echochrome, with its simple black and white line-work aesthetic is certainly lacking in the expected visual fireworks common in most modern games, as promised. But does it feature the proportionate gameplay of its inspiration?

Loved
The Concept: echochrome does a great job of delivering on its promise of innovative gameplay, as mind-bending puzzles increase in complexity, requiring creative thinking, patience and, occasionally, some quick reflexes. The stock puzzles are clever and often continue to surprise the player with new solutions that require an ever changing perspective.
The Graphics: Yes, the game is light on polygon pushing power and some increased visual depth wouldn't hurt, but it's still pleasant to look at. It's a welcome change from the standard puzzle fare, free from overused primary colors and tired color matching gameplay.
The Music: There's little in the way of interesting sound effects, outside of footsteps and a vague reminder that time is passing while you sort out each solution. The game's soundtrack is appropriately bare, a string quartet and voice providing a calming backdrop.
The Level Editor: After you've completed echochrome's stock set of 56 levels, you can create your own. The interface is a bit clunky, a bit challenging to wrap one's brain around—designing in a 3D space won't come easy to some—but the Canvas mode (and the ability to share puzzles) helps extend the game's shelf life. We'd find it hard to justify picking up both the PS3 and PSP versions, under the assumption that someone out there will go to the trouble of recreating the platform exclusive puzzles in the built-in level editor.

Hated
Semi-sloppy Rules: While some of echochrome's puzzle world rules are rock solid—falling through a black hole sends you straight down, hiding edges lets your move from path to path, regardless of each paths 3D location—some feel fudged. It's difficult to determine where you'll land when stepping upon a level's white bounce pads, adding some unnecessary and unwelcome challenge—especially when the mannequin gets hitched on something invisible and flails wildly in mid-air. Similarly, landing the mannequin on platforms below when falling through holes can have unexpected results.
Finicky Controls And Edges: Lining up edges sometimes doesn't work as expected. The avatar will obey boundaries that often appear to have disappeared and the "snap" function, performed with the square button and intended to help the player line up possible edge joins, is rarely helpful. Floaty analog controls and precision perspective changes with the D-pad don't help matters.
Oh, There's A Time Limit?: echochrome's minimal design can go too far, with vague game mode titles, a time limit you won't know about until it's too late—the clock isn't visible by default—and interface choices that are puzzling in a bad way.

echochrome is a great example of a game that takes a simple concept and extrapolates a fascinating suite of puzzles built around that concept. It can be at times both relaxing and exciting as one attempts to best each level's time limit or, after solving a puzzle, one's personal best. echochrome's other strongest suit may be that it provides modern gamers with the type of game that simply wouldn't be able to succeed at traditional retail, helping to further justify the existence and promise of digital distribution. It may not be the next Rubik's Cube or Go or Tetris in terms of near eternal replayability, but it's still a fascinating little gem of a title that, at only $10, should be played and enjoyed by anyone who owns a PlayStation 3 or PSP.

echochrome was developed by Sony Japan Studio, published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Retails for $9.99. Available on PlayStation 3 and PSP. Played "Atelier" mode to completion, played "Freeform" mode for 2 hours. Tested level creation and distribution.

Then Guitar Hero and Rock Band happened. Music games are officially big business now, and everyone and their mother (literally) wants in. Next thing you know, you're boycotting the Grammys and defiantly tattooing the word "sellout" on your forehead. Battle of the Bands for Wii is THQ's entry into the rock music arms race—but is it a worthy innovator on the scene, or just a trendwhore leaping onto the bandwagon?

Loved
Awesome Musical Mashups: Battle of the Bands is a "musical combat" game, meaning two bands from different genres square off to try and hit the right notes in the same song. Because of the range of musical genres to pick from—rock, country, hip hop, marching band and Latin—players have the opportunity to hear each of the game's 30 tracks covered in any one of these five musical styles. The quality of the covers is really thorough—right down to Spanish-language lyrics in the Latin versions, a lovely touch. Going up against a friend or the CPU, the song you're playing will periodically switch back and forth from your version to your opponent's, which feels frenetic, silly and fun.

Decent Song List: This is always a matter of opinion, of course - after all, many rhythm game connoisseurs prefer cool original songs that play well to any popular song. In this case, songs like "Insane in the Brain," "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Mama Said Knock You Out," for example, were all clearly chosen to work well with each of the different cover band styles, and it's fun to hear new takes on solid popular music.

Hated
The Controls: Are you tired of waggle for its own sake yet? The game's control scheme, which asks you to jerk the Wii remote left, right or down (depending on the direction indicated) in time with the music, doesn't serve the genre and becomes boring after just a few tunes. Moreover, the Wii remote sensitivity doesn't feel quite right here - for a keep-the-beat game, being just a little bit off is a total dealbreaker.

The "Battle" Thing: You don't just keep the beat in Battle of the Bands. Chaining accurate notes fires a special weapon at the enemy, who's also firing at you. You can push the Wii's B button to block, and you and your opponent only gain points if you hit one another. This method of scoring, however, feels tacked on, and distracts from the music.

The Aesthetics: Oh my goodness, it's hard on the eyes. If a froth-mouthed fanboy wants ammunition for his "glorified GameCube" argument against the Wii, he would be well-served to screencap this game. It's almost inexcusably low-fi.

The Characters: Guitar Hero III's goofy character designs took some knocks in the court of public opinion for their Muppet-ish proportions and stylized looks. Battle of the Bands' characters are even more exaggeratedly cartoonish - but that's less of a problem than the fact that some points of view might find them borderline offensive. The country bands are white trash hicks, the hip hop groups are thuggish and cash-obsessed, and the dialogue that opposing bands exchange before they fight contains humor that plenty of people will just find tasteless.

The Clone Factor: Imagine this: two scrolling fretboards with dots on them oppose one another on the screen. No, it's not the market leader, it's Battle of the Bands! True, that's what a guitar looks like, and a band game is bound to have guitars. But the game board is perhaps the most blatant example of the game's knocked-off, "me too" vibe.

There are a few reasons to love rhythm and music games - the joy boost you get from feeling as if you're actually playing, like with Guitar Hero or Rock Band; endearing periphery, a là Gitaroo Man, or utterly satisfying beat-keeping, as in Elite Beat Agents. Battle of the Bands lacks any of these points in its favor, unfortunately.

It's a shame, because the music is quite well-done and the core concept is encouragingly creative. The simple gameplay might be more enjoyable to younger kids or casual gamers who might be less inclined to mind the imperfections—but the crude dialogue would likely be a turnoff for casual fun-seekers, and it's not really suitable for young ones.

Battle of the Bands was developed by Planet Moon, published by THQ and was released on April 21. Retails for $49.99. Available on Wii. Played single player story mode to completion, and a few levels of local two-player battle.

But is it all of that enough to shake off the stink of Wii shovelware and live up to the expectations of a game created by the man behind E.T., Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Loved
Eclectic Gameplay: With more than 300 levels, a myriad of ways to play (from blasting and throwing to pulling and stacking), Boom Blox is a virtual toy story of Wii gaming. Each facet of the game manages to deliver, with little to none of the technical issues that have marred other remote-heavy Wii titles.

Great Character Design: What's a game without character? While Boom Blox is loaded with plenty of entertaining character design, it's in the adventure mode that the funky characters really shine. The four themed worlds were "creatively directed" by Spielberg himself and some of the sizzle seems to have made it through the process. Also, it's hard to go wrong with mini-fig like monkeys, cows and kittens in my book.

Deep Pick-Up and Play: None of the many games and modes in Boom Blox are hard to understand or to master, but the level of depth, the sheer number of puzzles included in the game are staggering. Many may take you only a minute or two to whip through, but all of them are satisfying.

Level Editor: The game's mix of multiplayer, single player, co-op, competitive, story and play is nicely augmented with a surprisingly innate level designer that, once the game is fully played through, grants you access to just about everything you come across in the packaged game. Building levels in the editor is so quick and easy to test out that it's almost as fun as playing them.

