Welcome to the GameSpot Complete Buyers' Guide. Our guide is in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format, and it's laid out so you can print it out and take it on the go. With this guide, you'll have access to our thoughts and ratings for every title that's appeared in the last month. Take the guide to your local game store and inform your buying decisions. Never buy a bad game again!

　　March Madness indeed. While college basketball fans celebrate what is arguably the world's most exciting sporting event in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, video game fans have been following their own big-time contenders and sleepers with the amazing array of game releases this month. 65 teams entered the NCAA tournament a little more than two weeks ago, and 66 games were reviewed by GameSpot this month. Coincidence? We think not. Which games will end up winning their brackets and making it into our Final Five for the month? Read this Month in Review feature to find out! Just remember, our Game of the Month awards aren't automatically awarded to the highest-scoring games. Like the NCAA selection committee, we look beyond the numeric rankings by considering a variety of factors and debating carefully before we produce the ultimate "bracket"--the GameSpot Month in Review.

　　In contrast to the slow first two months of the year, March arrived with an unbelievable deluge of high-quality games, particularly on the PC, which had three games score more than a 9.0 in just this past month alone. All the other platforms enjoyed excellent release slates as well, thereby making our job of picking the Games of the Month both easier and more difficult. GameSpot's Month in Review feature is the quickest way for you to get caught up on all of the reviews for the month. No matter which platform or platforms you play, your gaming dollar will be stretched to the limit as you decide which of these great games you should buy.

　　This is where our buyers' guide comes in. GameSpot Complete members have the distinct privilege of being able to download our handy buyers' guide in Acrobat format (see sidebar). Print it up, and you've got a portable playbook to take with you to the store before you spend your hard-earned money. Feel free to contact us with any comments or questions you may have about this feature via e-mail.

　　Unreal Tournament 2004

　　Score: 9.4

　　Developer: Epic Games

　　Publisher: Atari

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　　PC Game of the Month

　　Review Excerpt

　　See screenshots of Unreal Tournament 2004 "Unreal Tournament 2004 will remind you how satisfying explosive, extremely fast action gaming can be. The smooth engine and core gameplay inherited from UT 2003 make a great foundation, and the onslaught and assault modes take the whole package up another notch. No other multiplayer-focused action game has this much to offer."

　　Watch the video review of Unreal Tournament 2004 Unreal Tournament 2004 scored a 9.4, the highest score GameSpot has awarded to a PC game in more than four years. The game takes everything that made classic first-person shooters great (including well-designed maps, fast-paced gameplay, and an over-the-top arsenal of weaponry) and combines it with the best aspects of newer shooters (like presenting objective-based gameplay and vehicles) to create a complete package. If that wasn't enough, Unreal Tournament 2004 is chock-full of interesting game modes that range from standard deathmatch and capture the flag to the new team-based mode called onslaught. Unreal Tournament 2004's graphics are among the best available in a game on any platform today, and the graphics engine scales admirably to accommodate machines that use less than top-of-the-line components. Any serious PC gamer's rig will run Unreal Tournament 2004 well, which is a testament to the quality of its graphics engine. Put it all together, and no first-person shooter fan's game collection is complete without Unreal Tournament 2004.

Check out our other PC reviews in March

　　"Far Cry isn't just a stunning technical accomplishment. It's quite possibly the best single-player first-person shooter experience for the PC since Half-Life."

　　Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (9.1)

　　"The single-player and multiplayer portions of Pandora Tomorrow are both highly impressive and add up to an experience that will surely appeal to anyone remotely interested in a game of high-tech stealth action."

　　Battlefield Vietnam (8.5)

　　"Battlefield Vietnam packs more dramatic moments in its gameplay than most any multiplayer-focused action game in the past few years."

　　IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Ace (8.5)

　　"The list of minor flaws could go on and on, but its total length is minuscule compared to the massive number of excellent additions this expansion serves up."

　　Lords of the Realm III (8.4)

　　"Lords of the Realm III is one of the freshest, most satisfying games produced by Impressions in years, and it's a great real-time strategy game in its own right."

　　MVP Baseball 2004 (8.3)

　　"Don't think too much about statistics, and you'll be rewarded with enjoyable hardball that often bears a strong resemblance to the national pastime."

　　Nemesis of the Roman Empire (8.0)

　　"Nemesis may resemble a typical real-time strategy game, but it features a clever logistics model and better-than-average AI to help it stand apart from the crowd."

　　Syberia II (7.8)

　　"While Syberia II isn't all that fans might have hoped for, it's still a very fine game and likely to provide you with hours of enjoyment."

　　Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword (7.8)

　　"The expansion to last year's excellent shooter differs very little from its predecessor, in terms of plot, and heaps on more of the same tense tactical combat."

