It's driven by the sort of maddening adventure game logic that had a hand in killing the genre. But there's no denying this is part of what defined the genre: clever (and often implausible) solutions from some weird corner of the brain most of us never exercise.

If it weren't for its middling trick system, Downhill Domination would be among the finest action-sports games on the market.

Somewhere inside Nexagon: Deathmatch, there's an interesting concept trying to get out, but the arena combat, base building, and futuristic sports theme never gel. The lack of clear instruction, the fun-killing load times, frequently lame combat, and some bugs and pathfinding problems don't do the game any favors.

Syberia is not a great game, but it tells a great story, despite its translation hiccups.

So atrocious that it's an insult to the art of game design, not to mention the people who mistakenly purchase it.

If you loved "Armored Core 3," you're going to have a field day with this.

A magnificent mélange of story, gameplay, and acting that takes many fascinating elements of the Star Wars universe and combines them with BioWare's penchant for first-rate interactive storytelling.

Tiburon outdoes itself and gives players the best college football game ever made.

An incredibly solid NCAA game that will keep you and your friends entertained -- you'll just have to play on the same Xbox.

Online play isn't an option here, and the training mode is nowhere to be found. While the core game is still fun, there is little reason to choose the GameCube version unless the little purple box is your sole game system.

The game is short -- way too short. A halfway decent player is going to spend more time watching the movie than playing through the story mode.

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.

It takes a fan to look past K-1's visual and technical shortcomings to find the rewarding game within.

An excellent virtual-T&A delivery system, the best simulation of v-ball on the Xbox, and a guilty pleasure that kept me playing for much longer than it should.

An extremely solid and enjoyable expansion from Blizzard. Throw in the fact that you are getting plenty of gameplay and units that would normally constitute a full game from some developers, the price point of under $35 makes this even more attractive.

It's not the T&A fest that DOA Xtreme Volleyball is, but it isn't afraid to flash some skin (though no "nude code"). Where it's at its strongest, happily, is in the gameplay. The button scheme is in-depth enough to make the action challenging.

A beautiful RPG marred by numerous bugs which render it nigh unplayable.

A sad mess that not only has virtually nothing to do with the movie or the ride, but is a pretty poor game in its own right.

The best arcade racer to hit the PC in years.

A mess that 36-plus months of development time couldn't flesh out.

A wonderful platformer with a fresh gameplay mechanic and a great sense of humor.

There's just not enough new content to justify this expansion.

Almost fun enough, but overall too shallow to be worth a solid purchase to anyone.

A worthy successor to "Close Combat" ... at least until something better comes along.

A mildly entertaining console port that's heavy on gameplay but short on substance.

While many aspects of it are excellent, the gameplay is flawed enough to occasionally frustrate and sometimes make Magic Pengel feel less like a game and more like a chore.

It's well worth your time to play through, if only for the motorcycle and gun turret scenes, and some of the more freakish weirdoes to cull later in your romp.

An excellent downsizing of a cutting-edge game for a lesser platform, retaining the essential gameplay of the original while deftly imitating its audiovisual aspects.