Interestingly enough, EA has served up a baseball title that will keep you interested in hardball. Nuanced controls like the Pure Swing System let you toggle the left thumbstick of your controller to dig out low pitches, reach for a hanging curve or, in our case, just fan the air where you thought the ball should have appeared.

The best game set in the X-Men universe yet.

Mindless hack-and-whack style gameplay stays hot thanks to interesting objectives. Spartan is constantly throwing new gameplay elements at you.

This year's Tiger feels more complex and sophisticated than ever. Putting is more challenging (e.g., total bitch)... Yet, the game is still accessible to armchair golfers, thanks to those welcome arcade-y touches.

Everything from the official team rosters to the detailed fields and even to the smoke bombs set off in the grandstands at Wembley Stadium keep your head in the game.

The player renderings are nothing short of unbelievable. We don’t know how many polygons they used to make every sneering taunt and celebration come to life, but we can assure you, it’s somewhere between a lot and a shitload.

Playing this hyperactive hoops sim is like fast-forwarding your way through a Spike Lee–directed Nike commercial while beer-bonging a liter of Jolt cola.

Between the massive boss encounters and hours of swinging around Manhattan, you’re in for at least a week of play.

The spicy, tangy combination of third-person action and real-time strategy is unlike anything we've played before.

Hiding in the bushes and setting "whip" traps with branches, then watching guards walk into them is old-fashioned, sadistic fun. But the game doesn't really hit its stride until its second half, when your inner wild-child side surfaces, and you start tearing ass around the jungle like the wolfman after guzzling a keg of hard cider.

Deadlocked makes it easy to see why the series' third-person gameplay is the best in the business. Buy.

The best boxing game in the business keeps getting better.

Like the Swiss Army Knife, Up Your Arsenal does it all and even includes a decent online battle mode, as well as a corkscrew and a tiny pair of scissors.

Nuanced controls like the Pure Swing System let you toggle the left thumbstick of your controller to dig out low pitches, reach for a hanging curve or, in our case, just fan the air where you thought the ball should have appeared.

Sure, we've played this sort of game before - Burnout, Twisted Metal, Full Auto, etc. - but could you actually leap from car to car in slow-motion in those games? Answer: No, you couldn't.

Unfortunately, you can't play Tekken 5 online—say it isn't so!—but the easy-on-the-eyes Nina Williams can still kick our fat, pale asses any old day of the week. We love you Nina!

By far the biggest innovation is the massive, explorable cityscape, complete with secret garages and locals hankering for a drag race. The only truly unforgivable flaw is the cornball dialogue.

The player renderings are nothing short of unbelievable. We don't know how many polygons they used to make every sneering taunt and celebration come to life, but we can assure you, it's somewhere between a lot and a shitload.

High-def heads will benefit from the 480p progressive scan support. The rest of you will just have to keep squinting and hating people who own nice TVs.

Making a name for youself by climbing the game's Black List, aka series of bad-ass mo-fos you must beat, is good fun.

Playing this hyperactive hoops sim is like fast-forwarding your way through a Spike Lee–directed Nike commercial while beer-bonging a liter of Jolt cola.

With a harrowing 16-mission single-player experience, and monstrous multiplayer arenas, this disc is worthy of your hard-earned per diem, grunt.

As far as sequels go, Fight for NY is to "Vendetta" what "The Empire Strikes Back" was to "Star Wars."

Mindless hack-and-whack style gameplay stays hot thanks to interesting objectives. Spartan is constantly throwing new gameplay elements at you.

Advanced Warfighter on the 360 is so beautiful, we actually dry-humped our conference room TV set. And yes, it was the closest we've come to having an actual relationship in several years.

Elaborate levels and the multiple paths you can take to solve them go a long way in making you forget about the lack of narrative element.

Running missions for the factions is compelling enough, but the real fun comes from hunting down the Deck of 52-the 52 baddest guys in the game. The first handful totally roll over with their Christmas hams in the air, but the latter guys will leave you begging for sweet, sweet mercy.

With six courses, 19-plus characters, and a hefty "Career" mode, this disc will knock "Lumines" out of your PSP (for a week or two at least).

An ultra in-depth Dynasty Mode and online capabilities will keep you playing until NCAA 2006, or at least until the new Madden comes out.

If your racing game strategy usually involves driving your car like the Death Mobile in "Animal House," you won't get far in Forza. Damage modeling affects your car's performance and even the slightest fender-bender can wreck your front-end alignment, which means your car will pull either left or right for the remainder of the race.

Wounded? Hit the Y button, and like a wet dog coming out of a lake, Stranger gets rid of his damage by shaking it off.

You’ll get at least 40 or 50 hours of game play, and that’s before you get to the mini-puzzles.

Playing this hyperactive hoops sim is like fast-forwarding your way through a Spike Lee–directed Nike commercial while beer-bonging a liter of Jolt cola.

