A rundown of some of the more notable games hitting the streets this week.

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This Week's Games

Week of September 4th 2006

Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run

This latest in the Spy Hunter series "stars" The Rock, who was supposed also star (for real) in the movie, which seems to have dropped off the face of the planet. Regardless, the biggest addition is the ability to get out of your car and run around. Didn't they learn anything from Driv3r?

Yazuka

Widely lauded as both a spiritual successor to Shen Mue and a Japanese version of Grand Theft Auto, Yazuka lets you explore the dark streets of Tokyo, all while beating up thugs. The fighting engine in the demo seemed a little sluggish, but better than crap like, say, Beatdown. You can also purchase hostesses, which I'm assuming are a bit like prostitues except all they do is listen to you talk and extort you for drinks. Interesting.

Loco Roco

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Sony released a demo for this PSP title months ago, and it's finally being released this week. While the colorful visuals and impossibly happy music are captivating in the first level, I'm not entirely sure it can hold an entire game. Plus, $40 for what essentially boils down to a novelty game? Sony should've learned from the original Katamari Damacy and priced it cheap.

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Guilty Gear Judgement

A portable version of one of the best 2D fighting games in recent years, plus a brand new side-scrolling Final Fight-style beat-em-up. From what was shown at last year's E3, it's miles better than the crappy rendition in Guilty Gear Isuka. Unfortunately, us Westerners seem to be getting gipped - the Japanese version of this game features the recently updated Guilty Gear XX Slash, while all reports thus far seem to point to the Western release getting the years-old Guilty Gear XX #Reload. Let's hope Majesco pulls through, but I guess we won't know till it's released.

Kurt Kalata

(September 4, 2006)