It never really takes the kid gloves off and makes you deal with the realities of running a real estate empire.

Just don't believe the hate.

It is perfect for short sessions of play, possesses serviceable multiplayer functionality, and its sufficient production values make for one of the most unexpectedly fun times on the system.

This is one of Bandai's better Gundam efforts ever, but it still doesn't play like a full-featured, real Japanese RPG. Let's hope for a sequel, I guess.

Succeeds on all the levels it's meant to; it adds something for everyone, deepens the end-game for those players who show the most overall loyalty to the franchise itself, and expands on the in-game history and lore.

It has good art assets, visual design, and sound. However, I cannot recommend this title to veteran MMO players or to those seeking to get into the genre.

Just don't believe the hate.

Congrats to the Fight Night team for putting this together; for the time being, this is as real as video boxing is going to get.

While Fight Night Round 3 was delayed from being a launch title, I can't help but feel that some aspects were skipped or omitted due to time constraints, mainly because there are portions of this game that are flawless.

Depth, and oddly enough, simplicity, have been sacrificed for portability, making this a mixed bag when all is said and done.

There are enough flaws in the compilation, however, that a purchase can't be truly recommended.

The $50 price tag might seem somewhat high for a game that takes one idea, tweaks it a bit, and calls it a whole new play function. However, when one takes into consideration the extensive replay value that the multiplayer functionality brings to the table, that price point seems less intimidating.

The frustrating ease of death, an uninteresting story and characters, washed-out visuals and uninspired gameplay do not a successful sequel make.

It drapes itself in branding, of which Marc Ecko's rhinoceros is but a single offender; exactly what am I rebelling against here?

Age of Kings' endless tactical calculations more than compensate for slightly fuzzy graphics and logical curiosities, and reward patient engagement with countless hours of empire-scale strategic combat.

If you don't approach it expecting any clever gameplay angles on the combat or the mass destruction, you can squeeze a respectable amount of enjoyable racing out of Full Auto.

Playing it may bring back memories of the multi-disc RPG epics the PlayStation often played host to, full of promising storylines and lovable characters. They often felt like they fell a little short of the mark in the end, and Grandia III in some ways shared that feeling.

It's repetitive and technically deficient, but the fact that they managed to squeeze this concept onto a console woefully inadequate for it and still come out with a fun game at all is surprising, and provides hope for the future.

Exit isn't entirely immune to style-over-substance accusations, and while it certainly doesn't suffer any shortage of prettiness, plenty of satisfying puzzle-solving still manages to stand out among all the polished sights and sounds.

Unlike just about every other "street life" game that's come down the pike since GTA: San Andreas, Getting Up shows tremendous potential, contains gameplay that isn't mindless, and overall, doesn't go out of your way insult your intelligence with its premise.

You can easily find a lot to like in The Rub Rabbits!, and the diversity of gameplay keeps you hooked for a long time, but like those booth games at the carnival, you will probably grow bored or despise many for their simplicity or frustration factor.

If you're an RPG fan looking for something new and different ... stop kidding yourself and go look into the Shadow Hearts series.

The Rebirth mode is a welcome addition, and it offers a harder quest, more enemies and new puzzles, but touch screen support is minimal, and the knifing battles feel more like hastily created mini-games rather than well-integrated portions of the quest.

Unless you're a train enthusiast, there will be a little to no enjoyment to be had out of Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006.

The traditional Tony Hawk gameplay has several twists - some for the better, others not so much - but has had the difficulty significantly dumbed down to the point where Story Mode is boring much of the time, and is insufficiently counterbalanced by Classic Mode.

As a $50 PS2 release, this would have been nearly unacceptable. But 30 for a portable version, that plays as well as this one does, is wonderful. Hopefully the rest of the X games follow.

In the market for a pulse-pounding, white-knuckle action game for the Nintendo DS? Walk into your preferred game store and grab a copy of Metroid Prime Hunters, making sure not to accidentally make eye contact with the dusty, twice-returned Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D on the shelf above that has been doomed to helplessly watch the years ooze by.

When all is said and done, all I have left to claim is that GT Legends is the single best racing game I've personally ever played. Bold words, I know, but I truly feel that way.