Players expecting next-generation gameplay to accompany the update in the graphics may find themselves a bit disappointed. But if mind-numbing powerslides pulled off in polygonal heaven is your thing, then RRV does indeed fire on all cylinders.

Dazzling graphics couple with intense and addictive play.

Fresh graphics, tight controls, and completely addictive gameplay make this a definite must-have title. To sum it up in one word, it's smugglelicious!

The collision physics make flipping pedestrians over your car seem realistic, as well as barbarically satisfying.

One of the most intriguing blast-a-thons in recent memory.

The graphics are more stylistically consistent and detailed than those in Ocarina, the geography is more enormous and fluidly connected, the challenges are considerably more diverse, and the control interface is vastly improved.

Guess what. It's a damn fine game.

Next time, the developers should do something about the voice acting and maybe add a more intuitive real-time mouse-swing system, and then we'd have an undisputed champion.

Even with its flaws, Summoner stands out as the best RPG available for PS2 this year.

While the learning curve is as steep as some of the game's slopes, patience does pay off in this game, which should appeal to snowboarding fans. Unfortunately, the rest of us will find the game's strict guidelines to reality a detriment.

The typical fashion model hangs out on the French Riviera and wears a slinky black dress with a fancy designer name on it. The typical RPGer eats a lot of french fries and wears a size XXL black T-shirt with a crewmember of the USS Enterprise on it. These similarities were not lost on From Software.

For the first time, a mech-style game makes you feel like you're actually inhabiting the suit, not controlling it from afar.

Dozens of magical rings will have you wishing you had more than ten fingers, but the poor enemy AI will have you occasionally flipping one of them at your screen.

A brilliant 3D world overrun by control and camera issues.

If you can get past the over-sensitive controls and find a vehicle or two that you like, then there's a lot of mindless fun to be had here.

The sound effects are very well done, but the senseless and endless chatter from your colleagues is distracting and unwanted, and the music score could have been much better and less monotonous.

It is extremely awkward trying to control your basic movements with the left analog stick while at the same time controlling your look and aim movements with the right analog stick.

Without a doubt, the Madden cards are the niftiest new things about this year's game.

Worst of all is the voice of Volcan, an anime reject who unfortunately happens to be everywhere. Imagine Spritle from "Speed Racer" with a limitless supply of sugar and caffeine--and a bad cold--and you get the idea.

This is a tremendous one-player shooter with a level of intensity and suspense that reminds me of when super-graphic gaming was a brand-new thing.

Even more tragic is the fact that there is no way for you to turn the tables and play as the Arachnids. I don't know about you, but I wanted to be the first kid on my block to suck a human brain out of a skull with a three-foot long proboscis.

This one takes full advantage of the PS2's graphic capabilities, giving a digital beatdown to all comers in the genre.

The biggest problem area in Mike Tyson Boxing is the controls. They're not completely unresponsive, but there is a definite delay that affects the overall gameplay and fluidity of the game.

The ugly graphics that simply can't compare to what thy eyes have seen on the PlayStation2. Seriously, after playing SSX on the PlayStation's big brother, it hurts even to look at this game.

A first-person shooter that has you shooting Nazis in the head for a better score.

The game starts off with one of the best opening sequences I have seen in a game to date. I laugh my ass off every time I watch it, and it gets my blood pumping before I actually start ramming my car into other vehicles just for the sheer, sick thrill of it.

Though city-building strategy is a niche genre that has never been my favorite, it's fair to say that ZMO is the most fun I've had in quite a while.

The DC controller's scheme is only adequate, and the number of pauses that occur during online play is too many.