It's a hit because it's fun, pretty challenging and relies on a tried-and-true game style -- but if you're choosing a game to show off what your PS2 does -- this ain't it.

It's not the most mind-blowing RPG ever, but it's good, clean, action-packed fun from start to finish.

We wouldn't eBay one of our internal organs to own this game, but it is fun enough to be worth the price of admission.

It's a tight ride, but there's just one problem -- we expected a lot more control.

There is innovation certainly, but under the startlingly brilliant control scheme lies a golf game every bit as staid and archaic as any in memory.

As dopey as the AI is, it really is a lot of fun to jump into a level where you know that you're completely surrounded and outnumbered and gun the hell out of everything that moves.

Nice graphics and physics and a number of secondary features make for a satisfying ride, but it's ultimately lacking in the innovative thrills we've come to expect from Sony's highly hyped machine.

It certainly isn't very innovative, but it is expertly crafted and balanced.

The characters within the game are incredibly well detailed, but the world they're placed in is bland to the point of boredom.

So good, veterans may be tempted to replay the whole game from the beginning...a fine product. Unfortunately, the new areas add only about 15 hours of gameplay. While short for a full game, it is a tolerable length for an expansion.

It's not for everyone, but those who spend their afternoons daydreaming of driving at 200MPH in an oval will not be disappointed.

No longer 2D or turn-based, HOMAM on the PS2 isn't as deep as might be expected, but it's fast, easy to learn and the battles are incredibly fun.

For the player who relishes a realtime space strategy simulation, nothing can touch the depth of this game.

While we all know that a life of crime ultimately doesn't pay, a joyride with the fresh and fast Smuggler's Run is rewarding through and through.

The recipe might be getting old, but what comes out of the oven is still plenty tasty.

Although it's a short experience, Frogger 2 was nearly all fun.

Even with the supported keyboard and mouse, UT is only a good game that will become a great one once the PS2 heads online.

It's certainly not the game for everyone, but those of us seeking a slightly more sophisticated take on old-school beat-'em-ups will find many hours of blistering goodness.

Fits like a familiar old glove (or gauntlet), but smoother, better-fitting and lined in fine, Japanese, brocaded silk.

An attempt shagged to the left that lands just inside the uprights.

We can think of plenty of ways to blow a Benjamin, but few would offer quite as much bang for the buck.

While paling in comparison to its celebrated predecessor, "Chrono Cross's" great character design and intriguing combat system ensure that the game is anything but the misfire it could so easily have been.

Awful camera control and a dated engine ensure that, as thoroughly enjoyable as Legends 2 is, the series still has a ways to go before equaling the brilliance of its two-dimensional brethren.

Despite its obvious deficiencies, from the unnecessarily irritating save system to the repetitiously moronic combat system, "Valkyrie Profile" remains an intriguing, often breathtaking roleplaying experience.

The gameplay itself is too complicated for casual gamers and the sound, while better than GameDay's, is still irritating.

Every aspect from the story to the sound will be completely familiar to anyone who's dabbled with the series before, and while this latest adventure doesn't do much to advance the series, it's a fine little game nonetheless.

The addition of passable graphics, surprisingly good production values and quirky, fun gameplay make picking up this $9.99 title a pretty easy decision.

Thankfully, lackluster graphics and singular thrills do not a poor game make.

The track editor is what really sets the title apart, though, allowing players to easily make a variety of tracks and race on them immediately.

The AI even seems capable of adapting to a gamer's tendencies; a play that worked great in one situation may not work so well if used in the same situation a second time.

While this "odyssey of obesity" may not be for everyone, beneath the dated look lies more than enough quality gameplay to appease "Dragon Warrior" fanatics and nostalgic retrogamers alike.

One of the better PSOne kart racers we've played recently -- with crisp, colorful visuals, loosely demanding gameplay and a great soundtrack.

Not the best in the genre, and a little sugar-coated, but tight controls and good graphics are what they are, and this game's got them.

It looks great, plays smoothly and comes packed with that fuzzy warm feeling that invariably comes from the Disney experience.

With one nagging exception, there's really pretty little wrong with the game, but it doesn't exactly push any boundaries either.

It's got bottomless depth, good AI and everything we loved so much about the series. It just doesn't have much new stuff to talk about.

