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.

Meteos: Disney Magic will only sell because of the Disney name. Yes, it’s still Meteos, but the experience is shallow because of the diluted gameplay. Instead of being simplified, the difficulty is spiked and like most crack that's peddled, the Disney high wears off quickly.

Not that it's terrible, but we can only watch Kim Possible gyrate for so long before folding up our dance mats and moving on.

In the end, what Elements of War amounts to is wasted potential. There are good ideas here, but their execution is tarnished by mistakes that the bigger franchises have long since outgrown.

Look past the tedious story and Eternal Strands features some brilliant massive monster battles, especially when you unlock some great magic to use on them. The problem comes in getting to those bits, bogged down in plenty of bloat and repetition that results in its best moments being fewer and far between. Flawed but fun behemoth battling makes this an interesting if imperfect mix of its superior influences.

Players who've enjoyed the Battlefield franchise for its signature rollicking vehicular combat can skip this expansion altogether.

The whole game only takes ten hours - tops - to finish, and honestly, that’s just long enough before the tedium begins to set in.

At least Tiger’s PSP offering this year resembles a full-fledged title (unlike his counterpart on the PS2, which is embarrassingly devoid of features). Even so, though, we can’t justify shelling out 40 bucks for what amounts to a fresh coat of paint, no matter how well it plays.

There’s a lot to like about Assassin’s Creed on PSP, provided you’re tolerant of its heavy flaws, and we love that you can connect it to your PS3 and unlock new weapons in Assassin’s Creed 2 – we just wish the developers had looked more to the future rather than the past when creating it.

FIFA Street 2 is like real football because of the spherical bits of leather the players kick around - but that's where the similarities end.

Phantasy Star Portable’s arenas offer loads of loot if you’re in need of satisfying a role-playing craving. The problem is that it’s designed for extended sessions rather than portable play, and you’ll spend as much time talking about a rabbit-eared robot’s feelings as you will slaughtering legions of monsters.

Rayman Raving Rabbids is a direct port of a game clearly designed for the Wii to platforms that don't even support the core appeal. It's sad now that the bunny that demos the Wii's controls before every event is replaced by... empty space.

If everything would have worked as well as it could have, Jurassic Park: The Game would have been a successful experiment into creating a new type of cinematic game.

The bottom line though is that Guardian Signs is a great game for small children, but is too simplistic for the rest of us.

Even if the storyline is somewhat intriguing and the battles (eventually) excite, sitting through one lengthy dialogue tree after the other while alchemists-in-training spout empty phrases about homework diminishes the experience.

The shallow, kiddie-pool of content only provides for a brief bit of splashing around when all you want is to dive right in. It's exciting for a while, but gets stale rather quickly.

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.

The PSP's limitations - controls and AI - keep this from being a true knuckle-biting tactical shooter. In tense standoffs your opponents will always make it easier for you by sticking their heads out first. Although it's lacking deep planning or strategy, the game does work for a quick, fun and portable shooter that does its best to utilize the PSP's shooter potential.

Its special guns do some amazing things, but they're boring to shoot. Its tight, responsive controls means it plays like a dream, but they merely offset the tedium that comes with blasting away thousands of generic enemies. And its progression system gives you something to strive for--until you give it a once-over and find useful upgrades to be few and far between.

Once you've unlocked Mecha Frieza and have maxed out the skills of your favorite characters, the single-player modes are pure tedium.

As great as it was when the series first launched on the PlayStation 3 - but that's mainly because, other than a couple of new modes, it's practically the same game.

Outside of the dungeons, the racier half of Conception 2’s content will be the make-or-break point for most players.

It’s a nice package overall, though we can’t help but wish there had been more: additional games, development art, pics of the arcade cabinets, movies of great players or the anime, cheesecake drawings of the bouncy Mai Shiranui – anything.

Ridge Racer 3D offers a fundamentally solid, entertaining arcade driving experience. Its 3D effect is well done and benefits the player, but it does little to mask the simple core and bare bones presentation.

It's worth checking out, if only because there's nothing else out there quite like it, but it probably won't be enshrined in the hallowed halls of RPG classics anytime soon.

The platforming and token collecting can become repetitive, but overall the game does have a respectable amount of variety, with the inclusion of racing levels and 2D platforming.

At least Alien Swarm doesn't try to be anything other than what it is. It's an online action shooter with plenty of things to shoot at.

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.