THQ

According to ESRB, this game contains: Comic Mischief

All kidding aside, Alter Echo is particularly interesting not only for its wet, squishy levels, but because of its release date. Like the way Hollywood often has competing films with similar content, Alter Echo hit the streets just after Capcom's Chaos Legion this past August.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence

Game Description: Multiplast is the most important substance in the Universe because rare individuals called Shapers can physically shape it into all sorts of bio-machines. You play Nevin, a Shaper who works for one of the many Corporations that mine Multiplast. You’re not just any Shaper—you can also Time Dilate, something most Shapers can’t do. Your employers have sent you to Proteus because a Shaper named Paavo has created a new form of Plast and it’s gotten out of control. The new Plast (called Xenoplast) has become self-aware. It knows that humanity plans to exploit it and it doesn’t want to suffer that fate. To make matters worse, it’s figured out a way to retaliate. The last thing you wanted was to have to save humanity, but hey—if you don’t do it, no one else will.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence

Eschewing the more popular fantasy settings of Square's Final Fantasy games and Enix's Dragon Warrior series, Phantasy Star goes for a futuristic cyberpunk feel. This alone made it intriguing to a niche group of gamers who were already falling in love with the genre. Even more impressive was the fact that the first Phantasy Star actually featured a story with relatively well-drawn characters. The first Final Fantasy game featured a party of four non-descript archetypes, and Dragon Warrior wasn't a whole lot better. In this regard, Phantasy Star was relatively ahead of the curve for what was being done in these games. This would continue in the sequels, which would feature even larger stories, more characters, and in the case of the third title, an adventure that spanned generations.

Made by the same capable and experienced developers responsible for the groundbreaking UFC game, which first appeared on the defunct Sega Dreamcast several years ago, Pride FC is an effective evolution of the niche sub-genre of two-player versus-style fighting games.

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

Game Description: Pride FC is the most realistic fighting videogame for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system. Fighters recreated in amazing detail with appearance, fighting style, movements, and signature ring entrances. Various combat elements capture the intensity and authenticity of a Pride contest including multiple fighting positions, unique fighting styles, hundreds of moves, counters, and reversals. With a TV-style presentation, each match-up comes to life in fully scaled arenas complete with ring announcers, lighting, pyrotechnics, and realistic camera angles. Pits the top fighters in the world from several different combative sports including wrestling, karate, judo, kick-boxing, and others into one ring.

Jon is right in saying that Sonic Advance brings the series back to its 2D roots, but something seems different this time around. All the familiar elements are there: the loops, the speed, Dr. Robotnik. Yet all these elements don't seem to click as well they used to.