Konami still has a ways to go before its Rengoku series can be called respectable, but Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N. is miles ahead of its predecessor. The visuals look better, environments look great, and the customization in the game is addictive. Should the combat improve in the inevitable third iteration, this will be a franchise worth checking out.

A poor man’s "Max Payne." Hardcore Castle fanatics will still get this game regardless, and they may as well should as it is a modest representation of the comic series, it just could have been so much better. To everyone else, you can probably romp right through The Punisher and complete everything it has to offer with a rental.

There is a fairly deep single player mode, and a lot more courses and personality to this game. However, Tecmo is just a few steps away from nailing the Wii-Remote controls, and a character-creator and a few more multiplayer modes could have benefited this game greatly.

Accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. It provides a simple game play experience that will entertain younger children quite effectively.

If you have the original Ape Escape, stick with that.

The main arcade missions are done before you know it, and the lousy continue system doesn't help matters that much more either.

Remove the decade old plot progression, fix up the difficulty, balance out the characters and you would really have a contender on your hands.

As one, I felt the game lacked the show’s trademark wit, and didn’t do a good job of capturing the characters.

These games aren't cutting-edge, but they are classics. Each game brought back great arcade memories for me, and reminded me that I've been playing games for almost 25 years.

Its main issue is a lack of originality in an increasingly stale genre. Where THQ tries to innovate, they do not execute well enough to rationalize buying Tak over any other 3D platformer.

I cannot recommend a purchase as this game gets really repetitive and boring playing by your lonesome.

The mini-games help keep things interesting, and the ability to replay them, as well as other unlockable content really help out the replay value. Unfortunately, poor level design and uninspired combat drag the game down well below its potential.

Shot-Online has a tightly knit community. There seems to be constant tournaments and other events going on to keep the community there. The MMO stuff just doesn’t do it for me.

Shrek the Third isn’t an altogether bad game, but is certainly a sloppy one.

The problems lie mostly with the game design, which is enjoyable, yet flawed. While Samurai Shodown V isn't necessarily a bad game, it doesn't quite hold up to previous entries in the series.

The audio is about as enthralling as the graphics are, which is to say not that much.

On the other, it’s impossible to deny just how flawed some of the remakes are. I can’t help but be disappointed by their lackluster quality, but by the odd lack of the original games being on here.

If you’re looking for a decent single player game to plow through in a weekend, Bullet Witch would make a terrific rental.

A unique and totally serviceable game, but the thing is that it just isn’t all that fun.

So while this game might take you only a few days to beat, its presentation and feel make for a fun pinball game not like any other. If you’re looking for something that takes pinball to a new level of greatness, look somewhere else.

The control is flawed and attempts to handle the system's limitations in an imaginative, yet dysfunctional manner. There are many problems here from the button configuration and poor AI to auto-targeting.

If you really want your derby racer fix on the Xbox that I highly recommend going with "Eve of Destruction" or "Crash 'n Burn" instead.

Don’t look to the expansion to add anything new to the game that will get you very excited unless you’re completely in dire need of more animals.

It's not the worst game in the series, but perhaps the most disappointing because of the developer's inability to deliver on the majority of its several cool ideas.

If you have Live, this can be an incredibly enjoyable game once you get used to the profane and immature nature of players that frequent the lobbies.

Sure the new single player experience is a nice change of pace, but there isn’t anything revolutionary added to the franchise that will make you ponder ‘why did I miss out on this one?’

Mind, it’s still a decent game with gorgeous graphics and an incredible environment, but it possesses little of the magic that some of its predecessors have.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still the same addicting CS we all know and love, but why shell out the extra $50 and Xbox Live fees to play a five year old PC game that has been free since its release? The complete lack of extras is pretty noticeable, and the single player modes do nothing for you.

Overall, Shrek the Third is another by-the-numbers movie licensed game. There’s nothing remarkably wrong with this game, but nothing that great about it either.

Night-Watch is a rather average horror RPG based on a movie you may not have heard of. You could certainly do a lot worse, but unless you’re a fanatic about the film, your money could be better spent elsewhere until this one hits the bargain bin.

If you really need a life sim fix, I would recommend that other recent CDV game, "Glory of the Roman Empire."

It is a semi-lengthy RPG, as the adventure clocks in roughly around 20 hours, and the online portions are pretty entertaining.

