Christmas Games Wars!........Choose wisely

Closing Comments
Whether you're new to R&C or someone who has played them all, Ratchet and Clank Future deserves to be in your library no matter what. Not only has it supplanted Going Commando as the best title in the franchise, it's also the best game of any series on the PlayStation 3 thus far -- and that's saying a lot when you're up against Oblivion, Ninja Gaiden, Warhawk and Insomniac's very own previous effort, Resistance: Fall of Man.

Congratulations Full Moon folks, you're two for two.

The Good Shooting and platforming gameplay is fun Lots of different and useful weapons Beautiful, colorful visuals Tight controls.

The Bad There's some good humor in it, but the story isn't very interesting, and the ending is a letdown So many different, often unnecessary gameplay mechanics that the game lacks an identity Difficulty is too easy and only the last hour or so is remotely challenging.

Closing Comments
Super Mario Galaxy is one of the greatest platformers I have ever played, Wii's best game, and an absolute must-own experience. And to me, this odd trek through space really does feel like the true sequel to Mario 64. It harkens back to the N64 classic with nostalgic faces and places from the Mushroom Kingdom, but it also re-invents the franchise with new space-themed mechanics and fresh Wii-enhanced controls. It is, as I have said since I first played it, a near-perfect combination of old platforming values and new design.

Expect to be blown away by the fantastic level challenges and galactic variety. Expect to be blown away by the addictive gravity effects -- you will jump off ledges just to see if you can rotate all the way around a structure. And expect to be blown away by the tight controls and beautiful graphics.

Galaxy isn't quite perfect. There are some minor issues -- tiny blemishes, if you will, hiding on the backside of a supermodel. There's the auto-camera, which works exceptionally well most of the time, but every so often stumbles. And there's the overall difficulty -- a little too easy to 60 stars and to defeat bosses for my tastes. But even with these potential drawbacks, Nintendo's Tokyo studio has created a platformer that deserves its place among the very best and will surely be remembered in another decade as a classic.

The Good Some of the best level designs of any 3D platformer Beautiful, colorful graphics Controls work just about flawlessly in nearly every situation Soundtrack is a delight Lots of stages and tons of stars to find and collect.
The Bad A couple of Mario's special suits can be frustrating to use Minimal amount of story doesn't tie everything together especially well.

Closing Comments
The campaign, which is very good, is Halo 3's weakest point. It doesn't capture the cavalier spirit of the original Halo, but you'll still have fun playing through it. There's no first-person shooter on 360 that can equal Halo 3's blend of cinematic action, adrenaline-pumping shootouts, and male- (and female)-bonding gameplay. Look beyond the gameplay and you have a rich feature set unlike anything ever delivered in a videogame. The Forge and the replay functionality raise the bar for console shooters so high, it may never be surpassed this generation. There will be plenty of aspects for fans to nitpick, but it's hard to argue against Halo 3 as the most complete game available on any console.

The Good Satisfying storyline that simultaneously provides closure while making you wonder what will happen next Four-player online co-op is a lot of fun Forge mode map editor lets you do some extremely crazy and unexpected things Web integration makes sharing new maps and custom modes easy.
The Bad Rewinding saved films doesn't work quite like you'd expect it to AI-controlled Marines can't drive to save their lives (or yours) Inevitable flood of prepubescent online players sure to hamper your enjoyment of the online modes.

current inventory: wii: wii sports, red steel, tony hawk, LoZ:TP, COD3, Madden 07, and Super Mario Galaxy, GH3, Resident Evil:UC and Wii Play.
ds:animal crossing, starfox, mario kart, new super mario bros, madden 07, mario+luigi, mario 64 ds, th:american sk8land, cookin mama, and Pokemon. VC: none (were on first wii)