Outdated graphics, an unfriendly (but ultimately bearable) control scheme and a shockingly bad (i.e. incomplete) localization make Ultimate Battle 22 the lesser alternative to “Budokai."

No, Mobile Light Force 2”doesn’t come anywhere near the overhead 2D shooting perfection that is Treasure’s one-two hit combination of “Ikaruga” (GameCube) and “Radiant Silvergun” (Sega Saturn).

Worth replaying a thousand times over just to experience the balance of eye-candy, time-tested gameplay and soothing-without-grating music/sound effects.

Too short, its puzzles are laughably easy, it's too expensive for the limited replay value it offers and it doesn't break any new ground for the survival horror genre.

Worth a rental just to gawk in awe at how the Japanese perceive the people and culture living in the red states of the United States of America (AKA Bush country).

THQ is selling "WWE Crush Hour" for a mere twenty bucks, which is an accurate reflection of the game’s all-around mediocrity in graphics, sound and playability.

Gorgeous visuals (slowdown notwithstanding), a killer Franchise mode, adequate commentary, smart A.I. decisions and a mid-game save option (yes!) compensate for WSB 2K3's small amount of pitches (compared to "High Heat 2004"), awkward replays, average control and stat tracking that still can't touch 3DO's baseball sim.

Features the most dramatic and gameplay-enhancing improvements yet seen in this series.

Rough, outlandish and a hell of a lot of fun.

Easily the best Soccer game out there for any platform and even moreso one of the BEST sports games on the market. This is "FOOTBALL" the way it's meant to be.

As good as the control and visual re-enactment of the real-life planes come across in Aero Elite, AM2 and Sega drop the ball somewhat when the players become proficient armchair pilots and start itching for new challenges beyond those of the Training missions.

It feels like a port of the series rather than a whole new engine.

Scores major points with its new graphics engine (gorgeous), two-man commentary (perfect) and revamped pitcher/batter interfaces (serviceable).

Cel shading has never been as underplayed and better used in a PS2 game as in this one, and even the English dub and J-pop tunes fit like a glove with The 2nd Runner's anime-inspired universe.

A deeper, more challenging and ultimately more rewarding driving experience than "Auto Modellista” (PS2) or “Apex” (XBox).

The ultimate “MGS” fan’s dream come true. And, with Solid Snake now front and center throughout the proceedings (Snake Tales anyone?), this “MGS” sequel can be enjoyed the way it was meant to: with as little Raiden as possible!

Good graphics, solid controls, decent sound (including purposefully-campy English dialogue) and mucho replayability (especially from its two-player mode) make Wrath of Heaven the best Tenchu game of the trilogy.

The fielding, hitting and baserunning still play second-fiddle to the intimidating pitcher interface though.

Deeper-than-a-Bible-sermon battle commands, philosophical in nature, cinematic by choice and at times infuriatingly self-absorbed (non-interactive 45 min. cutscenes??!!), Monolith Software’s first chapter in what will be a multi-chapter episodic RPG arc has to be admired, reviled and thoroughly experienced from start to finish.

A valiant attempt at creating a serene and relaxed scavenger hunt.

Playing this is the closest videogames have come to perfectly re-enacting the mind duel between pitcher and batter.

Good-looking stuff even if what most gamers will recall from their time with Dragon Quarter is being blinded by the darkness and a PSOne-sponsored shade of the color brown.

It’s no "Wind Waker" (then again, what is?) but, in its own quiet and subtle way, developer Level-5’s dungeon-clearing RPG is as amusing and polished an entry into the genre as anything Miyamoto has designed for the past two generations of Nintendo consoles.

Strictly for fanboys, PS2 library completists or masochists in search for a higher-than-normal threshold of pain in their interactive diet.

From stiff control to appalling graphics and horrible English voice-overs, Disaster Report is a small-scale disaster in and of itself... It’s surprisingly fun to play despite its numerous flaws.

Epic in scope but technically flawed (particularly in its framey and load-happy PS2 incarnation), Vexx is begging for a much-improved sequel.

By being forced to set-up a premise that MIGHT evolve into something interesting in the long haul, ".hack's" storyline drags and plays second-fiddle to average-at-best (and done better elsewhere), random-dungeon clearing RPG fodder.

If they can continue this pattern we just might have the best soccer game next year.

For the select few PS2 owners that would rather role play World War II military masterminds and relive real-life Mediterranean air/sea battles "P.T.O. IV" is a Godsend.

