TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED BY ATARI (4 stars)
Platform: Xbox 360.
Rated: E10+.
This game is worth its retail price based on real estate value alone. It gives you a scale reproduction of the entire island of Oahu for $40. And you thought the Louisiana Purchase was a good deal. If you don't mind sharing that gorgeous tropical backdrop with others, you can go online and challenge any random driver you find to a race. With its expansive environment, the online component practically makes this the first massive multiplayer online racing game ever.
YAKUZA BY SEGA (3 stars)
Platform: PlayStation 2.
Rated: M.
If you're getting tired of American mobsters, you can try your hand at crime in the neon-lit Far East with the honor-bound Yakuza. Apparently, they prefer not to use guns, so be prepared to do a lot of third-person brawling. A few melee weapons are thrown in occasionally to break up the two-fisted monotony, but they break after only a few hits. How hard do you have to hit someone to break a steel pipe in five blows?
STAR FOX COMMAND BY NINTENDO (4 stars)
Platform: Nintendo DS.
Rated: E10+.
Fox McCloud and his gibberish-speaking, anthropomorphic posse have successfully made the transition to the DS. Though slightly inferior to its Super Nintendo and N64 predecessors, this Star Fox still has solid, touch-screen-controlled aerial acrobatics that put recent DS flight sims like Top Gun and Freedom Wings to shame. Online wi-fi dogfights are also a blast, as long as you don't mind repeatedly getting shot down by Japanese players. Man, those guys are quick with the stylus.