Sense of Fun: Boom Blox is a charming toy, a game imbued with a sense of fun that somehow makes it greater than it's many parts.

Hated
Weak Co-Op Gaming: After playing through the addictive adventure mode, I was looking for a similar experience to share with my son. Unfortunately I didn't get one. The co-op levels felt more like something meant for training or to show off the tech than for fun.

Shallow Competitive Gaming: While a bit better than co-op, the game's relatively shallow competitive mode feels like what I thought Boom Blox was going to be before I played it: A one trick pony.

Gimped Level Sharing: There's nothing more disappointing then being given a surprisingly robust tool with which to create your own fun and then being told you can't really share it with many people. Boom Blox level sharing relies on the Wii's innately flawed online support, which is so protective it throws down roadblocks to fun. In this case, you can, at least for now, only share them with a select group of friends. Perhaps a new channel will pop up on the Wii for level sharing down the line, but until then it's not very useful.

Boom Blox is, at it's heart, a puzzle game; you have to move, blow-up or shoot away blox to score points, save little blox characters, or defend buildings, but with so many different things to do and so many different ways to do them, it's easy to forget that. Add to the absurdly large number of puzzles and modes the game's four adventures, each with its own story and distinct look, and you've got a game that's sure to entice.

While Boom Blox isn't without its issues and moments of tedium, the main thing that prevents this title from realizing its full potential is the lackluster multiplayer. A game about fun should make multiplayer a top priority, not something that feels so tacked on.

Boom Blox was developed by Electronic Arts LA, published by EA and was released on May 6. Retails for $49.99. Available on Wii. Played single player Adventure mode to completion. Played single player Explore and all multiplayer modes and tested level creation.

Light gun games on the Wii, though, are a match made in heaven, or at least they could be if someone ever finds the right match. Could Target: Terror be it?

Loved
Digitized Bad Guys: Nothing takes me back to the days of Terminator and Mad Dog McCree like a little digitized blasting action. The game and it's digital graphics hold up well on the Wii.

Kitschy Arcade Fun: There's no way that someone can take Target: Terror seriously. It's got over the top bad guys and women, bizarre weapons like a freeze ray and is set in a motley assortment of locations, including Denver International Airport, of all places. Fun for the sake of fun is never a bad thing.

Hated
Major Lag While the game has some potential, that potential is absolutely destroyed by the lag that infects this game. At times the lag is so bad that you can't reload and shots are so delayed you end up hitting people who weren't even on screen when you pulled the trigger. When it happens it's game destroying and unforgivable.

Wii Mote Reaction Time: As if the occasion game-killing lag time weren't bad enough, the Wii remote's target reticule tends to drift a fraction of a second behind where you are aiming. You can get used to it, adapting to the slight delay, but you really shouldn't have to.

Lackluster Mini-Games: The mini games, unlockable by shooting stuff up in the campaign play, are for the most part uninspired and not very fun. The only exception for me was ICBM Defense Shield—which is essentially Missile Command—but even that is so short lived that it sucks the fun out of the concept.

Credit System: I get that the developers had to figure out a way to make a quarter-eating arcade game more challenging. Without the risk of going through an entire allowance in ten minutes of game play there really isn't a lot of tension built into the game. Giving a set number of credits to make it through the game is a fine solution, but it shouldn't be the only option, especially when you have to beat every single level to make it to the final stage. Unforgivable.

Target: Terror isn't a game someone would knowingly pick up expecting hours of over the top, deep gameplay. But even for those who go into the game with their eyes wide open, hoping to only relive a bit of arcade light gun nostalgia, Target: Terror is a let down. The glitches in the game are so bad at times, it makes me wonder if Konami or developer Leviathan Games even bothered to play test the game before shipping it out.

If you can pick this game up at a bargain price and are willing to grit your teeth through the slowdowns, the game does have its moments, just don't expect them to last.

Target: Terror was developed by Leviathan Games and published by Konami, and was released on April 22nd. Retails for $39.99. Available on Nintendo Wii. Played single player game to completion (less bonus round) in single player, multiplayer and dual-remote Justice Mode. Tested all mini-games.

Yes, within the first few minutes of the game you'll find yourself tasked with taking a photo of a giant pile of elephant dung. Does it get better from there? Read on, brave adventurer.

Loved
Concept and Execution: Wander around the Serengeti taking pictures of the flora and fauna while learning an Animal Planet special's worth of interesting facts. At the end of each level your pictures are incorporated into an article covering the area you just visited. Simple, relaxing, and educational, with a great deal to see and a lot of interesting animal factoids to absorb.

The Sounds of the Serengeti: Sound seems to have been a focus in making the game, with the animals and environmental sounds aiding greatly to the illusion of exploring Africa. The music, all courtesy of world music label Talking Drum Records, is a lovely mix of traditional African sounds that set the atmosphere for the game nicely.

Hated
The Visuals: Wild Earth: African Safari is basically a port of a budget PC title from 2006, and thus it looks like a budget PC title from 2006. Muddy textures, simplistic terrain, polygons popping in and out of view. The animals do look lovely, but the rest of the world could use some serious work.

The Multiplayer: The multiplayer elements added to the Wii version of the title feel completely tacked on and aren't actually all that much fun, especially in the foot-based missions, which have one player walking and the other taking pictures. Imagine only being able to take pictures of what someone else is looking at. An exercise in frustration.

The Mini-Games: Another addition to the Wii version, the mini-games just aren't fun, with some of them feeling downright broken. The Flamingo dancing game, for instance, is supposed to play like DDR, with the Wiimote movements replacing dance steps, but the game can't seem to register movement correctly, making the mini-game useless.

Riding The Rails: While several assignments leave you free to roam the countryside as you please, a few find you riding on rails via a preset path, trying to snap your shots as the world passes by. It's a bit like Pokemon Snap for the Nintendo 64, only without the fast pace and charming characters that made that particular game work so well.

Wild Earth: African Safari is, at its core, a guided wildlife tour of the Serengeti National Park. Your well-spoken tour guides tell you what to shoot, when to shoot it, and the significance of what you are taking pictures of. You just look where they tell you and snap a quick picture of it. The original title was (and is) a fine example of what PC edutainment can be. The main problem with the Wii version is basically everything they've added to make Wild Earth appeal to the Wii audience.

If you're willing to ignore the extras and focus on the core gameplay, Wild Earth: African Safari is a relatively solid little learning title that should appeal to the type of folks who leave the cable box on Discovery or Animal Planet all day long, though they might be better served by picking up the cheaper PC version without the extra added crap.

Wild Earth: African Safari was developed by Super X Studios and published by Majesco, and was released on April 22nd. Retails for $29.99. Available on Nintendo Wii. Played singleplayer game to completion. Tested all mini-games. Dabbled in multiplayer.

Loved

New Courses: Most of the game's new, original tracks are fantastic. Coconuts Mall, Wario Mines and Snowboard Cross all make excellent use of jumps and shortcuts. Certainly more exciting than most of Double Dash's offerings.

Car, Character Depth: Having so many unlockable characters and vehicles is great fanservice. But having vehicles with varied, multiple stats and characteristics is just great service. It's a small touch, but it makes picking the cart or bike that's right for you a cinch.

Bikes: And here I was thinking this was the stupidest addition to the series thus far. The bikes are actually really fun to use, and aside from a few tracks that have a few too many trick jumps, they're quite tastefully incorporated.

It's Still Mario Kart: For all the game's flaws - and as you can see below, there are many - this is still Mario Kart. It's still a blast at parties, you'll still love rushing from sixth to first on the last corner, you'll still scream to the heavens when you drop from first to sixth.

Hated

Online play: OK, so this is the Wiis fault, not the game's, but online play just feels so...impersonal. Mario Kart's a series where multiplayer has traditionally been about shit-talking and good times, not racing some nameless, voiceless opponent. If ever a Nintendo game needed voice-chat, it's this one.

