As a total package, it's hard to find many cracks in Tiger Woods 07. The game looks just about as good as its PS2 counterpart, has appealing style and presentation, and plays the part of genre-leader with aplomb.

In almost every way, this is a very good PC version, and definitely superior to the console versions. We got great graphics options (including that HD texture pack!), smooth performance, and customizable keys. It's also quite stable -- in almost 25 hours of play I hit exactly two crashes to desktop, and neither cost me any progress. If not for the irritating lack of consistently clickable menus Sleeping Dogs would be hard to complain about.

What was a tongue-in-cheek look at Cold War paranoia married to solid RTS gameplay has blossomed into a pure comedy that retains the easy-to-pick-up and addictive-as-peanuts gameplay of the best in the Command & Conquer franchise. It's not a game that will redefine strategy gaming, but it is one heck of an enjoyable ride.

Those who have mastered the LEGO Star Wars titles will discover that this game has a much greater emphasis on puzzle-solving than its spiritual predecessors had.

You'll likely be so enthralled by the riveting story that you simply won't notice the hours flying by. Of course, that's also due in no small part to the fact that the game is unsatisfyingly short.

All around, if there's anything to ding Ridge Racer 7 for, it's the sense that it's less a sequel and more of a decimal point. Call it Ridge Racer 6.5 or Ridge Racer 6: Director's Cut, it's pretty much the same thing, minus the achievement points (grrrr).

One of the game's strongest features is its highly bizarre and amusing story line, with a localization that Nintendo of America can be proud of.

The game features enough choices and entertaining kills to have you playing some missions more than once, striving for that elusive Silent Assassin rating.

Even with the disappointing lack of online play and the utterly unsurprising graphics issues, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection's two superb fighters offer enough outstanding gameplay to keep you cracking skulls and throwing fireballs for a long time to come.

As the name would imply, Pure wins because it sticks with only the most important facets of ATV racing: crazy handling and absurd, gravity-defying stunts. Its stellar visuals (exemplified by the glittering glacier track set in New Zealand) are simply icing on a cake of solid gameplay that rarely falters in providing the basic racing game essentials.

The Dynasty Mode is one of the best you'll see in an EA game, mostly because of the addition of the discipline system, which forces you to walk a fine line between getting the best players and running a clean program.

Compared to the HD versions, this PS2 game has significantly better features, such as great cross-compatibility with the handheld version.

Ad Hoc games ran particularly smooth, but the Infrastructure games had the occasional hiccup or two. In these games, lag would occasionally cause my batter to swing late (if at all).

Blacklight's a smart and polished take on a very tried-and-true formula, and if that's what you're looking for, there's really no better F2P option.

A good solid Bond game -- but there should have been more of it.

Although the single player campaign is on the short side, a solid multiplayer mode will ensure that you'll still be playing it a few months from now. If you're looking to fight in the Big One, it's time to answer the call.

As a whole, I couldn't ask for much more with MX Unleashed. A few more challenges in Freestyle would be nice, but this really is the total package for race games -- which is no surprise, coming from Rainbow.

The Xbox version, in addition to being considerably better-looking than the PS2 version, also supports Xbox Live online play for head-to-head racing, though seemingly must-have features, like co-op racing or the ability to play as the cops, didn't make it into the online portion of the game.

The accessible nature of Borderlands -- with its relatively non-punitive deaths, constant checkpoints, and convenient fast-travel systems -- makes it a fantastic game for introducing FPS fans to some basic RPG tropes. And, most importantly, the killing and looting never ceases to be fun.

NCAA Football 07 works very well on the PSP, and controls flawlessly without some of the analog-stick issues that have plagued other games on the platform.

SCEA has made enough visual tweaks to keep its already-authentic representation of baseball atop the heap for another year. With a few more tweaks to the Franchise mode and an expansion to the surprisingly enjoyable new practice mode, I see no reason why this baseball series won't sit on top for the foreseeable future.

If it weren't for its middling trick system, Downhill Domination would be among the finest action-sports games on the market.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of DiRT is the poorly implemented multiplayer portion of the game. Instead of allowing you to try some of the head-to-head events that are included in the single-player game, like the Rally Raids or CORR events, you're limited to single-car hill climbs and rally events against times being uploaded by other players in your session.

My only serious complaint is that the music utterly sucks in every way and is an affront to mankind that should be excised from the universe by the vengeful spirits of J.S. Bach, Duke Ellington and Hank Williams.

