Sega Superstars Tennis isn't a bad game, it's just that it offers little to differentiate it from Virtua Tennis 3 outside of the inclusion of classic Sega characters.

Blazing Angels wasn't a smash success on any of the platforms it was released on in 2006, but its release on the PS3 is undoubtedly the best version of the bunch.

Galleon is some weird sort of Tomb Raider+. It recaptures the elusive feeling of exploration and adventure felt in Tomb Raider, while greatly expanding on its running, jumping and climbing gameplay.

We couldn't in good faith recommend this game for children or those with a predilection for mindless mini-games, but Sim gamers will probably enjoy what it has to offer.

Tony Hawk's Project 8 takes the series back to its roots, and feels like a way to introduce a new generation of gamers to the skating world.

In the end, this expansion adds just a few new objects, and though it can be fun for a short while, essentially amounts to a landscaping game.

When "Gran Turismo" is too much, and "Mario Kart" just ain't enough, Smash Cars could be just the ticket.

Those expecting action as intense or as challenging as that of "Resident Evil" or "Silent Hill," though, may be disappointed. But if you're looking for a good introduction to the genre and don't mind some control and graphics issues, the FBI is waiting.

My biggest nitpick is that defense and rebounding is still an afterthought.

It’s short, it’s easy, but it’s also highly entertaining. This is also one of those titles that you could easily go back to and play in a few months and still enjoy it.

Once the initial enthusiasm fades, there's very little to keep a player's interest. The plot is inconsistent and the pace of the game is too discontinuous to be truly appreciated.

Instead of going back to the drawing board, Xbox SoE coasts on cheapness -- but new multiplayer modes are what sweeten the deal.

Not a bad game, especially when compared to the mediocre A Wonderful Life, but it stays too much within the traditional rules of the series, without trying anything different on the new handheld.

Skip it in favor of more traditional means of control. Mastering it is just too big of a hassle, and every other platform's offering has better multiplayer options anyway (a little thing called online).

What the game lacks in shock value, it more than makes up for in sheer psychological terror.

An enjoyable variation on city-builders, and it certainly makes for a pleasant trip down memory lane for Caesar fans like me. The problem is, the game's flaws will keep it from being little more than a nine-day wonder on players' hard drives.

Being able to explore Hogwart's as not one, but all three of your favorite characters is, as Ron would put it, brilliant. Older gamers will find little challenge in the game's simplistic block puzzles.

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.

Playing the game is a blast and it sure looks great... On a deeper level, where most strategy gamers like to think they exist, the game suffers from oversimplification of both command and control features.

Extremely difficult. Only hardcore fans need apply.

A fun action game, but at its heart, it still feels like a year-old console title. There's no multiplayer, and the action is frequently interrupted by multiple load times.

Its pace is often slow, almost to the point of being sluggish, but the game's story which is revealed both through in-game conversations and cinematic, between-level cutscenes (it is a Blizzard game, after all) definitely helped to pull me into the game despite the frustration I felt with its controls.

Top Spin plays well, has some good online, and basically chokes in every other category.

Frame-rate issues, unimaginative combat and adventure gameplay, and multiplayer that sags leaves Unlimited Adventure in the position of not quite being able to compete with the One Piece games of the last generation.

If you prefer your tycoon games in sandbox mode with the capitalism aspects removed, and you love the idea of designing the perfect version of Manhattan Island, Tycoon City makes a neat little construction kit. But if you're looking for an actual strategy game, give this one a pass.

What's missing is Crazy Taxi's sense of breakneck speed, as well as its more clever map design.

It's a heck of a lot better than the recent batch of Mega Man X games. If you're looking for a hardcore RPG experience, pass on this, but Mega Man fans should appreciate the change of pace.

Too few arenas, repetitive action, difficult AI and bad weapon balance add up to a bad game.

The more I played it, the less I enjoyed it. It's a rudimentary beat-'em-up game which borrows the combo components of "Devil May Cry" and the buy-a-combo system of "The Two Towers," and thinks those elements by themselves are enjoyable, which they're not.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the game in concept, and done properly, it would easily have established it as a classic on par with the film on which it's based. Instead we get brilliant concepts ham-handedly executed.

NFL Head Coach is a decent value when considered as part of the 20th anniversary Madden NFL 09 package, but doesn't quite do enough to merit a purchase for the standalone version.

One-shot kills make it hard to appreciate differences among the nuances of firing rate, penetration value, and stopping power.

