Players who have grown up with the likes of "Final Fantasy," however, will be unimpressed with Etrian Odyssey.

Yes, Innocent Life succeeds in going in a new direction for the Harvest Moon series, but isn’t as compelling nor entertaining as the best games of the franchise. It’s also not a recommended introduction for folks who haven’t played one before.

It’s possible a six-year-old could be amused by it, but at E10+, they shouldn’t' be playing it. And anyhow, there are plenty of other kid-friendly games that will challenge their brains and inspire their imaginations. And make them actually laugh.

The game will keep you charmed for awhile, and fans of the movie could appreciate the atmosphere enough to make the game worth picking up.

The combat is challenging - you'll need to upgrade each fighter, purchase combos and experiment on enemies to find what moves they're weak against. The special powers, on the other hand, are kind of a bore with onscreen icons showing where they can be used to achieve obvious results.

The online four-player is badass, with support for USB headsets and a split-screen option to enable two players to go online using the same PS3. But Calling All Cars! really shines as a party game, and if you can get four friends in the same room all screaming and cursing each other out, then that's worth the price of the download right there.

A little bit of quality assurance time would have gone a long way in improving Double Dragon, but ultimately, this brawler just isn’t main-event material anymore.

And with only average graphics and no multiplayer modes to look forward to, the action quickly grows as old and moldy as the skeletons you're bashing through.

Once you get into the rhythm of the game, though, you remember why this series is so popular. It's not the mythology or the unit design or the videos as much as it is the kill-or-be-killed simplicity of it all.

Driver '76's brand of road rage does get more right than it does wrong, and though it might not offer the best combat action or racing excitement, it still deserves a look for its competent mix of the two.

The predictable and disappointing list of "seconds" in volume two muddies Reminisce’s otherwise unique presentation.

If you’re a wannabe pilot who doesn’t mind navigating through a storm of mediocrity, you could do a lot worse. But you could also do a lot better. That, friends, is blandness in a nutshell.

Whether you consider motion-sensor controls a revolution or simply a novelty, their absence makes for a much more shallow experience. As a whole, the game feels more akin to an overblown supplemental mode that should've been included with "Project 8," rather than a stand-alone edition to the Tony Hawk saga.

For the patient, the willing, and the people who know exactly what "Flashpoint" and its fans are capable of: go buy ArmA. View it as an investment for the future, because by the time PCs and Bohemia manage to catch up with the game engine it’ll be just as important as Flashpoint’s.

Spider-Man 3 is so by the numbers, so average that we just can't muster much enthusiasm. Comic fans'll hate the inconsistent power levels while hardcore gamers will balk at how unfinished it feels.

It's so dumbed down that it might actually be more appropriate for children if it weren't for the T rating on the package. Just play the 360 version. Actually, scratch that, just go play Spider-Man 2 instead. It's worlds better than this.

Spider-Man 3 is so by the numbers, so average that we just can't muster much enthusiasm. Comic fans'll hate the inconsistent power levels while hardcore gamers will balk at how routine it feels.

It's so dumbed down that it might actually be more appropriate for children if it weren't for the T rating on the package. Just play the 360 version. Actually, scratch that, just go play Spider-Man 2 instead. It's worlds better than this. There are actually parts of this that look like they're right out of the original PlayStation game from 2000.

If you're willing to put a little effort into learning the rules and nuances of Catan, you'll be rewarded with potentially endless amounts of strategic board game bliss. Although the AI opponents are remarkably interesting to play with, your Catan experience will hinge on getting your real friends to play with you.

Even without the perfect controls, Centipede and Millipede are as much fun today as they were back in the golden age of arcades. Shooting the multi-segmented, multi-legged creepy-crawlies trying to invade your space never seems to get old, and you never die in a way that feels cheap. It's always your fault, so you keep trying one more time.

Giving us eight play mode options to choose from is about as generous as giving a death row inmate choice of execution. Legend of the Dragon plays like a shitty banjo.

While a few of these games may have some value when played with friends, fans of board games may as well stick to actually playing board games.

It's perfect for play in airport terminals and doctor's waiting rooms, but it's hardly of the addictive, "Puzzle Quest" and "Lumines" "I'll sleep when I'm dead!" variety.

Stargate TCG Online, with its cool setting, enjoyable gameplay, and fully-featured interface make it extremely likely that it’ll capture a very nice-sized crowd of players and keep them entertained long after the last expansion set is released.

