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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Remember playing awesome quarter-eaters like Swimmer and Pinball Action? Neither do we. Which means all you old farts can go back to chasing kids off your front lawns instead of playing this game.

Blindly swinging your sword while trying to manipulate your skeleton is like trying to drive a unicycle on a high wire covered with banana peels. And we all know how that brilliant little experiment ended, now don't we?

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

The game's third-person combat is pretty much D.O.A.—target, shoot, repeat, etc.—but things pick up considerably once you acquire your chainsaw and boomstick (aka 12-gauge shotgun). And things pick up again after you partner up with a wise-cracking midget Deadite.

The game's third-person combat is pretty much D.O.A.—target, shoot, repeat, etc.—but things pick up considerably once you acquire your chainsaw and boomstick (aka 12-gauge shotgun). And things pick up again after you partner up with a wise-cracking midget Deadite.

But battling groups of bad guys gets dangerously dull after an hour or two, especially when the game's unfair A.I., just like our booze-addled fathers, has a tendency to make you pay dearly for even the slightest gaff.

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

The game's third-person combat is pretty much D.O.A.-target, shoot, repeat, etc.-but things pick up considerably once you acquire your chainsaw and boomstick (aka 12-gauge shotgun). And things pick up again after you partner up with a wise-cracking midget Deadite.

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.

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.

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

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

It captures the spirit of the Hulkster to a tee. Bounding building to building across cities and leaving huge craters in your wake is more addictive than gambling...The game’s ingenius side challenges are an absolute ball.

It captures the spirit of the Hulkster to a tee. Bounding building to building across cities and leaving huge craters in your wake is more addictive than gambling...The game's ingenius side challenges are an absolute ball.

It captures the spirit of the Hulkster to a tee. Bounding building to building across cities and leaving huge craters in your wake is more addictive than gambling...The game's ingenius side challenges are an absolute ball.

Indeed, the game requires constant shouting into the mike; so you can forget about ever playing this cart on public transporation... unless of course you don't mind being mistaken for an insane person.

Indeed, the game requires constant shouting into the mike; so you can forget about ever playing this cart on public transporation... unless of course you don't mind being mistaken for an insane person.

Indeed, the game requires constant shouting into the mike; so you can forget about ever playing this cart on public transporation... unless of course you don't mind being mistaken for an insane person.

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.

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

Your girlfriend will go batshit for this game. Even if she's always telling you how your games are "juvenile," and that she can't believe "she actually has sex on a regular basis with someone who owns a stupid PlayStation," she'll still love this disc to bits. Trust us.

Bury this one six feet under. Even if the Tim Burton aesthetic turns you on, the tepid gameplay makes this disc DOA.

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

Once again, EA and Madden manage to do the impossible: They made us fall head-over-cleats in love with this frigging game all over again.

Once again, EA and Madden manage to do the impossible: They made us fall head-over-cleats in love with this frigging game all over again.

Once again, EA and Madden manage to do the impossible: They made us fall head-over-cleats in love with this frigging game all over again.

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

The problem is, this disc probably won't offend anyone other than Hillary Clinton and it won't titillate anybody over the age of 12. Indeed, playing the game is like watching a third grader make farting noises: Both the game and the kid are trying like crazy to be offensive, but all they really want is a little attention.

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

The problem is, this disc probably won't offend anyone other than Hillary Clinton and it won't titillate anybody over the age of 12. Indeed, playing the game is like watching a third grader make farting noises: Both the game and the kid are trying like crazy to be offensive, but all they really want is a little attention.

Despite PS1-era graphics and stubborn controls, we found ourselves spending many blissful hours kicking some Roman ass.

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

The chronic problem that has plagued pinball games since the dawn of time plagues this pinball game: luck, rather than genuine skill, always wins the day. Trust us, jamming on those flippers and hoping for the best gets old fast.

Like a late-night hookup with the town floozy, this game might look promising when you take it home, but trust us, the next morning you're going to wonder why this disc is snuggled up inside your Xbox. Rent.

With eight race tracks in all, and only a couple of game modes to work through, you should be able to burn rubber through this cart in under an hour or two.

Like a late-night hookup with the town floozy, this game might look promising when you take it home, but trust us, the next morning you're going to wonder why this disc is snuggled up inside your Xbox. Rent.

This year's installment features overachieving impact players who are highlighted on the field during games, your very own dorm room (where you can check your stats, store your trophies, etc…), and revamped training games that are addictive as beer nuts.

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.

This year's installment features overachieving impact players who are highlighted on the field during games, your very own dorm room (where you can check your stats, store your trophies, etc…), and revamped training games that are addictive as beer nuts.

At best, playing the game is like having someone shout in your ear for 15 hours straight. At worst, it's like getting a high colonic with balsamic vinegar.

At best, playing the game is like having someone shout in your ear for 15 hours straight. At worst, it's like getting a high colonic with balsamic vinegar.

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.

Something about the A.E.U.G. rebels doing battle against the elite Titans police force…oh hell, just pass the damn aspirin already. But the gameplay does feature its fair share of bright and shiny explosions.

It's not as pretty as "Dead Or Alive Ultimate," or as technical as "Virtua Fighter 4," but this certainly has its own unique charm.

It’s decent, mindless fun…until you realize how little freedom your four heroes actually have.

It's decent, mindless fun…until you realize how little freedom your four heroes actually have.

It's decent, mindless fun…until you realize how little freedom your four heroes actually have.

It's decent, mindless fun…until you realize how little freedom your four heroes actually have.

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

While single-player is a mix of the funny and the frustrating, multiplayer, provides its fair share of silly-ass thrills.

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

Longtime Bat-gamers can consider Batman Begins the cave-engineered antidote to the Bat-crap that’s been dropping on consoles in recent years.

