Not only do you get a nice and colorful manual with your copy of "RayCrisis", but a decent shooter to add to the small quality library of shooters available on that system.

The derivative visuals, unoriginal gameplay, bare-bones multiplayer mode and annoying BGM make this an amusing weekend rental, but that’s it.

The linearity, repetitiveness, price and absence of a second player to share the experience with, however, dramatically drain Crisis Zone’s long-term appeal.

That's the best part about this game -- it's easy to just pick up and play.

Rumble Roses' knockout visuals, spot-on control and near-flawless execution of an outrageous premise flirt with greatness. Lack of depth, repetitive moves, and horrendous voice-overs hold back Konami's chances of giving "Smackdown! Vs. Raw" a run for its money.

Too bad the compromised level design, quirky collision detection (I can buy Nazi zombies roaming around, NOT Nazi zombies suspended in mid-air while roaming about) and absence of multiplayer modes make this version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein the one to skip.

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.

Who ever thought Atari Jaguar owners would still be playing the best Alien Vs. Predator videogame ever made EIGHT YEARS after their system's death? A rental for the curious, Extinction is as forgettable an RTS game as they come.

The low price (under $20) and handful of AAA classics still manage to make this an appealing purchase proposition IF you can tolerate its noticeable shortcomings and/or have an appreciation for the industry's history.

It's Midway's over-the-top-and-drop-dead-funny execution of the genre's conventions, however, that give the game a dose of personality that makes it stand out.

Despite its steep learning curve and simplistic online races, offline Modellista’s Garage mode is perhaps the third-deepest Career-like mode I’ve ever experienced on a racing game (after "GT3: A-Spec’s" and "Sega GT 2002’s" for XBox).

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.

Although its graphics are dated and its sounds poor MIDI-like compositions, your imagination and your patience are the only limits to what you (and only YOU) can achieve in the game.

The physics and feel of the cars is great, meanwhile the visuals are strictly last generation... Definitely not what we expected and not worthy of the PS2 name.

A by the books sequel that takes playing it safe to a new level. Come on guys this easily could have been done on the PS One and it probably should have.

One hell of a disappointment and one of the worst experiences I've ever had to endure on my shiny DVD-playing black box.

Frame-rate and control issues are too overwhelming a couple of strikes for yours truly to overlook.

Battlestar Galactica's biggest flaw is a brutal difficulty level that will make grown men (and women) cry and beg for their mommy. Graphics, sound and control are definitely top notch though.

Not for every baseball videogame player, but a must-play by baseball purists.

Compared with the sights/sounds/gameplay of "MGS2", the technical flaws that were present on the N64 version (and haven't been fixed in this PS2 port) stand-out like a sore thumb on Roger Ebert's hand (there's a lovely image for you!).

While shy of “Virtua Fighter 4” perfection (a lot of elements from the first “Budokai” engine are recycled) Budokai 2 is easily the best videogame to have ever been spawned from Akira Toriyama’s animated universe.

Graphics and sound are saddled with an odd ‘cartoony’ vibe and powered by an outdated engine though.

A fun game but its not "Ridge Racer." "Ridge Racer" always complimented the "GT" series well but with this game its two trying to be in the same vein.

It also carries the baggage of dated graphics, cumbersome controls and scavenger hunt mentality that was all the rage (get it?) back in 1999.

One sweet and fun "Spyro"-like (game) for PSX owners with a sense of humor.

The programmers behind Neo Contra make some puzzling changes to the series’ classic formula that shoot the whole project to hell. It’s as if KCET ("Gradius V") wanted to destroy Contra instead of reviving it.

Unlike "Madden 2004" and "ESPN NFL 2K4" though, one doesn’t get the feeling when playing GameDay 2004 that the developers pushed themselves (or their game) to the PS2's theoretical limit. Cool online football experience though!

With a deeper single-player mode and less silly WWF-like antics, "World Destruction League" truly puts the thunder in "Thunder Tanks" with enough firepower to level a small country (four-player brawls are guaranteed to satisfy). Give me less cheese and more caviar next time 3DO.

Some people (myself included) just can’t stand games with graphics as choppy and visually butchered as this one.

Unfortunately all the fun was vacuum sucked out for a more serious tone.

Without the uniqueness of being a blood-sucking mosquito this game would be a clunky action/flying hybrid that'd be closer to first-generation Dreamcast software than PS2-caliber material.

