Though very late in this surprisingly long title even pouting became a rote exercise, we still kept at it to see how the comical story would play out. We wouldn't rank it even the third best DS RPG we played this month, but we must admit that it touched us.

Why buy the new one when the older, better version is still available at a reduced price? We know you have a PS2.

It’s really too bad that Afro Samurai is bogged down by nagging annoyances, because the core game is actually decent, if not spectacular. If it had a healthy dose of polish it would be a solid rental (but not full-price purchase).

It’s really too bad that Afro Samurai is bogged down by nagging annoyances, because the core game is actually decent, if not spectacular. If it had a healthy dose of polish it would be a solid rental (but not full-price purchase).

We were amazed at how much time the game swallowed, meaning time was flying, meaning, well, we all know what that means.

A lethal combination of clunky menus, lack of guidance, and general tedium combine to make Front Office Manager a dud.

A lethal combination of clunky menus, lack of guidance, and general tedium combine to make Front Office Manager a dud.

If you're a fan of well-crafted children's stories and tightly designed gameplay, there's no excuse not to give The Maw a shot.

It’s a big time commitment and it’s really text heavy, but if you’re even remotely into JRPGs, Ar Tonelico 2 is easily worth it. Then again, if endearing, well-written characters and well-crafted turn-based battle systems aren’t your thing, well, it’s your loss.

Quite formidable among other PSP offerings. Unless you hated First Departure, this one is definitely worth a try.

A positive example to other developers, that better things are possible if you merely put in the effort.

We’re thrilled that Harmonix didn’t try to fix things that weren’t broken and add in silly things just to add bullet points on the box – the original Rock Band was nearly perfect already.

Aside from moaning about the shortcomings the Wii's technical limitations force upon the game, the only thing to complain about with Rock Band 2 – and it’s barely even a complaint - is that it polishes rather than reinvents.

Rise of the Argonauts has a nice story and something to offer, but shortcomings like this chip away at the fun and ultimately keep the game from matching its legendary sources of inspiration.

Rise of the Argonauts has a nice story and something to offer, but shortcomings like this chip away at the fun and ultimately keep the game from matching its legendary sources of inspiration.

Rise of the Argonauts has a nice story and something to offer, but shortcomings like this chip away at the fun and ultimately keep the game from matching its legendary sources of inspiration.

PowerUp Forever has a gorgeous look, and if it copies too heavily from other games, it combines the borrowed bits in a truly unique way. It’s more artistic than most games, but it’s also strictly a solo experience. There are a ton of other twin-stick shooters that are just a little deeper and better balanced, and many of them offer multiplayer support.

PowerUp Forever has a gorgeous look, and if it copies too heavily from other games, it combines the borrowed bits in a truly unique way. It’s more artistic than most games, but it’s also strictly a solo experience. There are a ton of other twin-stick shooters that are just a little deeper and better balanced, and many of them offer multiplayer support.

If you don't want a heaping pile of Japanese culture, or don't like an odd or off-putting story, then maybe you should stay away. Otherwise, Persona 4 is a superb (if long) RPG, and probably the last great PS2 game.

Download the tunes and skip everything else.

As a final insult, some players are experiencing game-killing programming bugs that lock doors or remove crystals, making it literally impossible to complete the game. That is inexcusable.

The worst thing is, there was tremendous potential here. The art style is fantastic, and the campy, B-movie concept is golden. And the way you make new weapons out of garbage you find – sticks, needles, broken shards of glass – is really fun. But once you add the gameplay in there, ugggh. Mushrooms grow where living things have died – in this case, the underlying corpse belonged to fun.

While the levels are interesting from an artistic point of view, getting through them is a little too typical. Ultimately, the gifted art design in Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars can’t hide the fact that you’ve played much of this before – it just didn’t look as good then.

Once you understand enemy attack patterns and the game’s slightly slower than you’d expect timing, the level of challenge decreases dramatically. This, combined with the fact that Elika literally won’t let you die, could make things feel too easy and auto-piloted for some die-hard hardcore players.

