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

One of those games that's much more enjoyable in small doses. A quick race while you're sitting on the bus or with your kid brother/sister in the doctor's waiting room is a great way to pass a bit of time. When played in longer stretches, though, many of the game's annoyances start to really grate on you.

Cut out about 50% of the units, make the maps smaller and tighten up the bleeding edges to make a new strategic model and we might really have something. The pacing's right, the idea's right, but stuffing the entire PC version of Supreme Commander onto the 360 is just more than the poor machine can handle.

Not much better than last year's unimpressive console games. However, the smooth control, portability, and uniqueness of the experience -- this is the only FPS for the DS at the moment -- help differentiate it enough that some folks might enjoy it.

Between the simple card system, the short length, and the anime look, Fighter's Battle feels like a game that was meant to get younger players interested in the Dynasty Warriors series. Longtime fans may be irked by these changes and the lack of a story, but it's still a DW game at heart.

Odama is simply beyond strange. It's rock hard, annoying and yet intriguing all at the same time. It's also a pinball game, a strategy game and more over, a game that you'll either love or despise; or even a little of both.

This is an entertaining shooter with many good points, but nothing's particularly outstanding or original here. Members of the Old West FPS posse should snap it up faster than Doc Holliday could clear leather, but city-slicker varmints oughta just wait till it hits the bargain bin at the local general store.

There's a good game here, but it's buried underneath layers of mediocre to substandard cosmetics and an unforgiving learning curve.

Even though I had some fun with the Shining Tears, most of it stemmed from nostalgia and imagining what this game could have been.

Yes, a lot of the gameplay is boring and clunky, but through books and movies we've come to think of Harry and crew as friends, so the true fan will be able to look past a lot of the game's quirks and have a relatively decent experience.

There's a fair amount to like about SCT3, but its greatest weakness is that there are two other games out there that stack up extremely well against it.

Atari needs to be willing to lay down some bank to polish up the graphics and sound, write a much more compelling single-player adventure, and add some online goodness.

Should have been a campy romp; instead, it's barely more enjoyable than "Run Like Hell," with a camera that constantly fights you and combat that constantly bores you.

A novel game with a unique new mechanic for building towns and cities with personality. Casual players will find a lot to tinker with as they sculpt towns out of their dreams or nightmares. More serious gamers will be able to plumb the depth of the title over the course of the weekend.

An uneven difficulty level, not much variety in quests and battles, clunky and temperamental controls, and the lack of any type of multiplayer will all quickly frustrate you.

Though we found plenty of things to annoy us, the basic gameplay and extravagant character roster (once unlocked) should be enough to satisfy most fans.

It's an improvement over last year's effort, but it still remains a strictly niche product.

For the past decade or so, the Need for Speed series has been all about illegal street racing, but Need for Speed: ProStreet completely sells out this most tantalizing aspect for some cheap (or, rather, extremely expensive) product placement.

What action there is proves solid and enjoyable, even despite the tossed-off nature of the single-player campaign. But the four-player limit severely hobbles the scope of the matches, and the lack of Internet play completely sabotages the game's multiplayer ambitions.

If you're looking for a brutal campaign requiring every ounce of military strategy and luck, one that requires you to throw your best general right into the thick of things while laying waste to everything you touch, you might want to give Rome: Total War -- Alexander a whirl.

If you can accept that nearly all the engaging moments come from non-interactive movies, and much of what the player is allowed to take part in is more frustrating than terrifying or exciting, it could also be worth playing.

It's fun as a chat room, but has a lot of growing to do as a game.

Won't hold up to extended play anyway because of the too-small question set. It's a shame; it's a well put-together game otherwise.

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.

The Sixaxis implementation here is unnecessary. More damningly, the game is clearly not a next-gen product, visually.

The real draw here should be competing with other players over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect. Sadly, it's far too difficult to really get anything resembling a fulfilling online experience out of Pokémon Battle Revolution.

Right out of the gate, Spider-Man 3 is going to smack you in the face with some of the worst next-gen graphics you have ever seen.

Right away I can tell you that if you played the first one, your opinion of this game will more than likely be the same.