In a time when 2D platformers seem to be fading into gaming history, for fans of the SNES it's downright heartwarming to see a sequel that is true to the classic.

A bit of stylus-powered frog-in-a-ball rolling occasionally interrupts the bounding, but even this is clumsily controlled, with mad stroking more likely to erode your DS screen than get the spherical spawn of the devil to respond.

Although the core gameplay hasn't changed much in over ten years - Ridge Racer is as fun as ever. It runs as smooth as butter, and with the rare ability to be displayed at 1080p for HDTV owners, it's plenty pretty enough.

Cinemotion includes some wonderfully intuitive changes, and we like having the ability to perform sneaky drop passes.

This year, there's no finer hoops experience to be had on any console.

All of their energy seems to have been directed at making fantastic-looking robots that do interesting things, while everything else feels almost like an afterthought.

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.

A multiplayer co-op option would have been perfect for Avatar, but is sadly missing. Where the action becomes repetitive and tiresome, playing with friends would have at least added some opportunity to develop different strategies for larger melees and boss battles.

The single player, three-tiered campaign will keep you busy for awhile, but as always, Blitz shines best when played against someone you know - that's been the best way to make the helmets fly and pile drivers smash since its inception.

Utlimately, all that Xtreme 2 did for us is to make us wanna play earlier incarnations of the series' fighting games - and head to the tropics for a much-needed vacation. We've got a feeling that wasn't Tecmo's objective, but that's about all this one's good for.

The expansion also adds Tinkering, which allows you to make new items, and Transmuting, which allows you to add additional features to existing items.

A terminally cute game, so while almost guaranteed to suck the kiddies in, it's a tough sell for the trigger-happy Halo crowd. It's also fairly short if your goal is getting every pinata in the game to become a resident in your garden.

A lame attempt at beating as much money from the Chicken Little franchise corpse as possible. While elements of the campaign are fun and challenging, they are offset by the monotonous levels and boring hold-the-shoot-button gameplay.

A solid retro collection for those looking for stone-age thrills. There are enough good games to care, the miniature '80s revival bit is fun, and the $20 price tag is just about reasonable.

Huge, muscular combatants move like giant men wearing heavy gear, fine details are everywhere, and splattering blood never looked so beautiful - and we mean that in an uncreepy, non-Hannibal Lecter kind of way. It just looks incredible.

We loved both the single and multiplayer versions of Splinter Cell Double Agent, so we have no issue recommending it to any PC owner looking for some stealthy action. We had to give it a lower score than the 360 version because of some technical bitchery.

Though unequivocally fun, this release doesn't have "Lumines'" more cerebral underpinnings to fall back on, so the lack of truly differentiated game modes hurts its longevity - especially because most players will need considerable practice before getting more than a level or two in.

Building on the already solid (if a little claustrophobic) linear design of "Call of Duty 2," Call of Duty 3 introduces just enough new tidbits to keep even the most weary veterans in the fight.

This is the simplest Tony Hawk to date.

And while you may ponder why the developers built a new engine and then mostly squandered the potential for originality, their staggering devotion to a piece of wood with four wheels will still daze you.

Combined Assault feels more like an average expansion pack. The new multiplayer maps are welcome and well designed but there are only 10 of them, making it feel like you're playing SOCOM 3 1/2 instead of the legitimate sequel you paid for. Combined Assault does introduce a 4 player co-op mode into the mix, but why would you opt for that when 32 player matches are going on all around you?

One of the shortest full-price console games in our memory. Despite impeccable voicework, the subpar visuals and dreadful combat controls forced us to dump it unceremoniously under a bridge in Jersey - never to be spoken of again.

Despite the lack of polish in the outer shell, the meat of the Sega Genesis Collection is mighty tasty and in the end that's all that matters.

Sure, Bomberman is still sticking with 2D, and his tale is silly at the least, but there's a ton of gameplay value here. Atlus’s secret release really shouldn’t be kept hidden - it’s the bomb.

Digimon World DS excels in being a solid monster collection and training sim. However, the downside is playing through the actual game to collect these monsters. From here it's all Digi-downhill.

Better in every way than the previous game...Unless you hate rock, you need this game.

RoboBlitz may be a tad on the short side, but at around 15 bucks, the price of admission is perfect for the amount of fun you'll have with this game. Plus, the PC version comes with a level editor, which makes it even more worthwhile.

In short, it's pretty much everything you’d expect from Dragon Ball Z, only good.