It's probably the best concoction of edutainment that you'll find this year, if you're playing it alone. However, given the sense of community that we've found goes hand in hand with the Wii's marketing, we're just as disappointed in the multiplayer options as we are happy with the single player.

While longtime Tony Hawk fans may be initially turned off by the simplified controls, they'll still likely appreciate the nostalgic feel of the game.

If you hadn't played or owned the Xbox 360 previously, you're getting a rather short, mostly entertaining table tennis game. However, for those of you who've played the 360 game, double-dipping would be a mistake. You're paying the same price the 360 version released for to get a graphically downgraded and stripped version of what was a rather exceptional 360 game.

If you were hoping for the Wii version of Samba to replace your old Dreamcast game, it won't. The controls are just too imprecise for it to be the definitive version.

Too complicated to be completely fun.

It's certainly not as good as the early X games, but it's a giant leap in the right direction.

Top Spin 3 for the Wii is a great departure from what 2K brought to the high-definition systems. It's accessible and presents just enough of an increase in complexity over Wii Sports Tennis to appeal to those who want just a bit more control.

If you're looking to experience the world of the caped crusader (and walk a mile in his boots), you will surely have bat-barrels of fun with this title. Those gamers interested in more depth of gameplay other than punch, jump, destroy and rescue should look elsewhere.

The game is rich, detailed and fun to play. The only large complaint I find with the game is the lack of multiplayer, which will keep Starship Troopers out of the top slot.

All in all though, the birds-eye view of the action is what drives Driven -- like it, and you'll like the game. Hate it, and you'll consider Driven to be just another failed movie license.

At first, the billion movements Sam can do and the stealth action will make you and your thumbs very happy, but you'll soon grow tired of the game's intentionally slowed pace.

I don't think it has quite enough bells and whistles to dethrone "NBA Street," but if you loved Jam back in the day, you will find a lot to like in this incarnation.

You'll likely have fun with Justice League Heroes if you enjoy the classic dungeon crawl games that Snowblind has previously developed, and even moreso if you're a fan of comic books and the Justice League of America in particular.

For a first attempt at a new idea, this is a pretty solid game, and worth a look for most RPG fans. The worst part? You just know any sequel's going to have a lot more than 396 spells to remember. End the madness!

The pace of things and the more demanding controls in Smash Court Tennis 3 may bum out those expecting more of an arcade tennis experience, but anyone looking for a truer-to-life sim-style take on the sport should definitely check this one out.

Anyone looking for a lengthy, varied platformer with hidden secrets up the wazoo and tongue-in-cheek humor should find themselves enjoying Night of the Quinkan more than they would have expected.

The single-player game is entertaining, but ultimately, really can't sustain itself in comparison to, say, Meteos.

Anyone looking for a lengthy, varied platformer with hidden secrets up the wazoo and tongue-in-cheek humor should find themselves enjoying Night of the Quinkan more than they would have expected.

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.

There's a good amount of fun to be had here -- just don't expect to be blown away by the experience.

Almost every gameplay change in DMC2 is ill-advised, and does far more harm than good. It's like curing a man's cold by chopping off his head... DMC2's most painful flaw: Without the unique weapons of the original game, DMC2 also loses its compelling strategic elements.

I came away really liking XGRA despite its flaws, though it's possible that the very touchy controls and high learning curve on many tracks may keep some players away. XGRA is the most satisfying heir to "Wipeout" the PS2 has seen in years.

NBA Live 08 isn't a whole lot different from last year's offering, but the subtle changes that were implemented -- the addition of Hot Spots and the bouncing of Freestyle Superstar and X-Factor -- make things on the court a lot more fun.

With "Halo" and a host of other games that take advantage of the Xbox hardware available, purchasing is not advised.

A very decent race game. It's just one that happens to fall into a crowded category, and the car that's late out of the gate is rarely the winner.

A disappointment of near-epic proportions. Sega ripped out the very heart of PSO's legendary addictiveness, replacing it with a repetitive, tedious grind that shows no signs of ending.

Gets the job done in an absolutely no-frills way, with generic story, visuals, and gameplay leading to a business-as-usual experience -- but one that fits in your hands, this time.

A huge improvement over its predecessor. Being surrounded by a pack of creatures that want to tear the flesh from your bones doesn't get much better than this.

If nothing else, the game certainly captures the dumb, single-minded spirit of the films. I'm not a fan of the series, but I did have fun with Redemption, despite its total lack of depth. For a while, that is.

Not a complete misfire -- the graphics and sound are fine, the control is tight, and WayForward continues to show the flair for character design first seen in Shantae -- but there's no saving a game where the core gameplay element is completely bland and uninteresting.

All the good intentions in the world can't make a game good, and shoddy craftsmanship and not-quite-there design afflicts just about every aspect of this one.

The game's lower level of difficulty and varied gameplay styles make it easy for just about anyone to get into the game and enjoy the experience.