Sterility: I can't quit put my finger on it, but compared to previous MK games the whole thing just feels really...clinical. Maybe even soulless. This is most telling in the dry presentation.

Too Many Karts: I'm sure the idea of having more (there's now 12) racers on the track seemed like a good one while sitting around the design table. And it looks good as a bullet-point on the game's marketing. But for many tracks it just results in too many items flying around and too many (yes, there is such a thing as too many) cheap shots. It it's not broke, why fix it, etc etc.

Item Unbalance: Mario Kart's built around a principle of elasticity. Last can go to first, and first to last. But this time around, it feels like they've gone too far. Thanks to overly-powerful items like Bullet Bill and the return of the fucking blue shell, which as said above are being thrown around by even more racers, you're no longer being challenged for being in first place. You're being punished. Again, if it's not broke, yada yada...

Wii Wheel: Perhaps the game's single biggest let-down, since the new peripheral was all that was keeping this from being, well, a Double Dash 1.5. While it's adequate, it just doesn't work as well as a Nunchuk and Wii Remote.

Look, Mario Kart Wii isn't a bad game. Far from it! I've enjoyed playing it, and I'm sure a ton of new Wii owners, whose last go-around with the series was on the SNES, will have a blast. But you know what? I'm not a new Wii owner. I'm a longtime fan of the series. Safe to say most of you are as well. And I found the unnecessary gameplay tweaks and underwhelming wheel more than a little disappointing. It's still a good game, don't get me wrong, it's just...not as great as you probably thought/hoped it would be.

Mario Kart Wii was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released on April 27. Retails for $49.99. Available on Nintendo Wii. Played singleplayer game to completion. Played 15 online multiplayer matches.

It's a brutal ride for almost everyone in Niko's journey from off the boat yokel to mass murderer, but what is the Grand Theft Auto IV experience like for the player?

Loved
It's A Hell Of A Story: Niko's life in Liberty City is violent, tragic and enthralling. Rockstar North's ability to make the player emotionally invest in GTA IV's characters is a rare achievement—and this is one aspect of the game that the team came close to perfecting. Outside of a handful of either slightly annoying or forgettable cast members, GTA IV's supporting players are as much of a draw as firing RPGs at a car filled with Russian gangsters then fleeing from the LCPD at high speeds in a Turismo.

You Belong To The City: The level of detail packed in to every aspect of Liberty City's boroughs is simply astounding. On a micro level, seeing the neighborhood change from industrial to residential, from posh to sketchy, is impressive. Taking a macro perspective of whole islands during a leisurely helicopter flight can be awe-inspiring.

Shooting The Shit: Combat works. With a free-look option for targeting whomever your want to be on the receiving end of a bullet and a lock-on reticule for quick, dirty, accurate gunplay, ventilating lowlifes is precise and almost entirely free of frustration. That Niko can pull off headshots with analog precision is something I wish I'd learned to perfect earlier in the game. That said, trying to shoot out someone's tires with any accuracy while doing 90 MPH on a motorcycle isn't handed to you on a plate. Trying to shoot while driving can be frustrating—especially when the mechanism for switching weapons is remapped—but sensitivity options certainly help.

Friends With Benefits: You may occasionally grow weary of fending off friendly invitations to go for a drink or a trip to one of the cities fine gentleman's clubs while you're busy trying to recover someone's heroin, but cultivating friendships is more beneficial than not. The pay off—helpful nurses, gun running buddies, posses on demand—make your life in Liberty City much easier.

Driving Mr. Bellic: With two solid dedicated online racing modes and a slew of street dragging side missions, Rockstar had to get driving right. It did. Pulling off bad-ass parking brake U-turns is oh so satisfying. GTA Race—think Mario Kart with RPGs instead of koopa shells—is a better effort than many dedicated driving games. GPS directions are very, very welcome.

Multiplayer: GTA IV's fifteen multiplayer modes, each with a host of options, could have easily comprised a standalone release. Simple Deathmatch is fun, but playing it on Happiness Island with nothing but rocket launchers and knives makes it shine. Team-based modes, like Cops 'n' Crooks and Team Mafiya, elevate multiplayer from simple fragfest to strategic, frenetic car-jacking fun.

The Extras: Watch hours of television. Take on challenging assassination missions. Perfect your darts game. Shoot the flying rats—all 200 of them. Establish new friendships. Go on dates. Surf the Web. Stunt jump! When you're done with GTA IV's main story, you'll have plenty of fun just messing about. We were amazed to find how much there is to do.

Radio, Radio: So many guilty pleasures: Q Lazarus, Genesis, Godley & Creme. Some new favorites: The Boggs, Justice, Boys Noize. Talk radio is genuinely funny and ad spots provide hilarious social commentary.

Hated
Some Characters And Plot Threads Fall Flat: One of the characters, who is intended to have an impact on the later portion of the game, is hard to care about on the level that Rockstar asks of the player. Some of the end-game relationships simply don't carry the same weight of those established in the first half, making it hard to be invested in some of the drama and can ultimately make one of the final chapters feel forced.

Some Missions Are Maddening: Of the 155 missions I attempted, 64 ended in failure. That's fine, but some seem impossible on the first attempt and others come close to resulting in thrown controllers. Missions are quick to restart, but by your third or fourth attempt of The Snow Storm, you may be looking for a Rockstar dev online to kill. There's not much in the way of mission filler, but some jobs are definitely more memorable than others.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a powerful game. After blazing through the core story line, having made certain decisions that affected how the narrative played out, I longed to return to the world to experience what I had missed. I recall watching every one of the game's trailers after completing it, reminiscing about GTA IV's tragic, colorful yarn. It's a hell of an accomplishment on many levels. Graphically, it's not as pretty as some other PS3 or 360 offerings—to which it will be unfairly compared—but what it may lack in pixel pushing performance, it makes up for in visual design. Using the cell phone as an interface for maintaining relationships, seemingly a minor thing, is brilliant.

Sandbox-style, ultra-violent games like Grand Theft Auto aren't typically my thing, but GTA IV has made me a fan. A fanboy. Rockstar North has addressed virtually every single one of my personal hang ups about the series, crafting one of the most memorable experiences in gaming. We hate to gush, but it's just that good. Flawless? No. But it's about as close to a game can come to being perfect.

Grand Theft Auto IV was developed by Rockstar North, published by Rockstar Games and is due to be released on April 29. Retails for $59.99 to $89.99 USD. Available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Played single player campaign to completion on PlayStation 3, played additional single player campaign portions on Xbox 360 and tested each online multi-player mode on Xbox 360. Total game progress on first completion was 65.67%, with 94 missions completed over the course of 35 hours.

Hit the jump to find out.

Loved
Comic Book Cut Scenes: Adding to the fun look of the game is that the game present cut scenes in comic book panels, even making you turn your DS sideway to read through them. It's the type of really nice touch that I wish was seen throughout the title.

Art Design: One of the first things that attracted me to Teenage Zombies was it's interesting art design and while it doesn't quite live up to that amazing concept art, it still offers a neat look for a DS title.

Fun Health Boosts: Instead of dishing out hearts or some other hackneyed health pack, Zombies regain health by eating their fallen brain opponents. They also score a mega health bonus by finding the body parts of a zombie and then reassembling them in a timed mini-game that using your stylus.

Hated
Repetitive Level Design: While the game has an interesting approach to level design, featuring maps that wrap around one another, I was pretty much over them about half way through the game. There's not a whole lot of new concepts introduced to the game after you've played it for a few hours.

Limited Abilities: The game's three zombies, which you can hot-swap during gameplay, each have one special ability and a handful of items they can find to do different things, but it's not enough to sustain the game over it's 30-plus levels. It feels like you've exhausted the game's bag of tricks soon after you've started.

