From the story, to the combat situations, to the amazing cast, you'll be hard-pressed to find another title that does a movie license (an extremely heralded movie) so much justice.

I've been a die-hard "Winning Eleven" fan for some time now, but my allegiance to Konami's famed series has taken a hit. FIFA 07 Soccer is the best EA soccer game to date, coming very close to the refinement of the WE series, and even eclipsing it in many areas.

It’s one of those situations where I felt the potential wasn’t close to being met—what looked like it was going to be a big sandbox of exciting jungle warfare quickly revealed itself as a fairly small rubber stamp. Too bad.

At the time this was released, it blew people's minds and nearly everyone played it. The innovation doesn't hold a candle to today's games, but it carries over nicely as an Arcade title.

Tuning the numerous parts of your car provides for some decent variation, but you’ll soon figure out that the actual gameplay just isn't very good.

It was just so damn disappointing. For a game that laid such a promising foundation last year, there really hasn’t been as large a leap forward as we would have liked.

This is <I>the<I> basketball game to own this season...Only a few hiccups here and there stop this game from being perfect. The level of realism in the animations is astounding, but you can still have a fast-paced and fun basketball game.

A decent physics and handling model, not to mention a solid damage model.

The AI players choose to push hard with some strange hands that’ll keep you off-balance, but there’s lots to do in the single-player game, and all that fun playing others in multiplayer.

It’s not a perfect game by any means; heck, it doesn’t even perfectly deliver its core story, but it does deliver a fun and deep campaign for you to play through.

The progression in the career mode is interesting, and trying to bag a moose from a down-town one-shot-kill is just plain intriguing.

There’s nothing here in Samurai Warriors 2 that we haven’t seen before. The fact that the shop is the single largest addition to the gameplay should be a good indication where this game is headed, straight to the bargain bin.

Very clever puzzles and fun action sequences will take you through the course of the Original Trilogy. The vehicular battles, especially with two people, are a real highlight.

While not as bare bones as "Madden NFL 06," NHL 07 still could use a bit more substance to back up its innovative controls and killer graphics and sound.

While the animations and physics are vastly improved, there’s too little else to like with this series. A general art direction overhaul seems to be in order, plus, a bit of A.I. tweaking could cut down on all-world goaltending occurring on any difficulty level.

Very clever puzzles and fun action sequences will take you through the course of the Original Trilogy. The vehicular battles, especially with two people, are a real highlight.

The golf is challenging-not an arcade-like game that makes it easy for you to whack the ball at the flag with every swing.

If I were a NASCAR fan, I'd be happy with the advancements and give this one a go.

The online and offline integration is well done, the car lineup is solid, and the graphics are above average. There’s also a good amount of gameplay jammed onto the disc.

It’s not even in the same stratosphere as Oblivion, but it does offer a futuristic, far Eastern flavor that Elder Scrolls lacks.

There’s not much you can do screw up a poker sim, though the AI players make erratic and strange plays regularly. Also, if you don’t want to play all the variations of poker, you might have to work your way around the career mode.

Had it been released as a slimmed-down Xbox Live Arcade title, Bomberman Act: Zero would be a surefire hit, right up there with Zuma in terms of addictive, stage-based gameplay. But instead, Bomberman Act: Zero is a $49.99 standalone title that you simply shouldn’t buy.

The single player campaign mode has a somewhat abrupt ending that doesn’t exactly lend itself to replay value, but there are still tons of activities included in the game, not to mention those that you create for yourself. The multiplayer modes are the most significant innovation in Saints Row.

It won’t push your skills or teach you the finer points of Hold’em, but as a bargain product, it does an okay job.

With a bit more attention to in-game fluidity and detail, and the inclusion of core extras such as online leagues and co-op, Madden NFL 07 could have been stellar. It’s good for sure, but Madden NFL 07 isn’t a lock in this gamer’s Hall of Fame.

The core gameplay elements of this SKU are down-pat, which makes the extra features such as Superstar mode that much more enjoyable. I can overlook the lack of online leagues or dazzling graphics for a stout basic foundation, which this title certainly has.

I left the battle bloody from the knuckles to the fingertips and didn’t really feel that satisfied. Was something lost in translation? Could be. But I’m convinced that the button mashing genre needs to grow up a bit before invading the Xbox 360 again.

The visuals may not be stunning, and the audio won't put any surround sound system through its paces, but Xyanide still packs some nice punch, especially when playing with a friend.