The way the Advance interacts with the Cube is flawless, and if you have Sonic Advance (and we recommend you pick it up), it's a nice touch, with lots of promise for future games.

The best version of this game lives on the Box - accept no substitute.

Jak and Daxter brings back memories of the fun of Crash without killing the character through repetition.

It almost goes without saying that the game controls impeccably and sounds great (this is Need for Speed, after all), so the excellent variety of play modes and fresh-feeling historically-oriented gameplay should be more than enough to convince you of the title’s worth.

More of a thinking man's boxing game, full of strategy, personality, and fire. Take the career mode for a spin and you'll fell all the pain, frustration, and joy that a boxing career will bring.

A faithful port of a modern classic, down to its nagging flaws.

Of the three, this version of Tricky has the best controls and graphics. That makes this the best version available.

One of the best looking water games with lots of tricky entertainment and wet fun for everyone, newbie and pro, to enjoy.

NFL Blitz isn't about football - it's about fun, and it delivers that message with extreme results.

Stellar arcade-style fun and one of the best games for the PS2. It's only hampered by some mild slow-down and a steep difficulty curve.

It's the best, most well-rounded basketball game out there, and soars above the competitors.

The music is really good, and the challenge is incredibly hard.

A definite purchase for snowboarders and extreme sportsters who have finished playing "Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2" and "Dave Mirra BMX Freestyle Racing."

It’s a testament to the thought and heart that went behind Chrono Trigger that, despite a new loading problem, the game is still more fun than most of its present-day competition.

There are only about three really great N64 first-person shooters, and this is one of those three.

The controls in NHL 2K2 get the nod for being the most intuitive in the genre.

There are so many options to earn -- like new levels, more continues, faster recharge on your special weapons – that you’ll find yourself playing over and over again just to see what’s next.

A great fun game, the only small drawback being super easy battling compromised by super cheap attacks later in the game (Magneto is pure cheese).

The addictive nature of Puyo Pop makes it one of the best puzzle games ever.

The game's major weakness is in the combat system - there's too many loopholes that can be exploited with the Draw technique, making combat tedious and mundane after a while.

It won't make you stand up and cheer, but it will keep you busy - like a good game should.

Changing into an angelic creature with magical powers from time to time is something you haven't seen in a survival horror title before, and makes Devil Inside well worth playing.

The perfect version of this game, and the one that will be remembered as the best of the bunch.

It's a lot of fun, and the mini-games help to break up the action, but the game is still too short, and the number of locales too small.

If you want the hard-boiled action of "Grand Theft Auto III" up close and personal, this is the game for you.

More than just a celebrity cash-in, this is a great first-person shooter.

It's all fun and cute until you bust a cap in a bear's ass and watch him wiggle and die.

The game is on the short side and once you are well practiced it won't take much longer than 30 minutes to beat it. But believe this, this is one great party game, you'll be in stitches as people fumble their way through the rap when they first start. Parappa is a must have game.

Probably the most fun game out for the Game Cube right now. It's not really a fighting game as much as it is a four-person party brawling game.

This would be considered a mission-pack add on in the PC world, but for fans of the series, it's a great new game with additional elements that enhance an old, but stable, gaming engine.

It is a racing game – a good but flawed one, a technically masterful piece of work that still has not gotten the gameplay of racing against other drivers quite right. In some ways, it’s actually a step backwards from GT2.

If you get past the controls, you'll be rewarded with a fun, thoughtful adventure.

We have to be impressed by the number of included titles, faithfulness of the emulation, and the huge amount of archival material. Our only real gripes are the controls and lack of save support.

It’s also got a story line that will interest you, and characters that are individually conceived, and not just palette or costume swaps of each other. Project Justice does justice to the genre.

Probably one of the top five PS2 launch titles in both graphics and gameplay, X Squad shouldn't be passed up.

If you're either bored with or overwhelmed by standard realistic PC flight sims, give this one a try.

The best PS One fighting game to come along in a while, and probably the last great fighting game for the PS One.

The thing that Oddworld does that’s so fascinating to gamers is that it transports you to another world, a totally believable place where you’re more than happy to stay and play for a while.

An excellent adult plot, cool graphics, and style to burn make this a must-have in the adventure genre.

Whereas last year the controls seem looser than Madden’s, and therefore more intuitive and fun, this year they seem way too easy.

But to beat the horse to death even more, there are precious few events (no swimming events, which is disappointing), and some of the events seem like odd inclusions (trap shooting?).

But what Blue Planet did was to add elements of animation to the backgrounds, which are at once beautiful to look at and extremely distracting.

A great action game – much better than the original.

One of the better looking shooters around, with spectacular special effects, "Gunship" is a worthy contender for "Freespace"'s throne.

Just what fans of the series had been waiting for, a solid game that's even more real than before.

Once you've played a while, and realize that a full franchise mode is missing, along with create-a-player and free agency trades, you'll realize that Drive didn't drive hard enough to compete with 2K2 or Live.

Either too easy or too hard, depending on the setting. You will seethe with frustration on the highest difficulty setting, and easily outscore opponents on the easiest setting. There is no in-between, which makes a great game really frustrating.

You'll want to play the game with the Japanese voices and English subtitles on. It looks cool (like your playing a Kurosawa film),and the Japanese voice acting is far superior to the English voice acting.

Shooting fans will love it, and Star Wars fans, too -- but hardcore gamers will wish something more original was piled on to this "Rogue Squadron" update.

If you're a FIFA newbie and own nothing but a PSX, FIFA 2001 is by far the best soccer sim out there.

Once again the AI needs tuning and the graphics need optimizing. Otherwise, though, this game is still as fun on the PS2 as it is on the PSX, and with the new range of customization options, you're sure to find a gameplay style you like.

