Sports

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence, Mild Language 

Game Description: Question: Who's a better fighter, Lennox Lewis or Joe Frazier? Answer: you. With Knockout Kings 2001, you can choose a champion from a long list of past and present greats--all with near-photo-realistic faces and signature moves. The game also includes today's top female boxers, including Mia St. John and Lucia Rijker, as well as in-game strategy from seasoned trainers and commentary from boxing experts Al Bernstein, Teddy Atlas, and Max Kellerman.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes

Like it or not, names like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin are now part of the nation's lexicon, and it's hard to go a night without seeing some sort of WWF-related event on television. This sort of rampant popularity has spilled over into the videogame industry, which thanks to astute developers like Yukes and Aki, allows couch potatoes to pull on tights and get down and dirty with the WWF superstars. One of the more anticipated wrestling titles was THQ's WWF No Mercy, the follow up to the wildly popular WWF Wrestlemania 2000. Though not quite revolutionary, WWF No Mercy definitely delivers what wrestling fans have been begging for since the last release: more wrestling goodness.

Game Description: This game has been licensed by the World Wrestling Foundation (WWF) to bring all of the wrestlers, matches, and moves of the real thing to your Nintendo 64. Battle with the likes of the Rock and Triple H, or create your own wrestler. The Ladder Match has been added to other game modes, such as King of the Ring and Royal Rumble. Battle up the runway, and pull weapons, like the Singapore Cane, out of the crowd. Earn points to unlock wrestlers and costumes in the SmackDown Mall.

Despite having an identical rating, Dale and I arrived at the same destination rather differently. Dale notes in his review of WWF No Mercy that there are moderately remarkable improvements over its predecessors, but doesn't seem think these updates are anything ground-breaking. I disagree with that, but not entirely.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Comic Mischief, Mild Animated Violence, Mild Language

What makes a person strap a piece of fiberglass to his feet and careen down a mountainside? Probably the same thing that keeps me seated safely in front of my television playing a game based on that sport. Snowboarding is not for the timid. At its very core, its a sport for the daredevil—anyone willing to go to the edge to show-off his skill or test his mettle. For the rest of us, SSX is the next best thing to being there. It takes a sport already bursting with attitude and bravado and cranks it up a few notches. The result is a game that provides a fun, wild ride and actually does its job in justifying the purchase of Sony's high-priced PlayStation 2.

First off, let me say that SSX isn't exactly the killer-app that everyone makes it out to be. Like Dale, my experience with SSX also saw its highs and lows (and I'm not just talking about the slopes, either). At first, I too was blown away by the visuals, but I didn't initially see what was so great about the gameplay.

Game Description: Combines high-speed snowboard racing with insane big air tricks on what is best described as an exaggerated snow-covered motocross track., Plow through the starting gate and perform amazing tricks en route to victory in EA's phenomenal new extreme snowboarding game, SSX. This high-speed arcade racer revolutionizes snowboarding games by taking today's sport onto tomorrow's tracks, creating the ultimate evolution of an action sports event. A total of eight unique characters are included, each differing in style, attitude, and skills. A wealth of executable maneuvers is also available, including aerial tricks, 360-degree spins, and back flips.