There has been a pretty severe drought in the console world for the space combat simulator game, something Gaming Minds Studios remedies nicely with Dark Star One: Broken Alliance. This enjoyable and easily accessible game provides hours of quirky fun, allowing players to fly through an insanely large galaxy, shooting pirates, escorting ships, and making mercantile trades. The story lacks depth and the later hours tend to drag, but the precise controls and satisfaction as you become a force in the cosmos far outweighs that.

On the surface, Blast Corps. may seem like nothing more than a mindless demolition game. Upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that it is also a strategy, arcade, racing, and puzzle game mixed into one. Few games can be called truly unique, but there isn't much else out there like Blast Corps.

Metroid is a wonderful example of how the passage of time and advances in technology have taken a beloved classic and slowly shaped it into an ever evolving gaming experience. The latest entry in the series, Metroid: Other M, is a title that shatters the mold of any Metroid game to date, creating an experience that might spark some controversy among the series' long-standing fans.

The Tomb Raider series has been around for quite a while at this point and Lara Croft has found herself in a variety of different adventures, all from the third person perspective. This time around, Lara is not featured in a titular Tomb Raider game, but rather a new co-op experience with a top-down view. While I wasn't sure what to think of the game before playing it, after just a short time, it was obvious that the team at Crystal Dynamics were on to something.

Careful observers will notice that, on the box of BioFREAKS, the word "FREAKS" has a period after each letter. As it turns out, it is an acronym for Biological Flying Robotic Enhanced Armored Killing Synthoids, something which I'm sure sounds like I just made up.

CM4 has created a snazzy case for DSi XL owners craving a little change in their gaming style. The Catalyst Slim Cover for the Nintendo DSi XL is a sturdy, aesthetically charged fabric wrapped aluminum case. While the case is a little expensive for what CM4 is offering, we believe it's a very viable option for those interested in upgrading the look and feel of their DSis.

It's somewhat astounding, but it has been longer than I can even remember since I have had the opportunity to sit down with a solid arcade racing title. Hydro Thunder Hurricane has allowed me to fondly recall a time when the only thing players need to concern themselves with is finishing the race in first place. It's almost liberating to not have to worry about anything else, especially after playing so many titles that make players worry about so much more.

Big Mountain 2000 is a skiing and snowboarding game released, quite fittingly, in the year 2000. It features characters who try too hard to act cool racing down hills that try too hard to be mountains.

The latest from imageepoch and Marvelous Entertainment treads some new ground for the Wii. Arc Rise Fantasia is one of the first, if not the first, traditional JRPG created for the Wii. On face value, this is great for Wii owners starving for a current generation RPG, but after some examination, many Wii owners may want to think twice about purchasing this by-the-numbers JRPG.

It’s been a while since I’ve pulled out the old Konami dance pad and played some DDR on the original Xbox. The long sessions and practice I put into the game in college got me pretty good at the game, and before long I was an expert DDR player. Performing the songs at that level really put a beating on the pre-packaged pad, and it slowly started to wear and lose accuracy as time went on. Hyperkin recently released a more durable version of the classic peripheral, which they have named the Tough Pad, and it certainly lives up to the name.

Time travel is not an easy concept to tackle in any sort of medium, much less a game. However, developers Raven Software decided that would be exactly what they would do in their latest first person shooter, Singularity. After completing the game, it's safe to say that the team did a great job in creating both action-packed shooting, compelling use of the time mechanics, and a cinematic experience that was engaging for the duration of the game.

"Adventure Racing" is a bit of a misnomer, as the game has much more to do with racing than it does adventure. There is no shortage of Beetles however, as it's the only car available. Accept it.

Playing Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is a lot like what I imagine living with an alcoholic stepfather would be like. You find yourself in a situation with no guidance or information on what to do besides the general desire not to screw up and every time you think you have figured out the correct way to behave, you find yourself beaten for thinking you can do better and being “uppity”. By description, an up-to-six player co-op game where you can choose from the A team of the Castlevania universe, Harmony of Despair sounded like it could have been one of the best Xbox Live Arcade games to grace the system. Sadly, this is not the case, and what’s worse is that the game in itself is not a bad experience.

