I have to say, in terms of presentation, Okami by far is the bet game I’ve ever seen...However, games are meant to be played. And honestly, between the humor that falls flat at times, the worst plot twist I’ve seen in a game since college, and the sheer lack of challenge in the game, Okami falls well short of greatness.

The weak control scheme, combined with parts of the game that are completely counter-intuitive, hamper the game tremendously to the point where a serious gamer will, at best, pick this up for a rental. I think Capcom became so blinded by the concept that they forgot that the execution is just as important, if not moreso, than the design.

But the play’s the thing, and in this title, the play is a chore to get from cutscene to cutscene. Though I’ve often snarked that this was how Square Enix designed the series starting with Final Fantasy VII, I can’t imagine this is truly what the designers wanted from their latest creation. The result is a decent but ultimately disappointing experience from this venerable series’ latest entry.

The camera angles were enigmatic and frustrating. The action on the screen was great when we were fairly close to the fighting, but once scaled out became chaotic. The personal feel of smacking each other around when close was decent and enjoyable; but once the action panned became impersonal and out of touch.

All in all it's not really much of a replay incentive as the levels are fairly simplistic and very linear. However, it's worth hanging on to the game solely because it can be hard to find, and also because it's a unique experience on the PS2.

Mass Effect is a serviceable game and there is plenty of fun to be had, just be prepared to be frequently slapped in the face by how inconsistent everything is. Mass Effect is a resoundingly average game in every aspect, which is a complete letdown given BioWare’s history.

Sure, the series succeeds in the atmosphere department, but atmosphere is more needed for the spectators than the guys playing the game. Madden, to me, is a warm, fluffy roll without the hamburger. Yo EA, where’s the beef?

The left handed hitter bug and the player progression bug affect both the game dynamics and the franchise mode’s lasting value respectively.

Hardly a vast leap forward for the series, but it's not a simple graphical improvement with a minor gameplay upgrade thrown in either.

Both in terms of plot and in terms of battle engine, this could have been easily done in the 8-bit days. While certainly a workman's RPG, it's one best suited for those who want something like they were fifteen years ago.

It seems like every EA Big sequel nowadays is just the previous version of the game with more ads, different licensed music/MCs, and a new "skin" slapped onto the game. This is getting really, really, really OLD.

There is nothing here that sets it apart from the crowd in terms of gameplay, but the visual and physics aspect of the game are bar none the best available today. Far Cry is worth a look, but be warned; you are going to need a beast of a computer to run this as it was intended to be run.

Could have been a classic in the world of gaming if it had better AI and been quite a bit longer. Unfortunately, like most movie games, parts of it fell short. Overall, the game still presented an entertaining, story driven shooter that is well worth a rental.

Boring landscapes, crummy models, and weak animation. On top of that, it chugs. It's the worst of both worlds, baby!

Superficially, this game looks incredible, but digging deeper will spell out otherwise. Doom 3 is by no means a bad game, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was lacking.

DO NOT buy this game if you are looking to play just that multi-player/battle mode because you will be $40 poorer and you will probably be throwing your GBA against the wall. But, if you like Pokemon and Bomberman, then by all means, pick this game up.

Nothing more than a fair game. It's not quite as innovative as Advance Wars, but it still manages to offer a fun, nice-looking strategy gaming experience despite the frustration factor.

The characters, levels, and game modes are entertaining enough, and it's got just the right sense of humor. I really can't recommend it for solo players, as most of it's solo modes are aimed towards unlocking multiplayer content.

It can be improved upon, by making the story less ambiguous and more involving without making it feel like an afterthought. The gameplay aspect could definitely be less tedious and provide more side quests or alternative options.

The idea behind Elite Beat Agents is one of the best I've seen. The story is told with near-perfect timing, and the engine itself is solid. However, the song choice is incredibly spotty, and the multiplayer modes are a disappointment.

At times, the play control can be a bit wonky, but overall Zack & Wiki is a solid addition to the point and click adventure genre.