　　Worms 3D (7.8)

　　"Worms 3D stands up as a cute, quirky little strategy game that has some excellent multiplayer capacity."

　　Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire (7.2)

　　"Fans of squad-level tactical strategy who are looking for a serious challenge--and can forgive the game's appearance--will find that Wildfire offers as much depth and excitement as Jagged Alliance 2."

　　Gangland (6.9)

　　"The execution of many of Gangland's different elements falls short of its lofty promise, thus leaving a game that has a lot of good ideas but is sometimes convoluted and often frustrating."

　　School Tycoon (6.9)

　　"If you're looking for a management game that won't overwhelm you with details and spreadsheets, School Tycoon should be right up your alley."

　　Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (6.8)

　　"Condition Zero's release is overshadowed by no fewer than three new technologically advanced, highly anticipated shooters, which all cast a harsh light on what is essentially a 6-year-old game--albeit a classic one."

　　EverQuest: Gates of Discord (6.8)

　　"While hardcore players have naturally purchased this expansion already, its value to more-casual (let alone new) EverQuest players is very limited."

　　Dead Man's Hand (6.6)

　　"Dead Man's Hand isn't a bad use of your $20, and for what it's worth, the PC version of this first-person shooter is substantially better than the previously released Xbox version."

　　Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (6.6)

　　"Despite the game's derivative nature, lack of multiplayer, and slightly dated technology, there's a fairly entertaining shooter experience to be had here."

　　Friday Night 3D Pool (6.5)

　　"If you can't find a discounted copy of Virtual Pool 3 in the nearest discount bin, you may want to look to Friday Night 3D Pool as the next best thing."

　　Saturday Night Speedway (6.5)

　　"Though newcomers may well find it enjoyable, anyone who's wheeled into the Ratbag paddock before will undoubtedly feel a less-than-ecstatic sense of déjà vu all over again."

　　CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Dark Motives (6.3)

　　"Serious adventure gamers will find little use for Dark Motives, but serious fans of the CSI TV show will likely take something positive away from it."

　　FireStarter (6.2)

　　"FireStarter is a decent shooter, but it lacks the imagination and polish that separate competent games from the ones you just can't put down."

　　kill.switch (6.0)

　　"The mechanics for ducking and getting behind cover are well done, and the premise is a good one. Unfortunately, that's all kill.switch really has going for it."

　　A Quiet Weekend in Capri (4.7)

　　"Capri certainly seems to be an enchanting island. It's too bad you don't get an adventure to match it."

　　American Idol (4.7)

　　"If you want a good rhythm game, look elsewhere. And if you want American Idol, just go watch the show."

　　Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow

　　Score: 9.1

　　Developer: Ubisoft

　　Publisher: Ubisoft

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　　Xbox Game of the Month

　　Review Excerpt

　　See screenshots of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow "Judged solely on its single-player offering, Pandora Tomorrow would still be a great follow-up to its predecessor. Its missions are even more densely packed with action, stealth, and intrigue, and its set pieces are even more impressive, though marginally so--Splinter Cell was quite impressive to begin with. But then there's the fascinatingly complex multiplayer mode, which truly is one of a kind and potentially gives Pandora Tomorrow much more lasting value than its predecessor. The sum total is more than deserving of the Splinter Cell namesake and can be highly recommended to most any avid gamer."

　　Watch the video review of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow Talk about a tough act to follow... Barely 16 months after the original game took the stealth action genre by storm, Ubisoft brought out its sequel, Pandora Tomorrow, and succeeded in pleasing fans of the original while also offering new features to attract even more players to the latest release. Pandora Tomorrow boasts the same eye-popping graphics as the original Splinter Cell and includes slight refinements to the gameplay formula that made the first game such a critical and commercial success. Like the previous games, you'll need to stealthily sneak through shadows and slip past enemies while advancing as quietly as possible. The gameplay's a little more forgiving this time, since you don't automatically lose when you set off an alarm, but the satisfying sense of challenge remains as you try to outwit the enemy using guile, silent weapons, and high-tech gadgets. Pandora Tomorrow also includes an innovative multiplayer mode where spies attempt to achieve certain objectives on a map while a mercenary team attempts to stop them. The close teamwork required to win, as well as the disparate array of skills between the spies and mercenaries, keeps the gameplay fresh over time.

Check out our other Xbox reviews in March

　　"The core fundamentals are spot-on, the variety of options and control choices is spectacular, and the presentation totally draws you into the experience."

　　Colin McRae Rally 04 (8.8)

　　"Don't let the budget price tag fool you. Colin McRae Rally 04 is every bit as good as its most recent predecessor, and in many ways, it's quite a bit better."

　　All-Star Baseball 2005 (8.0)

　　"Various improvements to an already great game should give owners of All-Star Baseball 2004 a reason to upgrade and may convince fence-sitters to take the plunge this year."