Longtime Bat-gamers can consider Batman Begins the cave-engineered antidote to the Bat-crap that's been dropping on consoles in recent years.

Longtime Bat-gamers can consider Batman Begins the cave-engineered antidote to the Bat-crap that's been dropping on consoles in recent years.

The racing feels bone-dry next to the tastier "Midnight Club 3"; the tracks in Juiced are closed off and clean, giving the game a hygienic feel.

The racing feels bone-dry next to the tastier "Midnight Club 3"; the tracks in Juiced are closed off and clean, giving the game a hygienic feel.

The racing feels bone-dry next to the tastier "Midnight Club 3"; the tracks in Juiced are closed off and clean, giving the game a hygienic feel.

How do you improve on perfection? We’ll tell you how: Take the same genius game that you played last fall on the PS2 and give everything a fresh coat of pixel paint... Then, remove the long load times, allow us to save 30-second replays to the hard drive for those you-won’t-believe-this-booshiz moments and create personalized radio stations by ripping your CD collection to the hard drive.

A pleasant surprise. Yes, we were still creeping through bombed-out aircraft hangars and taking over bunkers brimming with Nazis, but we were enjoying ourselves for the first time in ages.

A pleasant surprise. Yes, we were still creeping through bombed-out aircraft hangars and taking over bunkers brimming with Nazis, but we were enjoying ourselves for the first time in ages.

How do you improve on perfection? We'll tell you how: Take the same genius game that you played last fall on the PS2 and give everything a fresh coat of pixel paint... Then, remove the long load times, allow us to save 30-second replays to the hard drive for those you-won't-believe-this-booshiz moments and create personalized radio stations by ripping your CD collection to the hard drive.

A pleasant surprise. Yes, we were still creeping through bombed-out aircraft hangars and taking over bunkers brimming with Nazis, but we were enjoying ourselves for the first time in ages.

The first game in a proposed space opera trilogy, in theory, wants to be the video game equivalent of "Star Wars," but in practice turns out to be more "Battlestar Galactica." As soon as we took control of space ace Gideon Wyeth, we smelled a bit of intergalactic cheese, here.

But don't let anything touch you, no matter what, because this game brings back the Old Testament concept of one-hit deaths. Beneath the Saturday morning cartoon exterior of the Metal Slug games beats a cruel heart that you'll either love or hate.

Sporting bigger loads than John Holmes (almost all of EA's PSP titles are plagued with long load times), this miniature version of the MVP franchise seems to be trying a little too hard to look good.

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

But can someone please explain why we lose Enthu points when aggressive opponents tag us in the ass-end? Only a cloven-hoofed Enron accountant would think this was OK.

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).

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.

That's it. You can customize your 'bot a little, but frankly we haven't had this much fun since we ran over a bee hive with a riding lawnmower.

It gets off to a promising enough start, but then it stumbles, then trips over its own feet, then chokes on its own vomit, then dies a slow, miserable death.

It gets off to a promising enough start, but then it stumbles, then trips over its own feet, then chokes on its own vomit, then dies a slow, miserable death.

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.

We were haters at first, but the new P.O.V. started to grow on us. Watching our character cartwheel through the air like a T.J. Hooker stunt double makes for some heady moments.

The first time we laid down a "Harmonic Combo" and watched as the body parts of our enemies literally rained down from the sky, we were hopelessly, head-over-heels in love.

The trademark 360-degree combat system still has us using the right control stick to assign attack buttons to enemies, but the fisticuffs now seem stale by today's action-game standards.

The graphics on the Xbox are as perfect as the platform can deliver, and walking into steam-filled rooms only to have the lights blink out, then hearing something hiss at you out of the darkness, are moments that would have made Dante soil his short pants.

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.

Seriously, we did more cool things in God Of War in the first 20 minutes that we do in the entirety of most games.

The narrative is a bit thin—there's a new drug on the street called "Liquid Soul" and your task is to figure out where it's coming from—but once the fists and lead start flying, you won't really give a damn why you're doing what you're doing.

The narrative is a bit thin-there's a new drug on the street called "Liquid Soul" and your task is to figure out where it's coming from-but once the fists and lead start flying, you won't really give a damn why you're doing what you're doing.

Much of the run-and-gun action is marvelously good but whenever we were just starting to get comfortable with a level or a particular set of weapons, the game was already zipping us off to someplace new.

Much of the run-and-gun action is marvelously good but whenever we were just starting to get comfortable with a level or a particular set of weapons, the game was already zipping us off to someplace new.

Much of the run-and-gun action is marvelously good but whenever we were just starting to get comfortable with a level or a particular set of weapons, the game was already zipping us off to someplace new.

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.

It's pretty short—six to eight hours, tops. The Xbox version is the way to go, since the load times between "rooms" are a fraction of what they are on the PS2.

It's pretty short-six to eight hours, tops. The Xbox version is the way to go, since the load times between "rooms" are a fraction of what they are on the PS2.

And speaking of those late stages, don't plan on seeing them. Ever. This game is so controller-bustingly hard that even the one guy in the office who beat "Ninja Gaiden" ended up wetting himself, then shivering in a corner of the Xerox room all afternoon. Which is a real shame, because behind that near-impossible difficulty there's a big, beautiful action game here.

Another big change: You now have the ability to switch weight classes in mid-career, so you can go from heavyweight, to light heavy, and back to heavyweight again to beef up your bank account.

This game features the best hecklers of all time. When Boston's hirsute Johnny Damon steps to the plate, someone in the crowd shouts, "Cut your hair, you hippie!" Amen to that, brother!

The single-player campaign is a little too short and too linear, but we're guessing it's probably still about a hundred times more thrilling than anything you'll see in "Episode III" come this May.