Most of the time the gameplay never crests much higher than mediocre.

By today's standards, Sands of Destruction falls well short of the benchmarks set by other top-tier RPGs. The entire experience takes a few steps down the path toward immortality, but then comes running headlong back into well-worn trail of every other JRPG before it.

It's a fun shooter with a well-done bullet-time feature and a decent storyline. What more could you ask for from a $20 dollar game? Oh, Hubbardium-crazed humans? It's got that too!

Ultimate Band is a game that has its heart in the right place but comes up short in execution.

It's a shame that MLB 2K8 is the only baseball offering for Xbox 360 owners, as the efforts to do more than a simple roster update have resulted in a game that has solid ideas and a deep set of features, but is so buggy and inconsistent in almost every regard that it isn't worth your time unless you absolutely have to play a baseball game.

Wild Arms XF is a title that picks up on one of the major weak points of the genre and improves upon it in a welcome stroke, but seems to favor an increase in difficulty simply for difficulty's sake and has a nasty habit of halfway playing the game for you.

Don't come into Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Genie and the Amp expecting too much, and you'll be satisfied with what you get – a fun, short brawling romp that is reasonably well-suited to portable play.

With few novel twists on basic platformer elements and passable visuals, Pac-Man World 3’s only shot at investing Pac-Man with the charm of a Ratchet or a Clank rests with its story. It disappoints severely on that count.

All in all, despite Might & Magic: Chess Royale being free to play, I have a hard time recommending the game as anything other than an introduction to auto-battlers or a very casual experience to distract a few minutes while waiting in line. It's overly simplified and displays little in the way of character. With several games of this nature on the market, it's difficult to see how Chess Royale could compete.

Rather than put forth any real creative effort, it is a mere repackaging of existing content in an effort to earn some quick cash.

On a console as truly different as the DS is from anything before it, a Bomberman game should feel much more new than this one does. We’ve been here, we’ve done that, and once the 8-player luster wears off -- if you can get that many DS systems in one place to begin with -- the empty steps to nowhere taken by Hudson become very, very clear.

Overall, King of Seas is a serviceable action-RPG with a pirates theme that is intended for a more casual audience. Its mechanics are solid, and the title is entertaining enough for short bursts of gameplay, but its grindy and repetitive nature quickly takes the wind out of its sails. Some of my complaints are certainly fixable in future updates, at which point I imagine the game to be a solid option for those who yearn for a decent but simplistic pirate life simulator. For now, I'd steer clear until some changes are implemented, or you can wait for a substantial sale.

With a unique combat system, colorful graphics, and character upgrade options that deliver plenty of challenges, Rondo of Swords might not be the kind of war that everyone may want to fight, but it won't hold back those who decide to take up the struggle.

As stated time and time again in this review, it's the young fans of Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks who will get the most enjoyment out of this game.

Overall, Lost Sphear is a solid JRPG title. It incrementally improves upon I Am Setsuna, but players who didn't like that game likely won't like this offering, either. There's an imbalance that feels like it's punishing us for being good by making the game a tad easy on occasions. It feels like an indie game in length and ambition, since it tries out new things, but it falls short. The $50 price tag doesn't align with what Lost Sphear achieves, so this game is best for fans and nostalgia seekers.

It may not strive to reinvent the genre, or do anything especially new, but it makes good use of the Wiimote and is a pleasant experience overall.

Yet another cutesy game that is veiling the usual raison d'etre of video games — killing — and isn't anything new. Peanuts characters should soften the blow of the dropping biplanes, but really, maybe you should pick up a later volume of those complete Peanuts collections, and show your children a true work of art.

Yet another cutesy game that is veiling the usual raison d'etre of video games — killing — and isn't anything new. Peanuts characters should soften the blow of the dropping biplanes, but really, maybe you should pick up a later volume of those complete Peanuts collections, and show your children a true work of art.

Playing an FPS on the PSP for the first time was a mix of fun action and occasional frustration, not only because of the controls, but because Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 offers a remarkably basic experience that hearkens back to the early days of shooters.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine has a few serious problems that Wolverine's healing factor just isn't strong enough to recover from: repetitive backdrops, cookie-cutter enemies, and inconsistent graphics and dialogue. It's quick, brutal, dumb and repetitive.

At the end of the day, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast just isn't that good of a game. Despite the rich amount of content present, it doesn't seem to have the amount of polish and playability as Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit — or even some of the earlier entries.

With a disappointingly forgettable story, solid but unremarkable action, and with little else to look forward to in the multiplayer mode, there's not much of a reason to dig for the truth behind this particular conspiracy.

Flock! is a game with an endearing presentation but it's sadly followed by incredibly weak execution in the core gameplay, especially in the offering of campaign levels.

Zoo Tycoon was never an amazing game on the PC, and the transition to the small screen has lost a little depth, a little character, a little challenge and a lot of graphical magic.

It is certainly a good start, but it's nowhere near the level at which "NBA Street" was when it was first introduced into the market.

Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2010 is not bad, but that doesn't make it good, either. There are decent ideas here, but if you want a fitness game for the Wii, you'll want to go with the best, and Fitness Ultimatum 2010 isn't it.

Throw in some of the options that were removed from this release, such as new officer and duel modes, and they'll have plenty enough to land another $60 from the fans.

If you have several friends with DSes, you should add at least [10 points] to its score, since you won't be spending much time in its single-player mode, except perhaps to practice. It's an excellent party game.