Making a name for youself by climbing the game's Black List, aka series of bad-ass mo-fos you must beat, is good fun.

Unlocking new skins for the more than 40 available cars on the 90-plus tracks will keep you busy.

Once you tap into Xbox Live, you'd better get yourself an IV drip so you don't have to leave the couch…and a bedpan might be a good idea.

From the lush environments down to the rust on Optimus Prime’s fender, the graphics in Transformers are outstanding.

An ultra in-depth Dynasty Mode and online capabilities will keep you playing until NCAA 2006, or at least until the new Madden comes out.

Making a name for youself by climbing the game's Black List, aka series of bad-ass mo-fos you must beat, is good fun.

It's also a tiny bit dry for our tastes. We prefer laying rubber, doing donuts, and crashing into exploding oil tankers to finesse driving and engine tinkering, but that's just us.

The best boxing game in the business keeps getting better.

Nuanced controls like the Pure Swing System let you toggle the left thumbstick of your controller to dig out low pitches, reach for a hanging curve or, in our case, just fan the air where you thought the ball should have appeared.

Not for the timid, Psi-Ops features some flat-out nasty moments. Sneak up on enemies to drain their minds of psi energy and pop open their heads. Set some poor bastard on fire and he'll run around screaming.

Nuanced controls like the Pure Swing System let you toggle the left thumbstick of your controller to dig out low pitches, reach for a hanging curve or, in our case, just fan the air where you thought the ball should have appeared.

Running missions for the factions is compelling enough, but the real fun comes from hunting down the Deck of 52—the 52 baddest guys in the game. The first handful totally roll over with their Christmas hams in the air, but the latter guys will leave you begging for sweet, sweet mercy.

Most of the levels will give you the heebie-jeebies. Even if you didn't have to worry about ambushes by Imps and commando zombies, the dark environments should be enough to creep you out. The game is pure science fiction, but the structures and equipment seem plausible.

This is the fourth game in the series, and it's definitely the biggest, ballsiest, most nonsensical Burnout to date.

The best boxing game in the business keeps getting better.

Greg Gumble and Clark Kellogg do a nice job with postgame highlights and their "Selection Sunday" show lends real NCAA flavor to the proceedings. In the booth, Vern Lundquist and Bill Rafferty do a solid job of keeping commentary interesting.

The sequel to last year's third-person/real-time strategy game set in Star Wars land once again manages to be the 'Nam of Wars games. In other words, the disc does a heck of job of trying to make you feel like you're really "in the sh.t" on Coruscant.

If you get three other players involved and a nice warm bottle of Mad Dog or a fifth of Ripple for the discerning 'neck, you’re looking at days of game play.

The large number of cut scenes seems a little distracting at first, but once you get used to them, they add a lot of depth to the game.

Even though it offers the best online play Sony has to offer, it still comes up a few frags shy of toppling Master Chief, mostly because our poor PS2 seemed to be struggling to run the game.

This port of a PC game (it originally appeared on Xbox) is stiff, formal and corny in the way that PC games usually are. And it requires the patience of a Buddhist monk to get into. But persevere, matey, and you'll discover plenty of treasure worth plundering.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is flatter than a bottle of Mountain Dew past its "Best By" date, but the polished gameplay makes the racing action a total gas.

Sure, you can choose BMX bikes instead of traditional boards, and the soundtrack of punk covers is the best freaking Tony Hawk soundtrack yet, bar none, but whether or not you'll love this game completely depends on how full your Hawk tank already is.

The sequel to last year's third-person/real-time strategy game set in Star Wars land once again manages to be the 'Nam of Wars games. In other words, the disc does a heck of job of trying to make you feel like you're really "in the sh.t" on Coruscant.

Support for both PS2 Online and Xbox Live 3.0 and a deep franchise mode extend the shelf life of the game well beyond the Home Run Derby and Quickplay options.

The game's nutty narrative would baffle Roger Corman, but the six-shootin' gameplay would make even Yosemite Sam giddy.

With tons of modes, cars, unlockables, plus online play, this disc should keep you busy until your next mullet trim.

The soundtrack, one of the best aspects of the game, effectively immerses you in the era, while the visuals make you really, really thankful you were not in Vietnam.

This unpretentious disc was cobbled together by a self-proclaimed "garage team" in the U.K., and is well worth your hard-earned quid.

The game's nutty narrative would baffle Roger Corman, but the six-shootin' gameplay would make even Yosemite Sam giddy.

If you pumped more than a week’s worth of quarters into the old "Ghouls n’ Ghosts" machine, you ought to add it to the collection.

The series' trademark superb gameplay is, as usual, on point. And this year, you can actually take your football team online.