Though its easy learning curve and flexible gameplay are clearly designed for the less than hardcore, it is surprisingly entertaining and good for a quick thrill.

The quintessential Harvest Moon, and Natsume will be hard-pressed to top this one in terms of added gameplay, additional farming tasks to complete, areas to explore and women to woo. For fans of the series, this is a must-buy, and a must-see for those looking for something a little different.

Though it doesn't stand out technically, the physics and gameplay modes lend themselves to hopping right in and hitting the dirt.

It is exactly the same Driver -- and a lot of what we gamers put up with before bears a little bit more scrutiny this time around.

The magical animal that provides us with pork, ham, bacon and sausage now gives us a goodly bit of amusement.

Stylish and fun despite some repetitiveness, this is one of the better action games you can pick up this year.

The games themselves look good and play even better, but only against other humans. It's just not fun to play minigames against a computer, no matter how well they're both programmed.

The new shine keeps this old bird from looking too much like the geriatric (but nonetheless golden) goose it is.

Do yourself a favor -- buy a multitap, rent some friends (we find that beer works for this) and spend a night bombing the hell out of each other. Just, please, don't ride the animals.

Easily the most straightforward and action-packed Turok yet, "Shadow of Oblivion" corrects the mistakes of previous games, making for a fun-filled and exciting journey through places not seen before in the series.

Hey You, Pikachu is bright and saccharine, the videogame equivalent of a "Brady Bunch" marathon with a pre-sugared cereal chaser.

May feel like last year's version, but it still offers exciting football for one and all.

A surprisingly fun action game that doubles as a great multiplayer title as well as a mind-bending puzzle game.

Fans of Donkey Kong Racing who wore out their controllers playing the game are going to be disappointed by Rare's latest offering.

Frankly, there aren't many serviceable alternatives in the hangar, making Battle for Naboo a nice way to kick some ass into the N64's golden years.

Impressive animation, linear levels that will confuse absolutely no one and a large number of adversaries make Quackers the perfect gift for under-aged gamers.

Any young gamer age five to 10 will be overjoyed by all that "Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards" has to offer, while seasoned gamers will be left wanting more.

The two biggest flaws in the game, without a doubt, are the camera angle and the multiplayer level.

Controlling the lethal moon buggy can be awkward, and there really is no depth to the game beyond shooting and driving, but there is plenty of fun to be had.

Those seeking an action-oriented experience need not apply either; most of the "game" involves waiting, tending Seaman's tank, waiting, chatting, and waiting some more.

Fun, simple fun. And massive destruction. That's about it.

An adrenaline-packed racing game with positive points that outweigh its obvious flaws, Demolition Racer is a game that most people will enjoy.

Because this game is targeted at the kiddies, and because sometimes a little (or in this case, a whole lot of) simple, addictive gameplay is just what the kiddies need, Kao Kangaroo succeeds marvelously on this level. Just don't expect much more.

This version of Sarge's Heroes seems to be the most workmanlike, competent and graphically solid of the bunch.

Next stop, mild amusement.

While we've never actually driven a pickup or an old-school Cadillac, we would be willing to bet that it would be a lot easier to drive them in real life than it is in Speed Devils Online.

The once elegant and powerful weapon of the Jedi has been reduced to a crude chopping device that will kill a given enemy in five or six hits.

The graphics have been tightened a bit to rival the PC version's and... well, that's about it.

What's missing here, though, is seasickness, the smell of the sea, the heady aromas of bait and chum, the interminable wait for a nibble or bite, and the numbing frustration of a day of fishing when no fish show up.

Not only do the additions work well enough with the game not to detract from its fun, but the classic Tetris has also been added to the mix for those old-schoolers who would rather play the original.

Combining some light strategy, action and a lot of item hunting, Chicken Run captures the subtle qualities of the movie it's derived from (which was also an unexpected hit).

The game simply and consistently provides competency in large doses, and emerges as the Dreamcast's best, most mindlessly fun plane shooter.

It might not look great, but it's pure blasting entertainment.

This is a quality title, and rather unique in its execution -- it's been a while since we've been able to dive into an all-action title with such ease. The web-slinging alone makes this game worth your attention.

Standard jumping and puzzle-solving elements form the meat of play, and cute little caesuras are thrown in to keep the play from getting stale.