Hands down (pun intended) the benchmark for football games.

This is one beautiful title to look at, despite the rather lackluster character designs.

This is what a PlayStation to Nintendo 64 conversion should be - enhancing the original to make the most of the new host machine.

Parents should strictly heed the Mature rating on this game – everyone else, take your shot. Literally.

A definite improvement over the first 3D title in both control and camera viewpoint.

This game rivals Tony Hawk for the Advance, and takes better advantage of the engine than the poorly tuned Mat Hoffman.

The graphics look gorgeous.

This is classic Ridge Racer that plays like a turbo charged (and ultra-cute) version of the original arcade game.

For all its graphical splendor and high level of polish, the game’s inherent flaws are its high level of difficulty and relative lack of depth.

This is a game you'll probably keep coming back to periodically even as the years progress -- its simplicity and charm will likely ensure it a lasting place in your game library.

Although not terrible complicated or intricate, it’s still a great game with a good interface and lots of scary stuff.

Brief, nonsensical, infuriating and exhilarating, this is the perfect antidote to bland wrestling games and sub-par RPGs. Sexy fantastic!

It’s just a little too frustrating without adding anything that’s really all that new – the Crazy Hop doesn’t really fundamentally alter the game all that much, meaning the game feels more like a Crazy Taxi map add-on pack than anything else.

While it's not going to set anybody's house on fire, it's a title with broad appeal that's as worthy of being a top launch title for the system, as the original Ridge Racer was.

Fun, exciting, tough, and educational - don't let that last part scare you. By the time you realize you've learned something, there will be thousands of slain warriors at your feet.

An awesome shooter with superb graphics, and the thumb-numbing game play is challenging but not too hard.

Fluid handling, detailed cars and tracks, varying weather conditions, and an impressive 43 cars on the playing field all add a sense of depth to a game that was once known as the smallest niche in the race market.

Its solid visuals, imaginative tracks, tight control, and over-the-top physics model make it a winner in the arcade racing genre.

This is as close as GameDay ever got to Madden for the title of best Playstation football game ever.

One of the best things about Train Simulator is that like its flying cousin, this is basically an open-source graphics and physics engine that anyone can expand on and add objects, trains, routes, and activities to.

The best PlayStation espionage game since "Metal Gear Solid."

It's enjoyable, playable, and everything that fans of RPG's could hope for.

From the swank voice-over cast and Bond-ian soundtrack to the pounding rattle of machine gun fire, nobody does (sound) better.

Zombie shooting at it’s best – and lets not forget the "Devil May Cry" demo. If you’re thinking about buying RE:CVX, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be grateful for the dead.

If you love golf, you'll love this game, which is based on the "Hot Shots" engine. The course redraw is fairly quick, the courses are well-developed, and the characters are hyper-realistic.

Fans of "StarCraft" "WarCraft," and even "Myth" will love this new addition to the real-time strategy genre, and Trek fans finally have worlds of their own to build, populate -- or destroy.

It's a great football game, but Madden edges it out because of superior execution and substance.

This gem of a game is way too short -- the same complaint that PlayStation owners had a while back.

After months of 2K1, GameDay, and Madden, Blitz is a welcome and very fun addition to the football lineup.

Small nuances, like the changing weather conditions...and the incredible rush of speed during the starightaways, along with a smoother look and a greater sense of control, realy helps XG3 for the GameCube put a nicer spin on the genre, and edges out the PS2 version by a margin.

All of the high-speed grinding, nosebleed big-air tricks, and spectacular board-twisting, body-contorting tricks of THPS are just as eye-catching and thumb-numbing as they were before, but now they’re enhanced by gorgeous snow-parks and powder-packed resorts.

It soon becomes a tedious exercise in reversals and grappling, but until you master your technique to that point, it's a great game.

Don't expect to jump in and then jump out of Banjo's world -- once netted, you'll remain til the end.

It's not a huge improvement over the last in the series, but then the series doesn't need much improving to begin with.

Although the female players are an excellent addition, and the create-a-player is another good move, there are noticeable gaps in the lineup, including Sampras and Chang.

Every target is superbly animated and detailed - walker droids walk with consummate ease, meteors float around ominously, end of level bosses look as imposing as they're supposed to...it's all great.

Using elements of "Ridge Racer," "Gran Turismo," and even Sega's "Super Hang On," Namco has come up with one of the best motorcycle racing games ever.

From the ships to the explosions to the environments, you'll see more and better textures, and you'll definitely feel a more completeness in the graphics that was missing on the PS2.

Easily the best game of its type on the PlayStation.

This should keep you occupied long enough to appreciate the game, but not long enough to make you love it.

Just when you want to like a wrestling game, and there are a lot of things to like about WWF Raw, the cheap AI makes the game difficult and frustrating to play.

There's a lot more to do here than there is in Thunder. But whether or not you get to the mini-games will depend on your skill and your patience. If you develop both during the first few rounds of Heat, you'll be hooked. We were.

Absolute magic for veterans, still won't raise an eyebrow for the uninitiated.

As the title suggests, the gameplay in Beetle Adventure Racing is focused more on having fun rather than being serious. Thanks to the ludicrous amounts of jumps and turbo boosters littered on each track, your VW is capable of leaping into the air with the greatest of ease.

Although not as complex as "Tekken Tag," or as simple to play as "DOA2," Street Fighter EX3 is still a fighter, and one that can battle with the best of them on the PS2.

It's the perfect game for people who say they hate video games.

A pleasant surprise, and some may actually prefer it to the darker, more serious "Unreal Tournament" or "Quake 3 Arena."