Rated: 5 out of 5

Read the full review below.

Watch a video trailer below.

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As weird as it seems to conduct a review based on a game soundtrack rather than the game itself, sometimes in life we have to shift from the paradigm into a new direction.

Enter Harry-Gregson Williams: composer extraordinaire, who showcases a variety of "soundscapes" most producers dream of. From contrasting scores such as Kingdom of Heaven, Enemy of the State and Antz (to name a few), they only begin to graze the surface of Gregson-Williams' talent at composing musical scores. With a career spanning over one-hundred films, one can begin to assume that Konami made a wise choice by enlisting someone who can mold sound in the vein of Merlin with his alchemical prowess.

Now, the Metal Gear Solid series has always blended the atmosphere and moods from Kingdom of Heaven and Enemy of the State together.  A fusion of old world symphonic instruments and new school electronic rhythms, Gregson-Williams proves why he has been delivering electro-orchestral masterpieces since Metal Gear Solid 2.  With MGS 4, the composition will not disappoint those who may be true audiophiles, dedicated to labeling intricacies found within a song. At the same time, the soundtrack is just enough to curtail the MGS 4 story directly into the mood it needs to set, pleasing those who are just there for the ride.

Much of the playlist this round includes the usual fast-paced glitch induced drums blended with synthesizers, heavy guitars, strings and horn sections galore. This is the definitive soundtrack for all the world's super spies. With the inclusion of songs like "Love Theme" and "Old Snake," you can't help but shed a tear due to the sorrow brought by knowing this is Solid Snake's finale.  Those two tracks are wonderfully crafted pieces of music that should never be overlooked just because they are associated with a videogame.  

Off to my one and only gripe with this soundtrack. It lies in some of the production techniques within Gregson-Williams near-perfect opus. My issue is that Gregson-Williams introduces some fresh elements in the form of different production styles, yet some of the tracks occasionally sound a bit lazy and recycled ("BB Corps").  Now, as minute as the repetitiveness may be, it still is overshadowed, colossally, by the sum of its parts (all those great parts).

Thumbs up to Harry Gregson-Williams!!

Favorite Song: "Love Theme"

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bits

Note: The Metal Gear Solid Soundtrack CD is included in the MGS 4 Limited Edition. Otherwise, enjoy in-game.

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(See a summary of the game below.)

Who's it for:
Music/rhythm junkies who want a humorous take on the genre.

The Good:
+ Unique twist of the music/rhythm genre:
Hearing a hip hop track go country on the fly is pretty funny. The on-the-fly musical switchover is the highlight of Battle of the Bands.

+ Visual Variety:
Variety of bands and backgrounds keep the visuals fresh. Character animations during gameplay will keep onlookers entertained.

+ Entertaining Music Player:
A time-killer where you select a song and then switch up the style on your own while it’s playing. Almost spoils the fun of playing through the game.

The Bad:
- Repetitive, disjointed motion controls:
Controls come down to timed flicks of the Wii Remote, which feels disjointed from the music and repetitive. After a couple of songs, even the game warns you to take a break.

- Short single-player mode:
It only takes a couple of hours to get through the 10 stages of Adventure Mode. Not a really rewarding experience, except for unlocking weapons (which don’t have much variety themselves).

- Avoidable storyline:
Dialogue boxes before matches feel tacked on and don’t add anything memorable. Presentation of flat 2d illustrations don’t help it.

- Song selection:
Depends on your individual taste, but there aren’t too many memorable songs here or even some that work great for mashing up (See gameplay video below for listing of songs).

Check out the Battle of the Bands video below for a sampling of gameplay.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Game Summary:
Battle of the Bands is a music/rhythm game, exclusively for the Wii from THQ.  Players pick from bands with musical styles ranging from rock, hip hop, latin, country and even marching band. Gameplay modes include a single-player Adventure Mode and a Versus Mode (two-players or vs. CPU). Using the Wii Remote, players must move (or shake) at the correct time to score points and dominate the song. The music changes on the fly, according to the player who is doing best in the match. An interactive tutorial is included to get you up to speed on how to play. In addition to timely Wii Remote movements, each band packs their own stock of weapons. Weapons can also be used to cripple opponents, which you unlock throughout the Adventure Mode. There are thirty songs to select from, with five variations for each track, according to the music genre.