　　Breakdown (7.6)

　　"Breakdown is unable to bear the weight of its own innovation, so it's really just a pretty good action game that you can't help but feel could have been so much more."

　　The Suffering (7.6)

　　"The Suffering might be a little too straightforward in spots, but it does make for a solid action game."

　　Steel Battalion: Line of Contact (7.3)

　　"If you've already made the investment in the original game and its controller, then you might as well get some more use out of it by picking up the online game."

　　Tenchu: Return From Darkness (7.3)

　　"If you've never played the PS2 version and have a hankering for some more ninja action, Tenchu: Return From Darkness will do you right."

　　MTX Mototrax (7.2)

　　"Mototrax is a solid entry into the world of motocross, but there are other games on the market that do it better."

　　Mafia (7.1)

　　"If you only played the Xbox version of Mafia, you'd still get a sense of the game's ambitious nature, but you'd also miss out on the original PC version's outstandingly good presentation."

　　Dead Man's Hand (6.0)

　　"As an entry in one of the most competitive and most popular genres of gaming, Dead Man's Hand does not truly succeed on any level, despite a few nice touches."

　　Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dawn of Destiny (5.2)

　　"Aside from being the first version to hit the Xbox, there isn't a whole lot to differentiate The Dawn of Destiny from its predecessors."

　　Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

　　Score: 8.7

　　Developer: Marvelous

　　Publisher: Natsume

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　　GameCube Game of the Month

　　Review Excerpt

　　See screenshots of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life "It's a little bit more structured, but fans of low-key, open-ended games like The Sims or Animal Crossing will likely find a lot of what they liked in those games in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. Established Harvest Moon fans already know what they're getting into here and probably could have guessed that A Wonderful Life is a fun and potentially addictive game that, if you let it, will gladly consume any free time you choose to give it."

　　Watch the video review of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Calling Harvest Moon just a farm simulation doesn't do proper justice to a series that is known for quality, addictive gameplay. There's just something compelling about a cute-looking game that asks you to milk cows, gather eggs from your chickens, and till your fields of crops. A Wonderful Life also allows you to fish, breed livestock, dig up fossils, and crossbreed plants. Though doing such chores may sound dull on paper, the game somehow makes your routine a comforting one, so it's easy to get lulled into playing for hours on end. If that's not enough for you, the game's social aspect allows you to interact with other residents of the area, and, interestingly, you may even court young ladies. One of the game's primary goals is to get married and then have children. Overall, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life leverages a lot of the same qualities that made The Sims and Animal Crossing great, so fans of those games would do well to check out Natsume's take on the genre.

Check out our other GameCube reviews in March

　　"The core fundamentals are spot-on, the variety of options and control choices is spectacular, and the presentation totally draws you into the experience."

　　Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (8.2)

　　"As long as you're not expecting any huge additions to the Metal Gear milieu, The Twin Snakes serves as a great revival of a true classic."

　　Worms 3D (7.5)

　　"Worms 3D is a pretty good strategy game, but taking the game into full 3D seems to have actually detracted from some of the depth found in the 2D games."

　　Pokemon Colosseum (7.3)

　　"Colosseum largely gives fans what they want, which is lots of real freaky-looking monsters and lots of battling."

　　Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution (7.2)

　　"Though players who have already cut their teeth on other collectible card games will likely get the most out of the game, there's a chance that fans of turn-based strategy games will find something to like about PSO III as well."

　　Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku (5.2)

　　"The only remarkable thing about Samurai Jack is how utterly unremarkable it is, and that's certainly not a good reason to play this game."

　　MVP Baseball 2004

　　Score: 9.1

　　Developer: EA Sports

　　Publisher: EA Sports

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　　PS2 Game of the Month

　　Review Excerpt

　　See screenshots of MVP Baseball 2004 "[MVP 2004's] core fundamentals are spot-on, the variety of options and control choices is spectacular, and the presentation totally draws you into the experience of being front and center at an actual ballpark that's filled with screaming fans."

　　Watch the video review of MVP Baseball 2004 Aside from superstar shortstop Alex Rodriguez' addition to the New York Yankees lineup, Electronic Arts' MVP Baseball 2004 has turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of spring training. While last year's iteration was a solid game all around, there were a number of glaring flaws that needed to be addressed to make the game competitive. In the space of just one year, EA has improved the series by leaps and bounds, thus making MVP arguably the premier baseball series on the market. The game offers an extraordinary level of control by allowing players to determine nuances like pitch accuracy, fielder-throw velocities, and fielder positioning, which lets you decide whether a defensive player will dive for a ball or whether he'll climb up a wall to rob a batter of a four-bagger. Players can even choose what type of slide base runners will use when going into a base. Missing features, like intentional walks, relief pitcher warm-ups, and mound visits, have also been addressed. Little details, like the moods of your individual players, are modeled and actually affect on-the-field performances. The game even includes real triple-A and double-A farm teams. Add in online play for the PS2, and MVP is a complete package that should appeal to just about any baseball fan.

