IREM is off to a great start with this five volume collection. If they continue in this fashion, we might be in for some really great classic games for the modern consoles. While the games included aren’t ground breaking or super flashy, they will bring the fun factor as well as that classic shooter frustration that makes you want to keep trying no matter how many times you die. Definitely a good collection.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One may try to dress itself as something more or different, but when you get right down to it, not much has changed.

All the little things that game incorporates into combat, like the drop ship spawning, the customizable load outs, the base control with automated defenses, and the various modules, keep Section 8 from being a bland multiplayer shooter, and help it stand out against the pack of Halo's and Call of Duty's that currently populate the system.

A Night at the Races is worth checking out if you’re after a game that’s unlike anything else out there, but even then, you’ll want to proceed very, very cautiously.

It may not be perfect, but at the very least, its strange, twisted heart is definitely in the right place.

If you’re looking for a game on the go that’ll last you a few dozen hours (if you’re the completionist type), Vampyr delivers that. But that also means spending a few dozen hours with a game that’s not particularly interesting, and I don’t know why you’d want to bother with that.

The game’s star, Cutter Slade, is a wise-cracking jerk who’s trying to get back to his daughter while also apparently being the prophecied Chosen One. That doesn’t make any of it good, but if you’re a connoisseur of that very specific genre, there’s a reasonably good chance you’re going to love Outcast – A New Beginning. But again, appeals to a certain kind of nostalgia aside, it’s worth emphasizing that Outcast – A New Beginning is not a good game. Its predecessor may have been groundbreaking for 3D open-world games, but we’re definitely not getting that this time around.

For anyone who hasn't given Nintendo's originator of this game style a try, I still would whole heartedly recommend Animal Crossing over Magician's Quest. There is just something about the charm that AC offers that seems to be more inviting to the everyday gamer. On the other hand, if you are like myself and have played Nintendo's versions to death since it's incarnation on the Game Cube, then you will be ecstatic to know that Magician's Quest is as close to a sequel or follow up to AC as you can possibly get.

With the Japanese dialog, the stunning visuals and the solid turn-based combat system it's the first game in a long time that sates my appetite for the old school RPG.

Rocks the 80's is not worth retail price, and I'm unhappy to see the turns that are happening with the franchise.

Madden 25 gameplay is very much in line with Madden 24 and is more so just a refinement than any brand new gameplay mechanics or engine implementations, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I found the gameplay smooth, seamless, and all around a good experience. Now is College Football 25 a better experience? In my opinion it is and that is coming from a diehard NFL fan who watches little to no college football. But if you want the NFL players and teams, Madden is really your only option for better or worse.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is an improvement from the previous game; Integrity and Faithlessness, but this is not a return to form to games like Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, or The Second Story. tri-Ace, to me, could do no wrong during the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era. I would love to see tri-Ace return to greatness with a higher quality new Star Ocean title, but with this one I’ll have to settle for average.

Prehistorik Man is easy to control and is fun to play, which is something games now days have gotten away from.

Whether or not you dig the Ed Wood production values, it's hard to deny the massive amounts of action, adventure, and mind-boggling fun that can be had in the fulfilling campaign.

What .hack//G.U. throws at you is a brisk (well, compared to most jRPGs), well planned, somewhat clever but ultimately a bit generic romp through a MMORPG that resides in a unsettling futuristic world that you only view through electronic windows.

What sets it apart from the rest, though, is the much more lighthearted and more adventurous feel it holds.

I get the impression that far too much effort was put into locking up a great soundtrack.

Still, even partial immersion in Eufloria's world is a richer experience than full immersion in other worlds, so for that reason, if you're in the mood for something artsy with a little bit of a challenge thrown in, by all means give it a try.

You can get away with a lot if you've got a sense of humour, and if there's one thing that Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 has, it's a sense of humour. Admittedly, it's a sense of humour that will appeal only to a very specific subset of the gaming population, but if you are one of those people, your game of the year isn't just here, it's available to take with you everywhere.

Voyage is probably the first game I’ve ever played from Ratalaika where its visuals are so good that they make the game worth playing, even if the gameplay itself isn’t that challenging or exciting. It may not mean that you need to stop what you’re doing right now to play Voyage, but it does mean that if you decide to pick this game up, you may get a lot more out of it than you could’ve possibly expected going in.

NCAA March Madness 08 has a few flaws such as some transitions of animations, easy fast break opportunities, and a few game play quirks, but nothing will distract any college fan from getting excited about the team they love.

To be sure, there are worse ways to waste three hours than in the presence of very good voice actors doing their thing over gorgeous visuals. And, like I said, the game always tries to make you feel like you’re in the presence of something great. But the reality is, no matter how much South of the Circle aspires to greatness, with a story like this, it’s never more than merely okay.

People who love the classic title will really enjoy it on the 3DS, as it's the best entry in the series and puzzle lovers who love a challenge will enjoy it.

To be fair, during the more traditional gameplay sections, the game performs mostly fine. But seeing as you spend the vast majority of your time here wandering through a hideous open world, the performance is an issue. If you can put up with that thanks to a deep and abiding love of all things Sonic, I wouldn’t fault you – but if you take one look at this ugly mess and decide you don’t want any part of it, I wouldn’t blame you for that either.

Artistically, however, the game is one of the most interesting and most well-done games of the past decade. While other games have taken on the idea of a game emulating a certain type of film, Wet is the first to truly embrace it.

Instead of being immersed in the environment of The Callisto Protocol, I found myself thinking back and wishing more and more that I was playing Dead Space. There are promises of patches to improve some of the complaints around the actual mechanics of the game, but I don’t see anything on the horizon elevating The Callisto Protocol above mediocrity.

I definitely think Conduit's worth checking out if you're a Wii owner, it's easily the best FPS on the system, and the multiplayer is handled quite well. I'm a bit hesitant to suggest it if you're only going to play the campaign, as I don't think it's particularly strong or interesting, but even then it's worth a rental.

Without the franchise problem, NHL 2k9 would be recommendation with no qualifications.