Now that music games have reached mass market appeal, both Harmonix and Activision have shifted focus to producing band-specific titles that encompass that artist's full career. The Beatles Rock Band was the first to truly nail the essence of a band and Green Day Rock Band is Harmonix's second attempt at doing just that. At a glance, the title does a pretty good job capturing their career in terms of song selections, but it does leave something to be desired in its presentation.

When I sat down to play Dragon Quest IX, I just about knew what to expect. At least, I thought I knew what to expect. See, I've played Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest IV, and Dragon Quest V, and as both fans and those familiar with the franchise understand, the mainline Dragon Quest titles have many, many similarities and traditions. While there have been eight games in the series up until now, very few changes have been made to the formula.

It's rare these days to see low budget first person shooters reach the marketplace. Most publishers are aiming for the AAA mark, with little interest in pushing anything less out the door. Blacklight: Tango Down is an exception to that rule, as it is a budget-priced, downloadable shooter in the vein of Modern Warfare 2. Unlike that title, Blacklight: Tango Down truly only offers a multiplayer experience, while the single player Black Ops mode is largely a throwaway feature.

I'll be really honest here, usually I try to begin my reviews with some sort of back story pertaining to the game I'm about to review, or the concept in general. But my absolute disappointment with Naughty Bear has obliterated my ability to do that this time around. There are no words I can think of, or way that I can twist what I have experienced, into a nice introduction for possibly one of the worst games I have ever played.

The latest title from publisher Storm City Games, Monkey Madness: Island Escape, falls in line with their previous work. It's typical DS shovelware, featuring low budget presentation, one-dimensional gameplay, and is in general, a title that serves little purpose in being on the market.

Thanks to services such as XBLA, WiiWare, and PSN, the gaming community has seen plenty of incredible creations that may never have reached gamers otherwise. Some of the best gaming titles to release on all three of the services have come from independent game developers. Their passion and freedom to create have amazed gamers, producing critically acclaimed titles, such as World of Goo. Limbo is yet another example of a unique title brought to life by an independent developer; in this case, the Danish based PlayDead Studios. While the game is an original concept filled with many good aspects, Limbo is far from perfect and certainly won’t appeal to everyone.

Many gamers are deeply familiar with the Lunar series, particularly the very first title which gained quite a bit of attention on both the Sega CD and on the PlayStation, where it was originally rereleased. I myself have never had the pleasure of playing the game, though I've always heard just how great it was. Without nostalgia clouding my vision, I can say that Lunar Silver Star Harmony is a well-done game, but one that clearly shows its age in both its level and game design.

Bizarre Creations is a developer of many talents, responsible for a wide-variety of games all in different genres. While they have done quite a bit, they seem to have stuck with the racing genre longer than any other, mostly through their Project Gotham Racing Series. Now that they have been freed from further development of those titles since acquisition by Activision Blizzard, they have had the opportunity to create something in that vein, but fresh and new at the same time. Blur is the result of those efforts, and it is something that will undoubtedly be compelling for fans of arcade-style racing games.

This is one of the last games I added to my collection. It was a poor seller and is consequently somewhat rare, though most collectors seem to be indifferent towards it. One weird thing about this game is that I once purchased a used copy of WCW Mayhem from a GameStop which happened to contain this game instead, and I can't help but wonder if some bored employee swapped out the chips from the games.

I've learned over my years of playing video games, not to expect much out of a title based on a movie, TV show, or anything in our current pop culture. They are usually cheap, quickly thrown-together pieces of media created without any care for quality, because the character or topic it is based on is usually the only thing necessary to convince parents everywhere to shell out money for it. This is why I was genuinely shocked, as well as delighted, at the quality I found within Toy Story 3. While it is not a perfect movie game, it contains significant depth, great variety, and a gaming experience that is not only fun, challenging, and thought-provoking for its target audience, but enjoyable for adults and parents as well.

After a number of iterations, NCAA Football finally feels like it has distinguished itself from the Madden series. The gameplay and the look are totally different, which are what really make it feel like something unique. Though not as big, there are a number of little touches that also separate the two games. With two different styles, buying NCAA or Madden won’t just come down to which league of football you like better.

In a surprising turn of events from a company who loves to rehash content, BattleTanx: Global Assault is a rather significant improvement over the first game. It's still very much a guy game, but hey, tanks are always a winning formula. You like tanks too. Don't deny it.