The basically unexplored African and Italy campaign serves to add a bit of spice to an otherwise overplayed time period, and the sheer variety of the missions and goals add a lot of replay value to the game.

You can have some fun with this game but only if you're willing to forgive a lot of design flaws and put a lot time into memorizing the labyrinthine control scheme.

If not for issues with the touch screen, and especially the simple yet deep problems set off by Shin'en's camera angle choice, I might have gone as far as to write my letter of recommendation for Nanostray to sit in non-Japanese shmup classic status, along with Amiga greats like Apidya.

Darwinia is, all told, wonderful. It's the kind of game that would show impressionable young kids the breadth and scope of the medium without overwhelming them with mechanics.

Tight car handling, a career mode that's fun without being too technically involved (unlike "Gran Turismo 4" or "SegaGT") and that same sense of speed we've come to love as of late in our racing titles establish Flatout as a worthy companion, if not successor, to "Burnout 3."

If you're a big Full Metal Alchemist fan, or even just enjoy flipping through manga or catching the show on Cartoon Network, then Crimson Elixir is definitely worth a rental.

Addictive, varying gameplay. Whether you choose to be a trader or a flat-out ruthless pirate, you'll find something to enjoy in this open-ended exercise in the pirate lifestyle.

There is an incredible amount of depth, replay value, and fun to be found on this one disc.

A great start for what will hopefully become a style of console gaming that will grow, meet many improvements, and finally show the world that art and videogames can, indeed, be one.

A game with which the player can stay active and engaged, but not one which the player will enjoy with more than the slightest note of glee.

It is beautifully crafted, with only a few noticeable issues. If there were one real flaw to the game, it would be its length – it's too short! It was over somewhat abruptly, and I found myself wanting more.

Of the videos, the one I found the most useful was the "making of" commentary, where the developers discussed a bit about the maps while showing a presentation of them.

Crown of Glory is a gem in the modern landscape of first-person shooters and 3D normal-mapped, vertex-shaded graphics. It may not be the prettiest of titles, but it is certainly a deep strategy game that combines both the empire building and turn-based combat styles into a brilliant title based in the era of Napoleon.

Here it is, Gundam fans: The game you have been waiting for. And, as usual, the rest of us are left with our copies of Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram -- not Marz -- with the sad notion that there will never be another game like it again.

A good time but ultimately a forgettable time. This is fun for the bus ride, but not much else.

A wonderful game and recommend it for any RPG fan who needs a game to spend 40-80 hours on.

A mediocre experience at best. There's a lengthy single player mode that has a lot to offer, but doesn't do anything particularly well. The controls are tedious and the graphics are slow and blocky.

Though it may lack much of a storyline, and seems a little rushed or even corny at times, King of Fighters still manages to come out swinging.

Overall, The Bard's Tale is wonderful. Although it does lack in a few areas, the game's memorable characters and terrific sense of humor more than make up for any of these weaknesses.

There aren't any ridiculously awesome animations or eye-popping visuals that would grab the attention of a casual gamer, and the actual gameplay and content are much more enjoyable if you actually have an appreciation for the special powers and possibilities of the Marvel characters that appear in the game.

The Final Assessment. Frankly, Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is a broken game. The loading screens will take up many hours of your life if any substantial play is put into the game – I kid you not, hours.

While it must have faced enormous pressure during the production and subsequent release of the title, the developers must feel proud knowing they leaped the movie to game barrier and actually created a worthwhile game.

The highest praise due to Fantastic Four is that it occasionally trades with some success on the universal truth that breaking things is fun.

A small issue I had with the game is the replayability; while you can go back and clear out all areas, there is no real payoff for doing so. Even with these minor issues, Psychonauts definitely comes strongly recommended.

It's so well put together that the flaws that do stand out are minor, and while they do add up, they are generally forgotten about once you actually get into the game. It has definitely seized the top spot in its genre.

R3KX, with its lack of real challenge, story, or presentation values, is just not in any way a memorable game. Koei is capable of much better, as "Dynasty Warriors" and their upcoming PC title "Uncharted Waters" attests to.

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.

When all's said and done, all the beer is chugged, all the bottoms goosed and the wind broken, as the cigarette smoke clears, Conker: Live & Reloaded comes out as just a bit more than the simple sum of its parts.