Giant Bomb

Even though the 360's lackluster D-pad does its best to hold it back, Samurai Shodown II still shines on Xbox Live Arcade.

Strong Bad goes all Che Guevara in Episode 2, with amusing results.

Rock Band 2 offers a great package of new music and a bunch of great enhancements to the core game that make it a terrific purchase whether you're already well-versed in the genre or looking to get started.

TNA iMPACT! has some great ideas, but a wide array of issues big and small prevent it from achieving greatness.

The awesome destructive potential of Mercs 2 is hamstrung by a litany of technical shortcomings and clunky design.

The Last Guy is an interesting game, but there's not enough to it to make it a good game.

There are just enough new features--and just enough delightfully nutty new pinatas--to warrant a second trip into the garden.

Technical hiccups can't keep The Behemoth from sieging my heart!

Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty is a decent diversion for the price, but will make you long for the next full installment in the series.

Galaga Legions isn't a great Galaga sequel, but it's a decent space shooter with some interesting ideas.

This click-happy sci-fi dungeon crawler is neither aggressively bad nor especially remarkable. In other words, it's OK.

1942: Joint Strike is a decent shooter that offers some replay value--but only if you're into moving up online leaderboards.

A crappy gambling game that also doubles as a parable about the dangers of downloadable content.

Soulcalibur IV's sharp fighting is offset by a dull set of single-player modes and lame guest characters.

Unreal Tournament 3 is a competent Xbox 360 shooter that can be exciting and very fast-paced, but it occasionally feels like some kind of creepy history lesson on the way games used to be.

Even if you are a hardcore Aerosmith fan, this game's short and spotty track list makes it hard to recommend.

It's not a seamless transition, but Civilization Revolution is a mostly successful effort to bring Sid Meier's celebrated strategy series to consoles.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 adds new modes and elements that make it significantly better than both its predecessor and the scads of dual-joystick shooters that were released in its wake.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is by far and away the best looking Dragon Ball Z game available today. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't match the visuals in terms of recreating the action and appeal of the source material.

Soul Calibur gets the fighting right, but without online play or the single-player mission mode that made it fun to play alone, this XBLA re-release is a flimsy package.