GameCube

The Starfox name has traditionally meant decent (or better) shooter action, and Namco is a strong company whom I usually have great faith in. Although I actually did enjoy StarFox Adventures' foray into third-person action, I was quite glad when it was announced that Assault would be closer to the series' traditional space-borne roots. Unfortunately, (and somewhat contrary to Tera's take on it) the end result of this Nintendo-Namco joint project is a schizophrenic mess not worth the time or money.

Star Fox: Assault's story is shoot-em-up simple: interstellar cockroaches called aparoids are taking over the universe, and the Star Fox team must take them out. Together with old friends Slippy, Falco and Peppy—and his sometime-girlfriend Krystal—Fox exterminates the aparoid menace, one planet at a time. It's not exactly Final Fantasy, but so what?

Game Description: Star Fox Assault brings back the classic space-combat action with an all-new adventure! After saving the Dinosaur Planet in their last adventure, the Star Fox team is sent to face a new menace. But when a standard combat mission takes a strange turn, the team finds themselves fighting on land and on foot, for the first time ever. Help Star Fox survive this new adventure! Incredible graphics make you feel like you're really there, battling for an alien planet.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence

On the subject of Echoes, however, Andrew and I couldn't have more diverging opinions. Where he has appreciation and tolerance, I have nothing but impatience and scorn. Simply put, Metroid Prime: Echoes was far and away the most tedious and inspiration-free game that I actually bothered to finish in 2005.

I'll have to admit that I approached Warrior Within with a great degree of hesitancy. I was absolutely head-over-heels in love with the first game, and I still view it as one of the greatest revivals of the current (and soon-to-be-over) era.

Okay, in my defense, I didn't realize that it was a children's game. I can't say whether it's a testament to Lego's enduring popularity as the world's greatest toy, or my own fundamental lack of maturity, but when I first looked at the box on the videogame store shelf, it didn't occur to me that Lego Star Wars could have possibly been made for anyone other than me specifically.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence

That little has changed in two years is a testament to how excellent the core ingredients of Prime were in the first place. The map is still flawless, as is the first-person platforming, as are the camera transitions, etc.