Not the Dreamcast wrestling sim we've been waiting for, but still a great deal of fun.

Some of the controls could have used some tweaking, the enemy AI tends to be pretty bland and, overall, we've done most of this before. However, it's got just the right mix of several other games with touches of originality, and it kept us coming back.

It contains an interesting and cleverly told story and takes great pains to build an atmosphere, then smashes the whole house of cards to the ground, violently, with a cheap cop-out ending.

This hastily assembled, disposable piece of plastic tries to surf, as it were, entirely on the cool little surfboard add-on that's used to control the rider, but it wipes out early and often.

Unfortunately, it also has crippling flaws that suck fun out of gameplay like a starving Nosferatu gnawing on a rat.

The game looked promising and campy, but ultimately left us unimpressed.

The problem is the gameplay. It's repetitive, it gets old quickly, it's redundant, it drones on and on, it's monotonous, it's unvaried and it's iterative.

Giant robots Good, lame story Bad, stealing sechnology Good, weak level design Bad, nothing innovative... that's bad Homer.

Uninspired graphics, technical flaws and a clunky interface leave it floundering in the channel.

As it comes out of the box, the awkward controls, ordinary story and mediocre multiplayer prevent us from recommending this marginally fun game.

Combining an informational resource with a full expansion pack would have been a better idea than this greedy effort.

Poor AI, routine melee combat and unimaginative gameplay consign Rune to the hellish abode of the bored.

Its personality, attractive graphics and RPG elements could've spawned a fun and frantic 3D RTS, but the game ends up feeling like an incomplete action game that's a little "ruff" around the edges.

It's a gun game without a gun, and there's really no way to get past that one glaring omission.

It the best of the Olympic crop, but it still doesn't quite get even a bronze medal.

It's not a horrible game, but the one other pool game available at launch, "Q-Ball: Billiards Master," is just a tad bit better.

Lacking in gameplay and visual splendor, Evergrace doesn't do enough to provide a quality next-generation RPG experience.

The graphics reside on the bottom side of ordinary, Quinn Buckner's commentary soon grows repetitive and there just aren't enough bells and whistles to impress us. Add that to the occasionally frustrating gameplay and spotty AI, and you have a team built for boring, sub-.500 play.

All of the vehicles control terribly, the levels are uninspired and the game itself is just a port. Why bother?

Plain, cold and uninspired, ESPN NBA 2Night has all the grit and soul of an Egg McMuffin.

There are too many nagging problems, from the stuttering animation to the strange, stooped-over look of most of the players, as if they couldn't stand up straight.

Sure, it's got Mario Lemieux in it, but while Super Mario may be able to save the Pens, he can't save this one.

Those who enjoy lackluster game values, cliched dialog and a motley collection of sophomoric characters will find this a competently produced title that won't be hard to get through.

A pretty vast improvement over the PSOne version, but numerous technical and gameplay problems that were apparent then return to mar the experience, making a mighty big mess of what's still a promising idea.

Control issues push this title much closer to Sony's clunker than (EA's) NHL 2001.

The controls are incredibly stiff, the locales are boring and rectangular, and the enemies will stand stock still until you shoot them.

Neither excellent nor miserable, it's a fairly good racer, but it's not changed much since our last look at the game, and since then a lot of handsome titles have hit the shelves.

Unfortunately, this isn't the sort of game we want to play online or off.

The golf ball "rolls" like a ping-pong ball on an air-hockey table...TW2001 slices into the rough when it comes to actually playing the game, and that's a shame, as nearly everything else is top-notch.

Whether standing on its own or against the legion of fine racing alternatives out there (from "Gran Turismo" to "Wipeout"), this is one racer we'll probably leave in the games garage.

A poor ending to a bad journey.

Is Gunman Chronicles a good total conversion? For the most part, yes. Is Sierra trying to milk the Gordon Freeman cow one too many times? Absolutely.

This is one really short game. With a little effort, you can beat it in 10-12 hours.

Though occasionally enjoyable, endless game crashing bugs, bouts of tedium and a few badly designed elements make it a miss.

In short, this interactive bit of testosterone-laden tomfoolery is just like the movie.