Once you understand enemy attack patterns and the game’s slightly slower than you’d expect timing, the level of challenge decreases dramatically. This, combined with the fact that Elika literally won’t let you die, could make things feel too easy and auto-piloted for some die-hard hardcore players.

Things also get tough.

In fact, that’s the real root of the problem with King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga. This series barely evolves at all, so this is a grouping of five versions of essentially the same game. Thus, it isn’t really for anyone but the super fans.

The big problem is that the PS3 has the SingStore, where we could have downloaded only the tracks we wanted. Hence, tossing out what is essentially a track pack is pretty much useless to us.

We applaud the focus, but the flip side of that is a narrower market and decreased value to those of us who don’t know which of the ladies is Anni-Frid Lyngstad and which is Agnetha Faltskog. Knock it down to $20 and we’ll talk.

Avoid this one unless you’re a sucker for dickhead aliens. The Path of the Furon leads straight to disappointment.

Unlike so many remakes of classic fighters, Turbo HD has soul...It’s definitely a must-have title for any self-respecting fighting fan. Period.

Unlike so many remakes of classic fighters, Turbo HD has soul...It’s definitely a must-have title for any self-respecting fighting fan. Period.

We would normally hesitate to give any rerelease such a high score, but this is the ultimate edition of a true classic.

And while the core game is inviting, easy to grasp and simple enough for casual dabbling, there’s no sense of accomplishment as with Puzzle Quest.

The gameplay gets a little too frustrating, the graphics too soulless, and the story too weak to keep us going in for too long.

The main character’s name is SONIC – it’s a reference to how fast he can run. Why must the game include all this other random crap, especially when it isn’t all that polished anyhow?

This is about as solid a next-gen port as we’ve seen on Wii, but it’s probably going to take an act of God to make us think a downscaled port is better than the original. Other than an earthquake, we mean.

Granted, Ultimate Band is cheaper than competing music games like Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour, and that would normally be a big plus. But when one considers just how much more game you get with those titles, how much longer they’ll last you, the savings isn’t really worth it.

If it sounds complex, just understand this: It makes it surprisingly easy for you to make decent sounding tunes, and it’ll store up to 12 of them. You can even join up over Wi-Fi and record yourself and three other players jamming together, or connect to the vastly inferior Wii version of the game and use your DS to run a light show. Guitar Hero, are you paying attention?

Music is top-notch again, and the graphics are spiffier overall than in the last game.

But what’s the point of making your favorite team when they play like beginners?

But everything here is still solidly done, funnier than almost any other game, and holds a unique place in the DS library. You really should start up your own Robocalypse.

As the only game in town this year, NCAA Basketball 09 pulls its own weight but shouldn’t demand your full attention. Only hardcore hoops fanatics need drop down their hard earned cash; the rest of us can shuffle along just fine without it.

As the only game in town this year, NCAA Basketball 09 pulls its own weight but shouldn’t demand your full attention. Only hardcore hoops fanatics need drop down their hard earned cash; the rest of us can shuffle along just fine without it.

If you’ve skipped a few March Madness semesters and haven’t joined the PS3/360 generation, there’s plenty here to sink your teeth into.

But it still doesn’t quite play like Guitar Hero. The touch detection is too spotty, the custom controller is too uncomfortable and that intoxicating illusion that you’re actually playing an instrument still isn’t there. But, if you need a portable way to get your rock on, this is remains the best way to go.

If you can look past the last-last-gen flaws that absolutely should be gone by now, there’s a totally playable bit of gaming here that’ll scratch your RPG itch for the time being.

The story is also new and not half bad, revolving around the theft of a shipment of lightsaber crystals and a shadowy cabal of force-using goth mommas called the Nightsisters.

But to finally give us a lightsaber game, even a crap one, and not enable us to take on the role of Luke Skywalker and battle Darth Vader? That’s just freaking cruel.

And when a game’s biggest problem is that it left us wanting more, we’d say that’s a good problem to have.

All in all World at War delivers. It isn’t a revolution in Call of Duty gaming, but neither is it a step backwards, like some have claimed. Right now, it’s the best WWII shooter we’ve played, largely because it’s got a solid (if unoriginal) single player, some spectacular multiplayer, and oh yeah: because it’s brutal as hell.