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

Buggy, clunky, littered with minute-long loading pauses (the tell-tale sign of a PC-to-console port gone bad) and framey as hell, this action title at least has a pretty cool premise that is enhanced by a well-told story and very good sound.

We already have a great title here that is quite a surprise and should be on any "Crash Bandicoot" fan's list.

Besides gameplay modes (which are plentiful), the title comes up short in just about every category that EA’s “FIFA” 32-bit titles have been polishing for years now.

"Devil May Cry Lite" would have been a more appropriate name for this somewhat-successful attempt by Capcom’s Studio 6 to add mild RPG trappings to a genre known for button-masher frenzies.

It's fine for now, but you better love pool or be ready to spend time learning 'english' all over again.

I'd like a more memorable and challenging shooter for my hard-earned dough. Call me crazy.

Continues to uphold Infogrames’ tradition of low-key but fun Looney Tunes videogames that do justice to the license.

Good graphics, a short quest (by “RE” standards), mediocre music/sounds and a permanent sense that you’re playing an action game that’s trying to be a “House of the Dead”-type shooter (or is it a light-gun shooter that’s trying to be survival horror adventure?) diminish Dead Aim’s appeal as it moves along.

Control is atrocious, characters extremely odd and unappealing IMHO (your mileage may vary on this one), rewards for your trouble very minimal, graphics/sounds very underwhelming.

Remove the polished visuals, multiplayer options, cast of historic characters, gorgeous CG movies and nauseating English voice-overs from Koei’s "Dynasty Warriors" series. Add buckets of blood and a mostly-linear quest that seems lifted straight from the hit 2000 movie "Gladiator." Voala!

ESPN NFL Primetime 2002 just barely is ready for Primetime.

While the single player game is basic and ultimately boring, the game more than makes up for that with its online play.

It's a niche title, that if you're into the scooter thing you'll like. If not, it will seem a lot like a lesser version of "Grind Session." Not a prize winner, not a bad apple, just a nice little surprise for all the scooter fans out there.

Decent-looking and extremely fun,...fast, tough, fun and a solid 2D blast from the past that is priced just right at $30.

The best game in the series since the original. Online or off, the game has plenty of replay value, tons of weapons and cool levels and a player customization feature that rules. Don't be put off by the controls because they actually rock.

A breath of fresh air. Not because it's a good game, but because it's such a boring and ultimately unrewarding experience, and an easy-to-categorize example of a Japanese game simply NOT translating well into a localized English release.

Tolerate the fog, put-up with the controller and live with the repetition of dying over and over again, and you too will be hooked.

Though the graphics are miles below the photo-realistic polygon bodies in “Beach Spikers” (GameCube), “DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball” and “Outlaw Volleyball” (XBox) the control and gameplay are spot-on.

Playing Gungrave is like having great sex: an intense and thoroughly enjoyable experience while it lasts and you’re in the right state of mind (right B?). Unfortunately the experience isn’t too fulfilling and doesn’t last long-enough to justify paying $50 for it.

SCEA has pulled this one off by sticking to a formula that works mixed with the greatness of the movie.

I see the 2002 version as losing what was decent enough control in the original, but surpassing it in every other way.

With its bland, repetive gameplay, recycled in-game graphics, mid-battle slowdown, and awkwardly placed musical insertions, it's hard for the game's better features to really shine.

If you have the equipment (2 USB Mice, I-Link Cable, 2 TV's and 2 PS2's) and a friend you can find some unique and worthy gameplay.

If you love this series on PC then stick to it there because the essence of what makes HMM is just hinted at on PS2.

Paying thirty bucks for the privilege of seeing/playing the best-looking 'Woody' ever pulled out of thin air is still too high a price for such a generic, dead-average, inoffensive, platform-hopping and scavenger-hunting single-player experience.

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.

"Street Fighter EX3" has the awkward distinction of being the best-looking "EX" game in the series, but the worst-looking brawler in comparison to its competitors' robust engines.

No, this game doesn’t suck, but it has so little new that you can’t help shake the feeling that it’s old hat and maybe a bit played out.

Controls like its SNK 2D predecessors but lacks meaningful gameplay modes (besides standard one’s) or stellar graphics that would make anyone but hardcore SNK fanboys (and girls!) take notice of its arrival.

It's dissapointing that the characters weren't more varied in capabilities.

I enjoyed the control, graphics and missions designs but ultimately felt the game grew a bit repetitive.

Easily the best console Simpsons game ever. Considering that the lot it’s in is comprised primarily of crap that isn’t surprising but the fact that I like this game better than Crazy Taxi might be.

