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.

Considering the strong debut we saw last year, we're not quite as impressed by what's been added to the experience.

What's most important to us is that this game has come closer than ever to recapturing everything we loved about the first Ghost Recon and for that alone we think it's worth checking out.

There's been more than enough time for Harmonix to tweak the game's Vocal Analyzer to help avoid cheap tactics for getting high scores. Having said that, the game is still highly entertaining and quite enjoyable.

It's refreshing to see an original portable game, but Scurge: Hive has some serious problems; mainly, the obnoxious time limit and frustrating enemy fights.

Every now and then, amidst the explosions, enemy fighters, and wispy clouds rolling by, you'd swear you were watching some CG re-creation on the History Channel. It's all pretty cool.

The game's minor tweaks here and there do a lot to smooth out some of the weakness from before, and the new gameplay features add just enough to the game's familiar formula to make things interesting.

The gameplay is fast and furious and fun for about three fights. Unless button mashing becomes the latest fitness craze, Knockout Kings 2002 will not impress you or your fitness instructor.

An impressive product that's only a patch or two away from true strategy game greatness.

As off-the-wall arcade sports spoofs go, this is still king of the hill ... or is that mound?

The potential is for seriously high amounts of frustration and tedium from being stuck in one section and having to play through the earlier sections of a level over and over. I would have opted for the ability to save incrementally.

A serious and right-minded improvement over "Wrestlemania X8," and offers a preferable engine to "Smackdown!" for wrestling purists. If only the single-player mode had anything (and I do mean anything) to offer except a steel chair to your expectations.

Pool Paradise may look like a homebrew video game, feature the most colossal collection of lame characters to interact with since "Tao Feng," but the bones of this game are strong and solid. This plays an exceptional, nay incredible game of pool.

A mixed blessing. It's got some fun and elaborate puzzles, although some get a tad too elaborate to manage at once. Also, certain parts of the gameplay mechanic, such as the responsiveness of the touch screen while steering Mini-Marios around, don't function as well as we would have liked.

A few frustrating moments spoil the fun here and there, but overall Black Hawk Down is an entertaining shooter and an encouraging step forward for the Delta Force series.

If you're a Star Wars fan and need to have the PC version, do yourself a favor and wait to pick this up on sale once all the patches have been released; after all, any game that lets you pick off Jawas and Ewoks can't be that bad.

A deceptively simple overhead strategy game only slightly comparable to "Scorched Earth."... My only real disappointment with [it] is the limited range of weapons.

And yet, despite Shadow of the Damned being a more approachable adventure than the typical Grasshopper creation, it's what you see and hear over the course of the 10-12 hour campaign that really sticks with you.

With multiple paths and endings and a dense story it's totally worth more than a single playthrough, even after you've managed to get through all the head scratching. Like the rest of Wadjet's catalog, Resonance is an absolute must play for any classic adventure nut, and worth checking out for any more modern fan.

The backgrounds are bright, but often make it tough to see the arrows. I prefer the music video levels, where some decent-quality FMV accompanies the song. There aren't enough of them, though.

If you're a hardcore Sims 2 fan and you've greedily gobbled up all the expansions to date, Pets is a great way to give your neighborhood some variety. For players who are just coming into the game fresh, though, the other expansions provide a lot more substance.

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.

If you're interested in even half the songs, I can almost guarantee you'll find at least a couple more surprisingly entertaining. And that pretty much sums up Band Hero for me: It's not a revolution for the genre, but it is a surprisingly solid, well thought-out, and just plain entertaining game.

If you can live with the load times, and don't mind avoiding Kraven, give this game a try; it's a spideriffic and mostly commendable effort.

Despite the occasional missteps, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a more than fitting tribute to its literary inspiration. It's also a great way for fans of real horror to give themselves the heebie-jeebies for a dozen hours or so. Just don't play it late at night, alone.

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.

A self-assured but largely unambitious game, content to refine the experience of the previous games in the series without deviating very far from the standard that they set.

Yet even with some new features, you get the sense that gameplay isn't very different from what the series has shown since its debut.

It's a highly polished experience that will satisfy you if what you're looking for is yet another MMO, albeit one with a few more bells and whistles.

The steep learning curve for Pirates of the Burning Sea is a shame, because underneath that crusty exterior is a brilliant naval combat game and one of the more interesting economic models ever introduced to the online gaming scene.

Tales of Phantasia ends up looking like a fossil -- and not one of the cool ones with spikes and sharp teeth. More like a fern or insect, existing mostly to study the past and gauge evolution. RPGs have evolved far beyond this port.

