In essence, Ping Pals is "PictoChat" with a lousy personality, and there's absolutely no reason why you should waste your time with it.

Fans of role-playing games rarely get as good a deal as this package offers--two full-length tactical RPGs with branching paths, numerous side quests, and tons of content for the price of a single game.

A few additions to an already proven formula make Viewtiful Joe 2 another great and quirky action game.

Eliminates some of the annoyances of its predecessor. However, while that's all well and good, X8 can still often be an intensely frustrating game, and still isn't especially fun.

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

At best, D-Day offers up a tepid serving of cookie-cutter RTS gameplay. At worst, it makes you descend into micromanagement hell.

Pretty much the perfect sports management game.

While it's certainly a competent racing game, Ridge Racer DS's awkward driving and collision model feel very dated by today's standards.

It's safe to say that only the most diehard of Gundam fans could possibly find anything at all to like about this game.

This game is clearly aimed at hooking existing fans of the developing Kingdom Hearts series, and those fans will get the most value out of Chain of Memories.

And while it doesn't achieve the same epic sense of scale as Jackson's movies, it's still an engrossing and well-made real-time strategy game that captures the essence of J.R.R. Tolkien's wondrous world.

This exotic pedigree gives Torrente the game an air of intrigue that eclipses the final product, which turns out to be a typically rotten movie-licensed budget shooter.

It's remarkable that the game's quest is every bit as big and complex as the original's. On the other hand, some unsightly technical issues and a general feeling of déjà vu will probably prevent you from feeling as strongly about The Sith Lords as you did or still do about the first game.

On the surface, Mario Party 6 seems to offer some of the biggest fundamental changes the series has ever seen. But this is really just a fresh coat of paint on an old building. Luckily for us, though, the building's foundation is still pretty strong.

The shooting interface is unreliable and tough to get the hang of, which is unfortunate considering that Dead to Rights is supposedly an action game steeped in gunplay.

Lacking both the volatile charm and the compelling technical details of the series, it's little more than a halfhearted racing game with some guest appearances by characters and locations you've seen on TV.

Metal Slug's first foray onto the GBA is a resounding success. Even though Metal Slug Advance is a brand-new game, it has all the sights, sounds, and charm of the NeoGeo games it's based on.

So enough with the puzzle bosses! And fix the loading times! And get rid of the idiotic jumping puzzles! Make more levels like the orphanage! Please.

Easily the best chess program for the seasoned chess player, and, if you can work through its occasionally clumsy interface, it may well be the best overall chess program for any pawn pusher.

The gameplay is very much like that of the earliest real-time strategy games. This is a traditional RTS that seemingly ignores all the advances that the genre has experienced over the past several years.

While Warrior Within's new combat and satisfyingly long campaign improve on last year's game, the now darker tone falls somewhat flat compared to the storybook atmosphere in "The Sands of Time."

While Warrior Within's combat and satisfyingly long campaign improve on last year's game, the now darker tone falls somewhat flat compared to the storybook atmosphere in "The Sands of Time."

Fails to live up to the lofty expectations of its own brand thanks to simplistic gameplay, lackluster presentation, a lack of co-op play, and an overall dearth of polish.

Fans of puzzle games will find a passable but somewhat shallow game in Drill Spirits, but fans of this specific series will find that it really hasn't changed much over the years.

It offers a solid new campaign, as well as some new units, textures, and AI upgrades, but it also neglects to address some old problems.

While Warrior Within's new combat and satisfyingly long campaign improve on last year's game, the now darker tone falls somewhat flat compared to the storybook atmosphere in "The Sands of Time."

Ultimately a decent effort, but only because of its online play. The offline component of the game is simply too pointless and spotty to hold anyone's attention.

While Warrior Within's new combat and satisfyingly long campaign improve on last year's game, the now darker tone falls somewhat flat compared to the storybook atmosphere in "The Sands of Time."