This certainly is a different kind of game, interesting even. But, a blast to play? A must have? These are things that Kirby: Canvas Curse sadly is not.

The one shining ray of hope in this game is the hopefully more game companies will seek to utilize more Asian heroines with British accents. Come on, LucasArts...it's the least you can do after this stinker.

EA, please learn how to make a basketball game that's actually based off of basketball next year. Buy an NBA rulebook and have the lead designer thoroughly study it, please.

The game is fun the first time through, all though damn frustrating at times.

It's a LONG role-playing game, but that's not necessarily a good quality when it becomes more of a chore than a hobby.

Combined with slightly above-average aesthetics and the chance to go through the game again as a different twin, The Sacred Stones is a solid and worthy diversion for the tactical fan.

As a $30 puzzle magazine, Professor Layton leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Too many of my experiences with this game were about boredom and annoyance.

Those who missed the open-ended questing in "Tribunal" will be pleasantly surprised, and those who wanted to try something new will have the werewolf to play with.

The most realistic and polished boxing game that has ever been created. However, at the same time, it doesn't compel me to really appreciate the sport more. While it does force you to learn more about boxing in order to win at high levels.

The premise behind Viva Piñata is solid, but irritating gameplay and sound issues hindered the overall execution. What could have been a true classic ends up being a remarkably average game.

Last year, I was absolutely incensed by "NBA Live 2004." The game that became the gold standard for basketball games back in 1995 had thrown up a brick...Another year, and I find myself looking back at my NBA Live 2004 review a lot...to cut and paste text for this year's review. They fixed virtually nothing; it’s practically same game.

The lack of exploration (linear gameplay) and terrible sound effects really plagued the game. I also was not keen on the control and shady camera angles.

Basically, Devil May Cry 4 is just the Devil May Cry game from 7 years ago with a fresh coat of paint, and that is fine by me.

Surprisingly deep, complex, and accessible, SimCity 4 is the pinnacle of simulation games.

Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria was tweaked where it shouldn't have been, and was left alone where it needed tweaks. It's still a fun time, but it's unquestionably a step down from its classic predecessor.

Just another example of a PC to Console port that just doesn't cut the mustard.

The overall size of the maps, the idiocy of finding all the remaining units down to the last probe before moving on, and the sheer imbalance and poor tactics brought it down.

Like a really hot looking Mercedes with only an AM radio, no cruise control, and cloth seats. It looks great, and it's fun to drive for a bit, but without all those sweet extras that are offered with virtually every other luxury sedan out there, it loses its charm rather quickly.

Definitely the lesser of the two major street basketball titles. A little more polish, a lot less loading, and we might have a showdown next year.

If you factor in the poor character models, horrendous draw distance, oft-mediocre voice acting, and incidental story, Spider-Man 2 comes down to a single gimmick: the excellent web slinging.

It is a shame as the game that I was actually able to play was really damned good, but the absurd overuse of cut scenes, terrible voices, and ridiculously clichéd storyline destroyed the potential that was within.

Sadly, like many other previous WarioWare games, Smooth Moves doesn't have much replay value. Even though there are 200 mini games and about 20 different controller positions, there isn't much to do once you've completed the game.

In terms of a remake compared to the original, Final Fantasy V Advance manages to faithfully reproduce the experience of the original game. The biggest problem with that is that Final Fantasy V was never a great game in the first place.

Decidedly mediocre. Being able to play as a Jedi is definitely one of its strongest qualities, but it really doesn't make up for a really lackluster massive battlefield shooter.

Though, the visuals are interesting, the music is good and the gameplay is unique without being lame, it’s a bit repetitious and limited in what can really be done. The steep difficulty later in the game stops it from being a smashing success, but it's still a pretty nice title.

The puzzles are easy, the game gives you more health power-ups than you will ever use, and there isn't a single enemy that's remotely challenging after you pick up the second gun frame in the Prologue. All the "innovation" that this game was supposed to entail amounts to nothing but a big pile of Company Dinner-Fed, Marketing Grade manure.