It's mechanics and gameplay may annoy you, but if you liked John Carpenter's version of "The Thing," you should be able to buy into (and enjoy) the storyline.

Primitive and unpolished, but its relentless goofiness, perfect use of the license, and twists on the stealth-action genre make it worth playing anyway.

The library of mini-games alone makes the game a must have for anyone looking for hours of mindless fun. Add to that all of the cool extras unlocked when linked with a copy of Spyro Orange, and you end up with an awesome cross-franchise certain to leave you craving more.

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.

Despite some smart moves on the part of the developers (voice talent, good graphics engine, franchise overhaul) none of them really pan out and bring much to the experience, leaving the game to flounder with its new but repetitive focus on combat.

Dungeonland could have done with a good couple more months in the oven.

A significant improvement over its predecessor on the 360.

As a classics collection (a Namco Museum, if you will), it fails pretty hard. It's lacking some much-needed games, and its meager selection of seven classic titles pales to the 21 in the PSP Museum. Pac-Man Vs., however, is excellent.

The multiplayer is by far the strongest element of the game, so hopefully we'll see both more ease of connection and an update to online options in the future. With both of those things in place, most likely in a sequel, Squad Command might not be a game whose biggest enemy is itself.

If everything is so average, then why did I give Blood Will Tell the extra half-star? Well, it's got a damn fine story.

Since this is a kid's game, it's not terribly long or difficult. Even so, it's a pretty decent romp. The kiddies will enjoy seeing more Robinsons goofiness, and you won't mind picking up the controller to help them through the occasional tough part.

Without using the camera it can be frustrating and repetitive, but its mediocre porting is not enough to convince anyone to spend an additional $50 to enjoy it.

Sure, Order of the Phoenix is a little rough around the edges, but it's still the best Harry Potter game yet. Fans will get a huge kick over how well it recreates Harry's world.

Finding all one hundred of Dewy's friends, known as the Eaus, on every level is a real challenge, so the replay value is there.

Sadly, the only multiplayer mode included is a downloadable demo you can distribute to your friends -- we would have loved a cooking contest a la Iron Chef, where the highest scoring player across a series of mini-games would win the fame and glory. Still, the mini-games can be fun.

I can recommend it to anyone who wants a spy based adventure game, but if you're really looking for action and suspense you'll be sorely disappointed with ICB.

A fun game, but it could've benefited from more polish and a little more imagination.

If this title had come out before the console version, I'm sure we'd have been amazed by its accomplishments, rather than puzzled by its mistakes.

Do yourself a favor and pick up New York Times Crosswords for the DS instead.

While the gameplay remains solid and the features are there in full force, the technical issues and sub-par graphics make it absolutely impossible to recommend over Sony's "MLB 08: The Show."

Even playing on the easiest setting, the difficulty regularly spikes to bowel-clenching impossibility. This wouldn't be so bad if the checkpoints flowed a little more freely, as most of the difficulty spikes tend to arrive after a protracted battle has already left you tattered and bleeding.

A failure. Despite the excellent art, and even ignoring the frustrating puzzles, the biggest problem here lies in a group of obnoxiously stereotypical characters working their way through bad dialogue and a poorly plotted and paced script, topped off with three horrifying words: "To Be Continued..."

After playing it for several hours, I started to see that it's a decent game. For fishing fans, it's a must-buy.

The first time you see AquaNox in action, you'll probably be impressed with the bright lights and flashy explosions, but you'll probably tire of those in about five minutes.

A competent, highly stylized romp through a fading franchise that's appealing to the younger set, not really hip enough for the teen crowd, and not in-depth enough for veteran gamers.

A competent and occasionally compelling hack-and-slash, but fans of the PC games will continue to dream of the true RPG they'll never get, and fans of Dark Alliance would presumably rather play "Dark Alliance II."

While the inclusion of "Bionic Commando" should perk up the ears of even the most jaded gaming veterans, the inclusion of two games that haven't aged so well isn't enough of a deal to make the game worth dropping 20 bills.

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.

The forgettable campaign and the Fortress hero bug are both huge annoyances -- but the Fortress town itself combined with the new scenarios, random maps, and other goodies make it a no-brainer for die-hards of the series; it makes the idea of going back to the original unthinkable, which is the mark of any good expansion.

It features some excellent graphics and audio production, as well as some of the best voiceover work to date. However, this can't make up for the frustrating gameplay, which tries to focus on stealth, combat, and platforming, yet doesn't manage to do any of these particularly well.

Perhaps True Swing's biggest problem, however, is its complete and utter lack of personality.