Plot:
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is the prequel to the PSone's Final Fantasy VII role-playing game. It's exclusive to the Sony PlayStation Portable system. In Crisis Core, you play as Zack, a Shinra SOLDIER with a burning passion to not only rise to the rank of 1st class SOLDIER, but to be a hero. Zack is often scoffed at throughout the game for such a lofty goal. The bigger picture of Crisis Core is man's creations vs. nature. Crisis Core is an engaging story that provides a solid backdrop to Final Fantasy VII.

Gameplay:
Crisis Core is a mix of action and RPG gameplay. The first option you'll have to decide on is whether to take the adventure on in Normal or Hard Mode. The difference between the two is that battles will be more difficult in Hard Mode.

Zack is the only character you control, as there is no party system traditionally found in Final Fantasy RPGs. Gameplay takes place in third-person mode. The characters are not super deformed as in Final Fantasy VII, but more along the scale of Final Fantasy 8+ RPGs.

Enemy encounters happen randomly in the playing field, but the "boss" or other primary enemies can sometimes be spotted. You can execute evasive or defense actions, or keep at a distance from enemies and use magic. If you attack enemies from behind, you're likely to land some "critical" blows. Preset equipping options include Magic, Offense or Defense. I stuck through magic pretty much the whole play through of the game, mastering a few of them.

Camera controls sometimes get stuck. Meaning, when pressing the L or R button to rotate the camera (particularly useful when looking for treasure chests and pathways), the camera gets jammed and doesn't fully rotate. Sometimes hitting the L instead of R or, or vice-versa, may work. Other times it takes moving Zack a little to try again.

There are frequent save points, which is a good thing for the portable format. Shops are accessible any time through the menu, so you have no need to worry about venturing out without enough supplies. Gil never seemed short either. Zone Maps are also accessible at any time, so you won't have too much problems finding your way around.

You'll meet some of the characters you may remember from Final Fantasy VII, including Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie and Sephiroth. Add Genesis, Angeal, Cissnei and Tseng to the list of memorable characters you'll find in Crisis Core. As you meet characters, they are added to your DMV. DMV, short for "Digital Mind Wave," is a strange part of Crisis Core. When the roulette wheel of characters first popped up on the screen, I thought I had to hit a button to make it stop, but it is totally non-interactive and random. The DMV results in status effects (aka "Power Surge") which give you invincibility, level ups, no MP costs, summons and even more cutscene animations that fill in the story. You'll hear "Modulating Phase" frequently.

One part of the game that didn't capture me too much was the Materia Fusion. Various materia can be combined to upgrade to more powerful materia. It'll give you a preview of what will result, so you don't have to worry about wasting materia to find out. You will have to figure out how to combine them best. Probably the hardcore Final Fantasy gamers will use this most, but it isn't required to advance in the game. I dabbled in it, but wanted to keep the story and action going rather than working on the stat screen. That's what it felt like. More work than fun. There are some surprise mini-games throughout Crisis Core. I won't spoil them for you, but they provide a mix to keep the action fresh.

Graphics:
Although the palette may be primarily dark, the graphics look exceptional on the PSP. Mechs and monsters are nicely detailed, with some bosses overshadowing the scale of Zack. There's a few cutscenes and summon spells that show some high quality 3D rendered animation, equal to the animation and quality found in the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children UMD/DVD Movie. There aren't many of those sequences, but the few that are there look amazing. Other cutscenes are done using the in-game graphics. There are some parts later in the game where cutscenes can be an annoyance. That's when you have to repeat a boss battle previously lost. There's no way to skip several minute-long segments.