The game definitely takes its place in the halls of infamy as one of the single most thrilling MMO experiences out there now. The raw catharsis of robbing banks, kidnapping innocents, and basically acting naughty in a virtual world while dressed up as the result of getting Jack Kirby and Stan Lee stoned-- there's little out there that beats it.

If there's to be a Gradius VI, please, Konami, ditch the insistence on the six power-ups. Give your weapons a lot more variety, give the multipliers options, too. Equip them with say, rate of fire and damage boosts, maybe even so AI so they stray and stay locked on to the boss when the player gives the order. Anything but the same maps, system and enemies we've fought before, only in 3D.

The game isn’t really innovative, and it won’t wow anyone. But at the end of the day, you’ll find yourself still laughing about how the health meter cookies have the Japanese word for “monkey” on them as well as the subtle joke behind Pierrot the clown monkey.

The squad-based AI is definitely worth a look, and despite all the flag-waving, the game manages to tell an involving story. It’s a shame that more effort wasn’t put into the graphics, or more variation wasn’t put into the gameplay.

Digital Devil Saga 2, while a quality role-playing game, doesn't live up to the legacy of its immediate predecessor.

For those new to the whole MMORPG thing, or those who are still enjoying the concept, this game is a really good bet for you. Unfortunately, for those seeking content or just burned out from the whole idea, I advise you to turn away and not give the game a second thought.

This game managed to hit my nostalgia nerve, especially because I had a quick action itch, and this game was right there to scratch it.

Though at times it is hindered by boring training, the game pulls through with an excellent taste of realism that makes this game quite the interesting experience.

Of course, every Bemani freak will want this, but anyone looking for a challenge or the more traditional arcade feel will either want to pass on this or just import the Japanese version. Konami seems to forget that what worked in Japan is working here. You shouldn’t try to mess with a good thing.

An expensive game doesn't seem so pricey if it's good, but it seems even MORE expensive if it's bad. You'll get both feelings with the Growlanser: Generation experience.

On the outside the game has everything going for it - beautifully stylised visuals, atmospheric sound and an interesting storyline - but on the inside it's riddled with bad design choices that could have easily been avoided with a bit of extra thought from the developer.

Unfortunately, Ryan comes off as an unlikable, whiney cliche. Being that this is a racing game, its ultimate success resides in the on track action, as it should.

This shooter's probably the best out there for the PS2, and the best ever on a console with the exception of "Elemental Gearbolt." The driving mission where you blow up the Jeeps is probably my favorite sequence ever in a light gun game.

If you find yourself in a charitable frame of mind, and can overlook the ridiculous story, one-dimensional characters, and hackneyed story elements, Trauma Center is a great twitch-action game.

The game is inconsistent. I'll nail the ball perfectly, taking lie of the land and wind speed into consideration; yet the results are never what they should be. What I'm saying is, is that playing with the "auto" is much more productive than "playing for real". This really disappointed me.

If Capcom could just get some better scenario writers; someone to weed out the contradictions of their own storylines, and someone to make this a little less "out of left field" and a bit more logical progression towards the truth, this could be fun for a larger audience.

And so, we come to the conclusion, and that conclusion is a sad one: stick with Links 2004, Hotshots Golf 3, Hotshots Golf Fore!, or even Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. At least those games had rewarding gameplay.

While I totally think the game could have been a hundred fold better by corrected the AI issue, it is still a safe buy for most gamers and recommended for novice to intermediate RTS fans.

If you're just a passive Pokémon fan looking for a new pickup, this isn't worth it for you. Stick with Ruby or Sapphire, and that will be plenty of Pokémon for you. Remaking a game that is only 6 years old just smacks of laziness, and Pokémon fans deserve better.

No matter how much fun I had while playing through Academy, I could never shake the feeling that I was playing an expansion pack to Outcast rather than a full-fledged sequel.

If you're just a passive Pokémon fan looking for a new pickup, this isn't worth it for you. Stick with Ruby or Sapphire, and that will be plenty of Pokémon for you. Remaking a game that is only 6 years old just smacks of laziness, and Pokémon fans deserve better.

