Clunky camera moves hit the occasional sour note, but the eventual showdown with the Dark Lord Currently Known as Satan makes it all well worth the ride.

This intentionally kooky bounty hunter simulator-playing it is like watching an episode of Cops while huffing bleach fumes-is easily the most original game we've played this year.

Your hard-won mastery of the throttle and brake can mean the difference between surviving to the next stage or taking in the scenery from the bottom of a roadside ditch.

Thankfully, the ability to upgrade your jet pack adds a much-needed modicum of depth, while the control scheme makes it easy to move in one direction while blowing stuff up in the opposite. Titanium-breasted robozons, a-w-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-y!

Missions full of vehicles to wrangle and people to off feel like a cross between "Grand Theft Auto" and "Metal Gear Solid," with a dash of "Contra" thrown in for spice. Destroy everything and get paid; this is foreign policy at its finest.

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.

Our only regret is that George Foreman isn't in the game. Apparently he's too busy hocking his new grill to bother bringing his fat ass into the game for a good ol' fashioned digital butt-whuppin'.

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

It may not appease the history buffs, but it will delight the trigger-happy.

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 added Puzzle Kombat is surprisingly fun-Tetris-style one-on-one gaming is punctuated by miniature, big-headed characters popping each other in the skulls. Throw out your old MK games; it's time to call this one your daddy.

Heck, even if you aren’t a hoops fan, there’s plenty of unintentional humor to appreciate: Seeing Yao Ming dunk on Bill Walton alone is worth the price of admission.

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.

If you can overlook minor perspective problems, Onimusha’s intense combat, stunning graphics, and involving story make this a masterpiece hotter than a mouthful of wasabi.

Thrones also gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure.

Instead of marching towards you as you rip them apart with machine gun fire, these nasties scuttle and run like…real bugs. It’s enough to give you the willies.

It'll take as much brains as brawn: The block-moving puzzles of the previous game have been burned at the stake in favor of some logically sound mindbenders.

A fun and novel idea.

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

If you're expecting jittery "Unreal Tournament"–style multiplayer action here, you'll be sorely disappointed...The real fun is in a story that leads you so deep into hell, with rich graphics and engulfing sound, you can practically smell the sulfur.

If the grainy, David Lynch ambiance doesn’t make your nads retract in terror, the four-legged headless guys in combat boots and leather thongs certainly will.

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.

Though it’s sure to have Senate subcommittees soiling their Depends and declaring the end of Western civilization, jaded gamers will no doubt dig the surprisingly amusing vocal and visual gags that spice up what would otherwise be a moderately paced, story-driven shoot-em-up.

Over 100 hours of game play through 50 levels of sword-swinging, spell-casting combat, thousands of new weapons and equipment, and two new characters (the fighting furry Vah Shir and the lizardman Iksar) will keep you huffing at trucker speed through the wee hours.

Thrones also gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure.

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.

This reckless, Crazy Taxi–like romp around town is like a high-speed dream tour for fans of the series. Almost every Simpsons character in the game is either a driver or a passenger.

The straightforward online action in Paragon City gives you instant access to hordes of computer-controlled villains to vaporize, but the real payoff comes in teaming up with other misfit crime fighters for orgies of virtuous ass kicking.