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

The constant rattling of locked doorknobs in Nakatomi Plaza makes it obvious and frustrating. Since floors in the plaza are limited in size, why have all the locked doors?

Too simple for its own good, yet somehow likable in the end. While the beat 'em up action is undoubtedly repetitive, it was just solid enough to keep me playing for another level.

The surprising depth of the campaign mode, and the simple pleasures of smashing into oncoming traffic, helps negate the weak audiovisuals and onslaught of "yee-haw!" hee-haws.

The surprising depth of the campaign mode, and the simple pleasures of smashing into oncoming traffic, helps negate the weak audiovisuals and onslaught of "yee-haw!" hee-haws.

A disappointment when held up against its nearly peerless PlayStation 2 counterpart.

A sometimes overwhelming game that lacks the simplicity of the genre's most addictive titles.

It's not terrible, but it's not terribly good, either. It's just good enough (and just bad enough) to qualify as neither; The game is perfectly balanced in a state of Swiss-like neutrality.

At least The Thing starts out strong. It's the sort of game you don't have to feel bad about not finishing.

Despite all its strengths, it's just much too buggy and unpolished to recommend wholeheartedly.

The visuals alone haven't received the facelift they should have. Skyscrapers and other assorted buildings are still boxy and flat, hi-res textures aren't applied to the proper effect, and the creatures themselves lack distinctive bump-mapping and polish.

Utterly formulaic, and like the movies upon which it's very loosely based, ultimately forgettable.

Too simple for its own good, yet somehow likable in the end.

A simple game. It doesn't promise to do much, but what it does do, it does fairly well.

Blitzkrieg can sometimes be entertaining in spite of these problems, but it's not the great WWII RTS we've been waiting for.

If you've enjoyed Zoo Tycoon so far, you should find plenty more to like in Marine Mania.

Not quite great, but far from awful. As a result, you're far more likely to love than hate it.

To enjoy this game properly you are going to need a keyboard and a mouse -- two things that are readily available on the PC -- so you might as well plan on going for that version instead.

The developers deserve kudos for trying something different in an over packed genre, and they nearly succeeded.

Doesn't have enough depth and substance to be great. If you don't like its faux hip-hop style then you won't even find it good.

It's not "Medal of Honor," but if you can get past the first-generation engine and various technical and design glitches, there's still a good deal of fun to be had.

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.

You're better off getting some PC sound software if you'd really like it, but if you do decide to check out MG2, make sure you bring your patience. You're going to need it.

There are three AI settings, but 'easy' is little more than an excuse to explore the game types without any real competition. 'Medium' and 'hard' pit you against 'way too hard' and 'next to impossible' opponents, respectively.

Playable, but definitely incomplete.

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

The game's action is unquestionably fun and a pleasure to watch, but a plethora of minor flaws add up to nearly counteract the off-road ecstasy.

The gameplay simply isn't as tight as it should be. The care and time you take in building your bot is often wasted due to too many quirky design flaws.