Slowly becoming the Utah Jazz of console sports franchises -- produces enough so that you can't ignore it, but possesses neither the flash nor the innovation to beat the younger competition in the ratings game.

The kudos system, overall structure, and addictive qualities of this game easily transcend any minor flaws.

It's certainly not the worst kart racer out there. But this isn't supposed to be a kart racer, this is supposed to be an RC racer -- it's there right in the title. And at that, the game fails pretty miserably.

With a lot of exploring and mostly the same old shooting technique as before, Mega Man qualifies as a run-of-the-mill action RPG. Fans of the man will enjoy it.

If cars really behaved like those in VP, the carnage on our nation's highways would immediately result in a national speed limit of 15 to deter the sort of fish-tailing, wildly over-steering behavior exhibited in this game.

A better-than-average motorcycle simulation, with a deep career mode and satisfying racing action.

This is one of those quirky, indefinable puzzle games that you have to play to understand. Novice players will immediately be hooked, while experienced puzzle fans may find that this wet Tetris is too easy.

A very intricate, engrossing, and abnormal RPG. If you like things a tad on the bizarre side, Persona: Eternal Punishment is right up your alley. People who should stay away from Persona 2 are novice players.

A bitter pill to swallow. Still, you could waste an afternoon or two on this and still find yourself fairly amazed with some of the puzzle elements, the hunt for horror exploration aspect, and all the chainsaw-ripping, zombie-blasting gore.

A relatively solid, if unspectacular, first effort for the F1 Championship series on the PS2 that plays pretty realistically. On the other hand, there's nothing here that a casual racing fan would find immediately compelling.

If you're into complete and total destruction (a la "Blast Corps" for the Nintendo 64), then you'll have a hell of a time with Thunder Tanks. It will blow you away.

It's a worthy successor to Rogue Squadron, with a great branching storyline, reachable objectives, and great graphics and sound.

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

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

It's inexplicable, but definite -- Goin Qu@ckers is a lot of fun. Give it a chance before you decide it's too young for you.

While it has its share of shortcomings, March Madness 2001 packs enough variety and fun to make it the champion of Playstation basketball.

The best RPG's, though, tell a compelling story, provide plenty of exploration, and let you mix it up with fun, addictive battles. On those counts, Grandia II is a rousing success.

If you're new to the series, this is arguably the best Resident Evil game ever made.

Its minor control issues notwithstanding, this is the best rally racer available on the PSX -- maybe on any platform.

The most interesting thing about the game is its very nice looking 3D engine.

And like the movie, the game begins to seem pointless after a while, which qualifies it as a rock-solid rental.

Unless you've got some kind of passion for snowmobiles, we suggest you pass on this one.

Packs more playability into one disc than some RPGs do with three. A true sleeper.

It's time to move on, Lara -- Angelina Jolie is waiting in the wings, and then you're done.

It's as tired and useless as many of the wrestlers represented, and playing this is almost like watching a seniors match in wrestling -- old familiar faces doing the same old, familiar moves that made them famous.

Except for deathmatch mode it's really no different than any other space sim, and the controls are much too difficult. Otherwise, though, it's well-executed and solid, if a bit too familiar.

If not for the "xtreme" difficulty of the game, this would be one of the best titles of the year. It's still a landmark in terms of graphics.

Despite the rubber-band AI, this is still a fun, addictive kart racer.

Although "Fantavision" is more colorful and uses more graphic power than Super BaM, this game is far more addictive, and a lot easier to play in two-player mode.

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

"Quake" with cute little stuffed animals.

It's time to move on, Lara -- Angelina Jolie is waiting in the wings, and then you're done.

Shaping up to be the most fun version of Mechwarrior yet.

This is old-school gaming -- it feels like Urban Chaos, looks like the first Tomb Raider, and smells like a bomb.

Be forewarned: This game could grow on you, one of the subtlest treats for the Playstation.

A pointless sequel that adds nothing to its genre or franchise. Almost as dreadful as its N64 counterpart.

Despite a fairly impressive game speed even with eight riders, Supercross is a headache-inducing eyesore.

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

This game can grind, manual, ollie, combo, and trick out just as well as THPS2 -- but it does it with two less wheels.

One of the best wrestlers on the PlayStation, Smackdown 2 puts all the other jabronis to shame with its quick action, cool graphics, and exciting game play.

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

For driving fans used to the rigors of Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer, 007 rates about a 003 on the fun factor scale.

It gets boring fast, and you have to love wrestling to begin with, but if you are a fan, this is a cool game to have.

A Pile of Shoot. The control is almost flawless. Maneuvering your ship isn't the problem -- the crowded action is the problem.

The easily accessible humor and storyline of such adventure classics as "Broken Sword" and "Monkey Island" are lacking in here, though, but it's a pretty ride while it lasts.

Gameday fans are owed an apology for this morass of bad controls and weak graphics.

Absolutely vile. John Belushi must be spinning in his grave.

If you like your N64 titles simple and charming, and can live without strategic game play or thoughtful graphics and sound, than this scaled-back version of the TV show is right up your alley.