I’d rather replay the boring parts of “Code: Veronica X” or the entirety of Agetec’s “Disaster Report” (a shitty-looking survival game we’re also reviewing today) than suffer through one more minute of Galerians: Ash’s broken gameplay and uninspired gameplay ideas.

How willing you are to invest time and effort into mastering Guilty Gear X2’s intimidating (and deep) list of moves and potential combos will determine whether this will be a casual distraction or your next obsession.

There simply isn’t lots to do once all the fighters have been unlocked and the stories for each virtual fighter have been experienced.

Someone over at Blade Interactive must have been asleep at the wheel when coding this game's sound effects and music.

One of the most enjoyable (and expensive!) guilty pleasures of 2003 so far, but one that falls short of its predecessor’s ahead-of-its-time greatness.

Speaking of gameplay this is where the title just can't manage to break out from the norm. What we needed here was something full of new ideas, not just a revolution of the ideas already given in previous games.

Probably more fun than any other game released in the last half of 2002.

Competent but unoriginal.

A really nice mix of "Powerstone" and "Rampage."

Hardcore fans of this Koei action series will be in affordable expansion pack heaven, since Xtreme Legends delivers more of what made “DW3” such a challenging and amusing button-masher of a 3D “Final Fight” clone.

A decent-enough scavenger hunt to amuse youngsters for quite a few hours of simple and repetitive item-gathering and level-clearing fun.

Not only is Seek and Destroy's ratio of gameplay miles-per-dollar better in Conspiracy's latest PS2 import ($10 worth), but the multiplayer options and light-hearted atmosphere don't take themselves the least bit seriously.

Not even a framey and slightly-buggy engine (collision detection issues galore!) can prevent this title from being a must-own recommendation for Star Wars buffs.

What Bam!'s 2001 release "Driven" should have, but wasn't: a good racing engine tied to an unfolding story.

A competent but no-frills rendition of a racing sport that put as much emphasis in the tweaking of the vehicle being raced as in the all-too-quick races themselves.

It flirts awfully close with being a mindless button-masher, but Budokai embraces its “Dragon Ball Z” license with a passion and eye for little details that’ll surely make hardcore fans of the series flip from joy.

Easily the best NCAA basketball game in ages.

It’s an OK military shooter that just can’t measure up to the likes of “Red Faction II” or “Timesplitters 2” in variety, options and replayability.

Consider this a toddler’s indoctrination into future TEEN rated fare like “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 9” and “Stuntman 4.”

Competent but inferior to its souped-up competitors, Final Four 2003 is an amusing weekend rental at best.

There is a brain-dead appeal to the desperate way Konami has reinvented its struggling “ESPN Winter X-Games Snowboarding” franchise into a “Road Rash” clone.

Wrestler models are detailed and life-like when standing still, but prone to slowdown and awkward-looking animation when moving.

This classic next-generation action experience overflows with class and attention to detail, welcoming 80’s veterans and young newcomers into its pseudo-intellectual (!) interpretation of classic Greek motifs and 3D action platforming.

I don’t think my heartbeat rate rose above that of a dead corpse even once while playing Whiteout.

Mystic Heroes is to “DW 2 & 3” what “Virtua Fighter Kids” is to “Virtua Fighter 2” and “Twisted Metal Small Brawl” is to “Twisted Metal Black”: a Super Deformed take on the same hack-and-slash 3D gameplay from its grown-up predecessor.

Even faithful fans of the TV show will have to extract their Powerpuff Girls fix from the far superior motion picture DVD than this hellish misfire.

The implementation of “NBA Live 2003’s” Freestyle Control doesn’t mesh perfectly with this particular engine’s loose physics. The sameness of the b-ball courts and annoying cutscenes from “Live 2003” don’t help the cause either.

What few vehicles/locations the game has have been rendered and programmed with enough care to make them come across as genuine labors of love.

A handful of neat fire and particle special effects can’t hide the fluctuating frame-rate, generic track design and lack of originality that permanently doom Drome Racers to PS2 inconsequentiality.

Highly recommended IF you’re old-enough to afford waxing nostalgically about the good old Atari VCS days.

Shox’s handful of self-titled innovations (Shox Zone, Shox wave, etc.) and good-looking engine can’t quite save it from its repetitive three-lap gameplay, cheating A.I. and sticker Shox price tag (sorry, couldn’t help it!).