Audio:
The soundtrack is a treat, with a few themes likely to stick in your head throughout the adventure. Crisis Core's soundtrack is created by composer Takeharu Ishimoto. The music is a fuze of techno and rock. There are original compositions and remakes of some Final Fantasy VII tracks. Character dialogue is a mix of text and voice acting. Voice acting was well done, also similar to that found in the Advent Children movie.

Replay Value:
The primary quest is linear, but there's plenty more to experience in the Mission Mode. You can access the Mission Mode from any save point. While finishing all the missions are not required, there's a few exclusive items, summons and characters you'll only find while on the missions. The missions vary from Very Easy to Very Hard. Most offer brief subplots. You can easily get wrapped up in hours of the Mission Mode. This is one part you'll want to come back to even after finishing the game, so keep a few save slots to go back to.

The individual missions aren't too long themselves. You can complete some in minutes, but there are many of them. The main game may last about 20 or so hours, but factor in Mission Mode and you'll easily triple the entertainment time you'll get from Crisis Core. After 25 hours of gameplay, I had only cleared 19% of the Mission Mode by the end. You can always go back and play in Hard Mode for more of a challenge, and play on the big screen if you have a PSP-2000 with video out. So yes, there is replay value in this RPG.

Buy It, Rent It or Hardcore Only?
As hardcore as the dedicated Final Fantasy RPG player may be, just as Final Fantasy VII opened the genre to many so will Crisis Core. Detailed gameplay elements like Materia Fusion and Mission Mode won't hold you back if you opt to skip them. If you own a PSP, add this to your collection. If not, consider this game as your door into the PSP. By the end, the story ties right into the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. Just as Final Fantasy VII struck emotional chords in gamers, so will Crisis Core. Buy it and you'll feel rewarded by the end.

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Eight speakers are packed into the AX51 headgear to deliver a full surround sound experience. With four speakers per ear, you'd think your head would be feeling heavy, but it does not. Audio sounds crisp and can be fine tuned via the AX51's Audio Box controller. From the Audio Box controls, you can adjust the volume from the surround (rear) channel, front channel, subwoofer channel, center channel and the master volume. Audiophiles will likely adjust the levels for an optimum experience. There's also a button to mute the mic. A light indicator on the Audio Box controller switches from blue (mic on) to purple (muted), however the color change is a bit subtle.

The AX51 is as tough as it looks. The padding around the ear is comfortable, but not tight enough to be noise canceling. The headset has a sturdy and durable feel. Competitive gamers can be assured it will withstand heavy use and travel. The AX51 can be collapsed by swiveling the ear units so it won't be as bulky, and you can stuff everything into the included cloth bag. That said, it's not the most compact headset, as it uses an AC adapter and the Audio Box controller.

A removable microphone is included on the AX51 unit. It's a nice option to remove it by simply unplugging it from the left earpiece, rather than just slinging it back over your head. Rumble technology is also incorporated into the headset although in comparison to other rumble enabled headsets I've tried, this one wasn't the strongest.

With all the features and the surround sound delivery, you'll be happy to know the AX51 is reasonably priced. You can find the Audio Xtreme 5.1 (AX51) headset from $65-$80 from online retailers such as Amazon.com, Buy.com or NewEgg.com.

See pictures of the AX51 package below.

For more information and tech specs on the Audio Xtreme 5.1 (AX51) headset, see trittontechnologies.com.

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Turok feels very much like an action-survival sci-fi flick. There are events throughout the game that will remind you of Pitch Black, Aliens and Predator. Survive your fellow humans as well as an alien element. Turok serves the sci-fi and first-person shooter (FPS) junkie.

Characters:
One of the most memorable characters at your side in the game is Slade. Slade is voiced by Ron Perlman. He's not too happy to have Turok as part of Whiskey Company. You'll found out why early on in the game. As for your adversary, Kane, you won't see too much of the main man other than in the flashbacks. He almost doesn't feel vilified enough. Throughout the game you'll be accompanied by the scattered members of Whiskey Company.