Odd Save System: Saves in the game aren't always automatic, instead you'll sometimes have to find books lying about to save your position in a world. What makes this frustrating is that that's not always the case, so it's easy early on to expect an auto-save and not get one.

Wonky Controls: The game's mechanic, which really just features to buttons and the D-pad, are a little wonky when it comes to precision. For instance it can be hard to use Lefty's stretchy arm to grab a ledge and activating a button can at times be hit or miss. When this leads to a death it's beyond annoying.

Not Much Substance: The game could have used a bit more substance, in the way of plot, enemies, characters, special abilities, something to give it a bit more life. Sure it has a collection of mini-games, but they're not all that fun and the sense of humor didn't quite work for me, though I'm sure some will love it.

Teenage Zombies is a pretty straight forward scroller with a twist. It's got plenty of spirit and tries to do something different, but in the end I found the game more of a task to play through than a joy.

Teenage Zombies should find an audience among fans of 50s-esque Zombie parodies, I just don't fall into that group. What the game had to offer delivered about an hour of fun game play, everything after that felt like a chore.

Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! was developed by InLight Entertainment and released on April 17 for $30. Available on DS. Completed single player mode on Normal difficulty.

Warning. The big list of love and hate is approaching at full throttle. No refuge.

Loved
Still Gorgeous Graphics - Ikaruga has the best visual design of any shooter ever. The limited color palette, in black, red, white and blue, is painted perfectly on earthy backdrops. Playing the game in high definition alone is worth the 800 Microsoft Points, even if you have the Dreamcast and GameCube ports
Soundtrack - Shooting game soundtracks are required by shmup law to feature dramatic, blood pumping anthems and Ikaruga does not disappoint. Its boss battle fanfare is classic stuff.
Punishing Difficulty - There's a certain joy to be had in beating your previous shooting performance until, ultimately, you can conquer the barrage of beams and bullets and clear the game's five chapters. After each failed attempt, you may find yourself giving it another go. And another. And another. It's hard, damn hard, but in a very satisfying way.
Options For Everyone - TATE mode lets those with rotating monitors play Ikaruga in its original, portrait aspect ratio. Replays let players save their best runs to the hard drive. Multiple difficulty options let the scrubs enjoy the later levels with continues that accrue with more play time.
Real Replayability, Real Depth - Simply beating the game isn't enough. Ikaruga's real challenge lies in racking up max combo chains—shoot groups of three of the same color consecutively without breaking the sequence—requiring memorization, strategy, twitch controls and genuine skill.

Hated
Online Lag - In a game that demands tight control and pixel accurate perception, a quarter of a second delay in response is unacceptable. System link and local two-player options perform fine, but it's hard to take Xbox Live matches seriously.
Dull achievements - A good portion are only for the hardest of the hardcore, but as a whole they're largely uninspired. Maybe I'm just bitter that I know I'll NEVER get an A on Chapter 4.

Over the past six years, I've logged a few hundred sessions with Ikaruga in its two console incarnations, but playing through it again in high(er) fidelity helped renew my appreciation for it. It also showed how rusty I'd become, requiring nearly a week of playtime to finish all five chapters.

Ikaruga is not for everyone, but it's arguably one of the best values to hit Xbox Live Arcade, considering how much many of us paid for the import Dreamcast version (or the Naomi one!). The appeal may be limited due to its niche genre and unforgiving difficulty, but even if you've never played a Treasure shooter before, you owe it to yourself to see what the fuss is about.

Ikaruga was developed by Treasure and release on April 9. Retails for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD). Available on Xbox Live Arcade. Completed single player mode on Normal difficulty and played six Xbox Live two-player games.

Style versus substance, red versus blue...

Loved

• Characters - There may be only 11 playable characters, but each one has a distinctive fighting style and design that sets her apart from the rest. Making the tiny girl in the water globule the wrestler character tickled me to know end.
• Graphics - As far as 2D graphics go, these are definitely on the upper end of the scale. While not as fluid as Guilty Gear at its best, Arcana Heart's sprites come pretty close.
• Combat - A relatively simple four-button system hides an extremely deep combat system full of counters, reverses, cancels - all the buzzwords you'd expect in a 2D fighter; a system where skill will win over random flailing 90% of the time.
• The Arcana System - This is where Arcana Heart really makes its mark. First you select a character, then you choose one of 11 Arcana to aid you in your fight. Depending on which you choose, you're able to not only access powerful special attacks, but also inflict status ailments on your enemies, or buff yourself. Which Arcana you pick can completely change your fighting strategy.

Hated

• Difficulty - I know I praised the complex combat system under the "Loved" section, but I'd still like to be able to sit down next to a friend who wasn't familiar with the game and give them the slightest chance of beating me. Hell, I'd like to have a chance at higher difficulty levels.
• Music - Aside from the opening song, the music in Arcana Heart could have been ripped from just about any generic 2D fighter in the history of the genre. Pleasant at first, I soon found myself setting the volume down lower and lower.

Plenty to love and not too much to hate in Arcana Heart, which deftly rises above the girl gimmick. If it weren't for the fact that they're all so damn adorable, it would be easy to forget that Arcana Heart's characters are all female, and that's no mean feat considering the core gamer demographic. When questions of which girl is the cutest (Puppy Girl!) give way to which character / Arcana combination fits your play style the best is when you know the game has you. The high cuteness factor may not be for everyone, but don't let it fool you - this is not a game for reflex-challenged button mashers. This is a game for fighters.

Arcana Heart is an extremely solid 2D fighting game, packed with intriguing gameplay variety and dipped in sexy anime sweetness, making it well worth its $30 price tag.

Arcana Heart was developed by Examu, published by Atlus and was released on April 8. Retails for $29.99. Available on PlayStation 2. Completed story mode for each character on medium difficulty.

But if you're still on the fence over whether it's worth shelling out 60% of the full game's asking price for what's probably less than 10% of its content, read on, dear readers, read on.

Loved

• Graphics - Still a little sterile as far as the tracks are concerned (London excepted), but gorgeous nonetheless. Between the cars, in-car view and HDR lighting tricks this is the game you'll want to use if you're the type who has friends over just to show off how important your PS3 is to you and your home entertainment setup.
• Difficulty Curve - GT5P's got a new, improved assist mode for beginners, and it's the best I've seen in a racing game. Not only do you get an indicator for where the racing line is and when you need to brake, it actually tells you how fast you need to be going when you hit the braking-point. Very handy.
• Car Handling - No surprises here, it's the series' strength. Cars feel reasonably real, there's a marked difference between cars, blah blah blah. It's GT, you know the score, and even feels a little more forgiving than GT4, especially in some of the shittier cars. Oh, unless you turn off the assists. Then it's brutal as hell.

Hated

• Collision Modelling - The prettier and more realistic this game gets, the more its poor collision modelling stands out. I don't need to see scratches and broken glass on my car. What I do need - and what I expect of a series that's striving so hard for realism - is that when I hit a wall or another car, I feel like I've hit a wall or car. Not a stack of fluffy pillows stuffed with marshmallows.
• Six Tracks? - There's only six tracks, and even then, you spend most of the singleplayer events on only three of them (you race on the beautiful London track once). Those are slim pickings.
• The GRIND - The game's short on singleplayer content (I finished every event in just over a day), so it resorts to grinding to pad things out. Example: many races force you to buy a specific vehicle. So you have to repeatedly complete earlier races to get the cash for it, then usually only use the thing once. Next time you run into a car-specific race, you'll need to grind out the cash all over again. In a full GT game, this is fine, as there's a wealth of races to enter to spread things out and give you a little variety. With only a handful of tracks here, though, the grind is noticeable, and it's boring as hell.
• Online Play - I entered 30 online races, and not a single one was without serious issues. Cars blinked in and out of existence, and poor net code resulted in opponents that zoomed off into the distance at lightspeed, only to then reappear right in front of you. Makes racing, especially on packed circuits, really, really hard.

