Music Reviews

I am a fan of the show, so i was really excited to pick up the game. I was glad the developers added some puzzle solving in with the fighting.
The environments and levels are very detailed and for me, this was one of the best features. The voices are also terrific(sometimes i forget its not Sarah Michelle Gellar talking). You also play as six characters, all with a variety of moves. The only reason i gave it four stars is that some of the levels are very frustrating and confusing. the first time through it took me nearly an hour to beat the second level. if you forget to pick up an item at the beginning, youll find yourself backtracking, because youll need it later. for example in the 7th level(Sunnydale High) youll need to go upstairs, downstairs, up etc. then go to another building, then back to the beginning, and thats just the first part. Aside from that the levels are straightforward (all doors are locked except for the ones you need to go through). I would recommend this game whether you are a fan of the show or not. it is worth the money

This game is a must have for any Buffy fan. The levels ("arenas") as so spot on to the television show that it's creepy. The Magic Box is so cool! The characters are great to play, the only problem being the camera not letting you see in front of yourself sometimes when you are in small spaces or corners. Another thing missing (for me anyways, unless I'm doing something wrong) is the ability to lock on to an enemy while fighting. It seems to automatically do it which can be a bit of a pain in the butt. The dialogue by Anber (Tara), Alex (Xander), James (Spike) and Tony (Giles) is great, but it leaves me wishing that Sarah, Emma and Alyson would have been able to do the voices for their characters.. too bad other projects kept them too busy :( The Buffy voice is "ok", the Willow one sounds like Alyson Hannigan having a nervous breakdown, and Anya sounds nothing like Emma. But hearing the other four makes me laugh - it's like you're taking part in a Buffy episode. There's a lot of dialogue between and during levels which i think is just great! It's an awesome adventure game and I'm so glad that the game turned out so well.. although I can bet it's going to be underrated just like the show was :( They even have Buffy quipping while fighting.. my favourite one has to be.. "A long shaft, just what every girl needs.. wait.. that didn't come out right" after she picked up a stake :)

This game is one of the best i've ever played. A game for any Buffy fan, even fun if your not. Has many extra unlockable features, such as Voice-overs(Amber Bensen, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Nicolas Brendon, Joss Wedon, and Ethan), a Buffy comic book, interviews, photos and more. Great multiplayer w, 4 different modes including Survival, Bunny Catcher,Domination, and Slayers Challange with many,many multiplayer characters.

In thegame, You can play as 6 different Charecters, Buffy, Spike, Willow, Xander, Faith, and Sid the Dummy. There are ove 12 different levels to play in! Get this game. Its worth it.

I've recently purchased this game. I played it for about 3 weeks and then the back arrow on the pad stopped working!!!!!!! I had to buy another and complain to the credit card company. so I went to best buy this time and got another ddrmax2 and controler. guess how long this pad lasted?!?!?! 2 days!!!!!!!! but while I was at best buy I got a wireless pelican accesories pad for 40 dollars (the pad glows in the dark!!!) and the pad is working, so far so good. The pelican pad is also bigger for teens or adults. I've only seen these pelican pads at best buy so get the game separate and buy the pelican pad. As far as the game goes 5 stars and is better than the first!!!!!!!!!

If you've already got a pad and DDR Max, you could probably skip the game and box set. If you're looking to get into DDR or (like me) needed to replace a worn out pad and had some credit at the game store, go for it.

The pad is great, really nice quality, excellent grip and NO CORNER WARPING! WOO! If you need a pad and aren't looking to buy the ultra-arcade replicas, you've found it. 5 stars for the normal DDR player, pros aren't going to be reading this review anyway.

The game is fair compared to DDRMax. You're not going to find many revolutionary game changes. There are more straight from MTV songs (notably Dirty Vegas and K.Minogue), some remakes and a few holdovers from earlier DDR games. The last is where I was really disappointed, though. The great songs from DDRMax and other DDR songs got passed over for some of the worst (IMHO) of the bunch. Biggest offender was Silent Hill (the crappy XMas song from DDRMax) that got redone AND made into a challenge song! Where's Matsuri? Where's Rhythm&Police? GAH! Ok, a few good ones made the transfer, but overall I felt let down.

