While there are lots of competitors, there quite simply just isn't another football game that stands up to the standard Madden sets. If you love the NFL, you'll love Madden 2005.

Much of what was supposed to make Fable innovative was ultimately cut out, but what's left still looks incredible and is amazingly fun to play.

Even without the car crashes, Burnout 3: Takedown would have been a superb arcade-style racing game. But the incredible vehicular carnage makes it a thing of profound destructive beauty.

This is my first real experience with the Pokémon universe (I've been told repeatedly that the next gen versions of the game do not capture the fun of the handheld), and I must say I'm quiet impressed.

Even without the car crashes, Burnout 3: Takedown would have been a superb arcade-style racing game. But the incredible vehicular carnage makes it a thing of profound destructive beauty.

Unfortunately, the music and sound effects are just plain irritating and obnoxious, with tunes that might appeal to 7-year olds.

A decent fighting game with enough twists in the gameplay to set it apart from the pack.

A decent fighting game with enough twists in the gameplay to set it apart from the pack.

While the "girlfriends" are an interesting twist, Street Racing Syndicate doesn't rise much above a strictly average racing game. You'd be better off with "Need For Speed Underground" and a copy of "Maxim."

One of the most epic games you’ll play, and dare I say (oh the fanboys will kill me) it’s better than even the "Final Fantasy" games of late. Here’s looking to number four.

Utilising each of the five pikmin-type talents is fun; the pikmin are easy to command and control, and the multi-tasking with Louie adds a lot of depth.

Don't let the big-headed cartoon folk fool you, this is a solid (but fun) simulation of golf, and online-enabled to boot. Too bad it's so similar to the previous game in the series.

While the new look can be a little daunting to a guy who just wants to play a few seasons, it is definitely the most sophisticated simulation ever developed for a console.

Xbox users benefit immensely from the addition of online play, a feature that was noticeably absent from past games due to a tiff between Microsoft and EA.

While the new look can be a little daunting to a guy who just wants to play a few seasons, it is definitely the most sophisticated simulation ever developed for a console.

Black Arrow is also the first game to fully implement the Xbox Live 3.0 features, including the ability to recruit squads, schedule tournaments and leave profanity-laced voice messages for Flat Eric. Cool beans.

While the visuals are second to none, the game ultimately doesn't bring anything new or notable to the first-person shooter formula.

Here lies the ultimate problem: if you're not hard-core, you're just going to end up playing around with it, and you'll almost certainly become bored within a few hours.

Sega's best football game to date.

As much as I enjoyed it, I now spend most of my time nitpicking on small issues that in the end keep this game from being a classic.

Plain and simple, ESPN NFL 2K5 is Sega's best football game to date.

If you already have a track and field game, Athens 2004 is just more of the same.

With only 35 songs to sing along with, any real fan of karaoke will whip through them in only a few sessions.

The customization is deep, but not so deep as to be lengthy, and the game itself looks crisp and well-polished.

Soldiers brings something new to both well-worn genres, and only its unforgiving difficulty keeps it from being a complete standout.

While Spider-Man 2 truly puts you in the webbed booties of the wall-crawler and boasts a ton of freedom to do what you want, there's not enough variety to keep things fresh from start to finish.

While Spider-Man 2 truly puts you in the webbed booties of the wall-crawler and boasts a ton of freedom to do what you want, there's not enough variety to keep things fresh from start to finish.

While Spider-Man 2 truly puts you in the webbed booties of the wall-crawler and boasts a ton of freedom to do what you want, there's not enough variety to keep things fresh from start to finish.