Look, as a demo, it's a good one. What's already on offer looks great, and feels great, so GT fans should have little doubt that when the full game's released - with hundreds of cars and dozens of tracks - Gran Turismo 5 will be everything they want it to be. But now, as a retail product? With a limited singleplayer experience and unstable online play, I just don't think it's worth $40. Not until they add more content or fix the online multiplayer, anyways.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was developed by Polyphony Digital, published by Sony Computer Entertainment and is due to be released on April 17. Retails for $39.99. Available on PlayStation 3. Played singleplayer events to completion, completed 30 online races.

Loved or Loveless? Activating combat mode...

Loved
Combat System: Crisis Core's combat system is basically an evolution of the Kingdom Hearts system, with combat actions, spells, and items selected in real time with the shoulder buttons. It felt a bit awkward at first, but quickly became second nature.
Digital Mind Wave: The DMW is the spinning roulette wheel at the top left, which randomly determines when special attacks and summons occur, as well as not-so-randomly determining when you level up. As the game progresses and you discover new summons and special attacks you will fall in love with the DMW.
Mission System: A big part of what makes Crisis Core an excellent PSP game, the mission system, lets you engage in quick, bite-sized tasks, perfect for a quick Final Fantasy fix. It's optional, but some of the cooler summons in the game are hidden away in missions.
Final Fan-Service: The game is filled with subtle hooks for fans of the PlayStation original. Characters, locations, and events will have you fondly remembering your time with FFVII.
Filling In The Gaps: Crisis Core not only stands on its own in terms of presenting a compelling story, it also fills in gaps from the original game's plot. Final Fantasy VII makes a bit more sense to me now that I've played through Crisis Core.
That Square Enix Shine: Production values in the Crisis Core are through the roof. The music seldom misses, the voice work is excellent, and the CG is truly amazing. Even the menu system oozes quality.

Hated
Unskippable Cutscenes: Nothing pisses me off more than losing a 10 minute long boss fight only to find I cannot skip past the 14 minutes of cutscenes leading up to the rematch. Come on Squeenix, we've moved past this.
Mission Repetition: The missions take place over a dozen or so environments that repeat far too often. Taking on missions in large chunks, I found myself quickly getting tired of seeing the same metal rooms, cave surfaces, and rolling plains over and over again.

Forget Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus. With the release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, FFVII can now be considered a trilogy. Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII, and Advent Children together form the full Final Fantasy VII experience. Not only is Crisis Core jam-packed with hooks to the PlayStation original, its characters and storyline are strong enough to stand on their own.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a PSP masterpiece, and an absolute must for fans of spiky-haired protagonists everywhere.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was developed and published by Square Enix and released on March 25 for the PSP. Retails for $39.99. Campaign played to completion, mission mode 54% completed.

Digital Extreme probably had a no-brainer hit when the decided to let people lop off body parts with a deadly Frisbee, but in their pursuit for something more they may have missed the mark this time around.

Loved
The Glaive: As if lopping off enemies' legs and arms with a flying three-bladed disc weren't fun enough, Dark Sector lets you slow down time and guide it along it's path with the PS3's tilt controls. (Which works amazingly well) You can also absorb electricity, fire and ice with it, allowing you to do things like freeze over lakes you have to cross or turn waterfalls into bullet-deflecting cover.
Gruesome Finishing Moves: Call me a fan of action violence, but I love being able to weaken a creature or enemy and then walk up and sink my glaive through its arm, or cut out its intestines and lop off their head in one move.
Puzzling Boss Battles: The boss battles, and there are a lot of them, almost all require as much thinking as it does shooting and throwing. The final fight in the game is particularly brutal.
Weapon System: It's not all about the glaive in Dark Sector. You can also upgrade your weapons through a black market, a requirement because the ones you find on the street tend to explode after a few minutes use.

Hated
Delayed Abilities: While it's a rather lengthy game, it takes far too long to give you the abilities that make playing it actually fun. Typically that isn't a problem, but the game has so little else to offer that, sans your evolving powers, Dark Sector feels like a generic, rather bad shooter.
Weak Glaive: Lets face it, none of use are going to buy this game to shoot people. Dark Sector is all about the amputation and designing it so that you can't lop off a limb without several hits is just plain stupid.
Shallow Plot, Bad Dialog: Wow, just wow. The plot is an amalgam of every old sci-fi and military movie. You've got your scorned lover, your grumpy old Russian scientist, your patriot-loving general. Thank god they let you skip each and every cut-scene... immediately.
Trite Character Design: The look of some of the main characters go hand-in-hand with that hackneyed plot, but the one I can't figure is lead Hayden Tenno. Since when do Emo kids go black-ops when they grow up?
Bugs: While the technical glitches aren't as pronounced later in the game, early on they can be quite distracting and it never shakes the occasional chugging.

When I first checked out early code of Dark Sector I hated it. When I started playing it I hated it. In fact, there were times when I was playing through it that I honestly considered just stopping and moving on. But something kept me coming back for more. Most likely the glaive and the impressive ways you can use it to, at times, literally shape a level. Unfortunately, the game doesn't really shake out its kinks until nearly half-way through and the elements of the game that are truly unique and impressive tend to get lost in a glut of generic gunplay.

Next time, more Jackal and Aftertouch and less running and gunning.

Dark Sector was developed by Digital Extremes, published by D3 Publisher of America and released on March 25 on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Retails for $59.99. Campaign played to completion, online modes sampled on PS3.

The question is, however, can the white knuckle action of Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden work on a handheld? We'll tell you what we loved and hated in the review.

Loved
Everything's under control: Controlling Ryu with the stylus works like a charm. Slide it for sword slashes, tap it for throwing shuriken and firing arrows, go nuts for Ultimate Technique action. The only button pressing you'll do is for blocking attacks. The d-pad tends to work best, but you can use any button you choose. Hayabusa does what you want, when you want (most of the time).
So pretty: Thanks to some expertly pre-rendered backgrounds, Dragon Sword may be one of the best looking games on the DS. It's obviously not as graphically resplendent as the console versions, but its not as hard on the eyes as other console-to-portable translations.
Sane save points: Team Ninja was nice enough to pack levels with save points that regenerate your health and ninpo. Dying is far less common than in the Xbox and PlayStation 3 versions of Ninja Gaiden, but when you do bite the dust, you'll do little in the way of retread.
Story? What Story? The game may lean toward brief, but part of the reason is that there's very little storytelling fat tacked on. Dragon Sword keeps the pace moving at a pretty good clip, with hand drawn cut scenes reminding you why you're killing scores of lesser ninja, fiends, and demon dogs.
Stellar sound: Familiar soundtrack notes and sound effects ring true, even through the DS speakers. Headphones are recommended, though.

Hated
Weak difficulty: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is intentionally easier than its console counterparts and Head Ninja mode is certainly more challenging, but boss fights border on dull. You'll revisit a handful of familiar fights, but you'll probably breeze right through them on your first or second try.
Endless hordes: While the boss fights aren't as traditionally challenging, you'll often face a hefty dose of fiends and ninja that take more patience than skill to dispatch. Respawning bad guys in certain rooms may just make you want to find the exit rather than slash slash slash.
Spikes: Those damn spikes... Ugh.

It may not have the visual flair of Ninja Gaiden Sigma or Ninja Gaiden II, but Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is a solid addition to the series, if only for what Team Ninja has been able to accomplish with stylus control. It's not the bloody, busty ninja norm, but it's still a hell of a little action game. Its faults are minor, though some may balk at the shorter experience—it took me just over six hours to beat—and the good definitely outweighs the bad.

If you're a die hard Ninja Gaiden fan, don't miss it. For on-the-go gamers who typically stick to slower paced Nintendo DS fare like RPGs or adventure titles, definitely check it out, if only for the technical accomplishments. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Oh, and you may be a bit more animated playing your DS than your comfortable with in public but the path of the virtual ninja isn't for the easily embarrassed.

