The unique inter-weaving of online and offline play alone makes it worth checking out. Add to that the solid look and the open-ended gameplay and you've got another disc that'll put a smile on current-gen gamers living in a next-gen world.

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.

Though getting through Ty 2 is particularly easy, it would likely be enough of a challenge for younger players to make this a good gateway game. The same humor, scripting, and play mechanics that feel childish to experienced players will be new and entertaining to those without experience.

It may not be revolutionary or technically stunning, but it is a lot of fun; and that's what games are all about.

For those who fondly remember tapping the "A" button as fast as they could to avoid tackles, this is an enjoyable title, mainly because of the feelings of nostalgia it will inspire.

It's not that the game has the wrong songs, but that it has so few of them. For $60, you can't help but feel a little cheated when all you get is Guitar Hero III with a light coat of paint and barely half the songs.

Some will scoff at the game's seemingly wacky control schemes and twitchy vehicle handling, but those who enjoy arcade racers will likely find something to enjoy here.

Warrior Within proves that it takes more than just good combat and platforming to make a great game. Bottom line: The Warrior Within simply didn't have enough "Prince of Persia."

Infinite Undiscovery's greatest weakness is that it feels too much like other, better JRPGs, many of which were also developed by tri-Ace. However, in a strange way, that's also its greatest strength.

Taking flight as the NiGHTS character is once again an engaging gameplay experience.

It's pretty irritating to play a sequel and face so many of the issues of the original, but Bloodshot's ability to take you into the terrifying world Monolith has crafted is astonishing.

Pales in comparison to the beloved PC games. On its own, however, the game is an enjoyable, if unspectacular, first-person shooter.

Though getting through Ty 2 is particularly easy, it would likely be enough of a challenge for younger players to make this a good gateway game. The same humor, scripting, and play mechanics that feel childish to experienced players will be new and entertaining to those without experience.

It's not the strongest competitor in the field, but MotoGP 4 is a solid contender in the genre.

If you want pure, unadulterated violence, you came to the right place. Still, I can't help but be a little disappointed in this title -- especially coming from Volition, of Red Faction fame. It's a little too by-the-book.

Sadly, even if the fans at Arco were banging authentic Sacramento cowbells like crazy, it wouldn't be quite enough to land NBA Live 09 on top of the basketball heap.

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

You are almost always riding the finest line between screaming along somewhat stably and totally losing it, and in that sense, Baja succeeds tremendously. Those kinds of stakes may not appeal to everyone, however, and the majority of people who tend to like finishing races may not need all of the incredible realism that an intense sim like Baja has to offer.

It starts off fun, but once you've played enough rounds of Sub-Zero versus The Joker, there's not enough substance in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to give it the longevity of better fighting games.

For a lot of players, the excellent graphics and high levels of violence and sex appeal will be more than enough to keep Bloodrayne 2 spinning. It's really a shame that the A.I. is so daft, and even with all the acrobatics, the very linear levels don't truly captivate.

It does an admirable job of re-creating a complex console game on the PSP ... admirable but for the ridiculous load times. They truly put a damper on the rest of the game, turning what would have been a fantastic, console-like experience into a decent, console-like experience.

The game's impressive A.I. and variety of gameplay will keep players coming back for more, even with its noticeable flaws.

The biggest problem with Battle Network 5 is the same thing that has plagued all the other sequels in the series: it's just too darn much like its predecessors.

While last year's effort truly took my breath away, I can't shake the feeling that this year's effort is more of an engine tune up than a complete rebuild. It still remains the number one F1 game on the market, but that's more about the lack of any competition than the game pushing the boundaries of last year's winning entrant.

The problem is that NetDevil really needs to improve on the social aspects of the game; as it stands now, it's more of a "massively single-player game" than anything else.

While the game should have included at least a little bit of museum-quality extras, at $20 it's still a hard deal to pass up.

Despite all that's good with the game, NHL 2K8's innovations are a few years behind the times, making it feel like a cheap rehash of what's already available.

A markedly better game than its predecessors.

By no means a terrible game. It's just a very slapped-together title that shows that direct ports of handheld games to PS2 probably aren't a great idea.

The game sports large creative levels, a unique trick upgrading system, and a killer sound, but whatever innovations the game makes are easily overshadowed by the frustrating controls and the return of the timed run.

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.

It's well worth playing the single-player campaign, if only to experience an irreverent take on the typical fantasy setting.

It takes a different approach than most other console RPG battle systems, one that will alienate some gamers while appealing to others.

Combines great gameplay with entertaining characters and extremely pretty visuals for a surprisingly fun gaming experience.

Things are finally looking up for the big-name MMO that reached for the stars but never seemed to get off the ground.

Dark Sector is a good game that has some great hooks, such as the wonderful glaive and a powerful shotgun. It's unfortunate that other elements, such as unpolished combat and some very generic NPCs, undermine its ambition (though they don't render the game unplayable).

