Scorpion King: Rise Of The Akkadian (PS2) - PlayStation 2

Here's the kind of thing that makes a game good: when Mathayus (your avatar) hits someone and they fall to the ground, his head slowly moves as he watches the enemy get up again. Those touches don't come cheap, and neither does intelligent game design. When you find a health powerup, it comes to you, saving you the annoyance of having to back out of battle to pick it up. Because of this, you walk through the map much more quickly--even Mathayus himself seems a little loose and speeded-up in his movements, compared to other games.

Where they could have produced a cheap cop-out game (knowing they'd sell a certain number of games to fans, regardless), the team behind The Scorpion King made a fun mid-difficulty-level game. It's unlikely that you'll stay up until all hours playing this title, but the hours you spend will be fun and engaging, with good visuals and few mechanical annoyances. --Jennifer Buckendorff