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword was developed by Team Ninja, published by Tecmo and released on March 25 on Nintendo DS. Retails for $34.99. Played to completion on Normal difficulty for review.

The handicap differential in red and blue, after the jump.

Loved
Advanced Shot System: While the original metered swing system is still available, the Advanced Shot System is one of the most natural golf swing mechanics I've encountered. Judging your power seems like it would be a crap shoot without a meter, but somehow they've made it work.
Multiplayer Tournies: Mutliplayer tournaments for up to 50 players work very nicely, with each player taking on the hole simultaneously, returning to the scoreboard once they sink the ball, where they can comment on the losers struggling against the clock on swing 10 on a par 4. All it lacks is voice chat.
Online Game Lobbies: While waiting for an online tournament to begin you get to run your customizable avatar around several nifty online lobbies, complete with railings to slide down, seats to sit in, and other people to bother. You can even doublejump!
Graphics: The golfers look more like action figures than computer-generated models thanks to the power of the PS3. Courses are nicely detailed, with foliage swaying in the breeze almost making the wind indicator on the top right of the screen redundant.
Variable Difficulty: Players just wanting to smack the ball around can stick with an amateur character their whole career, but those wanting a deeper golfing experience can move on the the more advanced characters.

Hated
Unlocking Courses: It takes forever to unlock new courses in the game, which is pretty standard for the series. By the time you unlock the third course you'll be completely sick of the first two.
Lack Of Character Customization: Character customization is limited to variations on the characters' standard costumes, with goofy dress-up items limited to your online lobby avatar. I miss the customization of Open Tee for the PSP.
Install Time: A console game should be playable within a minute of putting it into the machine. Having to wait 12 minutes for a game to install is a pain in the ass.

For the most part Hot Shots Golf: Out Of Bounds is a fine addition to the Hot Shots franchise. While it doesn't deviate much from the already established formula, the extended online play and new Advanced Shot System partnered with some fine graphics gently ease the addictive series into the current generation, while the long install time painfully reminds you that the current generation has issues it needs to work out.

If you're a PlayStation 3 owner with even the slightest interest in the sport of hitting balls with sticks, you'd be doing yourself a favor in picking up Hot Shots Golf: Out Of Bounds.

Hot Shots Golf: Out Of Bounds was developed by Clap Hanz, published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released on March 18. Retails for $59.99. Available on PlayStation 3. Played through 5 levels of single player challenge mode, multiple multiplayer tournaments.

Duel Love, like most renai games, is more reading and less playing. (Thus, that doesn't exactly make it import-friendly!) Onward the "Loved" and the "Hated"!

Loved

• Voice Acting: The developers were able to cram a fair amount of voice acting onto the DS cartridge. Hunky, Japanese dude voice acting! Sure, a lot of the time, it's just a few catch phrases for each character, but the mini-game massage moaning was a nice touch.
• Art: Duel Love features some stunning dual screen manga-style art. Typically, the upper screen is used for waist up shots of static faced-characters (hello Torsovision!), so the double screen anime art really do a nice job of mixing up things visually. These images don't move, but, like I said, pack a great deal of punch.
• Mini Games: The main attraction! Players get to "touch" pretty anime boys. As DS mini games go, these aren't half bad: There's a rhythm massage game where players need to touch arrows in the order that appear on the character's back. Same for an ice/ointment game. Other games include blowing steam away in the shower and mopping up sweat.

Hated

• Not *that* risky: The game is produced by Namco Bandai for the Nintendo DS, so actually in that regards, Duel Love does push the envelope. But those players expecting non-stop sweat-mopping and steam-blowing will be disappointed. That's merely window dressing on a very pedestrian window.
• Lack of interaction: Playing Duel Love felt like a test more than anything else. Like to see if you're actually paying attention! Characters drone on and on, and then just as you are going to pass out from boredom, someone asks you an inane question about Halloween or about a library book. Players are presentation with two choices. How you answer decides whether or not the male character falls for you. But you don't really have much opportunity to answer these questions or even ask questions. That's fairly standard for some renai games with male characters keep talking at you, not to you. Still, that's dull! No wonder this game is called Duel Love and not Dual Love.
• Crappy Adventure Mode: After you finish listening to other characters drone on and on, then a map will pop up, and it gives you three choices of where you can visit. This is most likely because sandbox style games aren't as popular in Japan.
• No Emotional Investment: Did. Not. Care. About. These. Characters. Whatsoever. Like a lot of manga and anime, Duel Love takes advantage of certain stereotypes or conventions. For example, there's Yuuma, the school's "mood maker" from Osaka. As the stereotypical Osaka person, he often cracks jokes and speaks in the Osaka dialect. Or there's Shinichiro, the glass-wearing bookworm, or melancholy Jin, the melancholy handsome dude. Streamlines the game, and plays on certain "types", but none of them were memorable.
• Music: If you're into synthesizers, you'll love it.
• Why is this a DS game?: Mini-games aside, there's not much reason this is a DS game. The touch screen isn't really used as it's easiest to set the game on "Auto" during the dialogue scenes, instead of touching the touch screen after each line of dialogue. The mini-games are such a small percentage of the game, Duel Love really needs something else to justify its existence on the DS. Or as a game, for that matter.
• Cannot Revisit Old Dialogue: It's possible to toggle ahead through the dialogue. But toggle back? Ha! Forget it, buddy. You must hang on every word. Ungh.

Duel Love never lives up to its saucy screenshot and is gaming's equivalent of the Sears catalogue: Lots of stuff, while only a page or so of underwear models. Those looking for erotic game thrills best look elsewhere. Ditto for those looking for a fun renai game. No love here for Duel Love. At all.

[Pic]

Vegas 2 can, at times, dip into the monotonous and the AI is spotty, but overall the game delivers a fun experience.

Loved
* Totally Tactics:The thing that separates Rainbow Six from other shooters is its heavy reliance on tactics and this game requires it in spades. You can use a snake cam to peek under doors and mark targets, clear rooms with flash bangs, grenades or smoke and almost have to slowly work your way from cover to cover to methodically clear a room.
* Deep maps All of those tactics would be for naught if it weren't for the incredibly detailed maps that let you find multiple routes into the same spaces, crawl through windows, and rappel, head first, down buildings. Vegas 2 has one of the most eclectic mix of detailed maps I've seen in a shooter.
* Multi multiplayer Not content to include just versus online multiplayer, Vegas 2 also has terrorist hunt which has you trying to find and kill a set number of bad guys in a time limit; and co-op play, which allows you to play through the entire game with a friend. And co-op Rainbow Six can be quite a blast.
* Customization This Vegas has all of the weapons, camo, clothing and gear as the last, plus a bit more, including 11 new weapons. Another nice touch is the ability to hop into an outfitting menu as you ride in a helicopter to the next mission, without having to stop the briefing. You can also now carry over the experience earned in single player to multiplayer, and vice-versa.

Hated
* Uneven AI: The game's artificial intelligence, both friendly and enemy, can at times be brilliant, flanking your position, laying down cover fire, clearing a room of bad guys with tactical sweeps. But just when you think you've met your match, you'll run up on an enemy who literally just stands there staring at you until you decide you should probably shoot him.
* A winding tale: There's something to be said for a game that delivers a lot of substance, but sometimes there's even more to be said about a producer who knows when to start cutting. Vegas 2's plot is so convoluted that it can feel monotonous. Worse still, it is so packed with false endings that the real one, which wraps up with an almost humorous monologue, feels flat and anti-climatic when it finally arrives.
* Finishing touches The game doesn't quite look and feel like a true sequel. The graphics aren't really improved, with draw distances that can be surprisingly short, and there is still a bit of slow down and stutter at pivotal moments.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a fine addition to the Rainbow Six library, giving gamers a lot of new maps to stalk through, hunched over, with a buddy or on their own. What it doesn't do, really, is introduce anything new to the formula. There are plenty of neat little tweaks and co-op play, while not fully drop-in, drop-out, is a fantastic addition. But in the end you're still playing Rainbow Six Vegas, with the same look and feel as the original.