It's not quite the jaw-dropping in-joke fiesta that "Reality 2.0" was, and it feels a little lighter on the puzzles and conversations than previous episodes, but Sam & Max Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon is still great in its own right.

The flashy, splashy art style is cute without being annoying, new elements are introduced at a nice pace, and it’s just plain satisfying to create goofy contraptions that keep our charismatic little cartoon glutton alive and puzzling.

We could do without the mode in which you use your arms and the camera to control the game, but the four-player online version that finds you racing friends to attain a certain score is an interesting option that is simply not possible on real-world tables.

Lord of the Rings Online is already huge, deep, enormously entertaining, and brimming with secrets to uncover, and with the first free content update already announced for June, should only improve with time.

Other than the brain petrifying load times, nothing will outrage you too much about TFATF. There’s a healthy mix of drifting and racing, plus gobs of sweet cars and robust customization choices. However, there are better "underground" racers out there with comparable features, better looks, and more fun times.

Slicker graphics and a couple of exclusive minigames just aren’t enough to make us put down the Wiimote and turn on the Camera.

Card Fighters DS is a sequel that does not, for one moment, understand why anyone liked its predecessor.

A slower, less colorful Age of Empires. None of the research trees make much sense (you need to go through multiple steps just to get a spearman) and by the time you get to the cool weapons like scythed chariots and elephants you won’t care very much.

With energy hearts constantly appearing, respawning masks, and enemies that kindly back off, if you die in Bionicle Heroes you may want to strongly consider hanging up your gaming gloves.

With more menus than a Parisian dining district, Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos gets bogged down by its own ambition. And the game’s relative ease only makes its strategic density seem all the more unnecessary.

The graphics are what you'd expect from a PS2 game, with a nice gloomy futuristic style. For only $20, The Red Star is a great example of why the PS2 still rocks, and why old school gaming is far from dead.

While the missions are well planned - important considering it’s called Th3 Plan - the cheesy dialogue and the 70’s synth-bass feels like they were all stolen from some bad movie that never wanted them in the first place.

We can’t think of any good reason to spend time with Eureka 7 Vol. 2. Even if the story intrigues you, you’ll have to suffer through the rest of the game to see it. It’s just not worth it.

The poor level-completion dynamic mixed with the small playing area, and what sounds like the score from a rejected Bollywood musical don’t offer enough to keep you playing in extended bursts. The game is fun for as long as it lasts, which sadly, isn’t very long at all.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are not only the best Pokemon games yet, but some of most enjoyable on the DS.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are not only the best Pokemon games yet, but some of most enjoyable on the DS.

You can disrupt the opponent while they “think” about their shot – it’s a nice touch, but they “think” for several seconds before every shot, dragging the game to a crawl. The character portraits get in the way, and if you turn them off, your power meter goes away too.

If you can get past the poor physics – or at least accept them – and you plan to play almost exclusively multiplayer, it’s decent. Otherwise, it’s not really worth your 10 bucks.

Gyruss is still a bit of fun to pick up and play once in a while. But only those who have fond memories of the original game – not to mention extreme patience with extreme difficulty – will get any lasting value out of this Live Arcade offering.

There, however, is one thing that sets Raiden III apart from the shooter pack: it's single-player mode enables you to control both warplanes at once, essentially playing co-op with yourself. It's simple, really - the left analog stick and shoulder buttons control one ship, and the right analog stick and shoulder buttons control the other.

Also frustrating throughout are the special balls that fly around above you, waiting to be shot out of the sky and used to blow things up/get extra points. But actually all they do is get in your way and distract you from the actual game. We want to be angry, but all we can muster is indifference.

It's likely Valhalla Knights will either lead to you pulling out your hair in consternation at its difficulty, or have you convinced you're doing something wrong. It’s a hard-lined dungeon crawler of the strictest caliber, and that's fine for anyone simply looking to fell a couple hundred skeletons or trolls in the most painstaking way possible.

While the graphics are not as shiny and sleek as the cars are in real life, and there are no damage affects, this game is great for its price. You can’t find a better deal on a new game; 20 dollars for all these options and challenges should be considered grand theft video game.

A fair package for puzzle fans, but don't think for a minute that gamers who don't already dig sudoku are going to play this and join the numbers in boxes movement.