When you consider the Army Men franchise's extraordinary commitment to ordinariness, then it shouldn't be a surprise that the game is so utterly banal.

With its myriad bugs and lack of real multiplayer component, Jet Fighter IV is the sort of game that should have spent a few more months in the hangar.

The puzzles are utterly simple, the gameplay is too linear, and we finished it in about 10 hours.

Once the game starts up, another problem becomes apparent; the game was rushed out the door before it was finished. From random lockups when loading to a litany of missing features too numerous to list completely, it's obvious that Age of Sail II was released in a beta state.

With medical miracles and the highest average lifespan known in our short existence on this planet, we have to think that we've evolved beyond hitting each other over the head with frying pans and retractable boxing gloves.

It is an utterly routine shooter with a handful of different ships to fly, awkward controls, and robotic enemies that on their worst day aren't so much dangerous as they are sort of "pesky."

While it graphically looks fairly good, its simulation of the sport places the emphasis squarely on offense, and that's just not how baseball is played.

As a pinball game, the tables are too barren and as an action/platform-like game, the pinball control is out of place.

While the pack does allow you to throw an amazing party, it doesn't do anything else -- and parties lose their novelty pretty fast.

A tired genre makes its first zombie steps onto the PS2. It's time for a rethink.

After a few hours around the track we quickly grew tired of the same shallow driving, no matter how great those courses looked.

The stories, on the other hand, are so boring and unconnected that they must have been based on historical facts that have long since been forgotten, except in some German children's textbook.

Overall, Stupid Invaders is an adventure title that just isn't as much fun as it should be. But it's plenty stupid.

What should or could have been a cool, sneaky shooter devolves into a series of tedious levels, severely aliased graphics and some of the stupidest, ugliest enemies we've seen this side of "Delta Force: Land Warrior."

All we can tell you is that the game has mediocre graphics, poor sound, stability problems, an awkward premise and a whole lot of standing around. It may be utterly realistic, although the lack of any falling damage and the fact that wooly rhinos can magically sprint up sheer cliff walls make us doubt it.

A thin game that is sometimes fun, but mostly routine, and with less depth and imagination than the great games it is copying.

Is EX3 the worst fighter we've ever played? Absolutely not -- however, its mediocre fighting engine and uninspired visuals are yet another example of a once noble series gone sour.

The graphics are fine, the options plentiful and the details lovingly polished, but the core gameplay -- the part where you're in a car racing against other cars -- doesn't do much to advance the genre at all.

X Squad was to be the first squad-based game on PS2, but its AI is so bad that it really becomes a basic third-person action title with only some nice effects and a huge weapons cache to show for it.

Tomb Raider junkies will like the new levels, but anyone that got sick of this back in 1997 isn't going to have a sudden change of heart.

The biggest problem with the game, aside from the voice acting, is the difficulty. Both the characters and the monsters are capable of getting critical hits, but the monsters seem to have an advantage over Zak and his companions.

There were a few fun moments while playing this, particularly in the Capture the Flag mode. Unfortunately, the cosmic physics combined with the hit-and-miss controls ripped the huge potential out of its heart.

The batting and pitching interfaces are as good as we remember them from the stellar N64 games, but the fielding transitions are terrible and there are graphical bugs that are unforgivable. The game looks okay, with nice character models but lifeless environments and stadiums -- but it's just not what you'd expect from a PS2 sports game.

Decided it didn't want an in-game save function and forgot to add multiplayer, a skirmish mode or the ability to change the level of difficulty.

The Bouncer is here and it's not any good. We know how much that hurts, but it's time to move on. The game is less than three hours long -- less than 30 minutes if you skip the movies -- and what's there isn't fun.

In a repetitive mind numbing kill-a-thon manner, it's a good time. Is it a $30 (120 quarters) good time? No.

While it's an improvement over the original, Team Arena is essentially a decent mod but it's nothing that can't be found for free.

The gameplay is as expected -- slow, with a lot of exploration and some tough and sometimes frustrating enemies and puzzles.

After a year of impressive Dreamcast titles, gamers have come to expect something more from their next-gen consoles, and the same shallow, flashy arcade games just aren't going to cut it.

If there is such a thing as a low end to a Miss score, this game would be there, precipitously hanging with its arms spinning in comical circles directly over the ledge that drops into Dudville.