More often than not, the gameplay mechanics and the zoos themselves are just plain dull. Watching animals circle around in cages while guests amble around on sidewalks offers little to hold your attention or capture your imagination.

The combat system is definitely one of the best I've played with, but that's all there is. If you want character development, or even characters who aren't one-dimensional, go elsewhere.

A decent real-time tactical simulation, but a fairly unpolished one that doesn't address many shortcomings of the original.

The quick-paced gameplay also means that you'll have to make even more snap decisions when engaging against a human opponent and this will result in some heated matches.

If "Tron 3.0" builds on this foundation, adding more variety and incorporating more of the innovative old-school gameplay that the franchise has inspired over the years, it has the potential to become an instant retro classic.

Features terrific graphics, sound, and a presentation that does what WWF fans really want a game to do -- recreate the whole experience in their living room!

While significant improvements are obvious in most aspects of the game, the ghost of the original title's schizophrenic gameplay still haunts Anchor's latest.

An excellent 2D fighting game...The game does not work for one simple reason -- the GameCube controller.

The game is quite fun, but it is an awful lot like the original, and it lacks the novelty factor that Feel the Magic benefited from. Despite the familiar territory, though, I never found myself bored with the game.

Usually a sequel improves on the original, but the graphics in OverDose are a little more bland and pixilated than they were in the first game.

I understand the need to change the identity of the murderer in order to create suspense for those who have already read the book. Unfortunately, the new ending feels tacked on and incredibly contrived.

Heavy on eye candy but disappointingly light on game.

A cookie-cutter, linear romp through the sweatier, jungle-infested portions of the Pacific conflict that's sure to almost satisfy fans of the series (especially those craving a split-screen co-op mode -- it's in there!), but leave pretty much everyone else shortchanged; especially in the graphics and gameplay department.

While the yin and yang of treading the fabled thin blue line is intriguing, the gameplay of True Crime is hampered by a host of negatives. It's a fun game, but it's hard to recommend to hardcore PC gamers.

Roogoo Attack! is a great little puzzle game. It has a stupid story, but with a ton of levels -- several more which can be unlocked by linking the DS version with the Wii version once -- and some great single-cart multiplayer play, it's a fantastic choice for any DS owner who's up for one heckuva challenge.

A fun party fighter with lots of visual variety but little gameplay differentiation and a horrid sense of humor.

Ultimately, it's the die-hard Fallout 3 fans that should enjoy this new chapter in the series' history, and those same fans who may end up slightly annoyed after the fact. Operation Anchorage doesn't answer many questions regarding the lead-up to the big war, but it's an interesting piece of the puzzle that fits into the overall game without feeling out of place.

The tunes vary widely in difficulty -- and while personal taste in music is something I can't debate in a review, I found the overall selection of music to range from good to, shall we say, "interesting."

There's enough content and replay value to keep you busy for hours -- even more if you hook up with friend. Factoring all the elements this title offers makes it a no-brainer for anyone who's wanted a fighter that's simple to play, entertaining, and offers long-term value.

A great example of a "good" game. The not-so-good parts (the foot missions) aren't bad enough to weigh the entire package down, but the excellent bits (the flying chunks) just aren't enough to counter the rest.

The real downside to this is that you can't fail. You'll always uncover the real criminal, and you never have to worry about contaminating evidence using incorrect procedures.

Capcom has created a PS3 version of Lost Planet that includes extraordinarily limited bonus content and which doesn't run very well.

This is "Soul Reaver Lite" -- undoubtedly fun, but light on puzzle complexity, light on varying action, and unfortunately, more than a little insubstantial in the replayability department.

While the price is right, there's arguably not much else to get excited about.

You could, of course, look at UFO: Aftermath in a vacuum, as if "X-Com" never existed. Even then, however, you're just left with a series of weak real-time tactical battles loosely connected by a shallow strategic shell.

It takes a fan to look past K-1's visual and technical shortcomings to find the rewarding game within.

A perfectly standard real-time strategy game that's tightly implemented and faithful to the series, but doesn't strive to be all it can be.

A dull game accompanied by a truly horrid save system.

There's the core of a truly great beer-&-pretzels wargame in here, and strategy gamers looking for a light, enjoyable romp through a ruined United States will have a lot of fun with Shattered Union, particularly in multiplayer. It's just that -- as with most political promises -- what the game is simply doesn't match up to what it could have been.

The Steam blurb for Oil Rush says it "combines strategic challenge of classic RTS with sheer fun of Tower Defense." But as far as I can tell there's nothing more Tower Defenseish about Oil Rush than any other RTS in which you build defensive towers -- which is pretty much all of them. I'm not sure Unigine knows what Tower Defense is.

A definite improvement over the original.

A sequel that's good but not great. It's got mini-games that will hook you immediately, a stronger emphasis on group play, and some genuinely hilarious moments. It's also got some bad mini-game mechanics that are recycled throughout the experience that drag it down.