Sure, it's a bit simplistic, but the gameplay is solid and the odd online mode is strangely addicting.

Geist isn't a great title, but it is pretty good. If you're looking for something a little different than the standard FPS fare, Geist is definitely worth taking a look at.

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.

The problem with Advanced Warfighter isn't that it's a lesser beast than the 360 release; that's to be expected. It's that the game fails to stack up against the better recent Xbox shooters like "Far Cry" and "Black."

The battle system is fairly easy to learn and the puzzles aren't mind-blowing, but all in all, the game is very entertaining and that's what gaming is supposed to be about.

As much as I'm a fan of the DBZ series, if I was to choose between this title and a King of Fighters title for the GBA, I'd choose the latter without batting an eye.

It definitely is the best console gun game I've played, which stands for something. It brings the genre closer to where it should be: in line with the potential of technology.

While fairly on the generic side, Resurrection does manage to offer a decent platforming experience for gamers searching for something new.

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.

At its core, War in the North isn't a bad game; it's merely a disappointing one.

Fans of shooters will find, quickly enough, that the absolute reliance on purchased abilities over skill makes this a poor Counterstrike-style title. RPG fans will, likewise, find that there aren't enough RPG elements to make a whole game out of. And both sides should have the common sense to realize that when a company sneaks out a test game disguised as a full retail product, you don't reward it by buying it.

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.

But if you're new the genre, you might want to know what you're getting into: a very, very demanding experience. Yes, it can be rewarding, and you might just make a lot of friends in the process.

FG plays fast and boils down to several repeats of each mission as you figure out what happens, where it happens and just what it was you did in order to make it happen. Zero replay value in other words.

Despite its many bugs and flaws, the game is still fun to play when it works. The combat is rather uninspired, but it serves to add to the atmosphere. The amount of frustration you'll find in the game should be noted, however.

They still have a few problems to iron out, but the fascinating adventure is well worth giving it a try.

WTA Tour Tennis tries to be a "hip" tennis game, unfortunately it falls flat on its face.

Wakka-wakka-walk-away from this subpar platformer.

If you're a baseball fan, you'll love the attention to detail in this game.

Given that Ice Age 2 is intended for a younger audience, it's not a terribly long or challenging game. Don't be surprised if the adventure is finished after about four or five hours.

The humor in Outlaw Tennis provides some quick-and-cheap thrills, even if it does get old fairly fast.

Lots of one-liners, lots of humor, and a healthy dose of action. The story isn't an epic masterpiece, it's an Evil Dead plot. It's nowhere close to being the best, but it sure is fun.

The graphics in Rumble Roses are astounding, and are every bit as good as the fare put out by Tecmo or Namco in its fighting games. I'd even go out on a limb and state these lasses are more attractive than the cast of "DOA," and they easily show more personality.

Combines everything you've ever wanted when it comes to moto-sports in one package...but there are a few things that end up costing this game overall.

Without any multiplayer value there is no justification to drop cash on this thin package, leaving it a rental for the curious.

Any sense of coolness quickly evaporates as soon as you pick up a controller as Jet X2O suffers from a control scheme that is twitchier than a two year old on speed.

The biggest flaws with AvP: Extinction are the lack of a rotating camera, the unit micromanagement required, and the fact that there are only 21 missions in the game with no multiplayer at all... I wasn't disappointed with the game, and I don't think fans of AvP would be either.

Perhaps the biggest draw for Gundam fans is the mode in which you create your own pilot and build up his or her stats in one-player missions, then fight other Gundam geeks in the two-player mode.

The fighting in the game is basic, a little humdrum, and hardly inspired. Graphically, it's nothing special.

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

If Lost Planet was a budget title, we'd have an easier time recommending it. The main campaign is short, multiplayer matches are nowhere to be found, and you'll need a lot of computing muscle if you want to run it with a decent level of detail.

There isn't anything strikingly bad about the game, but it's an ultimately flavorless one that leaves us hoping the upcoming CivCity: Rome and Caesar IV pack a bit more of a Roman punch.

Operation Surma isn't a total disaster, but it's the bottom of the stealth-action barrel, and only those gamers who've played literally everything else in the genre should bother with this one.

The game gives players a fast-paced, fully customizable experience. And, thanks to its fun online capabilities, the action can be shared around the world.

It rarely does anything wrong, but at the same time doesn't earn high marks in too many categories. PoPoLoCrois is just an average role-playing game, made better by the lack of competition and the fact that you can take it with you.