Otherwise, the game adds some fairly cool visuals (like dancing buddies), drops the insane difficulty for a "nonstop" mode, and throws some tweaks in here and there. More of a DDRMax add on than anything, but for the price I got a new pad and a pile of new songs to work out to. 4/5

I need to know what DDR games have to two dance mats and which ones dont....i love the game because i played it at my friends house but which is which!?!?!?

I was 9 yrs old when this came out in the arcades and I can remember pumping plenty of quarters into this game. I think the company Atlus did a great job updating this classic game for the GBA. For starters there are new weapons off hand I can think an axe ball and chain with spikes on the end nunchukus(spelling) night sticks and I think some more but they escape me at the minute. There are various chracters added from the various sequels of Double Dragon from over the years. There are more stages than the original 4 I have only gotten to stage 6 and thats on the easy setting. You can now block and do flying kicks something I don't recall being able to do in the original arcade there are more moves but as before they escape me. The graphics are close to the original arcade and think also the music was ever so slightly tweaked for this new update. I am a fan of this game so I am giving it 5 stars without hesitation. I would recommend this to anyone who has fond memories of this arcade classic from 1987.

This was always my favorite fighter on the good old NES and even more so on the SNES (Super Double Dragon), so I was happy to find that Atlus combined the best elements from both games (plus a few new levels and better graphics) to come up with an excellent new fighter for the Game Boy Advance. I love this game and haven't put it down since I bought it three weeks ago. It's a bit harder than the original cuz more enemies gang up on you and they are more agressive but the more you play it, the better you get (plus you get 5 lives and 5 continues and you're gonna need 'em). The gameplay is excellent and it's a blast to use all the moves and weapons against all the baddies. Buy this game!

Looking at the box brings back a flood of memories, the days when action video games where simple and direct, rescue the girl or save the planet from some shadowy evil that is always cloaked in darkness. The hero is small, the enemy is huge, and towering over your pixel studded character, making your victory all the more glamorous.

It's mob rule in New York after a brutal nuclear war. The streets aren't safe to walk on even in the day time. Twin Brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee, master of a mysterious martial art they created called Sou-Setsu-Ken. They run a Kung Fu dojo to teach helpless civilians to defend themselves against street gangs, the most dangerous gang being the Shadow Warriors.

The Lee Brothers received an troubling letter: "If you want Marian back, bring us the secret book of Sou-Setsu-Ken"-The Shadow Warriors

The evil Shadow Warriors want the Lee Brothers' mysterious martial art! Well like hell they will give it to them! Billy and Jimmy depart on a pummeling rampage, kicking ass and taking names, all the way to confront the Shadows head honcho, Machine Gun Willy, on his home turf.

DD Advances is a fantastic revamped of the world's most legendary Side scrolling, two-dimensional game. With polished graphics, using characters from both arcade games and the Super Nintendo game, and incorporating moves from all ports of the game NES, SNES, Arcade and Sega Genesis, Double Dragon Advanced brings back a class game playing and the prime reason to own a Game Boy Advanced.

I bought this cable to hook up my Playstation 2 with a Promedia DD-5.1 (Digital Decoder). The Problem is that the cable I bought didn't produce 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS, just stereo. Read the reviews for the X-box Lightwave 100 cable; they are the same cable except for the color. Some people maybe haven't figured it out yet because they don't use a Digital Decoder, but all they are hearing is Stereo sound. Im pretty upset because I sent my Digital Decoder back to Klipsch thinking that was the problem, but it was actually the cable. By the way the customer service at Klipsch is simply the best, they produced high quality equipment, not like over at monster cable. So beware! If you are paying big $ for a cable shouldn't it at least work or do what it say it does?

To start, this is a reasonably priced 3.3M (10ft) toslink-to-toslink cable. Compared to other higher quality and longer length optical cables and you'll see the difference in price. I use this cable but not for my connection to my PS2 since my DVD player functions far better than the console itself.

Now, if you do NOT run your Playstation2 into a receiver/home theater system, it's not a wise decision for you to buy this since it won't serve any purpose for you. (For example, if you don't use this unit to watch DVD movies or pump it through your receiver for 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS sound. (5.1 Digital Sound has yet to be implemented in a PS2 title.)

Your PlayStation is state-of-the-art in terms of audio quality. PS2 is equipped with a fiber optic digital audio out, enabling you to experience movies and games in Dolby Digital Surround Sound as well as listening to your favorite CDs in crystal clear digital stereo. No matter how you use your PS2, with pure digital audio connection you have access to the ultimate Dolby Digital Surround experience and the best in home audio entertainment.

