A graphically slick martial arts game that’s head-and-bloody-shoulders above the competition for the visible damage you can inflict on opponents.

The basic game hasn’t changed from the “run, jiggle, shoot” style we know and love, ensuring Lara will be every bit the guilty pleasure she’s always been.

The shooting control takes some getting used to, but stick with it and you’ll advance through a solid plot laced with a meaty hip-hop soundtrack, celebrity voices, and…drumroll…a playable Snoop Dogg! You’ll never need MapQuest in L.A. again.

Final bonus: Unlike most games of this sort, Bloody Roar 3 allows you to knock your opponent through walls instead of just into them.

The gritty story, varied side missions, and jittery subway rides create the type of seedy environment that's perfect for attracting tourists, gamers, and criminals alike.

Konami's annual soccer franchise, which has scored in the past for its slick controls, wads of teams, and shin-splintin' graphics, returns to the field to affirm its ball-kicking dominance.

Luckily, the smooth controls guarantee that all you'll have to worry about is dribbling paint and bumbling cops.

Luckily, the smooth controls guarantee that all you'll have to worry about is dribbling paint and bumbling cops.

Tons of tracks, events, and online races give Revenge plenty of variety, but it's the blinding speed and the velvety smooth controls that make this the best racing game of the year.

Luckily, the smooth controls guarantee that all you'll have to worry about is dribbling paint and bumbling cops.

Sega added online play, a deeper Franchise Mode, and may have made the biggest acquisition of the off-season by reeling in ESPN to punch up their pigskin.

In addition to playing on boring, traditional courses like Pebble Beach with the good ol’ boys, you can take on a quartet of kilt-wearing Scotsmen in the middle of the Amazon.

Crave a purer form of pigskin, where painkillers and cheap shots aren’t just overlooked but encouraged? Then give this ballsy baller a try.

But it isn't just the best looking brawler around - it's also the deepest, as designers Team Ninja have complemented the game's responsive controls with hundreds of cool combo moves and tons of unlockable characters, outfits, and arenas.

This up-and-coming franchise has been breathing down Madden’s hairy back for years, and now it might finally have the ammo to leapfrog him.

Konami's annual soccer franchise, which has scored in the past for its slick controls, wads of teams, and shin-splintin' graphics, returns to the field to affirm its ball-kicking dominance.

Quake IV shows no mercy.

The gritty story, varied side missions, and jittery subway rides create the type of seedy environment that's perfect for attracting tourists, gamers, and criminals alike.

The gritty story, varied side missions, and jittery subway rides create the type of seedy environment that's perfect for attracting tourists, gamers, and criminals alike.

More immersion, more espionage, more metallic gear!

Tons of tracks, events, and online races give Revenge plenty of variety, but it's the blinding speed and the velvety smooth controls that make this the best racing game of the year.

It’s about time someone used an SUV for more than hauling brats to soccer practice.

More than the type of senseless video game violence that keeps Hillary Clinton up at night. A sequel to Ghost Recon 2, this stealth challenge offers a harrowing third-person shooter in which you're always outnumbered, and sometimes outgunned, and thus have to rely heavily on cover instead of ammo.

Verbose cut scenes threaten to stall the mayhem, but two elements save the day: playable legends like Andre the Giant and "bra & panties" matches featuring such divas as Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus. A little thong goes a long way.

If you have an urge to knock some balls around during the winter, then Tiger Woods might be able to help you out.

Played as both a sword-wielding samurai and a warrior monk who swings what looks like a table leg, Genji is mostly a button masher, but one that requires good timing to pull off its truly brutal (and life saving) moves.

You can bludgeon guys with pipes, chuck them into moving traffic, or even mash them face first into sides of roasting beef. What more could a wrestling fan possibly ask for?

What truly sticks out about this real-time strategy game is that it never lets its engrossing depth create a dull moment.

With its tongue-in-cheek take on street life, this consummate B-baller keeps it more real than most of today’s endorsement-whore NBA superstars.

And with the engaging story, plus the graphic-novel presentation (boxes of action and text are constantly popping up on-screen), this truth is worth uncovering.

Nothing jazzes up a sport better than flagrant infractions.

While this Xbox sequel is even quirkier, it’s just as insanely addictive...[and] plays like one big ghetto-fabulous party. Word.

The creators get points for keeping the combos, juggles, air attacks, and instant-kill fatalities, not to mention the chopsocky feel and cameos from familiar faces like Baraka and Reptile.