It's a real shame Heroes of the Pacific doesn't include a proper save system and better balancing. Richer multiplayer and instant action modes would be nice, too. Otherwise, this is an addictive air combat game that hits all the right notes: daring, adventure, and non-stop action.

It's hurt by the PSP's awful controls, but that's not unexpected. Fix that d-pad and you'll be set for more Moai-shooting action than you can shake an option at... and that's a good thing.

While there are some definite issues, the single-player game is a lot of fun and the story is engaging (though it could be a bit confusing to new players). Unfortunately, we were a bit let down by the multiplayer, which wasn't as good as it was in the previous games.

With Mutation kicking up the story and gameplay a much-needed notch I became totally addicted to this game. The addition of a sprinkling of some truly excellent boss battles throughout the game helped a bunch, too.

Though it's a bit rough around the edges, Second Sight packs a huge core of ideas into what could have been a standard shooter. Powerful psionics, extensive gun combat, and a great story are all just part of the plan.

The best surfing game on the market.

Granted the Road Trip mode can get kinda frustrating and boring, but experiencing the various levels and checking out the behind-the-scenes video footage is almost worth the aggravation.

Has all the makings of a truly great air combat sim, but it's hard to recommend while it's crippled by bugs and poor documentation.

Looks good, has plenty of tactical depth.

Another fantastic LEGO game. LEGO Batman is simple enough for kids to mash their way through, but addicting and deep enough to hold the interest of their parents, and the rare game perfect for them to play together.

If you don't break into a big, dopey grin while running around shattering LEGO Battle Droids into their component parts, then you should just put videogames down for good -- you've outgrown them.

The game works hard to achieve a balance between elements gamers are familiar with and elements to provide new experiences. For the most part, Riviera manages to keep that balance quite well.

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.

A ridiculously violent, unbelievably profane game that lets you glorify yourself with virtual millions of dollars in hard-earned drug money, fast cars, boats, underlings, women and copious amounts of blood. It's a good feeling.

Modern Warfare may have finally found its way to the Wii, but I wish the original console controls had made the jump as well. Instead, Wii players get a game that forces heavy reliance on aim-assist (especially in multiplayer). The ultimate battle is with the controller, rather than the on-screen bad guys.

"Burnout 3" was a title that changed peoples' tune from "I don't play racing games" to "No, you can't have the controller. It's still my turn." Compared to that, Dominator just isn't as fun.

Not only giving us a relatively fresh and underutilized theme, but also by mixing up gameplay and including a stats and inventory system that give you freedom (well, some freedom) on how to build your character.

Unlike many RTS games where resource management can get tedious, or combat is a generic form of minutia, American Conquest does RTS right by deftly combining resource management with warfare.

Fans of the series may be puzzled by a few missing features.

While there are some definite issues, the single-player game is a lot of fun and the story is engaging (though it could be a bit confusing to new players). Unfortunately, we were a bit let down by the multiplayer, which wasn't as good as it was in the previous games.

Between the mini-games offered and the challenge of facing lots of different opposing styles, online remains an attractive diversion.

Colorful graphics combined with challenging gameplay.

It's a solid, trick based BMX game. Good control, mixed with decent graphics, and a wide variety of truly huge and impressive courses should satisfy any player in search of an extreme sporting fix.

Although switching characters every few missions took away from my enjoyment of the game, I found experiencing combat in different locales to be very entertaining.

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.

Although the game doesn't bring a lot of new experiences to the table, it does do a great job of adding to the experience gamers enjoyed the first time around.

It's the fact that Nintendo continues using Rare's horrible Donkey Kong character designs. I mean, seriously. This is a great game; why am I being forced to look at Diddy Kong while I play it? Or frickin' King K. Rool?! Awful.

SBCGfAP is packed with little extras and mini-games, although none provide more than a few minutes of diversion. The real fun is discovering all of the inside jokes from the series plastered throughout.

It's the weak multiplayer that keeps us from recommending The Club with full enthusiasm.

While I enjoyed the game very much, it's best suited for role-playing game enthusiasts who have a sense of humor and don't mind a bit of a mish-mash when it comes to their epic world-saving storylines.

You'll easily clear all four cases in a weekend play session, but the suspend-anywhere save system allows you to easily play it in bits and pieces during commutes, on lunch breaks or while waiting for the previews to finish at your local theater.

MAG, much like actual war, is often an ugly, confusing mess that tosses a group of people into extraordinary situations where they can overcome through teamwork or die as frustrated individuals. If you're looking for just another game to see your name on top of a leaderboard then keep on walking.

A fantastic game -- it's easy to pick up and play, has great character and depth, and is even better with a friend.

