While the developers obviously tried to make the most of switching from a phone keypad to a game controller, they still missed the mark. The thumbstick on the Xbox 360 controller in particular is overly sensitive, causing the player to overshoot too easily. Racing the clock is hard enough, but losing time by moving back and forth between the right answer through no fault of your own is infuriating.

A weak plot, a subpar multiplayer and a relatively boring collection of games all add up make Bliss Island one place from which gamers will be eager to get rescued.

The kind of logical thinking it requires of you in the forensic mode is unheard of in action games.

Built upon a strong engine, but not doing much to keep up with the Joneses.

The game ranges from moments of great intense action to totally bland and repetitive sections. The developers present all of these cool things to do and then give the player very little control over doing them.

The best way to describe the gameplay in Rocketmen: Axis of Evil would be to call it the bastard child of "Flash Gordon" and "Smash TV."

Sure, the content isn’t exactly tailor made for an afterschool special, but it’s a great exaggeration of the hijinks and hard times that just about anyone can relate to. And thanks to Rockstar’s decision to give fans continuing education by expanding the game’s content, there’s plenty in place to please both Bullworth freshmen and alumni alike.

It might be time for the makers of MLB 2K8 to take a step back from adding bells and whistles, and put a little more concentration into the on-field action. In a lot of ways they’re headed in the right direction, but if the game itself is frustrating to play, all the cool features and classic players, and awesome mo-cap animations go to waste.

Despite the glaring flaw of a cramped field of play, there’s no denying that Triggerheart Exelica is still a blast to play. Nonstop action teamed up with unique gameplay elements and easy to use controls make this just the game to please those of you longing for a good ol’ fashioned space shooter.

The innovation potential was in the story, though that only provides the setting for the gameplay. Outside of that, it’s pretty basic fare.

A great story ties together all things Lost, and the flashbacks are unique, but essentially it’s nothing that we haven’t played before.

But even with such strong, complex multiplayer support, we can’t give Frontlines: Fuel of War a complete nod without a single player experience somehow equaling modern, fifty man mayhem via Live.

One of those deceptively simple concepts that’s nearly impossible to put down.

It’s nice to see a shooter with a fresh premise, which changes up the strategy you’ll use to get your best results.

Despite the additions of a couple of new moves and a shiny new coat of paint, if you’ve ever played a Dynasty Warriors game before, you’re going to feel like you’ve already played this one as well.

Even with some of the gameplay issues that, if avoided, could have helped to make a better overall game, FIFA Street 3 is still a fun pick-up-and-play experience for the raving soccer fan.

Poor graphics, crippled controls, and a multiplayer option that feels like it’s been tacked on like an afterthought on a Post-It all add up to make this game one blast from the past that really should have stayed where it came from.

From start to finish, it’s a fun experience and deserves to be drafted into most gamers’ Xbox LIVE Arcade library.

In some other developer’s hands or maybe with a bigger budget, Conflict: Denied Ops could have been decent. There are some really good ideas underneath the surface. But the execution is all wrong. Conflict: Denied Ops ain’t pretty, ain’t fun and definitely ain’t worth your hard-earned cash.

For a game that originally hit over a year ago, it’s surprising to see how rushed the console version feels. Still, if you’re hard up for adventure, you could do worse ... but you could do a whole lot better as well.

Story and presentation are arguably two of the most important parts of a role playing game besides the combat system, and Lost Odyssey, most of the time, handles both with grace.

Every once in a while, a game comes along that really stands out in its genre, and Poker Smash is one of those games. By taking a generic formula and giving it a Vegas-like spin, Void Star Creations has put together a truly unique and entertaining experience that earns it a spot right next to the big boys in the puzzle genre.

Turok is fairly solid technically, very compelling via its good storytelling and proper direction and somewhat interesting gameplay-wise with its mixture of human/dino enemies and stealth/traditional combat. Turok, however, is still a bit too familiar and cookie cutter to compete with the big boys of the FPS genre.

If you’re more aligned with Bridge than you are with Go Fish, and don’t mind Lady Luck dropping into the pot every now and again, Culdcept Saga may just be the console game departure that you’ve been craving.