The game takes hits for its often crappy camera angles. Still, it’ll satisfy your raging blood lust.

Stealing the best gadgets and characters from the movies, NightFire lets you decide how to topple the requisite megalomanical villain: Use stealth and gizmos (like Eurobabe-revealing x-ray specs—thanks, Q!) or go in guns blazing.

Hollywood always screws up a good, cheesy kung fu movie by disrupting it with a plot (Jackie Chan, we’re looking at your outtakes reel), but the B-movie studio in this video game doesn’t make that mistake.

The closest we’ll get to interactive anime, this game couldn’t be more Japanese if it featured a ninja penguin schoolgirl getting bukkaked.

Easy-to-master controls, new camera angles, customizable teams, legendary players like Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson—don’t wait for Mother Nature’s lazy ass; spring starts now.

Drivables—from hearses to school buses to muscle cars—all handle differently, but their arcade-style ease nicely compliments an overall dumb-ass experience that’s as fun as getting a bellyful of corn liquor and chasing a greased piglet.

If the ensuing police brutality doesn’t mold you into the model Wheelman, then having to endure those whiny English cop sirens surely will.

Deploying psychic powers to solve puzzles further taxes your melon and sets the game apart from feeble-minded run 'n' gunners, earning Psi Ops the coveted Best Carrie-Meets-Rambo Game of the Year Award.

But it also has a compelling Story mode, written by former Hulk scribe Paul Jenkins, who gives the big guy a reason to use his considerable crushing skills.

Adding live online support and a fantasy-league “Mogul” mode that lets you trade players, track stats, and haggle over TV rights? OK, we’re really psyched.

Set up like Grand Theft Alien, there are tons of missions to complete, though you can also just roam around, killing filthy humans and destroying their stuff.

Despite a trick roster with some troubling names (anyone care to attempt a “Rocket Queen”?), this is as down and dirty as they come. Detergent not included.

Amusing.

The sharp graphics and advanced jiggle physics will no doubt prick the interest of lonely gamers, but surprisingly, the game's volleyball action is pretty solid. And that's the most important thing…right?

Twenty-four long trails and endless noodly bike upgrades add variety.

The bizarre levels and challenging puzzles remain engrossing even when you start asking the never-answered question, "What's the point?"

The game is by no means a weak attempt to cash in on a franchise...Gamers not only get tons of extra movie action but also get to run, kick, and shoot in a fully realized Matrix universe.

Fate also dispenses with T2’s cyborg-boy love plot, so you can focus on blasting titanium drones into nuts and bolts.

Sure, the action is pretty basic—it's still kill or be killed—but with more open spaces to run around and new foes to fight, Ties is like a weekend with Russell Crowe: disturbing, bloody, and a damn good time.

An addictive romp.

It may not boast garages bloated with the usual name-brand chick magnets you find in other racing games, but the dark racing underbelly of Midnight Club II has every bit as many thrills as the leading grease monkey autopia.

Luckily, the Cinemax-quality female brawls make up for the vaguely homoerotic aspects, since nobody should be exposed to that much man-on-man action.

A must for those out there who still like their CGI old school.

Freed from time constraints, you now accomplish level-specific goals—like outmaneuvering skater-busting cops—to advance while on the lookout for secret minigames.

We dare you to find a game package that gives you more bang for your buck—both literally and figuratively.

Fighting an army of the undead with a six-shooter is rather challenging, but the game has smooth controls and sharp-edged firearms that allow you to get your gunsu on.

Stealing the best gadgets and characters from the movies, NightFire lets you decide how to topple the requisite megalomanical villain: Use stealth and gizmos (like Eurobabe-revealing x-ray specs-thanks, Q!) or go in guns blazing.

And with the engaging story, plus the graphic-novel presentation (boxes of action and text are constantly popping up on-screen), this truth is worth uncovering.

Teams of up to four can then venture to visually stunning alien worlds, solving puzzles and wasting anything that moves.

There aren’t many games more extreme than this crazed, balls-to-the wall stock-car racer.

Roughly 9,200 people are injured yearly on roller coasters—and here’s your chance to add to the carnage!

The bizarre levels and challenging puzzles remain engrossing even when you start asking the never-answered question, “What’s the point?”

Guaranteed to raise the purple manga-style hairs on your neck.