At around $10 real dollars (800 Microsoft Points), Boom Boom Rocket does offer a somewhat satisfying pick-up-and-play experience that some folks will be happy to have on hand, and that can be quite theraputic. But many others will get all the enjoyment they need out of BBR by simply downloading the free demo.

The story is entertaining enough, but gameplay's as linear as a ruler, and random exploration is basically out of the question.

Anyone with half a heart will absolutely fall in love with the characters, the graphics, the dialogue, the old-school shout-outs to previous games, the little visual effects lingering in the skies of every world... the love just keeps plopping out of the speakers at an incredible rate. For every annoying, excessively long fetch quest or mundane puzzle, there's a huge, cutesy payoff that makes all the trouble worthwhile.

It's disappointing: you'd think that a game about baking would know a little more about when it's necessary to substitute ingredients.

Luxor 2 still sits squarely in the “casual game” space. But it’s every bit as addictive as Zuma, and fans of that game will appreciate a product that feels slightly better produced in just about every way while retaining the same great puzzle action they love.

Although it's marred by a host of glitches, Prince of Persia: Rival Swords is still a mostly stellar port of the console original...Add in a ton of extras and new content, and Rival Swords is worth playing even if you've finished "The Two Thrones."

Buy this game. The content is plentiful (and crucially, more is en route) and the fantasy experience is pure rock and roll excess. Your personal stairway to heaven awaits.

It's still a great game in its own right, and while the developers missed a lot of potential uses for the controls - it might have been cool to snap the controllers like reins during chariot sequences, for example - they're still a fun way to play. Not quite fun enough to justify the price difference with the near-identical GameCube version, but fun nonetheless.

A pretty, mostly typical RPG wrapped around a deep, compelling battle system and more than 100 collectible monsters.

The gaming equivalent of cotton candy: it’s not very substantial or filling, but it is sweet, fluffy, and enjoyable.

Honeycomb Beat’s pretty damn fun for what it is, but can also be maddening mostly because the difficulty spikes about halfway through the Puzzle Mode. Still, it’ll give your brain one hell of a workout without having to shout "Blue" repeatedly into the DS’ mic.

There’s good stuff here (especially for what, two bucks a game?), but sometimes not even modern hardware can recreate the past very well.

The only significant new features in this version are Sixaxis control in some of the mini-games, two new multiplayer levels and a female spy skin for multiplayer. Double Agent is a little predictable as we’ve seen many similar puzzles in the prequels. However, there are some memorable new set pieces and a greater focus on storyline.

It's a little longer, a lot meatier and a lot more fun than the last four chapters, though, and the price...is still hard to argue with

Check your 2D-hating attitude at the door, and lock and load to experience the absolute pinnacle of a genre.

Meet the Robinsons already fares tremendously better than its kiddy-fied brethren mainly due to its witty and sharp script. The game has some great ideas and gets points for at least trying to separate itself from the pack of bargain bin mother-friendly games. If it weren’t for the awful aiming system and cumbersome objectives, it might get an extra [10 or 20 points].

The biggest problems with Vanguard lies in its graphics and overall length. It takes only six to eight hours to complete the game on normal, and graphically the game looks like it’s seen some serious battle.

There are many more original real-time strategies out there, but few that scream "pick up and play me" as loudly as Tiberium Wars. Its back to the basics approach to the genre won’t win any prizes for innovation, but it should prove to be a fan favorite anyway.

The biggest problems with Vanguard lie within its controls, graphics and overall length. The Wii remote is inaccurate at hitting the head shots, and at times you’ll think you have Parkinson’s as you watch your steady real hand make the gun's on screen sights twitch and vibrate.

Don’t get us wrong: there is fun here. It’s just that there isn’t much for the amount of money you pay to get it or considering the volume of work EA had to pull from.

This 15-30 hours of gameplay is a must-play for anyone, even if you didn't finish the main game.

This 15-30 hours of gameplay is a must-play for anyone, even if you didn't finish the main game.

Gameplay on the 360 is almost perfect, but for the mushy d-pad on the wireless controller. Precise jumping (of which there isn't all that much, thankfully) or very quick direction changes aren’t always easy. You definitely have to want to look past some of the issues this creates. But when the core game is this great, that’s pretty easy to do.

Genesis Rising, with its intriguing twist on the RTS genre, dares you to choose a side, and be counted.