Looks and plays exactly like what it is: recycled PC code from a couple of years ago coming back to steal $50 from you.

Marred by technical issues (slowdown galore, jagged edges, simplistic-to-a-fault level design) that make it third-best behind the GameCube and Xbox versions.

A pleasant surprise that matches its lowly selling price. You truly get what you pay for here.

A good one despite its dated appearance and wonky handling of the character's movement...captures the magical nature of its license quite well.

It's the closest thing to "Super Smash Bros." that the PSOne will ever get, and based on the compromised look of the graphics on display here that's probably a good thing.

Two arcade perfect ports of games that will get stale within a short few minutes. Back then, way back then, this may have been revolutionary but on the PS2 it's almost like an insult to the grown intelligence of gamers.

Add to that the lethargic pace of the action, inconsequential storyline and ridiculous outfits/items (which are an acquired taste at best), and this RPG sinks rather quickly into the ever-growing pool of dead-average RPG's trying to cash on the genre's ever-growing popularity.

A shame, because the production values are in place for something far better than what is actually delivered.

Rent it, beat it, forget it ever existed and start drooling over the upcoming "Winback" remake.

The pinpoint difficulty of the proceedings also limits the game’s appeal to either small children that will play anything or hardcore “Crash” fans from the PSOne era.

While its bonus features (interviews, commercials, etc.) and interface far outclass those in "Midway Arcade Treasures" the 60+ Intellivision titles in this compilation lack a single breakthrough star of the caliber of a "Joust" or "Robotron 2084."

Underneath its dated graphics and insipid BGM/sound effects there is a very fun and challenging racing game in need for something special to justify its existence on PS2.

The plainness of its visuals, the flatness of its dialogue and the linearity of its gameplay, however, leave Shadow of Apokolips near the bottom of the PS2 superhero pack.

Surf Riders stinks! My only consolation to the unfortunate surfing fanatic deprived of his/her virtual wave simulation is that things aren't any better over on the PS2, where "Surfing H30" reigns supreme as king of what's bad about games. Bummer!

Suikoden IV’s unimpressive graphics, generic audio (except for the voice-overs), infuriating battle frequency and watered-down strategy (less party members = less variety of attack combos) aren’t going to cut it in 2005.

Rent it and relive all what's good (length, challenge, graphics) and bad (control, pixelation, difficulty, puzzles) about one of the PSX's best action series ever.

Much like the original "Legacy of Kain," this title's quest mode has a really cool, creepy story that kept me wanting to see more and more as I took my little demoness through.

Too short and easy for grown-ups but just about right for the target audience of both the books and the Jim Carrey movie currently out in theaters.

I really like SS and will pull it out of the shelf once every few moons, when I'm about three dozen other PS2 games shy of suggesting you spend $50 for it, when the same price tag can get you a discounted "House of the Dead 2" and third-party lightgun for your Dreamcast.

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

A multi-player friendly exercise in acrobatic lunacy and dunking maneuvers.

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.

Despite unresponsive controls and average graphics riddled with a jerky frame-rate (elements that would normally kill any racing game’s enjoyment) Blazin’ Trails delivers a surmountable and fun but challenging struggle for first place.

Digital Integration has coded a lethargic, boring and snooze-inducing series of missions (about 30 of them) that are as unoriginal as they are predictably competent.

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

Time for everyone involved with this series to either evolve or move on, and leave TXR 3 for the flat-broke and/or uneducated casual gamer that doesn't know any better. Worth a shot (preferably as a rental) if you’ve never played a "TXR" game before this one.

It's a great multiplayer game for parties, especially with those non-gamer types.

One of the better family-friendly brawlers we’ve ever come across for PS2, Tom and Jerry comes highly recommended for young and old alike.

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

The low asking price and endearing charm of the Rayman universe prevent this decent attempt at a story-less “Rayman 2” spinoff from completely bombing out

Let's just hope that everyone goes back to the drawing board on PlayStation 2, and bring to the fans the ultimate and ORIGINAL "SW" experience they were denied on the 32-bit era.

It might take place underwater and feature fish instead of flesh-and-bone characters (or furry one’s like “Monster Inc.’s” Sully), but gameplay in THQ’s first Disney Interactive title is as cookie cutter as the mold used by Traveller’s Tales to fulfill its contractual obligations.

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.

A fun and unique title that stands out from the crowd of sequels and me-too clones. Coupled with good gameplay and fantastic control and it's the first big hit for Take 2 on the PS2.