Sega

Virtua Fighter 5 is a fighting game stripped down to the most basic elements. It's almost as if the developers don't have the slightest interest in attracting new players. I'm sure they're turning a profit; according to the credits, the game is made by a shockingly small number of people, and it has a long life in the remaining arcades, but I can't help but wonder how long a series can last with a static user base.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence

Game Description: Virtua Fighter 5 offers worldwide fighting stages in which as many as 17 contestants vie, including two new characters, El Blaze, a Mexican wrestler who dominates with his Lucha Libre fighting style, and Eileen, a Chinese Monkey style kung-fu champion. SEGA also has implemented a new "offensive move" enabling players to take down opponents from different angles; these moves are believed to set VF5 apart from past VF games.

After Burner: Black Falcon may be spiritually true to Sega's seminal 1987 hit, but game design has progressed by leaps and bounds since then. Cleaving so closely to its dusty, outdated forefather hurt more than it helped, I'd say.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence, and Use of Tobacco

Game Description: After Burner: Black Falcon puts you into customizable fighter jets, for intense arcade gameplay. Players maneuver through a barrage of missiles and enemy fire, destroying all terrorist targets in the air or on land. Budding pilots can also dogfight competitively via Ad Hoc in a variety of multiplayer modes, or work with another pilot to achieve co-op-only goals. For the first time, have intense arcade fun with many more in-depth features—all in one game!

Game Description: Coming exclusively to the PSP system, Crush features an all new concept in multi-dimensional puzzle gameplay. A uniquely styled puzzle game that blends 2D and 3D graphics in an enticingly surreal environment, Crush is sure to present an addicting challenge! Puzzle your way across 40 brain-twisting levels switching perspectives from 3D to 2D to conquer your challenges. Changing your perspective on things will do more than alter your view; shift platforms and objects, activate machinery, cause immense chain reactions in the environment and overcome your enemies it's all in the power of perspective.

Crush, for all its flaws, is exactly the sort of game that the PSP needs more of. Seeing it in action for the first time is like bearing witness to a magnificent illusion--literally watching the spatial norms I've taken for granted get tossed out a window isn't something I'm going to forget soon.

Illusions and tricks of the eye have been staples of cinematic entertainment ever since those unwitting Lumière fans thought the train was coming right for them. And of late, gaming too seems to have developed a taste for undercutting its own visual conventions and toying with players' expectations. Super Paper Mario, Haze, Portal and Okami have all dabbled with innovative ways of twisting the player's perception of the game world...

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