SingStar Vol. 2 is a tough sell. Although it has a wide berth of exclusive (and fun to sing) tracks, it offers little in improvements over Sony's six month-old release.

It suffers from a limited feature set compared to its PC brother and the visuals aren't state of the art. It does set the standard for realistic baseball on the PS2.

Chocobo's Dungeon isn't a traditional Final Fantasy game, but it's still loads of fun and very addictive.

A collection of three games -- two great and one good -- that isn't up to snuff for a GBA comp cart.

Addicting and incredibly fun.

The sounds of the game are on point as well. Bats "ping" with the distinct echo of aluminum, crowds chatter subversively, and umpires and PA announcers boom the appropriate messages.

Not only the best ATV game available for the PSP, but it's also one of the best ATV racing games for any system.

It literally takes a good two or three hours before things really get rolling. If you can make it that far, though, you'll get to bang away at a very solid game.

It's a real shame that The Pitt's technical issues tarnished the release of an otherwise entertaining piece of content. In an alternate world where this DLC cruised through quality assurance with flying colors, I'd be giving this five stars.

Though the level design is inconsistent and the combat gets repetitive, there's plenty to keep you entertained if you're into the world and the characters.

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.

May not break new ground, but it offers a superb sense of flow and pacing, exciting combat, and a treasure trove of weapons and gadgets. That's a formula for fun.

Star Fox Command isn't a return to the glory days or a flawless project that redefines the series, but it's a solid and interesting title that takes on new ideas and comes up with something entirely worthwhile.

In the end, City Life is a credible first try at a city-builder for Monte Cristo. The game's emphasis on social engineering and urban harmony is a nice addition to the genre, and if the player is willing to dig through the messy presentation, there's some fun to be had here.

I hesitate to call it a nice try, because in some ways they didn't even really do that.

Anyone who is into racing or tuning will think that they have stumbled upon the proverbial pot of gold with TXRZ. While the somewhat repetitive style of competition in the game will turn off some, the game is simply too exciting and fun to even notice.

An inventive and intense war game that offers unique aesthetics and compelling gameplay.

The submission meter is the best new addition to gameplay, but the new stamina addition feels restrictive on fighting.

If you're interested in even half the songs, I can almost guarantee you'll find at least a couple more surprisingly entertaining. And that pretty much sums up Band Hero for me: It's not a revolution for the genre, but it is a surprisingly solid, well thought-out, and just plain entertaining game.

It's one of the those games that's perfect for game parties or killing spare time with friends, but as a single-player game, I'd recommend you stick to the original handheld version instead.

The interface may be ugly, the transition effect between levels is crude, and we had a number of random lockups on three separate systems, but there isn't anything here that's a true deal-breaker.

Heroes complements its solid controls, mission structure, and presentation with slightly above average graphics and some killer sound effects.

What really makes the game shine is its main character. There really hasn't been a protagonist like the Bard.

This new PSP version retains all of the original's charm and addictive playability, while adding in some fantastic new levels and overhauling the graphics and controls to make it feel like it was meant to be a PSP game from the start.

I wish that I could say that the PS3 version of Tony Hawk's Project 8 felt like a next-gen game, but it doesn't even have online gameplay, an element that was crucial to solidifying Neversoft's current-gen games as a blockbuster franchise. Combine that with the flaws already plaguing the game, and it's very difficult to recommend.

The kind of shooter that can live only on the PC. It's far deeper than console shooters, and makes no concessions to accessibility to appeal to a casual audience. This is as hardcore as first person shooters get, and if you're prepared to put the time in to learn how to play it well, you'll be rewarded with a level of satisfaction that team deathmatch will never deliver.

When it comes carnage, Rune doesn't skimp. The game ships with the disclaimer that it's "not a game for the meek, slow or anyone under 17 years old." This is not an understatement.

An excellent wrestling game offering enhanced creation tools, excellent graphics, fast paced action and a ton of new (and old) gameplay modes.

Both the weak storyline and repetitive dungeons become tedium personified before you know it.

Has everything an arcade football nut would want. The gameplay is great, the graphics are incredible, the cheerleaders are cute, and it's an all around blast.

The only new feature in the PS2 version is an art gallery, so when you factor in the worse sound and lack of VGA, I'd have to say that the Dreamcast version is still the best.

If you can play it, focus your efforts on the campaign -- it's fun, and for the most part works as advertised. Hopefully, by the time you are finished with Connacht's tale, a patch to fix the many multiplayer issues will be ready.

If you are new to the series, and interested in the off-the-field workings of Major League Baseball, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

As a real-time strategy game, EndWar is an intimate and deeply nuanced experience.