It is almost as if half way into production one of the higher ups saw the progress, wasn’t happy and forced them to stick to the old formula that’s more than a decade old. The game is also really short.

The gameplay is fun at times, but the manner with which you have to progress through single player to unlock cards is downright grueling and unrewarding.

The gameplay is oversimplified, gimmicky and unoriginal, with clunky controls and some high elements of frustration.

It is a decent game in its own right and can be quite fun at times, but there is nowhere near enough content to justify its asking price.

One Piece for the GBA is strictly for those who love 16 bit games or the One Piece anime series a lot.

When it comes time to cross the finish line, Juiced unfortunately falls behind the rest of the pack with dated mechanics and frustrating gameplay.

This game is strictly for die-hard fans of the Fatal Frame series and graphics whores everywhere. Everyone else can easily find better offerings in the survival horror sub-genre.

It lacks originality, instead choosing to tack together a lot of undeveloped and tiresome gameplay mechanics.

After going in with low expectations I was actually pleasantly surprised. Still, it lacks originality, instead choosing to tack together a lot of undeveloped and tiresome gameplay mechanics.

Family Feud fans like myself will enjoy this game no matter what, though not so big fans will probably be peeved at the crappy time limit for answer inputting and the very limited graphics and sound.

Commandos: Strike Force tries to combine its tactical strategy roots into a FPS, but you'd never be able to tell it, especially with a game like Brothers in Arms out on the market.

There’s a lot of game to Tao’s Adventure, so if you can put up with all its flaws it should last you quite a while. But frankly, you’d be better off just getting something else.

Unless you are a die-hard ATV fan who can put up with frustrating gameplay mechanics, I cannot recommend ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails to you.

A major disappointment.

A mix of GTA, pretty fireballs, and generic music make Mercenaries a title that doesn’t embarrass the genre, but doesn’t further videogames either.

But to the non-fans, is this game fun? Kind of, for a short time then the repetitiveness of it sets in and you'll be plowing through trying to get your moneys worth of this budget title.

I really wanted to like The Shield. Unless you’re a Shield enthusiast like me, you’ll be safe passing on this one.

Stupid A.I, lack of maps, botched multiplayer interface, and a half assed story mar an experience that had the potential to be much more fulfilling.

I don’t care how much you loved the film, do not buy this game. If your children absolutely loved the movie, then give Zathura a rental at most for them to get their thrills.

Not as much as something akin to other innovative titles on the DS, but it’s worth a purchase if you just want to experience some familiar Frogger action for yourself or even the kids.

With its short play time, and lacking mini games, it won’t take the average gamer more than a few days to get their fill of Shrek, Donkey, and Puss.

Playing through the game takes only a few hours the first time, making it great for quick gaming spurts. Combining that with the lackluster multiplayer modes and shoddy controls you won’t be going back very often though. It just isn’t worth the headache.

Your average dungeon crawler. The graphics are nothing special, the audio isn’t amazing, and it’s a short game, but if you enjoy exploring dungeons and have $20 to spare, then I would defiantly consider getting this one.

Ultimately, History Channel: Civil War is a game that should be played by most war FPS fans just to experience something different. It may not be the most innovative or exhilarating war FPS, but it is a breath of fresh air from WWII FPS #205.

Dirge of Cerberus only serves to illustrate that you can have too much of a good thing – even if it is the cherished and adored Final Fantasy VII.

Truly a poor game. It introduces us to 1080p resolution and a cool gameplay mode in NBA Replay, but fails on almost every other level.

Over the Hedge has exactly what you’d expect the typical movie-licensed video game to have: unoriginal, repetitive gameplay that’s obviously cashing in on a movie which had much more work put into it.

While the graphics are pretty good, the game just isn’t scary, and it really didn’t make you feel that saving the main character from the curse was really important.

During my time with Elebits, I couldn’t help but think in the back of my mind that this game is just a long tech demo and nothing more. And paying full price for what a tech demo is just insane.

Though it sounded sweet on paper, developer Nival Interactive couldn’t translate it into a great game. Hopefully, Hammer & Sickle’s failures will inspire the creation of games that can more fully realize its potential.