Digital is the preferred high performance audio connection over analog because it has a wider dynamic range, which results in clearer highs and deeper, tighter bass, without the distortion common with analog connections. Also with digital audio, you don't run the risk of problems like hum and buzz caused by electromagnetic and radio frequency interference.

I wish THQ would spend more time testing their games before they are released. Sphinx has a lot of glaring problems. But don't get me wrong, these problems don't make it a bad game, they just detract from the overall experience. There seems to be a dying niche for solid adventure games, except for the occassional Zelda, but Sphinx proves adventuring hasn't lost its flavor yet. A very refreshing game bursting with originality, cleverness, and life, and while the game is decidedly linear, it really doesn't feel like it. Take on the roles as the sword-wielding Sphinx or the clumsy mummy. While Sphinx's levels seem more open, it's playing the mummy where the game truly shines. Pure puzzle genius. Worth picking up just for these parts.

This is a solid, entertaining adventure game. Like most everyone else who wrote a review, it strongly reminds me of Zelda. The story is fun and entertaining, the graphics are great, and it has provided me with hours and hours of entertainment. My only complaint though: I wish there were more save points - they are few and far between and that can lead lots of frustration.

If you are a Zelda lover, I show you Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy. Very much like Zelda but in my opinion, it has better graphics, better story, and a better action-adventure game. You can jump(not like in zelda), do sword combos, and switch from sphinx to the mummy(or tut). So if you are a zelda lover or an action-adventure lover, I suggest this game to you.

My 8 yr old son bought this with his birthday money and after 20 minutes became very frustrated because it had him in the "Team Formation" setup part over and over. I finally tried and even with the directions (and a graduate degree), it took me over 30 min to get out of the setup loop and actually START the game. It was utterly ridiculous!! A child's video game should not be so involved and should not have 38 steps you have to go through before you can actually begin play.

this game is great if you like medabots or if you don't like medabots ether way get this game rokusho version looks better then metabee version but everyone has there own fav. hope you like it bye.

I don't know which one is the best,metabee or rokusho,but if it's a sort of role-playing and adventure game then i'm going to get it.i wonder if you can level up on this game though.i'm getting this one cause my favorite color is blue and this is the blue version.the metabee version is the red.

This is my favorite video game by far.
Its fun and a workout at the same time. It even keeps teack of how many calories you burn. If you have xbox live then you can battle people from all around.Thanks Konami for this great video game! What are u waiting for go out and buy it!

Let me start by saying that DDR is a fantastic game. The basic game concept is so fun and so addictive that any game in this series deserves a minimum 4/5 star rating just on that. The addition of network play and network download of new song packs are great new features for this series that they will likely never be able to do without again (At least with Xbox, which can support both easily).

However, I do have a few nitpicks about this game, especially for those who have played other DDR home games (such as DDRMAX and DDRMAX2 for the Playstation2). First, and perhaps most minor, the song list doesn't seem as much "fun" as the song list for DDRMAX2; that may be just personal taste, however, and really the songs all play very well. Perhaps a little more major is the lack of an information screen to track progress on your unlockables; while the number of unlockables isn't a concern to me (This game has significantly less than DDRMAX or DDRMAX2, from what I've seen so far; I think the online purchase of new songs is to alleviate that), I am disappointed in the lack of a menu section to show what you've unlocked and accomplished. Further, the voice announcers seem much louder than the music itself in the game, and there are no comparative volume sliders. I've had to turn off the in-game announcers, and turn up the TV volume loud, just to hear the music properly. Unfortunately, this makes the menu voice-overs very loud. Lastly, so far I have found at least one out and out bug. When sorting by player's best, my list has become corrupted; one song is repeated 7 times in the list, and this overlays 6 other song entries that are no longer accessable through that list.

All in all, these are minor detractors to a great game. Konami has done better with this series in the past, and I expect a more polished game when they release an Xbox sequel. I strongly recommend this game for everyone; for fans of the series, I simply warn there may be a few minor disappointments.

OK lets start by saying this game is not just for teenagers. I am just out of law school and LOVE IT! I love to do the workout mode where the game counts your calories for you. I set it for an hour and always end up going over. Who can say that for the stairmonster? The best part is you have a smile on your face the entire time and stress is just erased. This game is reason enough to go out and buy an xbox! The added bonus of being live enabled is great. (If you don't know, Xbox live is a subscription service that lets you go online and download additional features for games, like new songs, and play against people from all over)

A couple of bits of advice...