As for the dinos, expect them to mingle amongst many skirmishes. While you do see a few dinosaurs throughout the game, it's mainly raptors you'll be up against. Soon after your rough arrival on the planet, you're introduced to quite an opening landscape of dinosaurs. Just don't expect to interact with most of them for the rest of the game.

Gameplay:
Gameplay takes place in the first-person perspective. You can go the route of stealth kills with knife and bow or go guns blazing with a pulse rifle and gatling gun (one of my favorite weapons). I found the latter method more playable and entertaining. Stealth kills with the knife can be frustrating, leading to stabbing at the air. You are rewarded to various animation sequences if you do successfully creep up and knife your prey.

Aiming feels tough, especially with the SMG. Spraying down enemy soldiers was more effective at times than going for precision aiming. With some of the fast dinos, that won't work. Use your knife for close range attacks, or stay far and make use of the shotgun's alternate flare fire. Nail an enemy with a flare to attract a dino to your target and then go for both. Or do as Slade advises: "Stay quiet until they kill each other off."

Turok uses an auto-regeneration health system. Find cover when wounded until you can get back in the fight. Sometimes you won't be able to, because raptors can be quick. If you are jumped by a raptor, you'll face various sequences of button combos to survive or pull off a kill.

Sometimes you may feel lost in the dense jungles, but luckily a click on the left thumbstick (LS) will show you the navigation point of where you need to go. It's not always there, so you may find yourself running in circles at times, especially during some of the darker lit areas.

Saving can be a bit frustrating. The checkpoints are sometimes spread out, while others can be closer. Expect to go through some lengthy repeats if you die at the wrong moment. There's only one save file as well, but as you unlock chapters you can replay them later on.

Graphics:
It's a dark palette of earthy greens and browns. This is one of those HD games that is best played in a low-lit setting. Some textures look great. At times, as you've likely seen in other Unreal Engine 3 games, the texture load-in is visible. That means graphics may look plain or unfinished for a second or two until the textures pop-in. You've likely seen this in games like Mass Effect, Gears of War or Stranglehold.

The jungle areas are the most impressive, with plenty of rich, varied foliage. The areas where you must make your way through high-grass lead to some tense moments. It builds a tension you've likely felt in a survival horror game, especially when anticipating getting jumped by a raptor.

Audio:
The soundtrack has an epic sci-fi movie feel. Environments sound rich and believable. From buzzing flies to clicking keyboards. Voice-acting is well done too, with the help of some Hollywood talent. If you have a good pair of headphones, wear them to immerse yourself in Turok.

Replay Value:
Developer Propaganda Games extends the gameplay of Turok by adding plenty of multiplayer elements. Modes included are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Assault Capture The Flag, War Games, and 4-player Co-Op missions. There's 10 maps total. Seven for multiplayer, three for co-op. Co-op missions are challenging, and each has their achievements.

New map packs will be available within the last week of March 2008. Multiplayer maps will include Desolation, Sentinel, Inconclusive Tests. There's also an added new co-op map, "A Rivalry Continues." The map pack will go for 400 Microsoft Points ($5), also coming to the PlayStation Network.

Buy It, Rent It or Hardcore Only?
If you're a hardcore FPS gamer that leans more toward the sci-fi genre, this game is definitely for you. The Turok franchise redeems its name this time around and gets a richer futuristic feel at the same time. The main downside is battling similar enemies and raptors and the clumsy knife attacks and weapon fire. It's the story and rich environments that will keep you going and the online play that will keep you coming back.

Turok, is now available for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and soon for the PC (in April 2008).

See a preview of some gameplay in Turok below. Watch various developer and trailer videos here.

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This installment introduces the Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar (WTF are the Tyranids already?!). Both factions get a unique resource that relies on soul siphoning, be it divine faith or twisted harvesting. The Dark Eldar commander can use these souls to release powers upon the battlefield from the comfort of the command interface whereas the Sisters of Battle player unleashes their abilities with units such as missionaries spreading the word of the Emperor.