Despite my gripes, there's enough good stuff in here to justify the purchase. Think of "Pit Fighter," "Spy Hunter II," and the like as elaborate mini-games that you can try once and then ignore forever. No matter what your gaming tastes, you'll get your money's worth.

A marked improvement over the original PSP launch title, with flashier, smoother graphics, a slicker, more user-friendly presentation, improved combat, and a slew of multiplayer options that will keep fans of the game coming back for more far after they've completed the single player campaign.

The game's presentation is easily worth the attention of even the most hardcore comic fans.

The constant action means the Harry Potter series has always lent itself well to the video-game format, and thankfully (albeit surprisingly) EA has mostly improved upon their winning formula, while upping the ante visually and adding welcome multiplayer features, easily making the Goblet of Fire their best adaptation yet.

While not overlong, the loads are meaty, certainly enough to be a distraction; no matter how many pans across the fighting arenas before a brawl the game makes, it still adds up to the same thing: it's time to get a soda or do some multitasking.

It's got some wonky controls that make fairly routine gameplay tasks unnecessarily laborious, especially the annoying checkpoint system and map checking that removes you from the terror quite often.

A fun but shallow game. The graphics and speed-based level design are great, but the game's short length and lack of truly compelling replay value are cause for hesitation.

The storyline is laughable and not always in a good way. On the other hand, you get a pair of entertaining multiplayer modes to entertain those friends with a single PSP in addition to those with a network connection and a system of their own.

The sheer pandemonium and brutal weapons can be pretty amusing, at least until the gimmick of all the explosions and rioting wears off. Unfortunately, that can wear off fairly quickly.

If you're looking to get a few more hours of fun out of your aging black box, Need for Speed Carbon isn't a bad way to do it.

If you're a Medal of Honor multiplayer junkie looking for a new fix, you'll get considerably more mileage out of it, especially the Tug Of War mode.

The game doesn't quite measure up to God of War, but it will satisfy that itch for carnage.

If you've played "Midnight Club" or "Need for Speed Underground" for any length of time, it's hard to tell you to run out and purchase Juiced. That's a shame, because this really is a very decent race game.

It's trying something completely different, and even when it doesn't work, it's true to its license and it's making bold choices. There's a lot to be said for this approach.

For those who are interested in some slightly-skewed nostalgia and the freedom to manipulate their characters' skills on a microscopic level, Final Fantasy II is a perfect time sink of RPG pleasure.

But don't let those flaws keep you from trying this Vietnam War shooter. At its best, it's an immersive, intense game, filled with pulse-pounding action and diverse missions.

If you're just a casual fighting game, or more specifically, a fan of Dragon Ball Z, Budokai Tenkaichi may be exactly what you're looking for.

PQ isn't a perfect game, but it's still a darn good puzzler. Maybe I was simply falling for the game's gimmick, but given the amount of fast thinking that I was putting into those puzzles, I really did feel as though the game was measuring my intelligence.

It's still a Meteos game, and it's still lots of fun. However, the changes made to ease up the difficulty make it less fun to this seasoned veteran.

Sure, the game looks like a Dreamcast graphics demo, and its precepts haven't changed much since the arcade original based on similar hardware, but it's the gameplay that sells this title, almost as much as your love of monkeys.

As much as I love Euro Force (and its budget price), I can't bring myself to give it a higher recommendation. At this stage in its life, Battlefield 2 should be lean, mean, and free of bugs. Its faults should be forgiven no longer.

Even though design decisions like these can be frustrating, it's not enough to really detract from just how damn charming Unwritten Tales is most of the time, especially when it has a cast of such likeable characters carrying the load. And for only $20 it's a good value for those looking to scratch their classic-adventure-game itch.

It may not have every team, every stadium, every tournament, and every player out there, but there's plenty enough in its gameplay to satisfy any video game soccer fan.

If you're looking for a good Vietnam War game that goes out of its way to offer more than just a run 'n' gun adventure, look no further than Men of Valor. You'll find yourself cheering for Dean to make it through OK, even as you're cursing your teammates for walking right past an enemy.

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground does a surprisingly good job of bringing the Hawk experience to the Wii.

A surprisingly fun game.

The cars are simplistic, out-detailed even by their real life plastic counterparts. The tracks are colorful and filled with interactive objects, but this won't be mistaken for next-generation gaming.

The game is long, its systems are well done, and it's quite nice to look at. And most importantly, it has legs.

It'll take a much stronger effort than this to give anyone other than Robotech fans the game they've been waiting for.

Fans of the comic-book series certainly won't want to miss it as the game's brilliant art design and voiceover work come as close as any game ever has to putting the player inside a comic-book world.

Either way, unless you despise RPG combat to the point of cursing the heavens and hitting your eyes with rusty nails at the sight of active-time battles, you'll have nothing to regret after spending a few hours in Tycho and Gabe's company.