Probably the best single-player dungeon crawler we'll see on the DS for some time. Game balance is great, the game looks beautiful, and there's even some really fun writing hidden beneath the youth/casual storyline.

The collection feels incomplete without Ms. Pac Man, the only Pac sequel truly worth playing.

Even with its various issues, I absolutely fell in love with Earth & Beyond. I love the setting, the players, and the whole package in general -- I've found it incredibly innovative, and I am totally addicted.

A truly remarkable experience. And, while the game itself may not have broken any new ground, the world it introduces more than makes up for that. It will leave gamers hungry for more.

The biggest drawback of this game is the inclusion of Venom as a playable character. He draaaags. He can't web swing (but he can cover vast distances with his leaps), he relies on brute strength rather than finesse, and you must also devour people in order to keep the suit from killing the man inside.

Madden NFL 09 All-Play is not a dumbed-down version of this year's best football game. Think of it more like a specialized version that successfully refines the crucial elements of football and distills them into a final product that is at once accessible and plenty of fun.

Lock's Quest provides a familiar experience that at the same time feels so distinct and unique that you'd be hard pressed to find something similar to it on the DS.

It's the closest thing we've seen to an HD-gen "Silent Hill," except that in The Darkness you get to play as that venerable franchise's ultimate evil monstrosity, Pyramid Head, clothed in the flesh of a mafia hit man.

A decent title with quite a bit to offer and awesome multiplayer. It'll just have to be satisfied being labeled one of the weaker Tony Hawk games on the market.

One can only hope that a sequel will improve on certain issues, such as a few clunky mini-games that eat away at the fun factor, but overall, for the sense of humor, entertaining presentation, and the online scoreboards, Rayman is the winner in this launch battle.

Flying around using your grappling hook is dynamite fun, but the actual fighting can be anticlimactic due to the limited number of weapons in your arsenal.

If you don't mind using your brain as you play, then approach this bench. Court is now in session.

Though it is slow and subtle, it works out in the end, providing a great story that holds its own against the vast majority of current games. Now all you have to do is manage to find a copy.

If you own the very similar Moto GP 3 you may resent coughing up cash for an incremental improvement (keep in mind the game retail for 60 bucks), but serious sim-racing fans that can overlook the minor technical issues will find a highly rewarding racing game with depth, a lot of options, and plenty of potential competition.

A perfect example of how to bring a fleshed-out console sport onto a handheld, and all of the seemingly frivolous extras only help to enhance the experience when you're tired of battling the A.I.

Anyone coming to this game free of any prior experience with Final Fantasy in its previous incarnations will not be disappointed and longtime fans of the series in general will be gratified by witnessing the roots of such a storied franchise. However, those hardcore fans that have played the GBA version may find little to bring them back except the luscious screen resolution of the PSP.

Overall I enjoyed Silent Hill 4 just as much as the previous games. Although the initially slower pace and more non-conventional puzzles might annoy some gamers, those who hang in there are in for a hellish treat well worthy of the creepy Silent Hill brand.

As long as it runs well, BtK's four new battlefields hold the potential for hundreds of hours of explosion-packed entertainment. It'd be easy to pass these off as just mere rehashes of old content, but there are enough tweaks and changes to breathe plenty of new life into the experience.

It's based on excellent gameplay mechanics that are taken in really interesting directions through gimmick courts. Mastering each player will take dozens and dozens of hours. Multiplayer games are a total riot.

Broken Steel doesn't fuss too much with the existing formula, but it does provide more adventure that easily lives up to the high standards set by Fallout 3. Highly recommended.

While Titan Quest is still a pretty shameless clone of the "Diablo II" formula, it's a pretty good one, and this new expansion is one of those smart ones that add new content both for high-level and newer players. It might not feel wholly original, but it's a fine pastiche of comfortable formula fare.

The multiplayer game is subpar and under populated, but the single-player game is slick, polished, frantic, and exciting.

As good as Dragon Sword is, the game is over way too soon. Seven or eight hours may seem like a decent length for a portable game, but once you're finished, there's very little incentive to return.

A rush of horror and brutality from the start, grabbing you by the throat, tossing you into the abyss, and laughing as you try to claw your way back out.

Plenty of new objects provide enough variety to make it worth the price, but the lack of effort on Maxis' part to fix the problems in the game is disappointing.