Stealing the best gadgets and characters from the movies, NightFire lets you decide how to topple the requisite megalomanical villain: Use stealth and gizmos (like Eurobabe-revealing x-ray specs—thanks, Q!) or go in guns blazing.

Taking hairpin turns and navigating loop-the-loops at 500 mph is Wipeout’s equivalent of a boring straightaway.

The first Unreal made its name on, well, its unreal visuals, but we had no idea how saucy a first-person shooter could look until we tried the sequel.

Though some of the button-smashing combos are tricky to execute, the multiplayer action is solid, and the quest mode stirs in puzzle solving for antisocial savages who prefer going solo.

The grimy and amazing graphics, plus gory, well-paced game play, wrapped in a worthwhile story add up to a surprise hit. If only Diesel's movies could be this good.

If that's not enough carnage, you can also engage in 32-player (50 on Xbox Live) online deathmatch missions, which is technically twice the bloody chaos of "Halo 2."

The deadly combination of shopping for new murder gear and completing missions of mass destruction make this game more addictive than caramel-coated OxyContin.

From the opening sequence to the synth-popping soundtrack, there's more style in five minutes of this modern-day "Double Dragon" than five stacks of "Street Fighter" compilations.

An addictive romp.

We could have done without the ads for Toyota (what is this, a movie preview?), but the slamming soundtrack and retro touches-the 1995 version of EA's game is included-should help bring the league one step closer to atoning for the Charlotte Bobcats.

A variety of wheels and weaponry ensures there'll be loads of destruction, while the online option gives this gas-guzzler some extra mileage.

Electronic Arts is keying on the sport's blocking, defensive strategy, and teamwork with NASCAR 06—the closest to "Madden" car racing can get.

Easy-to-master controls, new camera angles, customizable teams, legendary players like Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson—don’t wait for Mother Nature’s lazy ass; spring starts now.

In addition to playing on boring, traditional courses like Pebble Beach with the good ol’ boys, you can take on a quartet of kilt-wearing Scotsmen in the middle of the Amazon.

It’s a nice combination of horror and hysterics, a fresh take long overdue with this style of game.

Apart from some cramped environments, the immaculately reincarnated Unreal Tournament is a stone-cold killer.

Confused by the sometimes clunky camera angles? You can deliver your skull-smashing, thong-flashing high kicks in soothing slow motion.

The tight controls are a cinch for novices, but obsessive attention to detail will score with fanatics.

A history of hoops that lets you bring almost every star player (dating back to the 1950s) out of the mothballs.

Splintered wooden furniture doubles as vampire vaporizing shivs to expand on your already wide variety of exterminating capabilities.

Although it's dogged by Commodore 64–quality music and selective licensing agreements—Manchester United is simply Man Red—this new edition more than compensates with killer graphics, new tricks, and an improved dribbling system.

Fun as this game is to play, the best moments come when you just sit back and observe. Wonderfully acted, written, and directed motion-capture cut scenes play like the Snatch follow-up Guy Ritchie should have made, further evidence of the narrowing gap between video game and movie production values.

Told in fragments along the way, the story resolves differently, depending on whether you torture and kill other humans or help them survive. Either way, the eerie atmosphere will scare you straighter than an "Oz" box set.

What sets Battlefield apart is that you can pilot choppers and tanks to a cool ’60s soundtrack. And you can even cue up “Ride of the Valkyries” for that air cavalry attack. Sure smells like victory to us.

Instead of the usual push-button pugilism, throw punches using the analog stick-the direction and speed of the stick determine the swing; the trigger controls handle bobbing, weaving, and blocking.

The action is intense, and the super-strong vehicle lets you slam into walls and other racers without worry.

Should the lyrically challenged feel left out, you can create your own brawler outfitted in ice courtesy of celebrity bling supplier Jacob the Jeweler. Better to look good than to—ow—feel good.

Get really good and you challenge real women’s champ Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee in her beach house—where losing your shirt wouldn’t be so bad.

Like the movie itself, the game's surprisingly good and full of decent action as you use Jedi skills in a barrage of lightsaber battles to win one for good or evil.

Freed from time constraints, you now accomplish level-specific goals—like outmaneuvering skater-busting cops—to advance while on the lookout for secret minigames.

It’s just too bad that one of [the missions] doesn’t demand that you seduce a curvy, green alien girl, James T. Kirk-style.

Executing gravity-defying jumps and mean combos in the well-rendered environments is a piece of cake, though a longer game would have iced it for us.