence.

The actual execution, unfortunately, doesn't live up to the standards of Chamber of Secrets and ends up being a lackluster game that never quite comes together.

The casino games in Payout are mostly competent, but the game spreads itself too thin and delivers almost none of the promised real-world casino atmosphere.

This Nintendo DS game card is aimed squarely at fans of the original game and doesn't go overboard to modernize the classic formula.

There's really nothing legendary about most of the old arcade games found in Taito Legends 2.

A passable puzzler, but it lacks polish, and the touch-screen controls weren't necessary.

A much stronger license than it is a game, as it's plagued by overly expansive environments and poorly realized combat sequences.

Xbox owners will be underwhelmed with this version of Unreal II because it plays and feels like a watered-down port.

Mutant Nightmare is a good beat-'em-up at heart, but it's totally bogged down by platforming elements, puzzles, and touch screen features that don't work, not to mention stuffy controls.

Texas Hold 'em does the barest of bare minimums to make a playable game of Xbox Live Arcade poker.

If your first encounter with Castlevania was "Symphony of the Night" or even some of the SNES games, you'll be disappointed by the dated graphics, static gameplay, and lack of replay value.

In some ways the game has actually suffered--with its fluctuating frame rate and choppy animation--when compared to last year's game.

Hard-core Tomb Raider fans and other particularly patient players should be able to overlook some of these flaws and enjoy this new installment for its engaging storyline, death-defying action sequences, and impressive locations.

It's rare that a game's bonus features are more compelling than its main play mode, but that's definitely the case with the GBA version of Tron 2.0: Killer App.

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.

Other than the obligatory roster update and the inclusion of a link mode, you'd be hard-pressed to notice further improvements.

Frankly, Redemption just isn't a very interesting game, from any angle.

Despite some attractive visuals, Desperados 2 is burdened by lame artificial intelligence and some very frustrating missions.

While this textbook copy of the Capcom classic is a competent regurgitation of the genre's clichés, your patience will be tested by déjà vu from the moment that the first monster bursts out of the walls.

Perhaps if the developers had focused more on the stealth part of the game and less on the other aspects, we'd have a game that's less varied but more fun to play.

Perhaps if the developers had focused more on the stealth part of the game and less on the other aspects, we'd have a game that's less varied but more fun to play.

Frankly, Redemption just isn't a very interesting game, from any angle.

Bandai's decision to pad one good game's worth of content with about 60 to 80 hours' worth of filler, and to split that game into four full-priced products spread out over a year, remains disappointing.

Marred by bugs, design problems, low production values, and general sloppiness that usually overshadow its genuine charms.

All the pieces are in place, but unfortunately, this Xbox Live Arcade game's most prominent components are its shoddy ball movement and lackluster table design.

A platform-style puzzler that's clearly aimed toward a young audience. Older players will laugh (at least, they ought to) at the game's simplistic controls, straightforward puzzles, and rudimentary graphics.

While outstanding graphics can make a good game seem great, occasionally a game features gameplay so weak that even amazing graphics can't camouflage its flaws. Enter AquaNox, a game with far more flash than substance.

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.

Overtime is an apt subtitle for this port of Blitz: The League, as the exceedingly lengthy load times and sluggish running speed run the game well past regulation.

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 sequel to Generation of Chaos provides more of the same strategic gameplay without doing anything to correct the problems with the original.

While many fighting games this year have gone online, Guilty Gear Isuka takes a step back and to the side with its awkward multicharacter fighting system.

The game doesn't buck the trend of mediocrity, offering a fairly unremarkable experience that puts you through the motions of the film's plot without capturing any of its essence.

A serviceable, lightweight entry in the genre. It stays true enough to the source material, which should please fans, but the game's rather dry presentation may make it inaccessible to outsiders.

Its originality, however, is offset by a sometimes lackluster presentation and the occasionally repetitive nature of its gameplay.

A weak follow-up to Chamber of Secrets that seems like an awkward fit for anyone who already owns last year's game.

Unfortunately, the game hasn't aged well, and although it has plenty of personality, the maddening camera control and broken combat mechanics quickly spoil the fun.

It may not have the depth of a "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out," but it's definitely worth taking a look at, if only to see the sharp graphical presentation.

This middling rail shooter will not change your life, but it might improve a bus ride or two.

A weak follow-up to Chamber of Secrets that seems like an awkward fit for anyone who already owns last year's game.

It's a solidly average game whose few original ideas are compromised by screwy controls, some pacing problems, and a punishing save-game system.

Smashing Drive for the GBA isn't a great racing game, and it certainly won't eat up weeks of your time, but it is fine for what it is: a simple, graphically impressive racer that can be played in short bursts.

This version of Pandora Tomorrow was effectively gutted. Not only is it missing the other versions' most exciting feature but--much like the PlayStation 2 version--also it doesn't look nearly as good as its PC and Xbox counterparts.

The best option for console gamers looking for some online puzzle action.

Le Mans has awkward control, horridly clumsy interfaces, and several annoying console game conventions.

Dawnspire is an action RPG in the vein of "Diablo," spiced up with capture-the-flag action but lacking most of the addictive fun of that great hackfest.

Slapping some of the dizzy Ape Escape energy over an easily anticipated collection of minigames makes for a mildly entertaining experience, but not a very long one.

The interesting level design, copious eye candy, and heavily touted online play are crippled by the games fumbled controls.

Even those who only own a GameCube should probably avoid this version of Double Agent, which has fewer features and worse graphics than its counterparts on other platforms.

Regardless of which online game type you decide to compete in, any game that you play will be stricken by a pretty severe amount of lag.

It's a professionally executed but thoroughly conventional action game that's more tepid than it is thrilling.