The single player campaign spans four worlds now as opposed to the one planet you fought on last time. For all intents and purposes you are still fighting on one map, but now use must portals to reach other areas as opposed to directly marching over to them. I was slightly disappointed that the worlds were merely 2D plots of terrains to fight over.

Introducing flying units was a nice touch. Though saying that, “Every map, battle and strategy in Dawn of War has just been reinvented!” is quite the stretch. Air units were definitely missing, but they can still use some tweaking and variety.

The stand-alone model of expansion has been great in this series. There are two races in this expansion, if you do not have any of the previous titles you can only play with the two new factions introduced in this release. If you have all of them, you can play with all of the factions. This gives you just enough of a taste to want to go out and get the rest of them if you haven’t been religiously buying each title when they were released, which you should have been.

Overall, its not going to be the best real-time strategy (RTS) game you will ever play. It will give you that rich Warhammer 40k atmosphere. The lack of long set ups and few opponents will have you considering Ebay for the dusty miniatures stored away in your closet.

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Overview:
Devil May Cry 4 stars a new character to the franchise, Nero, whose slash-shoot style of gameplay is reminiscent to Dante's. Nero is a member of the mysterious Order of the Sword and is part of an elite group that protects the leader of the Order. The Order of the Sword worship Dante's Father, Sparda who was a powerful demon warrior who turned his back on evil. The storyline is set in motion when Dante (at this point known as "the man in red") assassinates the leader of the Order of the Sword. After a brief encounter, the chase is on to find Dante and figure out just what is his problem.

Presentation:
Upon popping the game disc for the first time on your Playstation 3, you will notice that you can't play the game unless you download 4.9GB worth of data onto your harddrive. Unfortunately, this will take you about 20-25 minutes. On the plus side, the game runs a slideshow-like video in the background, explaining the overall DMC storyline. This will really help gamers new to the series get acquainted. The next thing that will instantly stand out is the direction of the cutscenes. The action is really well made and some of the camera angles are reminiscent of the 100 Agent Smith fight from The Matrix Reloaded. Cutscenes were directed by Yuji Shimomura, action director of films such as Versus and Alive. From then on out, the presentation is really good. Menus have an interesting style and the in-game/cutscene sound production is really well done. For evidence of this, just listen closely to the sound quality during one of the boss fights.

Graphics are pretty much on par with the high-quality of the rest of the game. My only complaint in this department is that this game suffers from acute Call-of-Duty-2-itis. What I mean is that for such insane level/art design and textures, not much is destructible. For example, a few plates on a table can be slashed, but the table itself can take hits like you aren't even there. Also, strangely, there are no bullet-holes when you shoot things. Aside from this, the game is visually pleasing and has sick character design on top of that.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is basically the popular hack-slash-shoot formula that has you beating demons into a fine paste. Your main weapons are Red Queen (sword) and Blue Rose (revolver). By pressing L2, you can charge up your exceed gauge in order to deal extra damage to enemies with either the gun or sword. These weapons can all be upgraded in order to add new features as well as new moves to your repertoire. For example, you can collect Proud Souls (collectable orbs) to a new combo. This upgrade system keeps everything fresh so you won't be doing the same slash-slash-jump combo over and over. In addition to these weapons, Nero has his demonically possessed arm known as the Devil Bringer. This thing is a demonic Swiss-army knife that can grab enemies, activate certain objects, grab grapple points and charge up your weapons (plus more). The Devil Bringer adds yet another fun aspect to the level of depth in the puzzles and combat.

