This, as of right now, is the de facto standard in high-end golf games, and no golf-game fan should be without it.

Players who preferred last year's fast, arcade feel can boost up the speed in the options settings, but fans of more thoughtful, deliberate play will likely enjoy the challenge and pace of this year's iteration.

Innovation, game play and design are blended in near-perfect measures, resulting in a game that's such a delight to play that I'm already begun working our way through it for the second time.

Jaw-dropping graphics. The level of detail on each player is almost silly.

Colorful, fun, hopelessly addictive and a great way to introduce others to videogames.

FIFA 2001 may not be revolutionary in gameplay or depth like Madden, but it's revolutionary in terms of graphics -- and it brings home the ultimate vision of soccer game creators better than any game before it.

The original Dreamcast game blew us away, and there are so many improvements to this version it'd be impossible to list them all.

Definitely a cut about the rest. Not only is it one of the best console-based strategy games of all time, it also shows a level of quality that is lacking in many PS2 titles.

MLS again uses that classic fluid passing game found in all the previous Konami soccer titles. The controls, which use the Japanese configuration, are responsive and logical and designed to keep the pace of the game loose and fast.

One of the coolest and most absorbing games we've played all year.

So imaginative, colorful and funny that it serves to remind us how insufferably gloomy and witless most shooters are.

But for sheer fun, there are a few games that can compete with Tony Hawk 2's excellent mix of tricks, bails and hidden swag.

It's as if Michaelangelo came down, picked up an already beautiful painting and made it a masterpiece.

The best adventure game in years. That's one of the easier ways to describe The Longest Journey. It's also the longest, the most rewarding and the most mature.

Beautiful graphics, huge courses, great multiplayer and infinite replayability round out the package to make this hands-down the best game on the PS2.

Though in five years we will not look back on "Icewind Dale" as the game that changed the world, we will likely remember it as one of the most enjoyable RPGs we've had the pleasure to crack open.

Those with the ultimate system and mad teamplay skills will eat this up, though; it's a triumph of teamwork, dynamic gameplay and some serious strategy.

The city-building series has been popular before, but we think Zeus has the potential to blow this series up big-time.

If you like Tekken then you have to have this, the most, biggest, best bag of Tekken so far. A droolworthy launch title.

The fact remains that if you want to own the best possible basketball game for the PC, this is the one to get. The graphics are, as usual, simply spectacular, and the production values, from the snappy menu system to the hip-hop timeouts, are the best in the business.

The best $20 computer game we've ever played.

For a complete package of plot, style, depth and action, few games rival "Deus Ex."

When we're this in love with a game about silly four-wheeled pleasure machines for the suicidal, you can bet something really special is going on.

Although it doesn't make full use of Sony's new 800-pound gorilla, it does have spectacular and colorful graphics, ingenious level design, a wonderful cast of characters and an enormous game world to explore.

A brilliant game that brings some much-needed variety to the PS2's lineup.

Blizzard has scored again with an object lesson in polish, depth and sheer compelling playability.

A great experience. It's as close to a perfect rendition of the D&D universe as we've ever seen.

One of the most compelling, beautiful and impressive pieces of code we have played in a long, long time. It is also insanely addictive.