This one's for the hardcore players, kiddies. It's a perfect multiplayer game (especially if you have a hardcore fighting stick or two), but the casual fighting game fan sure isn't going to be entertained for long.

Everything from the first game has been done better, cleaner and with more emphasis, but the free-roaming city is a double-edged sword, offering a sprawling metropolis to navigate, but a bit too much travelling in some spots.

The length may be meager by other raging game standards, but what's here packs enough of a wallop to entertain even adults for a while.

The minigames and Sunny's bits are quite well-done, but the lackluster audio, sloppy controls and general lack of graphical punch drag the experience down.

You'd think after almost a half-dozen games, the Warriors franchise would get a little old, but the injection of Japanese flavor and history into an already familiar stew just makes it all the more irresistible.

I'm going to bite the bullet on this one and say that Up Your Arsenal does not top the standards set by "Going Commando." Don't, I repeat, do not take this as a sign of UYA being a bad game, because by all means, it is not.

An utterly average RPG gets an average score. Fantastic visuals and killer sound effects can't hide the fact that this is a marathon most gamers won't be able to finish.

Fantastic movie meets mediocre game and equals... a mediocre game with solid visuals and little else.

A weaker soundtrack and nagging problems with the interface take the game down just shy of getting a full 10, but this is the digital embodiment of a killer app.

Taiko's patterns can be incredibly addictive, often sending mixed signals to your brain like every good challenging rhythm game, but once you nail a string of rapid-fire sixteenth notes with rimshots buried in the middle, the game will hook you with that classic "just one more try" addiction.

This is more or less "Ace Combat 4" with a few slight upgrades and gameplay honed to near-perfection, but the formula's just a bit too familiar, and the lengthy missions may turn less patient gamers off before the story can suck them in.

There's no denying that when everything in sight starts flying, Crisis Zone is a damn good time. Not especially complex nor terribly lengthy, it's still just the right amount of arcade fun with console unlockable goodies, and if ever there's been a compelling reason to own a light gun game, this is about as good as any you'll hear.

The problem is, with all the advancements that have gone into 3D fighting games like insanely deep combo trees or ultra-balanced, technique-driven combatants, not to mention multi-tiered environments triggered on the fly or interactive elements, there's nothing here that's terribly compelling, and certainly nothing that would give you reason to play this game over the 2D versions.

Ty 2 is in no way a bad game, it's just merely average in just about every way.

It may seem odd to praise a fighting game that rests in the three foot end of the Olympic diving pool of fighters, but it's the combination of totally engrossing extra game modes, seemingly endless unlockables, an easily accessible mythology and the kind of passion and geeky pride that just rubs off on you.

Buy this game, if only for the fact that it's the best of its kind, but like me, you'll probably find that after pouring literally dozens of hours into the game, you'll find yourself searching for something a bit meatier, and I don't just mean bigger combos and larger levels, but something that really revamps the genre like it did almost five years ago.

A worthwhile experience – especially if you’re a parent looking for something for kids that won’t bore you to tears.

Expanding the environments, fixing the controls and camera, and allowing an easier matchmaking setup in the next game could mean a seriously fun online experience, but right now, what we have can hardly be called even an experience.

Random encounters and a turn-based battle system don't make up for what a true, quality RPG offers and CM just can't deliver; a compelling and complex story, deep characters and a real sense that you're making a change in the world you're plopped into.

If you have a couple friends and an afternoon to charge through the game with them, you're going to have a blast. The single-player experience is still fun, but without the lure of real teamwork, the rougher spots of the game tend to punch through to the fore during inopportune times.

Go buy this friggin' game. Now. Reward Namco for having the balls to put out something this... well, Japanese. For $20, you're getting one hell of a party game.

Forced stealth quibbles and slightly iffy physics aside, Second Sight's offering of a decently complex story (or as complex as you're going to get for an 8-10 hour action game) with a couple of twists and a silky smooth, high-budget presentation is one of the best Free Radical has pulled off to date.

One hell of a brawler. A fantastically weighted fighting system that perfectly demonstrates how thick, raw sound effects and smooth animation can suck you into the visceral, almost feral world of these underground fights gives your fingers, eyes and ears all something to digest while plowing through a story that actually keeps you in the game.

OD takes the intensity of its predecessor and raises it to the ump-teenth power, with double the game length, two additional playable characters, and an involving story that puts some anime to shame.

Hands-down the year’s best platformer. This is just a masterfully constructed adventure that drips with charm and ingenuity and never fails to keep you involved, entertained, and loving every minute of it. You can take our word on it: this one is a gem.

It’s not as deep or story-driven as, say, a "Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance," but there’s still enough here (especially in the surprisingly well-presented bonus features should you find yourself interested in the characters or world) that will keep the die-hards coming back.

Everything it does, it does with aplomb, from kicking out graphics that just should'nt exist in this generation -- let alone on the PS2 -- to delivering a sense of speed, yet offering controls that allow you to keep up with the increasingly brilliant level design, to offering an suite of online modes that will make you fall to your knees in thanks of broadband. This is the very definition of a must-have game.

Impressively addictive, and manages a quiet grace about itself in presentation -- despite being about smashing the crap out of every moving thing in sight. It's just that without any online options, very little in the way customization and a set of races that towards the end of the game begin to feel a bit stale, it's hard to recommend this as a full-price option.