For the right kind of player, the multiple endings, secret characters, extra bosses, and obscene potential for stats and damage (a Japanese strategy guide published a record of over two billion points) could provide a pleasurable diversion that can literally last hundreds of hours. It is, however, something that's definitely not for everyone.

An adequate introduction to online gaming for console players, but it’s definitely not the killer app Sony wanted the world to believe it was; it’s just a slightly above-average first/third-person shooter with an online component.

Older gamers will likely find it too cutesy, but younger gamers -- especially budding videogame artists -- will find a lot to like here.

There is some good fun to be found in Echelon, but it's hidden behind too many problems and unpolished gameplay.

While its mechanics can become tiresome the further you progress, ACE Team's signature presentation and wry humor manage to pull it through. Just like Zeno Clash before it, Rock of Ages as a whole is unlike any other game I've played or seen before, and that's a rare thing to be able to say.

It's obvious that Nakazato wanted to create a Contra that was inclusionary to newbies, instead of exclusionary. In that he's succeeded. The only problem is that Neo Contra's average difficulty level will have the opposite effect, and turn off the old-timers. It's too bad, as a simple difficulty selection could have helped correct this.

The fundamentals of gameplay are strong, but when you start getting into the details the roughness becomes increasingly apparent.

If you judge TMNT on its own merits as a platform-hopper with a dash of semi-imaginative combat thrown in, then it's a fine game.

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground does exactly what most fans of the series probably expected.

This brilliant re-creation of the Robotech universe is a dream come true for fans of the animated series -- but it won't appeal to many others.

The story isn't much to speak of, and the combat feels somewhat dated, but the gravity tricks and spirit abilities provide plenty of memorable moments, and the addition of the Death Walk keeps the game from succumbing to the frustrations that so many other shooters fall, well, prey to.

There's no disputing that Quantum Conundrum has some great ideas here, and perhaps it's even something this creative team can build upon. I just hope they dial back the amount of first-person platforming involved to solve these puzzles the next time around, and create a more-compelling world that I actually want to explore.

One big advantage that the PSP version has over its console big brothers is that it allows you to use Ad Hoc to trade your custom coasters and racecar tracks.

The attention to detail (such as when Sam slowly reaches for his knife while approaching a foe) makes you forget that you're playing a game at times. It may not look quite as good as the Xbox, but it's still one of the prettiest GameCube games you'll see.

It's definitely a great-looking and playing title, but its simplicity might turn off a lot of players.

The coolness of the character-morphing and combat are overshadowed by the repetitive and linear play and a lackluster look.

Solid as a means to satisfy most players' desire for combat. It's not too complex, but the strategy of moving across the board requires just a bit of thought and enough combat skill that you'll actually lose more than a few fights.

Does your fighting game have to have serviceable online play? If not, you got yourself a winner here.

There aren't as many playable characters as we'd like, and the visuals really aren't up to snuff, but the voice actors from the series bring the characters to life, and there's plenty to unlock and accomplish. Best of all, it's good fun for head-to-head competition.

While it's a solid enough game, once the feelings of nostalgia wane, you may feel a bit restricted by the game's linearity and the sometimes difficult camera.

Many of the elements that would be considered shortcomings in another games' PvE content are exactly what Guild Wars's veteran player base enjoys. In this sense, Eye of the North is a success.

It's the best-looking entry in the series by far, and the gameplay is finally coming close to what gamers are looking for from their at-home NBA experience. But as good as NBA Live is this year, it's still not taking home the championship.

The basic gameplay elements from Spore's creature stage have been expanded upon in Spore Creatures, and if you're looking for more of that, you'll be quite pleased by this attractive little adventure.

A gameplay experience more fans will enjoy, but an out of the box experience that might not be challenging enough for hardcore seamheads who spent countless hours mastering how to throw the perfect curve in MLB 2K8. Still, this game is by all means a successful update.

Offers a distinctly Japanese-flavored experience for the GameCube, and those looking for something a little different could do a lot worse than Chibi-Robo.

The characters are sweet but the story is bland. The battles are sexy but sometimes overstay their welcome. The graphics are great but the music is forgettable.

Airborne has a few tricks up its sleeve, but that doesn't necessarily take it to the next level.

The storyline and wingman idea both add a lot to things, but eventually, the racing becomes too repetitive.

The game's presentation is easily worth the attention of even the most hardcore comic fans. The graphics are all fairly well defined, though the PS2 version doesn't look quite as sharp as either the Xbox or GameCube versions.

Unlocking all the characters requires beating the single-player arcade mode no less than 16 times, a mind-numbing chore that borders on Super Smash Bros. levels of grind-ness.

Sadly, even if the fans at Arco were banging authentic Sacramento cowbells like crazy, it wouldn't be quite enough to land NBA Live 09 on top of the basketball heap.