The tanks are cool and feature gritty design and nice detailing -- but their animation sets are pretty limited and the sensation of piloting an actual, steely titan is somewhat lacking.

It's such a banal misuse of a popular franchise that its mediocrity really shines through.

The music isn't quite as good (as its predecessor), and the gameplay has been simplified so much that it fast becomes mindless and quite repetitive.

A waste of an excellent license and a great opportunity.

With so many motocross games out there, there's just no reason to pay any attention to Jeremy McGrath.

A lot better than we would have expected, but that's not saying that much.

An ugly, hollow mess that disgraces its storied predecessors in every way.

The difference is purely in level design, which is creative and interesting in the first game ("Strider") and pure crap in the second.

Prolonged exposure to this latest Bond adventure reveals that TWINE is, despite the gorgeous visuals and top-notch presentation, at heart a relatively shallow experience -- decent, but not quite good enough.

A real waste of the attractive Gabrielle Reece license.

It's okay for a sports car to act like a movie sports car, a cartoon sports car or even a realistic sports car, as long as it doesn't act like a bus.

It's fair to say that the interface stands out as one of the best we've seen in years. Shame we can't say the same about the game.

Pressing alternating buttons as quickly as possible is only challenging (and fun) for so long, but with the exception of a few events, that's all this game is.

Marred by technical difficulties, ultimately simplistic design and a painfully complex interface, RPG Maker is less a dream come true than a nightmare that never seems to end.

With so many interesting alternatives to real life available on so many systems, why stick with one of our most repetitious and grueling sports?

From the moment this underwhelming title stumbles into action, gamers will be hard-pressed not to notice its painful mediocrity --CB2001 makes the annual SCEA father-son hackeysack tournament look like a paragon of x-tremity.

Everything that's done right here is on a prom date with wrong, and the wrongs manage to dance all over the rights' feet a little too often.

Unfortunately the grappling in the PSOne version of UFC is quite a bit less complex than the Dreamcast version's, with only one button combination used for most throws and one for counters. This makes successfully grappling an opponent much harder.

Well, it sucks. There's really no getting around it. It has great ideas and some innovative design, but a horrible grappling engine and the worst collision detection ever seen in a wrestling title overshadow all of the good.

Longtime fans of Lara's exploits will find more of the same ride, but we can't recommend paying the full admission price.

It's not a terrible game, and if someone were trapped on a long flight with nothing but this game and a PSOne, they could do a lot worse.

Featuring partially-fully-destructible environments, a nifty corral of over-the-top tanks and attitude to spare, Thunder Tanks shoots for the moon, but ultimately lacks the firepower to entice gamers into coming along for the ride.

Unfortunately, there's some yellow snow on this mountain.

It certainly does not have the basketball depth of "NBA Live 2001," and we'd only recommend it to die-hard college hoops fans who simply have to play as a Division I team.

Ugly visuals and a much uglier framerate fail to bolster a lackluster stunt system that's neither visceral nor deep.

Melodramatic dialogues precede and follow each fight, and they're handled with the same mildly illiterate aplomb as most anime translations -- meaning that they're longwinded, heavyhanded and occasionally unintelligible to all but the most diehard of fans, which is just how we like 'em.

Erratic control and graphical limitations on top of too many niggling requirements make this game experience less than enjoyable.

Problematic gameplay and terrible control mar an essentially goofy and slightly fun offering.

Now imagine the whole game, from start to finish, lasting about 15 minutes -- even with limited continues. Oh dear.

Twitchy controls, dull track layouts and boring gameplay guarantee this title a place right at the back of the starting grid.

Failing to pull through with what could have been a very interesting premise, however, EA has given us the keys to Bond's wheels but included with them jagged visuals, uninteresting level designs and some of the least polish we've seen in a while, making this game something of a clunker.

As infuriating as getting rapped on the skull rapidly and repeatedly, but otherwise just normal.

Dino Crisis 2 serves up two playable heroes in the form of military agents Regina and Dylan and, unfortunately, they're both rather stock and devoid of personality.

A mostly retrograde move -- less impressive in almost every aspect than the gems that inspired it. It's by no means the worst game we've played, but only the most rabid of Star Wars fans (of which there are plenty) should take this one for a spin... hover... whatever.