*Read the little book that comes with the game... I know, who wants to read instruction but it is helpful as the interface is not exactly intuitive at first glance.

*Don't get discouraged...
a)use the training mode to slow things down, choose the light setting for easier step patterns, this game has a ton of features to help you, take advantage of them.
b)the game only counts off if you miss a step not if you add some so, have fun, be creative, try to position yourself for the next step, and don't go back to center everytime.

Remember! It is a game, not an exam and you don't have to compete with anyone if you don't want to...just get up there and shake your groove thing.

I am planing to buy three extra pads to use at my next party...I am sure it will be a big hit, I am a little worried that no one will want to go home though.

Also, I don't have children but...I can imagine that this would make a great alternative to all the wack monsters with swords, shoot things, and beat things up games that are so popular (don't get me wrong I love those games too) with the added bonus of getting the little ones off the sofa and moving around.

All and all I could not be more pleased...an Xbox must have...

"Thief: Deadly Shadows" is one of those games that had it not the franchise name "Thief" I would have happily avoided.

The Stealth genre is at the moment one of the most developed in the videogame market.

Thief is what you would like to imagine as a fantasy version of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. Unfortunately it is not.

While the story is well scripted and the graphics are absolutely dazzling, the good side of the game sort of ends here. Thief DS offers nothing really new in the stealth genre.

Gameplay is good, action flows in a nice manner and you will be able to execute some awesome stealth kills. Control over your stealth kills is rewardingly well done; unfortunately as soon as you pass into real "combat mode" things kind of get messed up. Any action oriented situation seems to go by as a blur and you really end up doing random moves in order to get out of bad situations. Furthermore, acrobatic skills had me so frustrated I ended up whirling my joy pad against the floor and stomping it to pieces.

If graphics are exceptional, the game makes a good effort of not making you see them. The game is darker than a Balrog's Soul, and any sort of reflection on your tv (from a window, a light, whatever) will give you a big friggin headache.

Sound on the other hand is awesome.

Finally: I hated the game's AI. NPCs seem to be ok in intelligence, but have the memory of a Banana. They will actually forget you are around if you wait patiently hiding for a while, even if they wanted to gut you up till 10 seconds before.

Bottomline: Buy this game if you love stealth...otherwise PASS.

The thief series is my favorite game series of all time. I played all previous versions and was leary about buying this on a video game format because I thought (mistakenly) it would lose a lot of the quality of both the graphics and the game play. I couldn't have been more wrong. I also made the mistake of checking out the reviews before I bought it and was discouraged by some of them. This game is the BEST thief yet. For those of you who follow the series, it is great that they used all the same sound effects, are still following the plotline (pagans versus hammerites, the keepers responsible for thwarting the advent of the coming dark age), and even Garrett's voice is exactly the same. The stealth gameplay is exactly the same with some added features, including dynamic shadows, smarter guards, and some extra moves. The graphics are just as detailed, if not better! Also, you are able to move more freely and quickly with the video game format than you can on pc. One negative review mentioned frequent segments that require some load time (for example, if you are in one part of a house and attempt to enter another part of the same house, you may need to wait a few seconds while it loads). I wasn't bothered by this AT ALL as it only took a few seconds. It didn't take away from the momentum in the least. I'm not sure if the pc version takes longer to load than the video game. I really can't say enough, and I am thrilled with this game and feel it was well worth the wait. The ONLY thing that bothered me is I wanted to play the pc version too but didn't realize until after I bought it the box says "NOT SUPPORTED ON LAPTOPS" and I have a brand new laptop that exceeded by FAR the system requirements, but it still didn't work. I'll just have to play that one on my pc at home.
BUY THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's the BOMB!!!!

Most people, I have noted, who have not played this game ALL the way through, usually give this game bad marks. The story here is far superior to anything on the market (yes, Percy, that includes Splinter Cell and Syphon Filter... BOTH of which were released way after the first game in the Thief franchise.
Garrett is easily the most endearing character in this game, and voice actor Stephen Russel absolutely shines as our aloof, embittered mercenary.
The sound is absolutely phenomenal, and one reason ANYONE should play this is because this game contains one of the top three levels EVER MADE in a video game, unfortunately, this level (The Shalebridge Cradle) is near the end, and the impatient and Attention-Defecite Afflicted (Again, like Percy) may be too frustrated by not seeing blood and flying heads to continue that long. This level is a masterpiece, as is the game as a whole. It is the most realistic simulation of what true medieval thievery would be like... but don't expect a huge body count... after all, you're a thief, not Rambo.