Despite a couple of minor hitches, Star Ocean: First Departure is one of the best remakes Square Enix has brought to portable consoles.

What it boils down to is that if your TV has 1080p support and you don't mind the absence of online support, the PlayStation 3 version is the way to go. However, if you tend to run things in 720p, and you want to check out some decent online play, the Xbox 360 version wins out.

The inclusion of the ridiculously over-the-top mini-games instantly helps this game move ahead of the pack, and the online action is highly entertaining.

While some may moan about the "twitch," "cheap," or "shockingly similar" gameplay that you just can't get away with these days, arcade purists and those seeking a legal way to play an outstanding array of Capcom's late '80s offerings should revel in this collection.

In some ways, GTR 2 can be compared to a harsh old sensei. He's hard to please and treats you roughly, but if you pay attention to him and learn his ways, you're sure to become a true karate master. Not everyone will meet his requirements or even want to endure his challenges, but those who do will be rewarded.

A solid port of a fairly awesome game. If not for the high system demands and random slowdowns, it might actually compete with the 360 and Wii for the best version available.

But what really sinks you into the world of GTR is the superlative and pervasive sound. There's a powerful sense that you're on a track with a bunch of overpowered, extremely noisy engines all around you.

A game that is equal parts extreme sports action and surreal soap opera, an improvement that should keep it at the top of the wrestling game into the next decade.

It's a game you can play with your friends and family, and it perfectly highlights the direction that Nintendo is taking with the platform. It's not the best-looking game on the system, and it's definitely not the deepest, but it may well be the most fun.

Where development did put in the time was in coming up with a logical and intuitive new controller scheme that lets you showcase all the moves that Street vets expect from the game.

The established Lego game design wasn't broken, but, after so many games, it was beginning to get a bit stale. Those used to the previous titles might feel a bit disoriented at first, but you'll soon settle in and begin having fun exploring the large hubs and condensed levels.

The good news is even those who've never seen the comic strip can enjoy the fun combat system and great artwork. And if the storyline is only moderately interesting to those not familiar with the series' in-jokes, it's serviceable enough to hold the game together for its roughly six-hour play time.

At the end of some extensive play time with MPP, I'd have to say that this is one of the more unique gaming sessions you can have on the Nintendo DS.

A solid RPG for the handheld and one that definitely blows one-dimensional RPGs like Untold Legends and X-Men Legends out of the water with its sheer depth and levels of customization. It can get repetitive at times and you'll occasionally get overwhelmed with micromanaging your inventory, but the pay-off is generally worth it.

A bold experiment for DICE. It's a dramatic departure from the "Battlefield" games, and provides a refreshing experience to those willing to invest the time in its strict control mechanics. The combat's unfortunately its Achilles' heel, since it lacks the spontaneity of the free-running and in many instances brings the action to a crashing halt.

Vesperia may not deliver a totally fresh plot, but well-written character dialogue and a great combat system go a long way towards mitigating the cliches. A superior blend of style and production values, Tales of Vesperia is the best JRPG on the 360 thus far.

Saints Row: The Third is junk food; it's camp; it's a girl you wouldn't want your friends to catch you with. It's also fun, crude without being stupid, fast-paced without feeling empty, and solidly made (aside from the aforementioned bugs).

Its wide variety of game modes and options lets you create a multiplayer gaming experience to suit any time frame, and the huge number of mini-games sets a very high, very consumer-friendly bar.

Prologue will definitely scratch the itch for GT fans waiting to get their hands on next-gen racing, but the disc suffers from an overly short single-player game and the same problems -- the ability to drive recklessly and the lack of damage -- that have dogged the series for a while. Online the game is a real treat, though.

In lesser hands, the art design might have overwhelmed everything, leaving the levels to feel like an overly cluttered and repetitive mess. Instead, it's a wonderful platformer with its own unique style that's most definitely worth experiencing, and especially shared.

It's a game that you can pick up and play for 20 minutes, or keep hammering on for several hours at a time. Everything is simple to pick up and once mastered, very little can stand in your way.

A great game, with a great fantasy storyline to boot.

Easily the most forward-thinking DBZ title we've seen. It captures the speed and style of the show and wraps it into a very playable presentation with fantastic character designs.

Sure, it's got flaws and omissions, and whoever approved the inclusion of the final boss should be made to suffer, but as fighters on the PSP go, this is as good as it gets.

