The game's shot variety, graphics, and online capabilities truly take tennis games to a new level. The things that prevent the game from being as perfect as Kournikova's... legs... are the load times and poor implementation of risk and drop shots.

I'm stunned by Redeemer's hefty number of annoying quirks; in both presentation and gameplay, this game is sloppier than a Carl's Jr. Super Star.

The main problem with Amped 2 is its controls...In practice, most players will find it difficult to learn at best and frustrating at worse.

The intelligent touches and relative difficulty make Rogue Ops generally fun for fans of the genre. The unevenness in the presentation and controls keep it from really setting the genre on fire.

There's no multiplayer, no online play, and only a couple of difficulty modes. But it does its work extremely well, and it's safe to say you won't play a similar game this year.

It's a must-buy for anyone with even the slightest interest in the genre, presuming they can handle the lack of super-deformed character design.

A game with simplistic fighting and a tedious unlocking system, but it's a polished and faithful presentation of Dragon Ball Z with a fair amount of content.

Absolutely the best skating game for the system. The PS2 is the best at THUG life, and you owe it to yourself to insert your own digital presence into the game and take your skittles to the online arena.

It's a triumph for THQ and vindication for Yukes. This is best of the series, and one of the best wrestling games to hit a console.

With PlanetSide being constantly updating and patched, this expansion may become indispensable somewhere down the road, but it's not worth the admission price right now. Take that $$$ and buy a few Code Reds instead, because as all the good players know, the action is best late at night.

The interface problems are enough to keep Journey To The Center Of The Earth from being a four-star game, but fans of point-and-click adventures will find plenty of puzzles and story to make it a game still worth buying.

The strongest of the dragon's GBA appearances. Thanks to the large number of challenges you're presented with, the game plays a lot freer and more open-ended than most platformers -- handheld or console.

Doesn't capture the spirit of the Dark Knight, and it's barely as interesting as most platformers for the two-decade-old NES.

From the main story mode to the arcade mode to the multiplay, there's not a weak spot to be found.

Instead of picking this up for your next party, I suggest snagging a few good CDs or maybe "Trivial Pursuit"... hell, even pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey is more fun.

It's painful to see that the ultra-cool face-mapping and online eight-player multiplayer game is absent from the final Xbox package. However, THUG for the Xbox remains one of the best games you'll play this year.

The most notable disappointment is the lack of any online content. Yep, only PS2 THUGers have the ability to map their own face into the game and play multiplayer sessions online. But still, THUG for the 'Cube remains one of the best games you'll play this year.

It's one of the best and most enjoyable rhythm / music games ever made.

PopTop steams onto the scene with a product that's nearly everything a strategy game needs to be: easy to pick up and play, but deep enough to engross players for hours and months on end.

If you're an action game fan and you want something that you can pretty much jump into and play without having to pore over a manual -- and you need something to occupy your time while you're waiting for those other, bigger games to come out -- BEA is a good candidate for your time.

I rarely start off a review talking about how a game looks or sounds, but the presentation of this game can't be understated. It looks and sounds spectacular.

An extremely solidly-made, quality game, but lots of what gamers love about Castlevania has been jettisoned in an attempt to streamline it. The result is a very playable but somewhat dull game.

The basic gameplay is rock-solid, and fans of multiplayer RTS games will get far more than their money's worth out of it.

Another annoying aspect of TMNT is its overly punishing difficulty. While you can coast through early portions by mashing away, later stages and boss fights can be stupid-hard.

I'd certainly sign on for another tour of duty, especially if the guys who created my interface iron out some of the glitches. In all, I'd say this is a compelling World War II experience.

While there are still some control problems that keep it from being perfect, Sega's dominance on the hardwood continues. This year makes it a three-peat.

Hardcore fans will find a lot to like, but until the AI and balance issues are fixed it remains merely a good game but one that falls a bit below expectations.

If you dig survival-horror games and you're up for a new story and setting -- and don't mind some very familiar gameplay -- Curse is a good time.