Sure, you can choose BMX bikes instead of traditional boards, and the soundtrack of punk covers is the best freaking Tony Hawk soundtrack yet, bar none, but whether or not you'll love this game completely depends on how full your Hawk tank already is.

And to top it all off, Lockdown features Lifetime channel–style scenes that do their damnedest to to make you think of your squad mates as real pals instead of the "meat shields" they really are.

It’s decidedly low-tech, but pleasing in a visceral way. While many scenes play out on foot, there are plenty of vehicles to operate, from tanks and choppers to a Porsche Cayenne.

These are some of the best graphics you'll ever see. Your first confrontation with the V-Rex (yes, that's what Peter J. is calling it) will be very, very memorable.

If you get three other players involved and a nice warm bottle of Mad Dog or a fifth of Ripple for the discerning 'neck, you’re looking at days of game play.

Don't let the Saturday morning cartoon vibe fool you. This turn-based war game is more hardcore than Stratego, Risk and that final episode of M*A*S*H where Pierce goes insane all rolled into one.

These are some of the best graphics you'll ever see. Your first confrontation with the V-Rex (yes, that's what Peter J. is calling it) will be very, very memorable.

With tons of modes, cars, unlockables, plus online play, this disc should keep you busy until your next mullet trim.

The single-player campaign is the best yet in the series.

And to top it all off, Lockdown features Lifetime channel–style scenes that do their damnedest to to make you think of your squad mates as real pals instead of the "meat shields" they really are.

This is mindless, cartoony fun, like a cool breeze blowing through your video game collection.

And yet there's still something here that kept us playing to the end. Can't quite put our finger on it…ah yes, now we remember what it was: This game has a story that's almost too damn good for a video game.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is flatter than a bottle of Mountain Dew past its "Best By" date, but the polished gameplay makes the racing action a total gas.

The game looks terrific on the tiny screens. There's a nice mix of new and old school tracks. Making a Wi-fi connection is so simple, even Diddy Kong could do it (and he's Canadian!).

Watching our zombie army do our brain-eating dirty work for us was a gaming moment we won't soon forget.

A movie feature allows you to create short films, right down to the last camera angle, with your Sims as the cast. There are no overarching goals in the game, but that doesn't prevent it from being fun.

XXI is certainly more polished than previous installments, sporting better voice work (Randy Orton ain't just phoning it in, anymore) and cleaner graphics. We especially enjoyed the Create-A-Fighter feature.

Making Ninja Gaiden harder is like ordering waffles fixed with broken glass, with a helping of broken glass on the side. It's downright tasty at times, but you better have a taste for it before scarfing it down.

Support for both PS2 Online and Xbox Live 3.0 and a deep franchise mode extend the shelf life of the game well beyond the Home Run Derby and Quickplay options.

These are some of the best graphics you'll ever see. Your first confrontation with the V-Rex (yes, that's what Peter J. is calling it) will be very, very memorable.

Nanostray's old school, Galaga-style, kill 'em all action left us with sweaty armpits and racing hearts.

And yet there's still something here that kept us playing to the end. Can't quite put our finger on it...ah yes, now we remember what it was: This game has a story that's almost too damn good for a video game.

This rock-solid baseball sim features improved hitting and pitching mechanics, and addictive-as-Red Bull mini-games.

The legs are long, the sex is gratuitous, and the violence is very, very violent. DOA 4 is definitely firing on all pistons. Still, for a series with the word "alive" on the box cover, these characters all seem kind of plastic, hollow, heartless, and downright bloodless.

The white-hot fire fights are so intense they actually made our underarms moist. The PSP screen practically shudders with explosions, shotgun fire and discarded shell casings.

Sure, you can choose BMX bikes instead of traditional boards, and the soundtrack of punk covers is the best freaking Tony Hawk soundtrack yet, bar none, but whether or not you'll love this game completely depends on how full your Hawk tank already is.

With over 20 weapons and gadgets at your disposal, you can rappel up a wall or bludgeon an enemy into submission with a wine bottle. It’s decidedly low-tech, but pleasing in a visceral way.

And yet there's still something here that kept us playing to the end. Can't quite put our finger on it…ah yes, now we remember what it was: This game has a story that's almost too damn good for a video game.

Greg Gumble and Clark Kellogg do a nice job with postgame highlights and their "Selection Sunday" show lends real NCAA flavor to the proceedings. In the booth, Vern Lundquist and Bill Rafferty do a solid job of keeping commentary interesting.

The large number of cut scenes seems a little distracting at first, but once you get used to them, they add a lot of depth to the game.

While the nutball MK mythos is annoying—click through those windy speeches by Raiden as quickly as possible—it's all good once disembodied heads are bouncing around like popcorn.

EA spruced up this year's installment with off-load tackling, aka, you can now pass as you're being driven into the mud.

Don't let this game's boring name or boring content fool you. This is one of the best golf games out there.