Dreadful, boring and not featuring an iota of the excitement and intensity found in its motion picture counterpart, Minority Report disappoints at every turn.

The best part is to finally be able to control a cool villain outside of the confined restrictions of a shooter or fighting game.

Its precariously short length (half-a-dozen brief stages plus Boss battles) and exorbitant price ($60 packed with a GunCon 2 and $45-50 by itself) couldn’t have come at a worst time.

Learn to live with the darn “Tonight Show”-type BGM tunes, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s over-the-top madness will win you over as well.

Few licensed videogames have captured the essence of their source material as well as Rage Software has captured the heart and soul, not to mention the over-the-top style of the boxing matches, that makes a “Rocky” movie click.

Predictably-competent (but soulless and extremely short).

Not even fans of the cancelled TV show will find anything remotely resembling fun or enticing gameplay in Dark Angel to justify the rental expense.

Short, flawed, repetitive and derivative (“May Payne” anyone?).

What we have here is a great engine and design screaming for some character and story help.

Of the twelve tetra-trillion "Rugrats" videogames released since the TV show went on the air in the mid-70’s (sarcasm anyone?), Royal Ransom is easily the best.

The controls are tight, the graphics good and the hidden stuff down by the Krypt ranges from junk to outstanding.

XXX is designed in such a linear way that the game grows boring and repetitive due to its lackluster rewards (censored stripper videos) and outdated engine.

Not only did “The Chamber of Secrets” NOT turn me into a Harry Potter consumer (which I wasn’t prior to playing it), but it has made me shun away from playing any PS2 games aimed at children for a good long while.

Offers enough “Zelda”-type gameplay and production values to make it a PSOne standout.

It’s asinine game design to attempt single-screen multiplayer with code that isn’t PS2 optimized to begin with.

There’s nothing in Skateboarding's control, look, sound or execution that comes even remotely close to looking like the game was made with PlayStation 2 technology in mind.

There’s a solid bone of a structure in this low-end programming tool, however, that is guaranteed to occupy and challenge the mindset of the committed faithful.

A middle-of-the-road rally game.

Delivers a zero-frills interpretation of a board game that is best enjoyed with friends gathered around a table, NOT a TV set hooked up to a PS2.

In the end yours truly would rather park his limited NASCAR interest in Tiburon’s garage than Monster Games'.

Everything that NHL 2003 does “NHL 2K3” can perform just as well, except for the fancy presentation aspects that EA Sports has polished to near-perfection (and which Sega Sports is still learning to implement properly).

Unapologetic about being old-school hard... It’s a rude awakening to how soft and cuddled the masses have become toward games that demand as much from them as they do from the game-makers.

The charm of being original is worn off leaving us with more of the same. ATV Offroad 2 is enjoyable but not really much of a change.

The game generally just tightens up many spots to make it a contender this year. Of course with other offerings out there, 989 still might be your third or fourth.

Little children or people with no desire to experience innovative gameplay take notice; Enter the Dragonfly has your number dialed.

Rarely does a 3D action game become more fun to beat after its been completed a first or second time. That’s exactly what R&C and its truckload of gizmos delivers.

Once you've made the Meganite under your control turn an invading Volgara robot into junkyard fodder a couple of times the hook will be in.

Its short length and lack of visual polish keep Zapper well below the charm and fun of its predecessors.

Its dead-average platforming thrills, low asking price and beyond over-the-top visual style are this game’s saving graces.

It features one mother of an expanded Create-a-Wrestler mode, a deep Season mode and almost as many gameplay modes as there are wrestlers.

Lacks the true simulation aspects of PC titles, but at least the series now plays, sounds, looks and controls as close to perfection as humanly possible.

It’s graphics notwithstanding, this is THE PS2 title XBox and GameCube loyalists will jealously write angrily about to Santa in their Christmas letters.

A knockoff game but one well enough done in the abscence of a new version of the game it's imitating to warrant your time.

Delivers the goods big time despite not delivering the ‘Revolution’ its title promises.

The perfect April Fool's present for people that like to waste fifty bucks (or countless hours of their life) staring at a 'Loading' sign.

Its deep plot, decent battle system and engaging character personalities make Suikoden III an easy choice for players that value story-telling prowess over flashy visuals.

Definitely a solid game and the best in the series, just a tiring genre that is no longer as exciting as it once was.

The redesigned mission structure and expanded universe of tricks from the next-generation installments of Tony Hawk 4 made the cut.