Though the maps feel a little small and spawn points are poorly placed, it’s executed well enough that you’ll wonder why more DS shooters aren’t this competent. Ultimately, however, the setting and controls still hold back this war without end from being anything but a quick tour of duty.

Shadows of Almia is longer than the first Pokemon Ranger game, and there’s still a lot of charm here. It’s just that the game backing up that charm is too simple and too familiar for us to recommend to any but the youngest, more easily pleased of pokemaniacs.

In an arcade-style game, anything that requires the player to take a break from shooting is a questionable call. We’re okay with reloading, but handicapping us with awkward controls is just uncool.

Your characters will not do what you want them to a decent portion of the time.

The usual bells and whistles are all here as well, with the caveat that this is a PS2, so the tech is dated.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm really, really, really needs to support online fights. Publisher Namco Bandai’s last big fighting game, Soulcalibur IV, did it. There’s no reason for this not to as well.

You’ll need an appreciation for the cube itself to get the most out of this - and you may want to destroy whoever programmed the chirpy music and decided to call the cubes “cubies” and give them a story - but it’s a solid value for puzzle players.

And while the game has nice graphics for a late PS2 game, it makes the stunningly gorgeous Bond women appear to be stunningly made out of melting clay.

For the right buyer, this is a gleaming golden treasure even with bits of tarnish here and there.

We say it’s great fun. In fact, that applies both to the story and this game as a whole. Don’t let it slip by.

There’s also a two-player co-op wireless mode, though the fact that both players need the game make it seem unlikely you’ll use it much. Overall, this isn’t a bad game, but it really does feel like the other half is out there somewhere waiting to be found. If it were $15 or $20, we’d say give it a shot. But at press time, it’s $30, only ten dollars cheaper than the latest Guitar Hero game on DS.

The atmosphere of Theresia, as well as its convoluted story, just doesn't scare us, but instead makes us want to stop playing, or failing that, kill ourselves.

It’s also definitely worth mentioning that this is the weaker of the two Zenses titles by a mile. Rainforest has better puzzles and a stronger style.

It’s all pulled off better than you’d guess, and strikes a definite atmosphere – whether that atmosphere is right for you or not is another question.

You’ll need an appreciation for the cube itself to get the most out of this (and you may want to destroy whoever programmed the chirpy music and decided to call the cubes “cubies” and give them a story) but it’s a solid value for puzzle players.

Country’s 30-track lineup is listed below. It’s fairly strong, though we’d prefer more classic country from Waylon Jennings or Hank Williams and Patsy Cline or Loretta Lynn and less of the empty-headed modern artists like Kellie Pickler, Jessica Simpson, and Bucky Covington. However, it does avoid the series’ typical sin of trying to appeal to fans of too many genres.

But for 10-12 hours, Ninjatown is a very charming and habit-forming, if modest, RTS that puts a throwing star right in our hearts.

That’s the real root of the problem with King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga. This series barely evolves at all, so this is a grouping of five versions of essentially the same game.

This is the Sanjaya of rhythm action games – it makes a novel first impression, but you realize almost immediately that it’s only worthwhile if you like laughing at ineptitude.

To be fair, there’s also a sandbox-like, “just suck it all up” mode that unlocks when you’ve beaten each level, as well as a two-player versus mode that finds you racing to suck things up or change the color of crystals (which earned it a bonus point in our score below). But Tornado still just doesn’t have the suction to hold us for long.

So, is Guitar Hero World Tour better than Rock Band 2? Not quite. Yes, the instruments are superior, and we love four-on-four online matches, varied tweaks to each instrument’s parts, character customization, and build-your-own-guitar options. But, we just don’t get as much out of the music editor as one would hope, and Rock Band 2’s better note maps, smarter interface and more musical “feel” resonate more with us.

So, is Guitar Hero World Tour better than Rock Band 2? Not quite. Yes, the instruments are superior, and we love four-on-four online matches, varied tweaks to each instrument’s parts, character customization, and build-your-own-guitar options. But, we just don’t get as much out of the music editor as one would hope, and Rock Band 2’s better note maps, smarter interface and more musical “feel” resonate more with us.