Simplicity with a reliance on skill over chance is generally the recipe for console gaming success, and that's the case with Sky Odyssey -- this is gameplay in its purest form, and despite the oft-times ugly visuals, it's an addictive and enjoyable experience.

This is an un-pretentious little role playing game that doesn't try to be anything more than it is, and as a side-quest to a larger RPG universe, it succeeds.

May not be as polished or pretty as "Code: Veronica," or as fast-paced and action-packed as "Dino Crisis 2," but it certainly has elements of both of those games in it.

Just the right mix of action, role-play, and strategy.

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

How could Reflections screw this up so bad? Driver 2 is a pale reflection (har har) of the original.

Good for the nostalgia crowd, and that's the target audience. It's a cheap package too, so it's probably worth it. But what's with the slowdown in such old games?

A decent job of reskinning the old PlayStation version with new Dreamcast graphics, the game is still dark and moody, with the action well spaced out between the tense situations.

Fast, fun, and full of fire, but it's way too short. Even on all the difficulty levels you are getting the same game all around.

These are still great, classic games that are worth owning if you can find the package for a decent price.

The game is fun to watch (and that's mostly what you'll be doing) for a couple of hours, but beyond that the repetitive pre-scripted cut-scenes and ease of play will leave you bored.

A triumph of style with a touch of whimsy, this Fantasy is the perfect finale to an era of PS RPG gaming.

A sunny-side up surprise, the best movie-to-console game in ages and not that far from the Dreamcast version. Two wings up.

A decent kart racer that never makes full use of its license and falls a bit flat in gameplay.

The best feature of the game is that no matter how low your school's hoops program is in real life, you can take your school to the championship.

Of the four versions of this game out there, this is probably the least fun due to the choppy frame rate and blurry graphics, not to mention the apparently missing fighters.

With a strong difficulty level, plenty of tracks and several game modes, Mickey's Speedway is a good value for those who don't have a kart racer in their library.

Play it long enough and you may start to enjoy it, but the long load times and cheap AI mean you'll likely never get to that point.

Unlike the Colonel Sander's recipe there are no secret ingredients here, just a keen attention to style and basic video game concepts.

It may not have the emotional impact of some of Square's RPG's, but it does have likeable characters, a huge amount of gameplay, an epic quest, and beautifully rendered environments and effects.

And it is fun, for a while, at least until you discover the unbalanced gameplay and learn to beat your opponents into submission with just a few hits.

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

Repeat this to yourself over and over if you find yourself tempted to purchase this title: "I will not buy this game today, I will not buy it any day. I will not buy it in a store, I will not play it on the floor..."

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.

Of the two "last-gen" versions of this game out there (N64 and PSX), this is the better one. It pales in comparison to the PS2 and DC versions, however.

Capcom and SNK fans will be wettin' their pants for this one -- everyone else (including fight fans accustomed to more sophisticated graphics) will find this tepid at best. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a much more exciting game.

Easily one of the best (if not the best) racing games on the Dreamcast. It's certainly the best GT-style circuit racer on the platform.

Norse mythology provides plenty of story and imagery to this 3D action game.

It's a difficult game, but its thinking-man's style of approaching missions will keep you coming back for more.

If the game was a bit longer, or if even each mission took longer to complete than the 5-10 minutes generally required, maybe we could give the game a higher score - shoddy visuals and all.

The better money is with "Q-Ball Billiards Master," which is far and away better than this.

It's almost impossible to ignore the game's graphical flaws -- specifically, its propensity to suddenly switch from high-res to low-res mode in the middle of a race, taking the frame rate south with it.

More likely to drive you insane than put you to sleep, counting these Sheep is a treat for die-hard puzzle gamers.

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

It seems cliché to say it, but there's just not much new here, and what is new (the higher difficulty) is not welcome.

Even if you dig Pikachu's act, the "game" is ultimately a spirit-crushing, mind-numbing exercise in tedium.

Once you get the controls down, you're in for the greatest board meeting of your life.

Better than bad is sometimes still pretty bad, and that's the case here -- though at least the frame rate is not so piss-poor as to be completely unplayable.

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

This is by far the best-looking basketball game currently on the market, the only negative being some jarring motion-capture transitions.

Too short and not polished enough.

If you bought last year's version of FIFA, you basically already own this game.

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.

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.

The Cleveland Cavaliers of the video hoops world: not the worst team in the league, but lacks flash, is thin in the middle and an absolute non-factor in the playoffs.

A game that captures the essence of why most of us started playing games in the first place -- skill, speed, innovation and style, with gameplay that's as fun to watch as it is to play.

The tracks are in great number and you have the ability to change the time of day as well as the weather, ensuring the most brutal of settings for any off-road excursion.

Take KISS out of the picture and you have a mildly entertaining shooter that does an adequate job of shooting things up. But if you're a KISS fan expecting lots of face paint and heavy guitar riffs, forget it.

If you ever get the tricks down (and we're still trying), the game could be fun, although it's no "Tony Hawk," which it tries to emulate in style and form.

Q-Ball does a good job of "simming" pool for professional players, and thereby seems more real then "Real."