Dante is also available as a playable character, albeit for a small portion of the game. Dante still uses his signature Ebony and Ivory pistols, as well as his sword, Rebellion. Also, Dante has four fighting styles which can be switched on-the-fly. Lastly, the game has added features such as different levels of difficulty, ranking lists, galleries, accomplishments (similar to Xbox Achievements) and SIXAXIS camera control. Speaking of which, the camera is the only thing that was disappointing. The camera doesn't work well when you are inside small rooms, sometimes getting in the way of the action. When passing through doorways, the shifting camera angles can be an annoyance as well. If you are holding the thumbstick down on the controller, all of a sudden you may have to switch to up. Also, for some reason it doesn't like getting too close to Nero, so there will be times when you can hear enemies near you, but you can't see them because the camera is stuck on a wall. Overall, this problem isn't a fatal blow to the game play, just an annoyance at times.

Buy it, Rent it or Hardcore Only?
Buy it. This game truly caught me by surprise. While I am not normally a fan of single-player games, Devil May Cry 4 is definitely worth the purchase if you can live without multiplayer. The sheer quality of the entire package makes it easy to recommend and you will definitely thank yourself for making the purchase.

Note: I did a comparison of the graphics between the full game on the PS3 and the Xbox 360 demo. As far as I can tell, the graphics are identical and deliver the same punch.

See images and videos of Devil May Cry 4 below. Visit the official website for Devil May Cry 4 here.

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The LoSt-CaUzE Gaming Headphones are endorsed by FPS Quake 4 World Champion, Rafik Bryant. "My gaming headphones block out sounds that can distract me from the competition," says Rafik. The headphones themselves may look fairly simple, but looks can be deceiving. Active Noise-Cancellation, light-weight, comfortable padding and what the creators call "Linx Audio" technology are the highlights of the headphones.

The headphones do great in shutting out environmental noise (that includes the whir of the Xbox 360 disc drive). Bass sound remains full, without having to go full blast. That's what the Linx Audio technology provides. The technology is well explained in the inner flap of the packaging (as well as here on the AblePlanet website). AblePlanet will do a much better job at explaining how it works. Basically, you won't need to push audio to full levels to try to hear everything. Audio remains full and clear, even while at lower volume levels.

Active Noise Canceling is powered by 2 AAA batteries (included). The batteries are housed within the left earpiece, along with the on/off switch. When active, a small green led light is illuminated. Definitely play with it on. You won't have to deal with an external AC adapter, which I usually find an annoyance with headsets. The batteries should last about 35 hours.

We all know that audio levels can change during a game pretty fast. One second you'll need to be listening carefully in a covert scenario, the next you'll be booming out a thunderous barrage of fire. I can definitely endorse these headphones as wife/spouse friendly. I would often gripe when I would be asked to lower the volume during late night gaming sessions. Now it's a treat to put these headphones on.

I use the LoSt-CaUzE Gaming Headphones with my gaming consoles (Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) via an audio out jack from my home stereo system. The headphones connect via a detachable 5 foot cord, with a handy in-line volume control. An included 6 foot extension cord allows plenty of distance from the TV. Keep in mind, this doesn't have a mic input, so communicate with the Xbox 360 chatpad or keyboard on the PS3 if you want to send messages.

I've gone through quite a few headsets for gaming. From Sony, Turtlebeach and other rumble enabled ones. This is definitely the best experience I've had and the ones I use on almost a daily basis. I'm happy to give the AblePlanet LoSt-CaUzE Gaming Headphones a high recommendation. You won't be disappointed in the audio fidelity and value of the AblePlanet LoSt-CaUzE Gaming Headphones, whether gaming or enjoying music.

See the package contents below, which includes a hard covered carrying case and various adapters (all gold plated).

See more details at ableplanet.com. The AblePlanet LoSt-CaUzE Gaming Headphones have an MSRP of $149.99.

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Characters:
On the Nintendo side we have Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi and Bowser. On the SEGA side we have Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Blaze, Vector and Dr. Eggman. Each side has its heroes and villains, which make for fun match ups. You'll have to use some strategy to figure out which ones work best for which events. Off the bat, you know Sonic is good for speed, while Bowser is good for power. Character stats are detailed on the character selection screen. If you can't decide, take a gamble and select Random.

