If Nintendo is synonymous with anything other than games with the name Mario in the title, it's the Legend of Zelda series. While "mature" gamers cling to their Xboxes and PS2s, scoffing at Nintendo's mostly kid-friendly catalogue, no other platform has ever offered a game quite like those found in the Zelda series. There have been many imitators, but they often leaned too far into overly-complex RPG elements or in the direction of brainless, hair-trigger, point-and-shoot, A.D.D. game play. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, like its predecessors, skillfully walks that fine line between the two unlike any other game on the market -- past or present. It's a clever puzzle game and a kill-all-monsters sword slashing adventure. Everybody wins!

If you're a fan of top-down 2D adventure gaming, especially the classic Zelda games from the old NES and Super NES, you'll enjoy The Minish Cap for many of the same reasons, in addition to the more detailed graphics and colors never available on the 80s/90s era consoles.

While many aspects of the game will be immediately familiar, there are a number of new items, quests, and dungeons available in The Minish Cap that will thrill even the jaded Zelda gamer. As before, the danger-prone Zelda has gotten herself into trouble once again and only Link can save her and the land of Hyrule from the evil that has infested it with a wide variety of vicious (and colorfully designed) monsters.

In just barely over a year since the original KOTOR made its splash, the sequel has arrived bearing all of its predecessors strengths, and unfortunately its weaknesses, too. Don't get me wrong -- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is every bit as fun and charming as the original and is a worthy sequel.

The story is engaging, filled with great character development, with characters that are interesting, intelligent dialogue, and heaps of surprises along the way. The KOTOR voice acting is still a benchmark among gaming, and the musical score is every bit as wonderful as the original.

You begin the game some five years after the events of the first game. You are knocked unconscious aboard the Ebon Hawk, which is floating adrift in the middle of an asteroid belt...

Crafted by Ubisoft Montreal (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell) with oversight by series creator Cyan Worlds, Myst IV: Revelation is one of the series' best games to-date, marrying a compelling story to excellent graphics, challenging gameplay, and fantastic production values. Like all games in the Myst series, Revelation is meant for the most patient of gamers -- those who love to explore and discover at a leisurely pace.

Myst's most intriguing aspect to this player has always been its Tolkienesque fantasy storyline, complete with its own mythology, technology, and fantastic characters and locations. Myst IV, set sometime between Myst III and Uru, finally addresses one of the biggest mysteries of the entire series: whatever became of Sirrus and Achenar, the two evil brothers who were emprisoned by their father at the end of the very first game?

Not only do we find out the answer to that question, we get to visit the "prison Ages" these two men have called home for some twenty years. The opportunity to go see what they've been up to for all this time is an enticing, voyeuristic notion, and the amazing worlds they call home are astounding to behold.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the first Halo game.

The original Halo put the Xbox on the map and became a rallying point for Microsoft as it attempted to break into a tightly contested video game market. Amazing graphics, advanced A.I., and one of the best game soundtracks ever were just the beginning. Halo introduced to the gaming world its own universe of characters (from the various personalities of the Space Marines to the Covenant and their religious faith and the Flood), a fearless, butt-kicking hero (Master Chief), and an engrossing multiplayer game.

Halo was the number one reason to own an Xbox. Now there's another reason: Halo 2. Having already made entertainment history with an opening day launch of more than $125 million, the game is expected to sell some ten million units worldwide), most of those to be sold in its first month of release. Aside from those astounding sales figures are, does the game actually live up to all the hype?

The story begins where the first game concluded, with Master Chief and Cortona returning to to earth. In case you are in the dark, Halo itself is an ancient circular super weapon that unleashes a powerful wave of energy that can travel across the galaxy. This wave of energy is intended to destroy an alien species called The Flood, which are squid like parasites that mutate and deform their hosts. Since they are parasites that have the capability to take over any host they come into contact with, this energy beam doesn't distinguish the difference between human and flood -- it would kill all organic life in the entire galaxy.

It's a provocative idea though, isn't it? Who wouldn't want a chance to create people, stick them into homes and jobs and lives, and force them to do what you want? It's the ultimate "God roleplaying" opportunity, and a great set of tools for stretching those creative muscles.

The Sims is the most popular game of all time, spawning a slew of add-ons and one of the most active user communities on the Internet. So it comes as no big shock that creator Maxis Games would upgrade their bestselling title, offering an upgraded and enhanced experience?

