Driving

The world of the Yakuza is full of honor, violence and history. Many people simply pass off the Japanese gangsters as similar to the United State's Mafia. But that betrays the deep history of the Yakuza, which some believe stretches back to the extended period of peace in Japan during the Tokagawa era. Since the services of the Samurai were no longer needed, an increase in the number of Ronin—leaderless Samurai—was seen throughout Japan. Seeing as how they were no longer under the thumb of their masters, they turned to crime. Thus the Japanese gangster was born.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence

SpyHunter is a decent remake and given the competition, is perhaps one of the better ones. Paradigm Entertainment managed to keep the arcade gameplay in tact—for better or worse—and put together a good game. Ordinarily all you can ask is that they at least match whatever positives were in the original, but in the case of SpyHunter that means it hasnt risen about a primitive arcade game released almost two decades ago. SpyHunter is little more than a graphical update to an arcade classic.

Game Description: Based on the arcade classic, SpyHunter is a mission-based combat racing game that puts you behind the wheel of the G-6155 Interceptor. Not just any car, the Interceptor is the ultimate counterintelligence prototype vehicle. First, it's turbocharged and ready to go with 845 horsepower for lightning-fast speed. That's not all—there's an arsenal of futuristic weaponry and morphing abilities to turn the car into a speedboat, jet ski, or motorcycle. Basically, it's everything you need to undertake 14 high-adrenaline missions on wheels.

I'm a little loath to admit it, but I'm definitely old (or should I say ancient?) enough to remember SpyHunter from its arcade days. It was never a favorite of mine, but I did enjoy plunking a few quarters into it every now and then. While my score and Dale's aren't too far apart, I think that I ended up liking the game a lot more than he did.

Game Description: You've been betrayed and left for dead. Now you're taking revenge, unless the city gets you first. Mob bosses need a favor, crooked cops need help, and street gangs want you dead. You'll have to rob, steal, and kill just to stay out of serious trouble. Anything can happen out here. Grand Theft Auto III features a fully 3D living city, a combination of narrative-driven and nonlinear gameplay, and a completely open environment.

To say that GTA3 has been critically well received is an understatement of gargantuan proportions. Since the short time of its release, the game is already being heralded not only as the game-of-the-year, but also a groundbreaking artistic masterpiece that qualifies for the ever-diminishing title of "greatest game of all-time."

As the years go by, video games constantly strive for higher levels of realism. The line between the real world and the video game world is starting to blur with the current level of technology in today's gaming hardware. The advancements in AI, heightened graphics, the ultimate switch to 3D, and the medium on which the data is carried are just some of the things that allow the video game industry to not just create games, but simulations.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Strong Language, Violence