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.

I LOVE the fact that the engine works this good, and I would be perfectly fine with it being used for the next 3 or 4 games....but they shouldn't be charging $50.

For the hardcore gamer. There's quite a lot of quality and thought put behind it, and the best part is that the game's ending leads to very exciting idea of what must be in the third edition of the game.

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.

You’ll get at least 30 hours of play time out of the main quest, and that’s assuming you don’t stop to smell any of the roses along the way.

The duet mode extends the replay value of the game considerably and the solid playlist will keep people happy for a long time.

Konami’s act of reconciliation for the original version. It makes up for all of the flaws of part one, and is even an improvement upon the few things that the original got right. The game is indeed difficult, but for the right reasons.

Forget what the magazines say about Smackdown, because I can guarantee you not one of those brainwashers dissected this game the way I did just now.

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.

If you already own the original, this is a must have. If you don't own the original; shame on you. Pick up Ghost Recon and the expansion in one swoop.

It is easy to pick up and play, the controls are tight, and there is plenty to do and the online mode works well for those of you looking to do a little online racing. You couldn't ask for much more out of any one game.

An outstanding adventure game. The story is engrossing and authentic. While quite linear, it is very well told, and it almost feels like you are watching a movie where you play the lead role.

After playing online, say goodbye to your social life, and also the 12 mission single-player attempt.

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.

I enjoyed it more than the original, and for $19.99 it's a total steal for an expansion.

Visually, it's understandable that Zipper had to make some compromises in exchange for the larger levels. As a result, SOCOM 3 looks no better than previous installments to the series and in some areas less so.

There are just enough extras and different modes to really make this game a must-have.

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.

The game falls short of becoming a classic simply due to the simplistic control and combat system.

Mario Kart Wii is fairly fun, although I do have to wonder how much play it will get in single-player mode. In multiplayer, you just have a blast with your friends.

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

Ice Station Santa is a huge step in the right direction for the Sam and Max franchise.

While not perfect, Syberia is one of the best games of the year, and is destined to become a legend in years to come. Grab it while you can, and enjoy.

It is by far the most well rounded SOCOM game and delivers extended replay value both online and off.

It's not a bad game, it's just nothing new or mind-blowing. It is, most certainly, still a truckload of fun.

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.

A good game to rent for a rainy weekend; you’ll certainly get $5 of fun out of the game, and you should be done with it one way or the other by the time it needs to go back.

I would place this one up there with "Xenogears" and "Grandia" as the three must buy RPGs for the system.

The game isn't pretty and can be frustrating when the A.I. decides there's no bleeping way you're winning a fight, but an addictive battle system and surprisingly in-depth RPG elements will keep most players interested for a long time.

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.

A fine game of college basketball from top to bottom. The feature set in the game is robust and the graphical upgrades help to take advantage of the Xbox 360’s hardware and make this version of the game distinct from the PlayStation 2 version.

If you have lots of different people to play with NHL Hitz 2003 might make for a worthwhile purchase, since the length and skill level are just right for a quick pick-up game with friends.

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.

Everything a great hockey game should be, but the presentation lacks the luster a license from Hockey Night in Canada should have had.

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.

I don't want to see anyone play this badly built junk even once, let alone own it for the "joy" of multiple playthroughs. The single player experience was so bad I refused to even try the online mode. I don't want to see anyone else go through the pain of being tempted with such an immersive experience just to have it ripped away by the shortcomings of whoever was responsible for these game-breaking glitches.

The graphics and the gameplay will surprise you immensely. It's not everyday that you see a title like this on a small screen. Duke Nukem Advance will take you by surprise. You heard right.

They’ve taken out the puzzle elements, and most of the humor that made the series so endearing. What’s left is pretty much just a whole lot of shooting, and this can potentially alienate a huge portion of Ratchet fans.

They manage to still be fun and they age marvelously well. It makes you wish that Capcom would dust off the cobwebs and make another game starring the classic Mega Man, and make it work right.

Frontline has slight edge over its PC counterpart in level design and cinematic style, though the graphics are not as sharp and the enemy AI is a lot dumber.

This is the best crowd animation that I have ever seen.

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.

By no means perfect, but the exciting gameplay and the multitude of features clearly overshadow any minor imperfections, making this a must-have game this season.

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.

The home city concept adds a new twist, making the game slightly more interested than it had been before.

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.

There's just too much repetition and too little variety for me to just recommend Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee to everyone...especially at $40.