For all that it does right with its combat engine and Lunar system, Blade Dancer does something wrong. Playing the game frequently feels like you're taking two steps forward and one back and you'll get the sense that you're not really going anywhere.

Meet the Robinsons is the archetypal licensed game - it just exists to push the license, it does nothing new, it derives much of its gameplay from other, far better and more popular games, and doesn’t need to be played by anyone outside of the license’s fanbase.

The emulation of the arcade games are perfectly nailed and it's a shame that it was wasted on such a poor game selection.

If my Mom ever bought me a game like this when I was little, I might have had a tantrum.

As much as it pains me (a long-time SNK fighting fan) to say this, SVC Chaos is probably the worst overall fighter I've ever played from SNK.

Even die-hard fans should steer clear of purchasing this, as there just isn’t enough of a game here to justify spending $40 on.

Taken as a whole, Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts is an average game with a unique premise. While it controls just fine, there’s too little excitement here to really recommend a purchase to anyone.

Pocket Racer[s] screams budget title in every way. The gameplay is generic even by mid-’90s standards, the graphics are bland, and the sound will leave you wanting a lot more.

But the real problem with Stacked is that it’s not worth the price tag. You can get the same gameplay for drastically less.

There’s nothing done well here that wasn’t already done in the Force modes, which is quite sad.

ProStroke Golf – World Tour 2007 is an obvious first attempt into the genre. Hopefully, the feedback can be taken well by the developer, as they could, some day, have a good golf game on our hands that doesn’t have the name Links or Tiger Woods.

Boring, repetitive and not even close to being fun whatsoever.

The gameplay is too repetitive and boring to be worth anything, the main game can be beaten within seven or eight hours, and the extras offered just aren’t worth coming back for.

Gothic 3 is not a budget title, for $40 I expect a pleasant gameplay experience not frustration. That’s like paying a guy $40 to punch you in the face repeatedly.

Nice try, Eurocom, but let’s face it: the track and field genre of videogames is still dead. Honestly, developers should just give up on making them.

We’re given a lame cooking ability for the fish you’ve caught which isn’t necessary at all.

A poor game for no matter what it is priced at. I can’t recommend a purchase or rental, even if you are a huge survival horror junkie. Curse is well, just that.

The gameplay is horrendous with clunky control, button mashing repetitiveness, and a headache inducing camera system.

The few genuine improvements are easily forgotten amid the many things that were made worse from the first game into this one.

If you’re really into battleship warfare, or looking for something to get your grandfather who’s a World War Two navy vet that needs something else to play on his DS besides Brain Age, you’ll like this game. Everyone else should go play Advance Wars: DS or one of its earlier titles.

While the game controls nicely, the frame rate is bad, the gameplay is bland and boring; there’s simply no fun to be found in the title. Simply put, it’s a bad port of an already bad PS2 game.

Even though this is a budget title, I recommend that you save your $19.99 and put it towards a driving game that will keep you entertained via the actual racing mechanisms, rather than the same running joke.

A bottom of the barrel poker game. It does have some cool things that most other poker games don’t like craps, and sports betting, but the bad far outweighs the good. Avoid this one at all costs.

Brooktown High is poor by design and though the concept running it may be admirable the execution is not. Bad conversation, lackluster mini-games, pointless statistics, and a below average presentation don't necessarily help the dating sim genre make headway in America.

Even for you gamerscore whores, sitting through this one for the 1000 points would kill you. Even with its budget price, it’s not worth the headaches that the anything but random card shuffling and tedious tournaments would bring you.

Wing Island is classic early console fodder: something that sits on the shelf next to good games and waits for clueless customers to pick the game up before it shows up in the budget bin for more clueless customers to buy because of its price tag.

The only thing that saves this game from getting a big fat zero is that the graphics look good, it has plenty of bells and whistles (costumes Frogger can wear, multiplayer, challenge mode, etc.) and the background music goes well with the levels.

If you must pick up this title because of a significant other, then buy another version. I can’t guarantee the controls will be better, but you’ll save a few bucks and the GCN version does play on the Wii as well.

Probably the worst Bomberman game to ever be unleashed upon the public. Just about everything you ever liked about the franchise has been destroyed and little good has been created.

This game insulted my intelligence as a gamer and a human being. I found very little entertainment while playing this game and feel ripped off that I spent five bucks on it.