Game play:
In single player gaming, there are three main modes of play: Single Match, Circuit and Mission. You'll want to start on Single Match.

In Single Match, you can compete in Athletics, Aquatics, Gymnastics, Archery, Table Tennis, Fencing, Shooting, Cycling and Dream Events. Each sport has various events, some of which you will have to unlock as you make progress in the game. There are 24 in total.

In Circuit mode, you select different levels of difficulty (classes) and select a circuit, which is composed of a series of three events. You'll have to use some strategy before each event. No matter which character you select, there will be at least one which may bring difficulty. This is where you get what's called a "circuit chance." Selecting your sole "circuit chance" before an event doubles your points. So if you're playing with Bowser on a "speed type" event, you better redeem that token!

In Mission mode, you'll compete in a series of 5 events for each character. Things get a little tricky here, as it isn't about scoring the top place. This is where you'll want to show off your mastery of controls for an event.

When I first heard of all the various game play mechanics, I thought it would be too confusing. L/R button play for Cycling, d-pad and button play for Table Tennis, tapping and sliding the stylus for the Vault and even clapping into the Mic for stirring the crowd up. But it all makes for great variation. When you first play an event, you are given a tutorial. You can always bring it up before an event after you've seen it the first time. In several events, be prepared to hold your DS at an angle as you feverishly scratch the screen with the DS stylus. Definitely have a screen protector installed on your DS for this game.

Graphics:
The graphics hold up nicely on the DS. It has a cartoon feel, but in 3D. Lots of vivid colors. It's Mario and Sonic after all, right? The game play area sometimes spans both screens, so you get closer views of characters in games like Table Tennis. Archery and Shooting events work out well using the dual screens.

Audio:
Each character has their own unique voice. They all have their victory line and their losing lines, as well as their grunts. One neat feature thrown into the Gallery (even more mini-games which unlock Olympic trivia) is a jukebox. Unlock tracks by completing a set of Gallery mini-games, which will give you access to classic tunes from Mario and Sonic games. There are ten total to unlock, some of which include Tetris DS Mario Puzzle Mix, Sonic The Hedgehog Green Hill Zone and Mario Kart: Double Dash. Unlock 'em and drop 'em in the jukebox with your stylus.

Replay Value:
There's enough here to keep you busy and mastering each event. Whether you want to break your own records, compete via wireless play with up to four players, collect as many (and there are many) awards as possible or take on the world via online leaderboards.

Collect awards such as: Medals, Trophies, Emblems and Crowns. The toughest being the Crown awards. That means getting all gold medals for each character.

In Versus Play, you can compete locally with 2-4 players via Wireless play. With the Wi-Fi capability, you're literally competing against the world with the Nintendo WFC Rankings. Make a record in an event and it will be saved, along with the character you did it with. Connect via Wi-Fi to download/upload scores and see what number you rank. That's definitely a neat feature, although downloading/uploading scores can take some time. You have to connect and disconnect for each event.

Buy It, Rent It, or Hardcore Only?
Mario or Sonic (or Nintendo and SEGA) fans are already probably sold on the concept of the rivalries possible. There's a lot of replay value in the game mode types, control mastery, ways to interact, events to play and records to set. This is definitely a nice joint effort put together by SEGA and Nintendo. My biggest gripe is the way you have to individually upload/download records through the Wi-Fi connection. That's a minor one.

If you're wondering about my thoughts on comparing this with the Wii version (which it shouldn't really be), I haven't played it on the Wii. So this review stands on its own merit on the DS capabilities and features. It would have been cool if there was some connectivity between the Wii and DS (like syncing your scores or unlocking exclusive events). I think that would have encouraged me to look into the Wii version more.

So the short answer: recommended buy. Beyond the concept of the competition between the two parties, this little DS cart packs plenty of game play variation and ways to bring you back, just as the Olympic Games itself. You'll keep wanting to outdo yourself and go for the gold.

Watch a promotional trailer video from SEGA below.

Visit the official website for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games here.

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