It does give you the closest thing you can get to playing the card game without sucking your bank account dry, and the card game really doesn't need much added to it in order to be fun.

Far from perfect, but features some of the best elements in a game that I've seen in a long time.

If you’re thin on patience or hate puzzle games, Mario vs. Donkey Kong will likely just frustrate you, and you’re better off looking elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for something to stretch both your brain and your reflexes, give Mario vs. Donkey Kong a try.

It's hard to say why Episode III is an improvement over Episode II; it's kind of like trying to explain why a roast beef sandwich is better than a sucker-punch to the crotch.

Those that and can deal with the challenge and have the skill are still going to get a wide ride out of it that definitely worth the trip.

Definitely a fun rental, as long as you aren’t expecting it to be a hardcore flight sim. For airborne novices in particular, Secret Weapons is a blast, even if the difficulty is fairly light and the missions short.

At its core, it’s fairly shallow, and you really need to come into this game liking Pokemon, or pinball, or preferably both in order to get your money’s worth.

I love the series and the latest installment is worthy of a purchse...While I prefer the Dreamcast version a tad more.

It does seem, though, that the gamer who patiently waits for all the episodes to come out, and then plays them in one long block is going to have a much more satisfying time, in my opinion.

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.

This unique RPG is among the best games available for either incarnation of Sony's game console and is an excellent addition to any gamer's collection. [Review Date: Sept 2005]

If you can't play online, this game's a 5/10. If you can't play online and are a fan of MechWarrior, the game's about a 3. Able to play online, an 8 in its current state, with the possibility of being a 9 if the kinks get worked out, and a 7 if they don't.

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.

A guilty little pleasure. It is easy to pick up and hard to put down. The open-ended gameplay makes for a unique experience for every player.

The small D-Pad dooms this game (as well as other fighters) from being a "Game of the Year" title... Pulling off these moves as well as combos, is the heart of any fighter and not doing so consistently nearly renders the game useless.

While I typically do not give a whole lot of credit for sports game that cram worn out music tracks, I have to admit the MLB 2006 sound track is pretty diverse in terms of music styles, which is good for representing a player's at-bat music.

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.

Like all open-ended games, the true strength of Pirates! is its near-infinite replayability.

It retains everything you loved about the previous games and simply adds more content.

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?

Like its predecessor, DX2:IW is stunning both in technology and in design, and should be required playing for anyone interested in the evolution of gaming.

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.

This game misses the point and misses it badly. At first glance, the barely above average graphics, the hip-hop version of NFL uniforms, and the bone cracking sound during gameplay certainly seem like the game will have potential. But for the reasons stated in this review, no serious football gamer will play this longer than a week.

Like in any game requiring human co-operation, it’s only as good as the people you play it with, but for those who put the time and effort into getting the crew together on, say, a weekly basis, you’ll find a game worthy of the Final Fantasy name.

Probably the best game expansion released in 2002. It offers more gameplay than many full-priced games.

The adventure mode is engrossing and fun to play even for those who don't like chess, because it plays more like a good turn-based strategy.

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.

Gamers hoping for the next GoldenEye will be dissapointed with Frontline's mediocre multiplayer, but will have no trouble falling in love with the solid one player campaign mode. As far as first person shooters on the GameCube go, Medal of Honor: Frontline is pretty dang good.

What War of the Monsters lacks in story depth, it more than makes up for in presentation. One thing that the designers really took to heart was the B-movie atmosphere.

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.

Although this game is not the greatest golf game I have ever played, it is one of the deeper ones I have cracked. With a fun yet challenging offline mode and fun Xbox Live action, this game will be in my console for a few months.

The gameplay formula is as tight and rewarding as ever, and the slightly dated graphics can be forgiven thanks to an innovative approach to the story, logical gameplay mechanics and excellent level design.

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.

With a lack of worthwhile online capabilities and bonuses for various in-game performances, Geometry Wars Galaxies isn't a perfect evolution of a truly old-school game. However, to make up for it, it packs in plenty of excellent action that is easy to grasp and has something for all skill levels.

While it can be tough at some points and a bit difficult to master everything in the first hour, it’s a great gaming experience and besides, that genie Ruby is kinda cute.

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.

A blast for most of the first disc, and then quickly tapered off as the game pulled a "Xenogears," Disc 2 and turned into a movie with button presses. It’s not quite as bad as Xenogears, but still, when you have a story and dialogue that isn’t exactly going to knock your socks off, gameplay is what saves your game’s proverbial bacon.