Despite having a host of different attacks at your disposal, DMC4’s controls are surprisingly fluid and easy to pick up. The only major flaw comes from the game’s sometimes screwy camera, which can throw the player off his game.

A button mashing affair with not enough substance.

It is a series I’d like to see continue, because it is fun as a party game and for Xbox 360 owners looking for some variety from the ongoing flood of sports games, action titles and shooters. I just think it needs to go through some serious improvements.

Rez HD is a real blast, but more so for those who aren’t familiar with the original game.

Whether you’re new to the game or a member of the old high-school chess club, you’ll find the Chessmaster series still holds the crown as “King” of the sixty-four-squared board.

Whether you are for or against the major changes in Burnout Paradise, there’s no arguing with the fact that Criterion has once again figured out how to create an extreme racing game that, quite simply, has no rivals.

Despite a few bungled dance steps here and there, Boogie Bunnies is still a strangely addictive experience. The game’s cutesy exterior may require the player to take a shot of insulin before playing, but the gameplay is hard to walk away from.

The sole purpose of a coin-op ROM is to steal quarters away from the user. With that said, some of Tron’s achievements can be very difficult since such goals were originally designed as quarter munchers.

It’s pure, old-school, side-scrolling action wrapped up in a gorgeous visual package. The game will certainly appeal to fans of the genre, even if they are left scratching their collective heads after trying to make sense of it all.

Too similar to its Xbox predecessors, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom never steps out of its regimented formula long enough to show us anything new.

Basic and boring gameplay, teamed with poor presentation, anemic customization and a total lack of motivation to actually win make the prospects of NFL Tour’s future less likely than the return of the XFL.

Bow to the artists that worked on Metal Slug 3: This is gaming art at some of its finest. The gameplay is up there among the better coin-op action games of all time, too, and it translates well to the Xbox 360 controller to boot.

Fans of the series, both young and old, will surely get a kick out of playing their favorite characters and pummeling their buddies all the way back to Bikini Bottom.

One of those rare gems that stands the test of time, thanks to its near-flawless gameplay. And while the temptation must have been huge to overhaul the game for the next-gen release, it’s great to see that the SWOS developers didn’t cave to it. While the game may not be the prettiest game on the Marketplace, it’s certainly one of the most fun.

By trying to craft an updated experience for a new generation of gamers, Tempest ends up losing a lot of the luster that originally made it such a hit. Toss in some wonky and unresponsive controls, as well as an additional high-speed mode that only the most hardcore of gamers would be willing to even try and attempt to play, and you end up with an experience that just doesn’t warrant even the budget price of 400 Microsoft Points (or about $5).

Much like actually an actual off-roading experience, MX vs. ATV Untamed is a good time that occasionally gets bogged down in a muddy mess. The high learning curve and occasional visual letdown can throw a layer of muck over an otherwise prime racing experience.

The real key to Arkadian Warriors’s success is the way in which Wanako made the user interfaces super simple and extremely user-friendly.

So, is GripShift the end all be all of combat racing on the Xbox 360? Not by a long shot. However, the game definitely stands out in its genre and makes it a lot of fun to get behind the wheel to put the pedal to the metal—and has a price tag of only 800 Microsoft Points (or about $10).

In NCAA 08 March Madness’s case, an intricate post-play mechanism, online leagues and the best classic collegiate hoop teams of all time make it twisty enough for us to recommend it as a worthy upgrade to last year’s offering.

There’s no excuse for just how bad and unfinished The Golden Compass turned out to be. This is one experience that should have been left in the theatres.

C’mon folks, it’s DDR. If you’ve got the slightest interest in dancing to the beat on your Xbox 360, this is the way to go.

A product of their dated environment for sure, but still two fine examples of video gaming when considered within context.

Undertow is one of those rare surprises that at some times feels like a casual game—not because it’s easy to win, but because it’s easy to play—yet still delivers solid gameplay across its scope. And with Chair promising to support the game with new maps for players to download after its premiere, you have to expect that there’ll be reasons to dive into the Undertow ocean now and again.

One of the most cinematic games of all-time, something that's definitely helped by a fantastic story, great writing, movie-quality direction, and strong voiceover work.