If you weren't a fan of the original, then Vegas 2 probably isn't for you. If you were, this is a must buy if for no other reason than to go through the game with a friend in co-op.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, published by Ubisoft and released on March 18. Retails for $59.99. Available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, reviewed on Xbox 360. Played single player campaign to completion, tested multiplayer modes. Did not create any baby heads.

How successful were they? Very. Here's what we loved and hated.

Loved
* Improved melee combat: You may be controlling a drunk who couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn without a gut full of whiskey, but the hand-to-hand brawling is surprisingly stable. It may take some getting used to, but melee and the new chain attack combos can be very satisfying, in a bum killing sort of way. Condemned 2 keeps it fresh in the weapons department, with lead pipes, deer antlers, crossbows, assault rifles and exploding dolls a small sampling of your arsenal.
* Forensics is fun: Mostly logical puzzle solving blends in well with the game's atmosphere. Evidence gathering is challenging without being annoying, giving you a reason to play the game a second time, hoping for Gold ratings on all of your non-bum killing endeavors.
* Beard maps: Ethan's scraggly facial hair sets the bar for next-gen growth. In fact, the entire game looks pretty damn good, with good lighting, great effects and interesting environments. I found myself using my GPS receiver very rarely, as the levels have better visual cues than the first Condemned.
* Pacing: There's never a dull moment. Despite one very odd chase sequence, which forces some annoying trial and error, the game keeps you on your toes in an impressive way. Condemned 2's "emotional responses," essentially drunken snappy retorts, guarantee you'll never put the controller down. Optional sidequests give you something to do in the in-between times.
* Scary enough to keep the lights on: Some of the frights are cheap, but there are moments of horror brilliance in the first half of the game, the kind that made me restart the level so I could experience them again. Condemned 2 probably won't make you wet the couch, but sissy pants types need not apply.

Hated
* Can't see shit: Condemned 2 can be so dark at times you might have no idea what's attacking you or what you're looking at, leading to some desperately wild swinging. Maybe that's by design, but it's still a drag. The occasional frame rate sluggishness combined with overly excessive blur effects keep it from graphical heaven.
* Radio and TV transmissions: Trying to get reception via antennae is annoying enough in real life and the distraction of picking up newscasts doesn't add much value. Fortunately, you don't have to listen to them in their entirety to get the credit for these extra features.
* Deathmatch multiplayer: A superfluous punchfest that won't take up much of your Xbox Live time. Crime Scene gameplay is better than the deathmatch options, but you'll probably find more value in single-player.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot is bloody good at what it sets out to do. It may not have the psychological horror chops of Silent Hill—it goes for some easy scares with its creepy clowns, animated dolls and constant gore—but it's certainly more fun to play than that series. PlayStation 3 gamers who never played the first Condemned may very well have no idea what the hell is going on, as Sega and Monolith don't expend much effort to get newbies up to speed, so arm yourself with a story guide if you're going in fresh.

It's not for the faint of heart and not for anyone looking to get their frag on with a set of brass knuckles, but Condemned 2: Bloodshot is a horror show of the good kind.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot is developed by Monolith, published by Sega and released on March 11. Retailers for $59.99. Available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, reviewed on Xbox 360. Played single player campaign to completion, tested multiplayer modes.

Blue Ninja versus Red Ninja - Ready, fight!

Loved:
Presentation and Atmosphere: Everything from the traditional music to the ink-painted menu-backgrounds help foster the feeling of being trained by a wise Japanese martial-arts master. The theme is treated with respect, aside from perhaps the included ninja name generator, but anything that calls me Naughty Panda is a plus in my book.
The Ninja Factor: The mini-games, particularly in the nunchaku category, really lend themselves to standing in front of the television in your best approximation of a ninja stance. You could still play sitting on the couch, but it isn't half as fun.
Built-In Meditation Break: The game includes a guided meditation session, which is unbelievably relaxing after spending a half-hour of trying to catch a god damned koi without scaring the 30 other fish swimming around it.

Hated
Lack of Variety: While there are six mini-games in each of the six categories, they don't vary enough to feel like they stand alone. "Use your other hand" doesn't really count as its own game.
Repetitive Gameplay: Once you unlock all of the mini-game variations at the blue belt level that's pretty much it. Repeat games at slightly harder difficulty up to third degree black belt. Rising difficulty plus no new games equals boredom and frustration.
The Katana Mini-game: While most of the mini-games perform well, control in the katana portion, which finds you blocking and countering attacks by demons, feels completely sloppy. It's only one section of the game, but when there are only six sections total that's a sizable chunk.

When I started playing Ninja Reflex I was completely charmed by the atmosphere Sanzaru Games had created within the game. The art style, music, and the mini-games themselves all combine to create one of the most cohesive and compelling mini-game collections I have played. Unfortunately, once all of the variations are unlocked and the repetition starts the game's charm begins to fade, which can easily lead to frustration. I honestly don't think Ninja Reflex is meant to be played through as quickly as possible. At its heart it is a reflex training game, and like a brain training game it works best in small doses.

Like the titular stealthy assassin, Ninja Reflex strikes fast and moves with unnatural grace, but unfortunately dies off far too early.

Ninja Reflex, developed by Sanzaru, published by EA, released March 4, for $40. Available on Nintendo Wii, played to first degree black belt.

Ready at Dawn certainly achieved their goals, but they didn't do so without a bit of stumbling.

Loved:
Channeling God of War: This pocket-sized God of War is an amazing reproduction of the big screen version. Everything from the epic scope of the backdrop, to over-the-top battles, to the hidden sex mini-games is packed into this excellent title.
Pacing: As with the original, Chains of Olympus keeps you enthralled with a storyline you care about and the perfectly paced blending of battles and puzzle solving.
Graphics: Miniaturized, Kratos is just as much a bad-ass as he was in the original games. The detail of animation is at times awe-inspiring, and the character design at times almost surpasses the first two in the franchise.
Controls: With the exception of a few quick-time boss battle kills, the controls are flawless, allowing you to hammer out 40 to 50-chain attacks on a screen full of enemies.
Weapons: From the Gauntlets of Zeus to Kratos' mainstay Blades of Chaos, the portable God of War comes packed with an amazing selection of boostable weapons, a half dozen all told.
Bonus Material: While the game's five hours or so of campaign play was more than enough to satisfy my God of War bloodlust, it's nice that the game also includes five challenges that unlock silly bonus material, like being able to play as Kratos in a dress, and a God difficulty.
Addictive: Because of the vagaries of early builds and demos, I managed to play through chunks of Chains of Olympus three to four times, and it never got old. In fact, I had a lot of trouble putting it down. It's rare that a game gets its claws into me so deep. Even rarer that it would be on the PSP.

Hated
The Thumbstick: There are a number of big monster, quick time event kills in which you have to do timed swirls with the thumbstick and often it just doesn't register. There's nothing as annoying as failing in a boss battle or creature fight because of the hardware.
Save Points: There are a couple of unforgivable save points in the game. Why on earth would you put a save point right before the unskippable cut-scene that introduces an incredibly hard boss battle?
Story: This prequel to the original God of War has a wonderful, potentially emotional plot marred by disjointed delivery. There are moments in the game that could have truly touched gamers, but felt too forced to work.

God of War: Chains of Olympus delivers more to the Playstation Portable than I thought was possible. The game is nearly flawless in its production value and what minor issues it does have has more to do with the irritating difficulty than any real design flaws. My only disappointment lies in the story, which had such great potential for evocative gaming, but never fully delivers.

Set aside a chunk of one day to sit down and enjoy this experience uninterrupted from beginning to end. If I could only buy one game for the PSP, this would be it.

God of War: Chains of Olympus, developed by Ready at Dawn, published by SCEA, released March 4, for $40. Available on Playstation Portable, played to completion.