The good news is even those who've never seen the comic strip can enjoy the fun combat system and great artwork. And if the storyline is only moderately interesting to those not familiar with the series' in-jokes, it's serviceable enough to hold the game together for its roughly six-hour play time.

It's just that compared to the original, it's nowhere near as polished.

It's a solid shooter, and does some small things extremely well; in some cases even groundbreaking. However, it too often comes up short, both in length and excitement.

Precisely what you'd expect from Wario: tons of juvenile, yet still pretty funny, scatological humor and some passable minigames. What saves it from mediocrity is the fact that it is actually really challenging.

More importantly, choice is another element that helps take the Black Ops 2 campaign off of the carbon-copy conveyor belt of typical Call of Duty shooting. It doesn't make the same whole-hearted dramatic franchise leap forward that Modern Warfare did, which is disappointing, but after five years of more of the same, it's a big step in the right direction.

Other than a few new monuments and industries it's really just more of the same, but if you couldn't get enough of Pharaoh, then you will definitely love Cleopatra.

A long and satisfying exercise in combat experimentation, character development, and heady mythology. The curious mechanics and calculated, indirect combat won't appeal to everyone, but anyone that appreciates outlandish character design and trippy visuals should at least give it a try.

It might not be as deep as its PC counterpart, but it's perfect for console gamers, who are generally looking for a more casual experience. By the end, my buddy was living the high life, and I was actually proud that my Urb was finally one of the popular kids.

Madden NFL 07 is more than competent; in fact, it's very good, but unless you've waited all this time for a football game for this platform, with only a few weeks left in football season, you may want to just wait for next year's game.

It's unfortunate that the issues with the clock and the interface add another layer of difficulty to a title that's already got learning curve issues.

Although there are a few problems with the Freestyle Superstar system, it's still one of the most innovative elements we've ever seen in an NBA game.

It may not be the prettiest game to look at, but in its third year of being the exclusive holder of the NASCAR license, EA Sports and Tiburon refuse to rest on past successes.

The storyline and characters are as rich as they ever were, but advances in both action games and RPG design can't help but make the game feel a bit old-fashioned and highlight flaws in the combat and ethics system.

The graphics aren't all they could be, and the game suffers from a few crashing bugs, but it boasts a solid story, interesting characters, and diverse puzzles. You even get the first Law & Order game, "Dead on the Money," free in the package.

If you're looking for a full dose of FIFA action, replete with glorious presentation, exciting gameplay, and plenty of online challenge, 2006 FIFA World Cup should be at the top of your playlist.

Unlike Sims 2 "University," which added a whole new age, new careers, and new ways to radically change your Sims, Nightlife doesn't change Sims 2 with any bold strokes. Still, just about every feature added in the expansion works and works well, enhancing if not revolutionizing the game.

Unfortunately, the most fitting literary comparison is that several long stretches of repetitive gameplay will make you feel like you're wandering aimlessly through the woods of an unedited novel.

Online is where NHL 2K7 possibly does its best work. Players with the know-how to stop "money" one-timers will put your skating and checking skills to the test.

A gaming experience unlike any other available today, and one that you absolutely shouldn't miss.

Deep RPG elements combined with the intuitive action mechanics immediately establish 38 Studios and Big Huge Games as a duo to be reckoned with (sorry, couldn't resist). Like its reanimated main character, Reckoning starts slow and creaky, but give it a chance. Once you start sampling its many action-role-playing flavors, you'll discover a new franchise that delivers like a series that has been polished and tweaked for years.

THQ and Team 17 have not only turned out one of the best Worms game of all time, but a maddeningly addictive title that stands on its own as a truly excellent piece of PSP software.

Every bit better than the original, and in many shiny ways. The multiplayer is a blast, it looks great, the game modes are expanded exponentially over the first, and the game dances on the fine line of being fairly realistic without being too over-the-top crazy.

It's odd to see as many steps back -- smaller roster, no Cruiserweight or Tag Team titles, no backstage -- as there are steps forward -- Internet, voiceovers, heel/face discrepancy.

The game perfectly captures the most important part of the books: the tone and atmosphere. Fans of the comics will appreciate the familiar faces and places that do pop up, but even those of you that have completely avoided the stellar comics and so-so AMC TV series will be engrossed.

Ghostbusters is a fun, accessible game, whether you're a fan of the films or not. It's also the best game based on a film franchise since The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.