All in all, an absolute epic that you will be tempted to play at least twice.

I loved this game. The graphics were beautiful. Both my 3 year old son and his dad, who normally enjoys games like Mech Assault got into this game. Ever since we purchased this game, I've been looking for something comparable, but nothing comes close. I can't wait for Ty II. The bottom line, you can't go wrong with this game. It's fun, and very entertaining. Easy for little ones to play, and fun for adults as well.

I want to start off by saying I am not a die hard gamer. I like a game that you can step into to kill a few hours and walk away from it for days without totally making it impossible to continue on the game. This game is great in that area. As has been mentioned the concepts in the game are not totally new. I find it is very similar to banjo kazooee (sp?). It even uses some music that is almost dead on like when you get a cog (puzzle piece in banjo).

I also like that it is not terribly difficult and yet there are things you have to figure out. I have to say I think they did a really good job stealing the ideas from other games. I really think anyone could find things they like about this game, as long as they aren't offended by plagerism.

My only real complaint would be that the movement and viewing can be a bit clunky at times. This game isn't the best of all time but I have no regrets buying it (I can't say that about some of my other "popular" games). The best part about it to me is that it has a good feel to the game, like the "Mario Style" games of nintendo.

This game is relatively easy, but it is quite fun nonetheless. My six year old completed the game with only a little bit of help from his dad and me. It is always difficult to find a good game that the little ones can play without becoming frustrated. This game caused no fits or meltdowns. I was really happy with the purchase and I had fun playing the game myself when my son was not monopolizing it.

Where to start? This is easily the best racing game I've played for the xbox. One of the primary reasons is because before this the best was NT 2002, and this easily tops that.

The game has been stepped up so much, it has a lot more replay value than NT 2002. There are "Thunder Plates" which are similar to "Madden Cards" if you play any of the newer Madden games. You may not be buying them, but they do the same thing, just attained differently. More to add, they have a Lightning Challenges where you can relive great nascar moments to earn more thunder plates. There's a Thunder License mode where you can get what is basically a practice mode. Last of the new things (that i've found so far), there's more then one song on it, and it's the first EA Sports game (that i've played) that will let you use the songs saved on your xbox.

It's still got the Quick Race, Season, Career, Create a Car modes that are the same as they were last year. Career may have newer options to change to fix your car, i havn't gotten that far yet. But there's plenty of new things that add a lot to the replayability that made people tire of NT 2002. EA fixed that and added.

To shorten it up, if you liked NT 2002, or have ever like a Nascar game in the past, or any other racing game, buy it immediatly.

Don't buy Thunder. It's not a bad game, just that you can better spend your money on NASCAR HEAT: Dirt to Daytona. Thunder only offers stock car racing whereas Heat offers *4* games in 1: Dirt/Go-Kart(modifieds)/Truck/and Stock Car and therefore Heat offers a lot more variety and fun! Buy NASCAR HEAT: Dirt to Daytona instead.

I own Nascar Thunder 2002, and i have to say Nascar thunder 2003 is so much better than NT2002. Te graphics are almost too real, the damage has improved emensly oer last year, and the pit crew looks good. The stadiums are so realistice, but one thing that could be worked on is the crowed, they can make crowds look good in madden, y not in nascar. The gameplay is much better that last year, better handling better contols, just perfect. The sound is one of the biggest improvements, the car sounds awesome and if your like me and u have surround sound the cars sound like they were right next to you. Theres now a prerace where it shows highlihgt of some of the drivers and they sing the national anthem, flybys and fireworks, and the best phrase in ameica "Gentelmen, Start your engines!" and when they start, its amazing , its like u are starting it up yourself. This theres now and even deeper career mode, and thunder plates, which allow u to get new tracks and new paint schemes for cars. Another add-on was the lightning round, where u take a drivers best comeback or best driving day and see if you can match it gaing more thunder plates. All in all, this is the best nascar game to hit next-gne platforms. Any hardcoreor even just nascar fans will enjoy this game.

((El DiAbLo))