And though the characters are all chiseled hunks of manhood who pause to talk smack way too much, the graphics themselves couldn't outwrestle a 100-pound bank teller. But this is still a better game than you might expect, given its relative out-of-nowhere-ness.

If you have a soft spot for the Atelier series, you probably will enjoy Meruru quite a bit. But if the series hasn't impressed you yet, this entry surely won't change your mind.

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 short, clocking in at around four to six hours long, but this isn't a slapdash effort - the plot might be lame, but the action, level design and graphics are all pretty impressive for a DS title.

Skylanders Superchargers is a competent sequel, but it lacks some of the charm of its predecessors by focusing too much on its collection of vehicles.

So the developers have crafted a very playable puzzle game with a decent multiplayer aspect and screwed it up with a tiny bit of bad programming. Go! Sudoku is nearly scuttled by this strange bug, which is a real shame.

The rampant nostalgia is incredibly endearing, and it'll be very appreciated by lovers of that period in American pop culture. But games like Bit.Trip and Meat Boy are better than Retro City Rampage, and it's because they don't just emulate classic games, they move past them. RCR instead submerges itself in an ocean of retro references, but forgets to come up for air often enough to make the game all that fun to play.

And the world is huge. If it was more packed with opportunities for us to use those tools and stunts, this could have been a GTA-killer.

It’s pretty accessible, with simplistic interfaces and beautiful eye candy all around. But considering that those arcadey enhancements are what’s supposed to make this game unique, we can’t help but feel casual fans would be better off playing MLB 2K7 on easy difficulty.

Before this could get too gamey sitting on store shelves, the publisher wisely dropped the price to $20, which is where it should have started.

We’re absolutely in love with The BIGS 2 on consoles, but just don’t feel it on the PSP. It could’ve and should’ve had more to do, especially in the multiplayer arena. When it comes to baseball on the small screen, you’re better off sticking with the sublime Show.

These are some of gaming's all-time classics, and they still deliver. It's just that, like a swimsuit model who just happens to be wearing muddy, chicken crap-encrusted overalls over her bikini, some of the magic of the original games is concealed by adjustments that were made but not needed or needed but not made.

A decent game - it just doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from all the other games like it. And while it's true that those games don't blend martial arts with duck-and-cover shooting, Conspiracy's approach to both of those things is just too shallow and repetitive.

There's still an intrinsic fun to being Spider-Man--but this is too close to what we've played before, only with less going for it than games like Web of Shadows or Ultimate Spider-Man. This does the trick if you’re dying for more action as Peter Parker or desperately need a new Wii U game, but a more fitting title for this would be "The Acceptable Spider-Man."

The final topper is how pulled-back and choppy the graphics are in comparison to the first Rearmed. The camera is farther out, making everything feel less substantial, and the overall fluidity is noticeably less smooth.

Though Luxor is addictive, it ultimately lacks the oomph, variation and a multiplayer mode that would help to make it an all-around great game.

A well-designed and enjoyable puzzler. However, control issues, repetitive music and a lack of tactical freedom mean it's unlikely you'd choose to play this over real Hitman on your console.

This is a great building game with impressive puzzle elements, but its main strategy components, tarnished by unpredictable wind-up-and-go gameplay and exploitable elements, cause it to trip and fall a few times. It's a game with plenty of potential, but it definitely has its share of weaknesses.

Metrico has interesting visuals and creative mechanics, but getting stuck brings your enjoyment to a full stop.

If the control wasn't so sloppy and loose, Total Destruction could easily have been a much better game. As it stands, this is just like every previous entry.

We don't feel that all the pieces are in place just yet.

Unfortunately, there's just not enough here to keep you coming back. Once you've finished the campaign once, you can play through online modes or take a shot at an even more difficult campaign, but more than likely you'll follow the Bond-film route and call it quits.

It's disappointing drop in quality for a series that we'd held in high esteem, but 'Catch a Ride' does enough to make sure that the next episode should be considerably more interesting.

Unfortunately, there's just not enough here to keep you coming back. Once you've finished the campaign once, you can play through online modes or take a shot at an even more difficult campaign, but more than likely you'll follow the Bond-film route and call it quits.

For gamers who like things categorically insane, you're looking at a go-to, button-mashy party game.

It doesn't quite match its rival "College Hoops 2K7" on the court or the price tag (it's $10 more).

Full Frontal Assault isn't as much of an evolution of the series as it is a fun experiment with its mechanics. Unless the support is there for more maps down the road, it might not be in your regular rotation for more than a few weeks or so. Still, it's a pretty good bang for your buck whether you're a longtime fan or not.

The targeting system sucks, often sticking to the enemy you just knocked down (and therefore can't attack until he gets up again) while another is bashing you in the back. The final aggravation is the camera, which constantly gets stuck on things in the environment, so you can't always see your foe.