With one part uninspired gameplay, a liberal dash of visuals scraped straight from the bottom of the barrel and a grossly unpolished finish, developer SandBox has crafted a monster of a game, and it's barely got teeth, much less hind legs, to stand on.

Crave's "Sno Cross" is a far better game and is five bucks cheaper at $9.99.

Poor graphics and boring gameplay kill a fighter that could have been a contender.

The problem is that its main competition, EA Sports' Madden series, has most of the same features, plays a much better game of football and looks a lot better doing it.

Though "PGA" plays the simulation angle well, the easy putting, occasional quirks in control and lackluster graphics that actually affect the gameplay adversely all leave this title mired in mediocrity.

Sadly, the horrid control scheme from the original is left untouched, leaving the player to cry in agony.

We come not to bury Spider-Man, but to lament that more could not be done to make the Nintendo 64 version of the game as sharp as its counterpart.

A decent game that could have been great if it had been released three years ago.

A passable shooter that will please Nintendo-owning fans of the genre, but it won't win any awards for originality, ingenuity or design.

Gamers will probably derive more fun simply from reading this paragraph than they will from actually playing Deep Fighter.

A poor graphics engine with bad animation ruins any realism that might have been conveyed by the motion-capturing of professional riders.

This level is fairly fun and is one aspect of the game that keeps Andy MacDonald from being a huge, steaming pile of crap, instead making it passable into the realms of midsized steaming pile of crap.

An improved version of last year's disaster is still not worth the having.

In the end, though, the lackluster graphics, frustrating gameplay and repetitive actions make it a slightly entertaining romp through a scary theme park, but not fun enough for us to recommend as one of the DC's best.

A pretty weak entry from Ripcord, Spec Ops II won't overly offend or overly excite anyone.

With its limited gameplay, repetitive modes and lackluster multiplayer, we can't recommend it to anyone other than flight sim enthusiasts.

Controlling everything with the DC controller, especially over the often lengthy missions, will lead to cramped, achy hands, and the necessity for quick command issuing just doesn't fit well onto a gamepad.

What was cute and fun, if a little simplistic, on the PlayStation is unimpressive and difficult on Dreamcast.

Alas, KISS Psycho Circus just plain sucks.

In this confusing and muddled 3D platformer, Buzz just can't run straight, and that makes him one annoyed lead character in a crippled game that's really hard to like despite its eminently likable star.

Delivers the darkly comic humor and creepy mood of Sam Raimi's wonderful film trilogy, but simply fails to follow through on its promise with basic gameplay.

The included events -- Long Jump, High Jump, 110M Hurdles, 100M Dash, Shot Put, Javelin Throw and 1500M Run -- all involve the same control scheme. Each is equally frustrating.

As it stands on Sega's magic box, there's only the junk of civilization's decay to be found -- and it smells like someone's stinky afterthought that's been left to stew in the sun.

Contains fleeting moments of fun, but the weak control of the game makes playing it more of a chore than anything.

Serious motorcycle enthusiasts might want to give this one a whirl -- to crash really expensive bikes on bland racecourses, if for nothing else -- but the vast majority of Dreamcast owners will want to avoid this game.

As the Whatsit says, " @!#?@!"

Misses the mark by just a tad, but that shouldn't halt the admiring throngs.

It could have been an interesting game with a little more imagination, but it's flatter than month-old soda.

It's simplistic and mechanical, and just doesn't deliver the feel of a smoky pool hall where skill rules out over luck.

The sort of videogame that needs to have the epilepsy warning printed in 72-point Helvetica bold. This game is so colorful, fast and disorienting that we came close to passing out a couple of times and poking ourselves on the "Seaman" microphone.

An unforgiving game for adults might be one thing, but serving up an endlessly difficult Disney title is altogether another, and it serves to sink the ship.

Finally and least forgivable, important terrain features and items pop into existence only when the Grinch comes close, and disappear again if he moves away. This is endlessly irritating.

A must for shooting enthusiasts and fans of the disappearing light-gun genre, but is almost the perfect definition of a rental title to the rest of the gaming community.

It's fine for players looking for basic off-road action, but those looking for hardcore realism or arcade action should look elsewhere.

Plenty of flash, spectacle and new features... but so little meat to carve a proper meal from.