Nagging issues, such as strum recognition and the fact that the guitar grip has a tendency to become unplugged, haven't been addressed, meaning that not a single problem brought up from the original game has been fixed.

Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual manages to partly succeed in introducing the world to a clever and adventurous character in Sylvie Leroux, and while she's got a long way to go before she can catch up to Niko from Revolution's Broken Sword series, there's enough potential for future installments to see her on a much longer episode of hidden secrets and ancient mystery.

The best darn licensed game you could possibly hope for.

There really is a lot to like about Sacred 2, but only as long as you are willing to put up with the constant need to micromanage your journey with a high tolerance for FedEx-type questing.

Mirror's Edge is a shining example of when a game concept idea doesn't live up to its idea. The movement controls are solid and the graphics top-notch, but everything else just doesn't work. The level design begins excellent and grows progressively worse. The combat is awkward and tedious, and even as the levels grow less fun, the game throws more and more combat at you, as if hoping to distract you. To top it off, the title is remarkably short and the plot deeply unsatisfying.

Mirror's Edge is a shining example of when a game concept idea doesn't live up to its idea. The movement controls are solid and the graphics top-notch, but everything else just doesn't work. The level design begins excellent and grows progressively worse. The combat is awkward and tedious, and even as the levels grow less fun, the game throws more and more combat at you, as if hoping to distract you.

Overall, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is a great RTS. I enjoyed it for the ridiculous story line and humor, and I found the gameplay to be quite captivating. While the controls work and establish that consoles can handle these types of games, they just aren't as convenient as they are on a PC.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is a great follow-up to the GameCube classic and is possibly the best RPG for the Wii.

Overall, National Geographic Panda is interesting in the sense that it educates people about pandas in an interactive form, but it's by no means an entertaining game.

Rare has done a great job of revamping the gameplay in order to provide a fresh experience while still preserving the core elements that made Banjo and Kazooie a hit in the first place.

Visually, it's not the best-looking game on the system, and the character models are pretty disappointing, as is the art direction outside of the mini-games. I had some fun with this title, and I'd recommend renting it to see if it's your cup of tea before jumping into a purchase.

There's simply nothing in Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals that anyone could want.

Ultimately, Sally's Salon is a good example of a casual strategy game done right. The look is nice and clean, the controls are easy for anyone to grasp without having to resort to the game manual, the title is easy to understand, and the game's difficulty and length provide a good challenge.

If you don't care what era your action takes place in, then Call of Duty: World at War manages to be an exciting addition to the series.

Overall, Populous DS is a fantastic game that will find a warm reception with any who remember its previous releases. It's easy to recommend the game to those who may have played it 20 years ago and would like the chance to step into godhead again.

A passable, but small, collection of mini-games that'll appeal to a pretty large group of players, but it's hardly something that you can get excited about playing, especially since we've already seen all of these mini-games in some form or another, and most likely under different names.

In summary, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 drastically improves the graphics and gaming engine once again, though much like the Tiger Woods franchise, if you've played one, you know what to expect.

Whether it was the desire to stay one step ahead of TNA Impact or just the realization that things were getting stale, THQ and Yuke's really stepped up this year and delivered a terrific wrestling game in WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw '09. The new Road to Wrestlemania mode finally builds a viable vehicle to tell the types of stories that one only finds in professional wrestling, with a smart eye toward rivalries and character dispositions rather than the slapped-together garbage that seems to plague every other game dealing with similar subject matter.

Finally, a fully featured wrestling game has come to the Nintendo system, complete with all of the creation systems thus far and full online play. The controls actually work for the system, making it easy for people to pull off some of the more complicated maneuvers and even do things not featured on the other versions of the game.

Altogether, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is a decent enough wrestling title on the PSP, but I think it also lacks a little polish, especially with the visuals.

With controls that don't work, incomprehensible RPG-styled gameplay between matches, and limited character creation utilities, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 for the NDS has come from its "has potential" status from last year all the way down to "scrap it."

In the end, Gears of War 2 achieves exactly what it sets out to do: make a better Gears of War. It's an accomplishment worthy of praise, but knowing what Epic is capable of, we really wish they would have pushed the envelope a bit more on the campaign mode.

A pretty good trivia game. The questions are of the right difficulty level and the presentation, while not perfect, is good enough so that fans won't feel like they were given a bare-bones effort.

The incredible concept and execution really make this a unique game that plays really well. If you like shmups, need a hearty laugh, or just feel the need to blow up some zombies, you really can't go wrong by dropping $20 on this title.

Fans of the original may not be up for playing through the same game again, even with tacked-on touch controls that end up being fairly problematic. It offers a large amount of challenges that make the game worthwhile.

There's little reason to own Kung Fu: Panda Legendary Warriors unless you don't own the first, more platforming-oriented title, or you do own that title, hate the platforming and really want more of the combat.

If you never had those songs, then SingStar Legends is definitely a safe purchase for those wanting to expand their karaoke library.

As a game, it is rather fun, although a bit simplistic, and its real strength lies in its online, not offline play. The persistent online EndWar will keep players busy for much longer than the single-player campaign, and the fun of trying to stop a Russian invasion or to take over Washington, D.C., is significantly higher when you know that the enemy commander who you just stomped is a real person.