Enter The Sims 2. This new version of the game takes everything that worked about the original and makes it better. Likewise, the stuff that didn't work so great has been fixed, a number of fan requests have been granted, and some new additions have been made that alter the dynamics of the game.

The most drastic change is a terrific upgrade in technology. The Sims 2 uses a true 3-D system, which allows you to rotate any view to any angle and zoom in dramatically close. The character models are a strong step up, with nearly infinite customization options and much more detailed human characters. Yet they still retaining that trademark cartoony feel they had in the original. And the new game's control scheme is every bit as fluid and easy to use as the original.

The game starts you off as a little lad whose life is about to be twisted and turned upside down. Not long after you get the gist of controls and a feel for the game, your village is attacked and burned to the ground, leaving you alone and helpless amidst a sea of flames. Your father is murdered, your mother and sister are taken hostage, and the sole reason that is hinted at for this attack is that the wicked "bandits" were really after you.

Before these evil men have a chance to discover your presence, a wizard named Maze rescues you and takes you to a place called Heroes Guild. There you train, learn, grow, and develop into a full fledged fighting force. What has become of your mother and sister? Who were those evil men? What "strange wind" is beginning to blow through the land? And why were the evil men looking for you? A very intriguing storyline offers plenty of answers as you progress.

Yet, my focus in this review is not so much the game (though, I can't say it enough -- it is the best in the series and a must have for casual and hardcore football fans alike), as to what important nuggets of truth we can find embedded within its chambers. The game of football itself is played by twenty-two men (eleven from each team are allowed on a field of approximately one hundred and twenty yards long and about fifty yards wide) wearing what amounts to armor, battling it out play after play with the object of driving this oval shaped ball across the goal line to score a touchdown. At first glance, you may think football is just a silly sport with overweight giants who wear really tight pants beat the tar out of each other play after play for no particular reason. However, as we take a deeper look into the game, I think we will find many lessons concerning life that will benefit all of us.

The Path of the Shell follows the perhaps-final mission of Yeesha, Atrus' powerful daughter (and it seems obvious by now that she is indeed still alive), who provides you with clues as to... well, I've played the game through and I'm honestly still not sure what it's all about. It claims to be about the future of D'ni, but it seems to have more to do with the future of Yeesha herself, even though she never bothers to grace us with a personal appearance. Path provides fans with two primary new ages to explore -- the mechanical Er'cana and the island age of Ahnonay, where nothing is as it seems -- along with some smaller areas in the underground D'ni city to explore, such as the Watcher's Pub.

The puzzles range from simplistic to difficult, but even nonexperienced gamers will eventually have no trouble figuring them out. The story itself somehow gets lost along the way and we never quite get a sense of why we're doing all this -- why these puzzles exist, why Yeesha has set us on this new journey, or how it all fits together.

He's not the most popular kid on the block, nor the richest, and yet, this is what makes it easy for Spider-Man to relate to so many different kinds of people on so many different levels.

As a Christian, it reminds me of Jesus who was God and then became man. And not just any man, he was born poor, amongst outcasts, in order to have that ability to relate to anyone who would come to him whether rich or poor, cool or not, famous or infamous. It is so much easier to connect with someone who has shared many of the same experiences and such that you have gone through. And in Spider-Man, we have this picture of a person just like us, who not only goes through the pains and trials of life, but ultimately comes out on top.

Some claim people can bend spoons by just concentrating on them; others claim they can lift things from across the room with a single thought (also known as telekinesis). What if the government was not only successful with such experiments, but managed to train and develop a small, elite squad of psychic fighters who specialized in this type of combat? They are skilled in hand to hand combat, weapons, and the whole lot of stealth fighting like any group of Rangers or SEALS, but when the going gets tough, they can slam a tank right into a building? Or ignite fires by simply focusing their minds on the thought (pyrokinesis)? Now, what if some agents in this specialized group defected, and began to raise an army bent on global domination (literally tearing out the minds and wills of all who resist)?

Such a background paves the way for Psi-Ops, with the covert government agency known as Mindgate suddenly faced with a terrible dilemma as its own homegrown weapons of war are now using their own strategies against them. You take the role of Nick, an ultra powerful psychic agent whose mind was whipped clean of all memory just before the invasion of Mindgate's main headquarters was accomplished. The reason was simple: Nick is Mindgate's last hope at dealing with this problem, and they needed him to go undetected when he was initially captured with everyone else. As you play the game, your memory slowly, but surely revives and with it, your incredible physic powers.