The key is that the game supports people playing together, which is the definition of a party game. If you pull Rock Band out among a gathering of friends, you can be sure that almost everything else will become secondary to the “I’m up next” chant and the sweaty smell that’ll permeate through your place.

While the game lacks the fast pace and wild action of its NBA brethren, the game is tailor made for the more technically minded sports fans. Strong gameplay and deep customization helps players to make the total college-sports experience a reflection of their individual tastes.

Truly innovative in the areas of user interface, art direction, online integration and vehicle damage, Need for Speed ProStreet is the most complete hardcore tuner-style game ever conceived, and is only a framerate fix away from being the best street racer ever for the Xbox 360.

A breakdown of the core gameplay mechanic will haunt players early and often in America’s Army: True Soldiers.

There are myriad ways to get your hands on the games that are included on PopCap Arcade Volume 1, including cell phones and XBLA, but it’s nice to have a one disc solution for those that want to stay casual without downloading a single byte.

The gameplay is fun, but not nearly groundbreaking and unlikely to provide hours and hours of entertainment. The graphics are sharp, but nothing that’ll put the Xbox 360 at risk of overheating because the processors are working too hard.

We love the fact that Frozen Codebase stepped outside the box and jumped into the mine, but Screwjumper!’s recurring in-game issues leave us no other choice but to give it the shaft.

Refining the cover and inventory systems would have gone a long way in making Kane & Lynch: Dead Men more user friendly. Hit detection needs work. The story is engrossing and well-executed.

Assassin’s Creed has a rich spread of activities with hours of gameplay. Unfortunately, it gets extremely repetitive about midway through—and then it unsatisfyingly turns into a tedious, combat-heavy game.

For now, we’ll live with the great graphics, the moderate entertainment value and the few decent changes over last year, but the hope was that WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 would be the “Wrestlemania” of WWE games.

There’s some gruesome battling here, but nothing that’ll push you all that hard.

Overall, the game does just enough to be good, but stops short of being great. Still, if you're an FPS fan looking for a break from Halo 3 or CoD 4, Blacksite: Area 51 is definitely worth taking a look at.

All in all, Switchball is certainly one of the best puzzles games on XBLA, and is definitely the best, um, ball-based puzzle game of all-time. It’s a great looking game, offering a deep single-player mode and plenty of multiplayer options.

Word Puzzle does a good job in presenting this kind of contest on the Xbox 360, but it also seems to be proof that perhaps not everything that can be done with pen and paper should make the leap to an electronic form; nor does the addition of arcade-like elements to a basic word game necessarily make it more compelling.

Simple, easy-to-use controls are marred only by the game’s sometimes atrocious handling of the camera.

Nearly anyone can plop down on couch and get enjoyment out of Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action in a party setting, which makes this Microsoft/Screenlife collaborative a success. But for the game and franchise to have any legs on the Xbox 360, downloadable content and some form of Live tie-in is a must.

Multiplayer support and two decently-long episodes equals a good bit of gaming for fifty bucks.

An instant classic. The fact that Infinity Ward has created a modern-day masterpiece probably isn’t surprising given their impressive track record to date, but our lofty expectations were actually surpassed in many ways. The single-player game was particularly surprising, as none of us expected the game to have such a compelling, narrative-driven campaign. It’s one of the best stories of the year.

It’s hard to go wrong with Mutant Storm Empire for 800 Microsoft Points, eve if you have never played Reloaded. With stunning 3D graphics and the perfect blend of mindless and strategic twitch blasting, Mutant Storm Empire is a near perfect Halloween treat.

The combat is a blast (literally!), particularly when you use your time powers effectively. Unfortunately, the puzzles are far too simple.

Silky smooth graphics accompany spot-on controls.

A little rough in terms of transition from scene to scene, but otherwise solid. Both platforming and fighting systems are easy to learn, but tough to master.

The wide range of minigames almost guarantees everyone will find at least something they like in the title, and I’ve yet to find anyone who didn’t get a thrill out of the game’s fast paced racing.

The various gameplay elements are hit or miss, but at least it seems to be more hit than miss, despite some glaring flaws.

