The blocks are appropriately vibrant, the launching effect is cool, the backgrounds sci-fi-ish, and the momentum-driving music never grows too repetitive—a significant achievement for a puzzle game.

While we certainly give 2K and Visual Concepts/Kush an “A” for effort with NHL 2K8, the bottom line score is a bit less. While NHL 2K8 still has the heart of a champion and features its rivals can’t touch, the competition has finally figured this video hockey thing out for the most part.

Feels as though it could have come straight from the scenes of a '80s B-movie horror flick, with dry characters and gameplay that repeats itself to no end.

It’s a fun family experience, though not so tepid that it’ll be lost on others.

It’s not a perfect action game by any stretch, but one that does keep the player engaged from point to point—and that’s all you can ask.

The idea behind NBA 2K10: Draft Combine and the way it complements NBA 2K10 is a great one, and I hope to see more sports games do things like it. I’m looking at you, Madden.

Thrillville is not for everyone, but it is perfect for those gamers that always wanted to try a simulation but were intimidated by PC keyboard overlays and Excel-like charts of data.

The nearly endless ways of offing Kewletts keeps the action fresh when the story starts to get a little slow.

There are only a few fighters that are more lighthearted and pick-up-and-play-enjoyable than Battle Fantasia, but such whimsy and simplicity come at a premium price in the land of fighting games.

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.

With a more detailed multiplayer mode and maybe a bit more in the way of choices that may effect the game’s outcome, Dark Summit could be a leader in a new series of sports/adventure titles to come.

The more I played the more addicted I became to the gameplay. This game really feels like you are on a boat and I was amazed at the physics that the developers were able to pull off.

Codemasters was hoping to pull off a serious racing simulation here, but it feels like they feel a bit short in the depth of the game.

It’s a fun game, but pales in comparison to other current music games for the number of playable songs and entertainment value.

New hitting and pitching systems add more intuitiveness to the two most important aspects of any baseball game.

Aside from some iffy hit detection (2 pixels to the right of the front door won’t trigger a delivered paper at times), an RC car that’s relentless in its pursuit of your carrier (it’s pesky to say the least), and the omission of Paperboy’s Ditty from the soundtrack (j/k), Paperboy "delivers" as advertised in the classifieds.

Things get stale rather quickly, largely in part to the game's propensity to confining players to a single path through the campaign. The multiplayer doesn't help things along very much.

If you're looking for a very good co-op game, or a well developed single player campaign with few issues, then Rogue Trooper would be a perfect choice.

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.

If you're looking for an insane amount of depth or replayability you're not going to find it in Fruit Ninja Kinect. What you will find is an excellent party game with some neat visual flair. If you need a reason to dust off your kinect and feel like having a few buddies over for a night Kinect fun, then Fruit Ninja Kinect is for you.

The game has enough to put a smile on your face, but it ends too soon. The game is good, but it’s way too short. Just when you really get into it, it’s over.

A solid platform game that is fun to play, but it is not without its pitfalls that will leave you somewhat frustrated.

HOUND building is borderline therapeutic. Slow in areas, but never for trivial reasons.

For fans of Tiger-style golf, you’ll probably be tied between which versions of the game to play; the Xbox version is more feature-rich, but the 360 version looks worlds better.

The presentation style in Wrath suits the storyline and characters almost perfectly.

Anyone with even a bit of interest in RTS games but who thought they were always too complicated should take a serious look at one of the few decent console based strategy games currently available.

Did GRIN do the original game justice? Definitely. GRIN has put Bionic Commando back on the map—with both of its titles, actually. Now let’s hope that Capcom keeps the cyborgs a-comin’. Two decades is too long to wait for a follow-up from such a compelling franchise.

Charming and full of content.