The game will probably be remembered the same way that the original Tecmo Bowl was. It was a fun game with revolutionary features at the time, but in the end it will be known for some underdeveloped features that were corrected and surpassed in later versions.

If only the game weren't so expensive, the added cost of the bongos notwithstanding, I'd be able to recommend it in a heartbeat, but the relative brevity and light difficulty keep me from being able to recommend Jungle Beat as anything other than a solid rental.

Mario Power Tennis certainly has a lot going for it, but there are several factors that keep it from being truly enjoyable, most notably the lack of a decent doubles mode, the problematic Power shot, and the poor menu navigation.

As the sequel to the excellent Syberia, it is quite disappointing. The story is too segmented to be enjoyable, the puzzles are not as rewarding as in the first part and most importantly, the game fails to elicit the same kind of emotional response from the player that its predecessor did.

While not a very good fighting game, a very minimal puzzle game and a boring RPG – The total package is truly more than the sum of its parts.

Sure you can play 3-player ad-hoc, but why pay for 3 copies of what basically amounts to each one of you getting the side of the cabinet with the busted controller?

An ambitious game that tries to do something different, but ends up being more of a generic beat-‘em-up that really just isn’t that much fun to play.

Probably the worst game of the year, and definitely on my top 20 worst games ever. It was truly disappointing. The bottom line here is that the game was severely rushed.

A huge disappointment.

It had the best story in a game in a long time and an incredible voice acting effort. Unfortunately, the worst engine coding I’ve seen in a long time, along with simple quality control issues, bog it down.

A decidedly average Star Wars game that is extremely fun as a rental, but wears thin with repeated play.

If you have a friend on your list who enjoyed "Katamari Damacy," but hasn't played Incredible Crisis yet, and you're looking for an new zany challenge for them to mess with, you might want to pop over to your local game store and see if they're got a copy of this used.

If you're going to buy a copy of the game and can meet its intimidating PC sys. requirements (128 mb video, need an Nvidia FX 5700 or better, or the Radeon equivalent), get that. Otherwise, the X-Box version is probably your next best bet.

As far as replay value is concerned, Def Jam: Vendetta has absolutely none. Zilch. Once you run through the story mode with the four playable characters, that pretty much ends it.

As much as I loved the game, I hated it. What could have been is just that... could have been. Is it recommended? No question about it.

In the final tally, this game gets put above "Prince of Qin" in the battle for most like, but not quite "Diablo II."

Now that it's over, however, it's obvious that the game will disappoint people looking for an RPG on the 360 that's truly on the level of Final Fantasy.

NCAA Football 07 for the Xbox 360 adds a layer of high definition polish to a franchise that was beginning to feel a bit to familiar year-to-year on the Xbox and PlayStation 2.

The AI-controlled team mates are shockingly ineffective. They have the power; they have the abilities. Why can’t they take matters into their own hands more often, then?

Supposing that anyone of a mature age does have the patience to endure the yelling and whining of little girls (in English AND Japanese!!), a serious strategist won't be happy with this one.

Then there's stuff that's just disgraceful to Asian people in general. For instance, Li Mei looks like she's a drug-addled prostitute. And this is before she gets punched in the face.

If you like to play, you’ll find great teaching utilities to improve your game, as well as a powerful system to challenge you. If you have no interest in chess whatsoever, steer clear.

A game that has “only above average” written all over it.

I have to say that I personally liked this better than "VF4," but they were both a bit disappointing overall.

"Gun-porn" turns out to be the most accurate descriptor anyone slapped onto the game. I mean, how many times can you rewatch the same bit of pr0n before you're completely unstimulated by it? It's intense for the first experience, but completely diminishing returns every time after that.

With some better graphics and sound this could have really been an impressive title.

For some reason, I could not tear myself away from playing this game...I got through the game in about six hours under the normal mode.

I found the gameplay elements in Head On to get stale, even with the infrastructure gameplay in place.

Another major complaint I have about the control that bears mentioning is that the machinations one must go through to flip or spin are extremely annoying at best.