Although The Simpsons Game isn't a particularly special or innovative platformer, the writing, self-deprecating humor, and in-jokes make up for many of its shortcomings. This is one of the best Simpsons video games yet, mainly due to the fact that it takes so much inspiration from the show itself.

The wireless controller and online gameplay are nicely engineered. Beyond that, it’s mostly in the same vein as the previous Guitar Hero games.

Fans of the series, new or old, will get a kick out of playing as familiar ships or important accomplices in episodes from the boob tube. General sci-fi buffs will dig the pick-up-and plink nature of Battlestar Galactica as well, and may just come away as fans of the cult-classic series due to Auran’s faithfulness to the IP.

Taito has meticulously crafted each progressive level in Exit to be a mindbender, thus ruling out all possibilities of this title being a pushover. Throw in the fact that there are a staggering 220 levels in Exit, and you can easily see why puzzle freaks like us are clamoring over Mr. ESC and his hip antics.

It provides gamers with a creepy, action-packed experience with a solid plot and unique designs. No one should go into Jericho expecting the “Citizen Kane” of gaming, just like no one expects a slasher flick to win an Oscar. Instead, Jericho should be enjoyed for what it is: an interactive horror experience, good for some chills, thrills and a little bit of ye old gore factor thrown in for good measure.

Purchased moves and learned skills help to keep the hack-and-slash of Conan fresher. Suspect physics and hit detection system. Camera control please.

Without overly dumbing down the modern military sim fighter, Namco Bandai has managed to create a very accessible flying game that has all of the presentation bells and whistles of its big boy cousins.

It’s almost the lack of innovation that makes this fun, as it’s a throwback to the original TR game of 1996. It just doesn’t take a lot of chances either.

E4 is way more fun than last year’s E3. We know that’s not a major feat, but it still should give some kind of indication of what Q Entertainment brought to the table in their sophomoric effort

Playing the original ROM of Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is great, but we were hoping that the Xbox Live Arcade graphically enhanced gameplay would be a bit better.

Highly addictive gameplay that lasts for a few hours. A bit basic for a standalone title.

Although Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground definitely falls into the “good” game category, there’s no denying that the franchise is getting more than a little stale.

While there might be longer games ("Oblivion," for example) or games that pack more titles onto a single disc (any of the “classic” compilations), this is a near-perfect blend of varied games.

Somehow, the developers managed to take two distinct and different genres and blend them together into a seamless and wholly entertaining experience.

Sega Rally Revo’s gameplay is both basic and difficult, and thus aligns correctly with its Sega Rally Championship roots, but these traits don’t transfer as well onto a complex console of the new millennium.

Take away the familiarity of the Looney Tunes license, and Acme Assault is little more than another generic platform game that does just enough right to be okay, but not enough to stand out. Even with the license, the developers just didn't seem to use it to its fullest potential.

While this current FIFA is solid, EA still needs to put its best cleat forward and utilize this latest SKU as a stepping stone toward soccer game nirvana. FIFA Soccer 08 is, however, an authoritative crossover step in the right direction.

Thrillville remains an easy franchise for casual gamers and youngsters alike to pick up and jump right into.

At the end of the day, Tetris Splash is just plain old Tetris with a new coat of paint. It’s a good break from the day’s usual grind, but nothing really spectacular.

A likeable mixture of wheel-to-wheel racing and extreme racing modes is sure to satisfy the Alpha-male motorsports fan. The A.I. is a bit suspect, however.

Another solid, stylized racer from Bizarre. Bikes don’t add as much punch as they would seem to on paper.

There’s not much here that hasn’t been done a thousand times in older games. Younger players might enjoy it, but it’s somewhat one dimensional.

While the developers definitely misfired with the Lock-on D mechanics, the new animation system changes the gameplay quite a bit, as does the ability to learn how to run plays on the fly. The game's lasting legacy may be the introduction of an emotional element to the Association mode.

So it plays better than last year, but not by much. AI problems and new defensive controls take the player out of the b-ball experience.

Each WSoP game has more for the player to do, but there’s not much to label as innovative. Hey, it’s poker...how innovative can it be?

There's bad, and then there's Hot Wheels. Too many glitches make this game just one small step away from unplayable.