What Wolves of the Pacific lacks in explanation and polish it makes up for in tense, exciting ship-to-sub combat, tons of replayability, and loads of depth.

Shining Force EXA will pass the time; it's just that your memory of it will, ironically, be worn dull six months from now.

Ultimately, this series is going to have to evolve into a more accessible, playable, solo-friendly experience if it ever wants to be known as anything other than a niche curiosity.

Ultimately, this series is going to have to evolve into a more accessible, playable, solo-friendly experience if it ever wants to be known as anything other than a niche curiosity.

The only downside - and it's huge - is that as of this late March 2007 writing, the PS3 Oblivion does not support additional content the way the 360 and PC versions do.

But its arcade heritage is just a little too strong, so be sure to ask yourself if a game that wowed you a quarter at a time 20 years ago is worth $30-40 today, with only a mild evolution.

The best thing going for this hyper-violent pavement-pound is the epically bold badness of the unecessary storyline, concerning revolutionaries participating in Velocity Death Battles (VDBs, biatch!) to confuse a weather predicting machine hell-bent on controlling the human race. It makes the "Twisted Metal" canon look like Shakespeare.

The PSP version loads a bit more slowly but looks better, and the DS version features lightning-fast loads but tosses in slightly sluggish, clunky touch-controls.

The PSP version loads a bit more slowly but looks better, and the DS version features lightning-fast loads but tosses in slightly sluggish, clunky touch-controls.

Silverfall doesn't offer anything dynamically new, but it's a fun world full of things to whack with a satisfying storyline and well thought out characters and skill development.

A corny, geeky dream come true that's destined to be an underground classic.

The Godfather: The Don's Edition might be a last-gen retread, but for what it's worth, it's still one of the better titles available for the PS3 right now.

While the formula's got its flaws, it turns out motion controls complement The Godfather 's free-wheeling violence and intimidation almost perfectly, making the game world more immersive than before.

The Champions League is an amazing showcase of the drama and passion of the Beautiful Game, but EA has mostly wasted an opportunity to transition it to the 360 by repackaging FIFA 07 with a shinier coat of paint. It’s fine enough for a lark, but not enough to claim the crown.

To analogize from another sport, UEFA is Anna Kournikova to "Wnning Eleven"'s Martina Hingis; one of them is knockout gorgeous with decent enough skills to hang around but never dominate, while the other may not be so easy on the eyes yet consistently wins championships.

There could have been twice as many puzzles and we'd still want more. Kororinpa: Marble Mania is just plain fun.

A multiplayer game that required the turtles to co-ordinate their efforts and powers could have rocked so much harder. For that matter, so could a camera that chose better angles and thus caused to fewer missed jumps due to misjudged distances.

A multiplayer game that required the turtles to co-ordinate their efforts and powers could have rocked so much harder. For that matter, so could a camera that chose better angles and thus caused to fewer missed jumps due to misjudged distances.

A multiplayer game that required the turtles to co-ordinate their efforts and powers could have rocked so much harder. For that matter, so could a camera that chose better angles and thus caused to fewer missed jumps due to misjudged distances.

If you have some disease that forces you to buy everything green and ninja-like, go for it. But then get help, man - digging this disaster is the gaming equivalent of eating donuts out of the garbage can; it just isn't healthy.

The game aims low and ends up typical and forgettable. It's even short, at maybe six hours if you stretch it. If this was a real turtle, it would be the one sitting on the side of the road watching cars whiz by, not the one lacing 'em up to take on the rabbit and the road and dare its way to immortality in the history books.

If you don’t have either DBZ PSP game, buy this. If you have the first one already, you may want to rent this, plow through the story mode, and give it back.

Whether you’re dodging and jabbing in first-person to fend off wild predators, microphone-grunting to speak to a gorilla, recovering after a hurricane or earthquake, playing fire-making, harpooning, or milking mini-games wirelessly with another DS owner, making a necklace, or just discovering a new flower that you can use to flavor your food in the cooking mini-game, this is a different adventure, and one worth embarking upon.

Avoid this one like the glowing radioactive ooze that it is.

QuickSpot delivers exactly what it promises, nothing more, nothing less. Some may be disappointed with the lack of in-depth gameplay, but that's not what this game is about. For what it's intended to be, QuickSpot nails it.

Hopefully, when the second game in the series hits (Turtles in Time), unlimited continues will be part of the package.