Ignoring the Wi-Fi Connection stuff, there’s still so much to see and do it’s hard to imagine gamers not absolutely devouring all the hidden details and ultra-rare items just to say “I did it.”

Thus, as well as it plays, we can only really recommend a purchase to players who don’t have the last three. For everyone else, it’s a rental.

Really, though, the only glaring weakness we can find in BioShock is that it may be too unusual, too original, too artistic and too genius to be embraced by the general public. Please don't let this game become that forgotten, one-of-a-kind masterpiece. We need sequels. We need more.

If the developer could have just tightened up a few minor technical issues and injected a little more soul into the proceedings, this might have been Spidey's best game yet. Instead, it’s just a satisfyingly entertaining experience and a big step back in the right direction.

If the developer could have just tightened up a few minor technical issues and injected a little more soul into the proceedings, this might have been Spidey's best game yet. Instead, it’s just a satisfyingly entertaining experience and a big step back in the right direction.

Web of Shadows is a reasonably good time, but unless the Wii is your main gaming console, you’ll want to play it on a higher-end machine with less gimmicky controls.

Web of Shadows is a passable, but sincere, form of flattery to the king of the genre.

As long as you don’t mind the shallow real-time battles, Star Ocean: First Departure holds up amazingly well.

The battle system is still addictively fun, the multifaceted story is riveting, and the graphics are amazing... we couldn't ask for much more.

You’ll also find a few vehicular sections that revert to the standard, over-the-hood follow camera and culminate in a battle with Lockdown.

If you love this music, go ahead and buy this game in spite of the score below; you’ll love it. Just don’t ask us to sing along unless you found that video we were talking about.

If you love this music, go ahead and buy this game in spite of the score below; you’ll love it. Just don’t ask us to sing along unless you found that video we were talking about.

If you love this music, go ahead and buy this game in spite of the score below; you’ll love it. Just don’t ask us to sing along unless you found that video we were talking about.

By sticking to its roots, Midnight Club Los Angeles may not be a master of innovation, but as one of the most polished, finely honed and adrenaline-filled racing games, you won’t find any that do it better.

By sticking to its roots, Midnight Club Los Angeles may not be a master of innovation, but as one of the most polished, finely honed and adrenaline-filled racing games, you won’t find any that do it better.

Impressively, the game takes full advantage of the PSP’s analogue stick giving it an incredibly responsive feel. You’re given a sense of total control over each vehicle and the subtle nuances between the cars and bikes are instantly apparent.

Once this novelty wears off, there’s not a lot of longevity here.

The point is, like the rest of this game, the story is okay. But just okay. And it only lasts maybe ten hours, though online-enabled multiplayer matches can extend that a bit. And to be honest, without more innovation (sorry, touch-screen minigames aren’t really new) it really doesn’t deserve to be any longer.

Rock Revolution is inferior to its competition in every single possible way. If you absolutely have to try it, we urge you to think of it as a track pack of guitar-only songs for Rock Band or Guitar Hero and buy just the game (instead of the drums-included bundle).

Rock Revolution is inferior to its competition in every single possible way. If you absolutely have to try it, we urge you to think of it as a track pack of guitar-only songs for Rock Band or Guitar Hero and buy just the game (instead of the drums-included bundle).

For now, buy this to get the headset for Resistance 2 and come back to SOCOM in a couple months. Maybe it’ll be completed by then.

It's almost heartbreaking how much wasted potential there is here, and lonely RPG fans are better off playing Tales of Vesperia co-op until a better competitive option comes around.

It’s almost heartbreaking how much wasted potential there is here, and lonely RPG fans are better off playing Tales of Vesperia co-op until a better competitive option comes around.

With the bounty of acrobatics at your disposal, Legend of Kage 2 should fill your ninja-fix. That is, if you can handle being bitch-slapped by the difficulty.

If you want to see an action/RTS hybrid that actually gets the strategy part right, then Guilty Gear 2: Overture will deliver the goods. Unfortunately, even though this one element is great, it’s the only gem that stands in this title.