Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Seriously, this game is great. There's nothing here you can complain about. There's millions of collectibles, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and plus, nothing beats killing goblins with a green-clad elf who looks like he's five years old. There's racing, killing stuff, role-playing, puzzle solving, dungeon crawling - what's not there? The only bad thing is that you have to be a wolf and some of the enemies are annoying and very hard to kill. Other than that, there's not really much to complain about.

Presentation : 8 - There's not much in the way of presentation here, but what's done is done well. There is a great, albeit a little darker than usual, plot and the new gameplay is stellar. However, the fact that the orchestral music present in other games in missing here and the voices are cartoony, at best, takes away from the overall presentation.

Graphics : 9 - Very good looking overall. Link's look is a throwback to the Link of old, and the other characters all look great. In addition, the environment is nothing to scoff at. Perhaps the most effective graphical improvement of all is the monsters; when you go into a room with two huge ice-beasts with red eyes, you're gonna be scared. However, I'm sure the Wii and the Gamecube are capable of more, and that would have been nice to see.

Sound : 8.5 - All the sounds of previous Zelda games are still there, minus the orchestrated music. The iconic sounds, the ones that define the Zelda experience, such as the boss music, the sounds that you hear when an enemy is near, and the "dun da-da dah!" you hear when you find a new item. Lacking the orchestra in the backround, it doesn't sound as good as it absolutely could have, but the other music, as well as the sword effects and panting, et cetera, make it worth your while to just sit there and listen.

Gameplay : 8.5 - The plot is great, enabling a long, rich experience, and everything between is worth it. The dungeon experience is great, there being just enough tough stuff to make it fun, plus a little extra for good measure. The enemies are hard to kill (some a little overly so) and the goodies are spread out well so that you're glad when you find some, but it's not a one-in-a-million chance. Plus, there's plenty of chances to use these new-found gadgets, so they're not wasting away in your inv There's also lots of extra stuff, so you'll be busy with this one for a while. The only problems are that sometimes, there are enemies that are very hard to kill, and you try everything and waste all of your bombs, per se, and then figure out that it is actually very easy to do. There is often the same predicament with puzzles, aggravating the player immensely. Other than these small flaws, the plot is very well designed and worth playing until you drop.

Lasting Appeal : 8- You'll want to play this non-stop until you find all the stuff. And that won't be easy - there's tons of collectibles. Of course, you have to finish the game first, which is easier said than done.

Overall : 9 - Excellent. If you have a Wii or Gamecube, and not this game, you're missing out.

Star Wars Battlefront 2

Although this is one of my favorite games of all time, when I finally got down to looking at it in detail, there are some semi-major flaws.

Presentation - 8: There are many choices of single-player, the story is commendable, and many options and modes provide the "Instant Action" with some variety and flair.

Graphics - 7: Although the game's visuals look very "Star Wars-y" and decent, they don't show off the capabilities of a graphics card required to play the game, nor of a modern PC.

Sound - 9.5: Everything's awesome - the explosions, the voice, the lasers, the iconic Star Wars music - it's all there.

Gameplay - 8: The heroes are kind of hard to control, but the space battles and ground battles are both thrilling, the action of the fight grabbing, and watching droids explode just can't be beaten when it comes to fun. Some of the issues from its predecessor haven't been fixed, but online play, although a crucial addition, is awesome.

Lasting Appeal - 8: You can play this game online forever, but the single player quickly wears out. Also, the same modes on the same maps are the only fun ones, so it's only a matter of time before you're bored of them all.

Overall - 8