All in all, we recommend Tomb Raider: Legend to fans and non-fans alike, but you might be better off picking up a copy of one of the console versions. Either way, it's nice to see Lara back in action, and we're hoping that we'll be seeing more of her tomb-raiding exploits in the future.

Mario & Sonic is by no means a bad compilation of sports-oriented mini-games; it's occasionally flawed but ultimately fun.

A game that won't inspire novices or attract causal gamers. This is one for the hardcore only.

It's a goofy mix that will surely turn off more players than it turns on, but I find the combination a compelling one. Just the simple fact that I've never played anything quite like Warship Gunner makes my jaded self happy.

While WotR is a good title that offers a lot of fun, it simply doesn't offer a game that's new or interesting enough to raise it from the pack of similar RTS titles available.

A flawed, boring game design that fails to capitalize on the inherent coolness of its theme and character.

All In seems like Crave's attempt to bet the farm on nothing more than a high card. The few improvements the game makes over last year's entry pale in comparison to its shortcomings.

SOCOM 4, like any new game in a series that has a near-and-dear fan base, is going to rub some people the wrong way. But it's really not a bad shooter; its biggest issue is going to be whether there's a there there, to quote Gertrude Stein.

Squats squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of quality. With the exception of a brief infatuation with "mutant mode" and a few set pieces involving squadmates, the gameplay is serviceable, but standard.

The animation is slick, and there are many appreciable smaller touches, but it's also tarnished by repetition and technical issues. If you've never been a fan of the series, this installment certainly won't change your mind. However, if you're a die-hard fan who was disappointed by Spider-Man 3, Web of Shadows should be right up your alley.

A competent first-person shooter with a good sense of humor, the sort of middling fun you should enjoy between those truly taxing blockbuster titles.

Even with the new systems, the core mechanics are losing their edge and the tournament structured story isn't helping things, either.

The non-linear mission design and freeform gameplay mechanics allow for some truly imaginative play.

The tracks and tricks are interesting enough that it's worth taking the short time the story mode occupies, and creating a huge chained negative reaction is always good for a laugh.

Definitely worth another few play-throughs. However, it's depressing how little Sony added to this package.

While the abilities are beautifully balanced and the right team can be a near-amazing gameplay experience, the price, the stinginess of the content, and the amateurish lack of polish gives us pause. Maybe a lower price point that doesn't make Shadowrun as much of a ripoff as it is could help down the line. But until then, despite how much I want to like Shadowrun, the good times are not nearly worth all the money, frustration and hassle.

As a fighting game, Budokai is mediocre at best and annoyingly frustrating at worst.

If you thought "Elite" had too much combat and not enough trading, X is probably worth a look. Otherwise, it's probably best to avoid this one.

After finally learning and understanding the nuances of the game, I was hooked on one of the deepest GBA titles available. The game has its flaws, but the plusses clearly outweigh the minuses.

Yep, you've got to use passwords to continue in the campaign mode. Fortunately, the game's pick up and go nature, excellent visuals, decent simulation qualities, and excellent multiplayer more than make up for those problems.

May not grab you in the same way it did on the consoles a few months ago, but if you're obsessed with the sport and/or don't have your PS2 or Xbox near you, this version is a good way to fill that gap of boredom in your day.

Plays more like a beta version of EA's FIFA Soccer than it does an "extreme" sports game from Midway.

A deep, realistic brawler with intricate gameplay mechanics.

Let the kids have their fun. Just play it a little once the kids have gone to bed.

To really enjoy Technic Beat, you'll have to enjoy both the music and puzzle aspects of the game, which seem to be at odds with each other. Music game enthusiasts may be turned off by the puzzle elements, and vice versa.

A bland third-person stealth adventure with sub-par combat and annoyingly stylized death sequences.

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.

The typical stigma of a launch game includes bugs, glitches, unpolished visuals, short and hurried gameplay, and a general lack of depth. Sadly, Spider-Man 2 fits the bill.

MX vs. ATV Untamed isn't the greatest motocross game ever, but it's so much damn fun that you probably won't care. Note to Rainbow, though: fire that janky, poorly rendered blonde you have carrying the sign before races and insert some live-action shots of two beauties in your commercial. You'll sell way more games.

Not much has changed since last year, and not much is different (other than the graphics) between the 2001 version and 2002.

It never proves itself competent enough to deserve more than a weekend rental.

MySims is probably more of a game to be enjoyed alone: it doesn't offer a great depth, but its cheerful spirit and light-hearted action are well worth checking out.

It may confuse some and frustrate others, but its addictive nature should keep you hooked until you learn to appreciate the art of the dungeon crawl.

Still, the single mode and the tiny useful areas of the massive maps make Primal Carnage a bit of a one-trick dinosaur. What's there is terrific, there just needs to be more of it. Here's hoping it doesn't go extinct before it evolves into something really great.