The results are plain as red and blue.

Loved:
* Tons of Characters: Impressive from the get go, once you've unlocked all of the characters that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has to offer you'll have one of the greatest assemblages of video game legends of all time at your disposal.
* Excellent Music: The musical talent assembled for the game reads like a who's who of famous Japanese game composers. Akihiro Honda, Koji Kondo, Yoko Shimomura - the soundtrack alone is worth the $50 price tag.
* Their Level Design, Your Level Design: As always, Masahiro Sakurai and his team have done an excellent job of creating fighting game levels that incorporate the elements of classic games. Rather than just being backdrops, the level you are fighting can determine how you play. Don't agree? Then see if you can do better, using the relatively simplistic level editor to create and share your own levels with your friends.
* Pretty Graphics: Some of these characters have never looked quite as good as they do in Brawl. Nothing too complex, but pretty enough while still maintaining a blazing frame rate.
* Extra, Extra: The game is filed to the brim with extra bits of fan service goodness. Trophies, game demos, music, and even a history of Nintendo game releases current as of December.
* Finally Online: Despite some issues with lag, online fighting via Nintendo WiFi is a dream come true for fans of the series. Extremely fun, while still quick enough to grab yourself a quick match before heading off to work or school. Potentially dangerously addictive. Even while not playing, I could watch Spectator Mode for hours.

Hated
* Wii Controls: If you don't own a GameCube controller, now is a good time to pick one up. Brawl just feels unnatural when played with the Wiimote/nunchuk combo, and the classic controller is too sensitive, which screws up jumping. It's odd when what could be the best game on the console does little to take advantage of the console's main selling point.
* Online Lag: A good quarter of the online matches I've participated in so far have suffered from extreme, stuttering lag, while a few times I had the game freeze in mid-bout and kick me out of the match. Even with a good group, the frame rate still suffers from time to time. Hopefully this is an area Nintendo can improve upon in future updates.
* Adventure Mode: Excellent cut scenes wrapped around 8 hours of poorly implemented platforming with repetitive enemies and some odd design choices. Remember the lesson of Tekken 5 - platforming and fighting game controls don't mix. The plus side? You don't have to play it to unlock characters - it's just a bit faster.
* Friend Codes: Screw the Friend Code system. Enough said.

Despite a few flaws, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the best thing the Nintendo Wii has going for it right now. With addictive multiplayer, tons of collecting to do, the ability to create your own levels and share them with friends, Brawl isn't just a game that will sit in your Wii for months, it's a game you'll actually play for months, if not longer.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl improves upon its predecessors in every way imaginable - a truly worthy successor to the Nintendo fighting throne.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, developed by Sora, published by Nintendo, released March 9, for $50. Available on Nintendo Wii, story mode and several characters in solo mode played to completion. All characters unlocked except Wolf.

More good than bad, more blue than red, I still found Army of Two to be quite a mixed bag.

Loved:
* Aggro: The most aggressive person in your two-man team doesn't just attract attention, he glows red, allowing the non-dominant shooter to sneak around nearly invisible head butting people to death.
* Customized Weapons: Use money earned in missions to buy new weapons and add stocks, silencers, grenade launchers, shields. You can even pay to have them dipped in gold.
* Drag and Heal: When you or your partner go down the other can drag the injured player to safety and heal him. While being dragged, the injured player still gets to fire off his weapon at approaching foes.
* Coop Shield: Rip off a car door or find a riot shield and one player can carry it as portable cover while the other player gets cozy behind him to fire off his gun, forming a two-man, bullet-proof death machine. The shield holder can also use it to bash someone to death.
* The Parachute: There's not nearly enough of it, but on occasion you can drop into a level by parachute. One of you controls the drop while the other picks off enemies with a sniper rifle. It's great fun.
* Back to Back: At times in the game you can go back-to-back with your partner and orchestrate a ballet of death in slow-motion with temporarily powered up weapons. Unfortunately, you can't trigger these events, they only occur at set times in the campaign.

Hated
* Idiot AI: This is not a game intended to be played on your own. If you rely on an AI to be your partner expect him to get stuck, lost and occasionally to drag your bleeding carcass back and forth in front of machine-gun firing enemies for a few minutes before deciding where exactly to heal you.
* Online Coop: While playing the campaign online or off with a friend is fantastic fun, you can't just drop in. Instead you have to start off with a partner. A mortal sin for a game so coop-centric.
* Glitches: Call it an AI problem, call it a graphic problem, but games shouldn't allow half of your team to get stuck in the backdrop. At one point I needed to use a grenade to "free" my partner from a railing.

Army of Two brings so many new things to the table that it's almost possible to overlook the atrocious AI, almost. Fortunately, the campaign is a relatively short affair and online gaming, be it in coop or versus mode, promises to be quite a bit of fun. I've never been a fan of small team shooter match-ups, but Army of Two doesn't just make it work, it makes it sing.

Buy it for the chance to head butt your enemies to death in a custom mask, keep it because you're not going to want to give up on the ability to drag and heal, distract enemies with gunfire and use car doors to block bullets on the move.

Army of Two, developed by EA Montreal, published by EA, released March 5, for $60. Available on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, reviewed on Xbox 360, played to completion.

Oh, and apparently it's amazingly good.

So hit the jump for our Frankenreview on Patapon—every review you need to read before deciding that it's time to dust off that PSP after all.

Game Almighty
Your band of Patapon are controlled by issuing commands, which are nothing more than rhythm-based drumming performed with the four main PSP buttons. Want to move your Patapon forward? Press square-square-square-circle. Want to attack? Press circle-square-square-circle. Your ability to maintain perfect rhythm while issuing a variety of commands is the essence of Patapon. Now add to this mix that you have three types of Patapon, including close-combat axe-wielders, mid-range spear-throwers, and long-range archers and you now have strategic elements to consider...
GameDaily
It might sound a bit burdensome, especially if you don't usually get your kicks from strategy games, but this is not a game that gets bogged down in the details. You will have to do some management between levels, but the interface is clean and fun to use. Furthermore, the battles themselves are a delight, and using music to perform all of the commands is such a unique and enjoyable experience that just about anyone can get into it.
Variety
While music is the blood of "Patapon," the game's art direction, which combines cartoon silhouettes with a shadow-puppet look at times, helps make it captivating. The screen fills with these little one-eyed creatures as a gamer progresses through 30 levels, culminating in sweeping battles that are nearly as fun to watch as they are to orchestrate.
GameSpy
Patapon is like a cleverly designed trojan horse, built to sucker you in with cute graphics and then beat you down with its primal, rhythmic challenge. It's great fun, but you may find it tough to actually play the game on the go considering the amount of attention it requires.

GameSpot
Patapon is unlike any game that has come before it, and with a retail price that's half of what many PSP games sell for, our recommendation of this ingenious recipe that has been masterfully realized is a no-brainer.
It's good to see software titles that do the PSP's excellent hardware some justice. At $20, it seems like a must-buy.

Whenever you play this game, you say you're about to be done and then you play for an hour, and then you get mad because you die.

Finally, the Wii Wheel. This was the most disappointing thing, simply because it's absolutely crap.

Though Nintendo valiantly tried to convince us otherwise, it's a silly gimmick that detracts from the quality of the game. Fortunately, you can play using the standard Wiimote and Nunchuk, or you can bust out the GameCube pad and be proper old school.

Don't know why Nintendo thought this thing was necessary; perhaps it looks good in advertising? A good way of bumping up the price? Either way, it's rubbish.

So how did the critics like Lost Odyssey? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview to find out—an edition so good you may never need to read another review again.

GamesRadar
It's also very, very pretty, with gorgeous cutscenes and in-game models, as well as rich environments and diverse level designs...The opening of the game is literally two hours of cutscenes mixed with a few instances of you making Kaim walk across a pretty environment.
IGN
Combat in Lost Odyssey is about as traditional as you