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.

Isn't quite up to the spectacular standards of LucasArts' "Rogue Leader" and "Starfighter" shoot-'em-up franchises, but it supplies plenty of Star Wars-themed shooting action, and the Live support considerably boosts the replay value, more than making up for the brevity of the one-player campaign.

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

Weak weapons, dodgy dodging, and the most oppressive scoring system in years all rob Nanostray of any momentum it might have mustered.

It's enjoyable for a few brief moments to blow away vessels in a manner that harkens back to the classic Wing Commander. The thing is, without a robust economic engine, an interesting and dynamic universe to explore, or even a decent storyline to follow, DarkStar One is destined to sink into the black hole of gaming obscurity.

TOSE has done a topnotch job of proving it's possible to create a licensed game perfectly playable by children and adults alike without insulting the intelligence of either, one of the highest compliments that can be laid on games with such a shameful expectation attached.

Every element of it is solid but unexceptional. Card battling is done far better by PS2's "Culdcept"; story is done better by a host of other RPGs. In fact, the only area where I think it'd be truly difficult to compete with PSO III is music -- this soundtrack is almost too good for the game.

Hardcore simulation fans really need not apply due to the broken rebounding model. But if you want a lot of high-flying sizzle in your hoops game and you don't care about the other minutiae, then by all means pick it up.

Keep your expectations in check and you'll find it succeeds in being a decent facsimile of the PS2 games. Just don't be expecting much in the way of sweaty palms or a rapid heartbeat.

The Treble mode is an excellent touch that adds twists to the usual Manager mode. The visuals look solid for the system, but online play is a total mess and is probably not worth your time.

A sweeping 360-degree look at your boat and its surroundings adds much to the immersive quality -- a quality that is sorely needed in other departments of the sim.

Lacks the full-on rampage of other action titles. "Halo" this is not. Combat is almost a throw-away sub-feature, and it shouldn't be.

If you love multiplayer, have a speedy connection and the horsepower, or if you really enjoy skirmish battles against the CPU, then it's much easier to recommend.

A good idea, and I think that with the right implementation it could make for an excellent game. Bogged down with tedious, unpolished gameplay, weak graphics, and unimpressive presentation, Stuntman is not that game.

Even on the hard difficulty setting the AI is only a second from making a mistake that leaves the lane wide open for a monster slam. Shooting the three is not as easy because of the percentages, however, depending on the player, this can be exploited against the computer in a big way.

Incredibly weird. While I found my time with Cubivore pretty intriguing, I'm betting that the majority of gamers will be left scratching their heads and wondering what the hell they've just witnessed on the screen.

There's not really all that much new content in Mario Party 6 save for the microphone novelty, but in the end the final product feels more polished and enjoyable than both previous efforts released on the GameCube.

Toy Soldiers still has a lot to recommend it. The PC version comes with the Kaiser's Battle and Invasion DLC expansions, and its level designs have just enough variety to make at least one playthrough interesting. Some of those scenarios I'll probably come back to a few more times to improve my score. But still, Toy Soldiers is just a little too repetitive to enter the tower-defense hall of fame occupied by games like Defense Grid and Orcs Must Die! The clue is in the name: it's a brilliant toy, but just short of a truly great game.

RPG fans and fans of titles such as "Monster Rancher" and "Magic Pengel" will probably adore it.

The established Lego game design wasn't broken, but, after so many games, it was beginning to get a bit stale. Those used to the previous titles might feel a bit disoriented at first, but you'll soon settle in and begin having fun exploring the large hubs and condensed levels.

The difficulty and level design problems are a real shame because when it's good, Narnia is really a lot of fun, but when the designers decided to make it really tough, they managed to sap most of the fun out of what should have been a whimsical action ride through the frozen land of Narnia.

"GTA: Mexico" with B-level developer talent: The game Robert Rodriguez would have designed if his brain had been replaced by a satsuma: This is Smash TV in sombreros.

Even the most hardcore country fan will go through what's here in one or two sittings, and with very few extra tracks to unlock, the game just doesn't have staying power.

It's incredible how nasty and trashy this gameplay looks, when something very similar looked so great. There are a lot of really nice touches here, but they're wasted on a game that feels like a high school talent show version of a great movie.

More about style than substance. Nevertheless, the style excels, and there's still enough substance to give strategy gamers something worthwhile.

An underwhelming, choppy mess.

Worth checking out for platform and Sonic Team fans, but is likely too difficult and glitchy for more casual players.

When it came time to score Galaxies, I initially thought of all the bugs and broken areas, the steep subscription fee and poor customer service, the often slow-paced gameplay and as-yet unrealized potential of the game. And yet, even with all these drawbacks, I find myself hooked -- there's fun to be had, if you're willing to dig through the frustrations.