Check out our other PS2 reviews in March

　　"If you're a Final Fantasy fan who's looking for an excuse to give online role-playing a try with this game, by all means go for it, though proceed with caution."

　　MLB 2005 (7.9)

　　"MLB 2005 compares favorably to the other baseball games that are currently on the market, especially if online play or a franchise mode are the features that matter most to you."

　　The Suffering (7.6)

　　"The Suffering might be a little too straightforward in spots, but it does make for a solid action game."

　　X-Files: Resist or Serve (7.6)

　　"X-Files: Resist or Serve is one of those rare games based on a television license that successfully transitions the spirit and soul of its source material into a new medium."

　　Worms 3D (7.5)

　　"Worms 3D is a pretty good strategy game, but taking the game into full 3D seems to have actually detracted from some of the depth found in the 2D games."

　　Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX (7.3)

　　"Romance IX is more of what you already love--that is, assuming you loved it to begin with."

　　MTX Mototrax (7.2)

　　"Mototrax is a solid entry into the world of motocross, but there are other games on the market that do it better."

　　Firefighter F.D. 18 (7.1)

　　"Fighting fires instead of more typical corporeal opponents is certainly a refreshing change, but the gameplay can't make entirely good on Firefighter's unique concept."

　　Naval Ops: Commander (6.9)

　　"If you like some strategic meat with your shooting, Naval Ops: Commander is worth a look."

　　Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 (6.9)

　　"The PS2 version of Rainbow Six 3 can still be a tense and exciting first-person shooting experience both online and off, but it loses a lot in translation from other platforms."

　　Onimusha Blade Warriors (6.6)

　　"There simply isn't enough to Blade Warriors to keep anyone interested beyond the time span of your average rental period."

　　LifeLine (6.5)

　　"LifeLine represents an ambitious undertaking, but the experience is undermined by unreliable technology and some poor game design."

　　Seven Samurai 20XX (6.3)

　　"If you're looking for a frenetic beat-'em-up, a la Dynasty Warriors, 20XX may scratch your itch, though it's marred by stilted pacing and a wildly inconsistent frame rate."

　　Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm (6.3)

　　"Jungle Storm is a decent enough vehicle for more Ghost Recon, if that's what you're after, but the franchise is really starting to show its age at this late date."

　　Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku (5.2)

　　"The only remarkable thing about Samurai Jack is how utterly unremarkable it is, and that's certainly not a good reason to play this game."

　　Cy Girls (5.1)

　　"Since there are literally hundreds of much better action games currently on the market, Cy Girls seems like a big waste of time."

　　Wade Hixton's Counter Punch

　　Score: 7.8

　　Developer: Inferno Games

　　Publisher: Destination Software

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　　GBA Game of the Month

　　Review Excerpt

　　See screenshots of Wade Hixton's Counter Punch "Even though Wade Hixton's Counter Punch may not be quite the slam-dunk remake of Punch-Out!! that GBA owners have been hoping for all these years, you can't deny what the game manages to pull off. It may not have all the addictive qualities of the games it idolizes, nor does it really have much in terms of depth, but the game's incredible visuals and sound, its offbeat sense of humor, and, most importantly, its legitimate affection toward one of the greatest boxing franchises ever made truly make it a game worth playing for anyone who has loved and appreciated the Punch-Out!! series."

　　Check out some action from Wade Hixton's Counter Punch Though it would be easy to dismiss Wade Hixton's Counter Punch as a rip-off of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! for the NES, it's really best described as an homage that has a fantastic charm all its own. Perhaps the most striking aspect of Counter Punch is its stylish graphics, which appear to be hand-drawn. The art style gives the characters a less sterile feel than other, more technically advanced games, and it's also more individualized than the SNES-like sprites you'll find in most GBA games. Beyond the graphics, the game is similar to Punch-Out!! because you'll box nine different opponents, and each has his own signature strategy that you'll have to analyze to take advantage of. Best of all, the titular protagonist sports an impressive mullet, and as Solid Snake can attest, mullets are the true source of power for any would-be hero.

Check out our other GBA reviews in March

　　"Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge won't disappoint Mega Man fans with its engaging quest and fun combat"

　　Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (7.1)

　　"Pitfall: The Lost Expedition is a decent side-scrolling action game that should appeal to younger players as well as longtime fans of the franchise."

　　Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004 (6.1)

　　"Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004, is pure, uncompromised card battling, and it's probably one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! games to come out on any platform."

　　Ozzy & Drix (3.5)

　　"Ozzy & Drix has nice 3D visuals, but the game comes up short in every other aspect."