With the holiday season nearly upon us Sega of America is readying its fall and winter releases, but the house that Seaman built (Sonic who!?!) is taking a more aggressive approach for 2005's third and fourth quarters. Aiming to recapture some of the magic that fueled the company during its Genesis days, Sega's delivering an eclectic mix of videogames spread across all platforms that appeal to various age groups. There still isn't a Nights sequel (and it's about time core gamers let it go because it's not coming), but all of the games on this list look promising. Whether you'd like to cut someone in half, shoot them in the face, collect rings, or just play a good game of tennis, there's definitely something here for you.

Sonic Gems Collection
Platform: GameCube
Already Released
MSRP: $29.99
Review: Sonic Gems Collection

Unfortunately for us, the only thing this game proves is that Sega has officially run out of good Sonic games. The inclusion of the much sought after Sonic CD pretty much justifies this compilation's $29.99 MSRP, but Sonic R is bland, Sonic the Fighters gets old quick, the recycled games (Sonic Spinball...blech) have been done before, and most of the Game Gear titles kind of suck. In fact, the majority of these games shouldn't even be considered "gems", but no matter how lackluster 95% of them are, it all comes back to Sonic CD, and Sonic CD is excellent people.

Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion
Platform: PC
Release: 9/28/05
Estimated MSRP: $29.99
Preview: Barbarian Invasion

This expansion pack to the critically-acclaimed PC title takes place over 200 hundred years after the original Total War, a time when the Roman Empire wasn't all that grand. Divided and on the verge of being destroyed by a new and frightening enemy, the Huns, the Romans are anything but the dominant force that they used to be, but that's where you come in. Electing to save Rome or unceremoniously destroy it, you actions will shape the world's future. Over 100 different types of units await you as well as a graphics engine that's capable of pumping out an extraordinary amount of detail on a grand scale.

Virtua Tennis: World Tour
Platform: PSP
Release: 10/4/05
Estimated MSRP: $39.99
Impressions: Virtual Tennis

The king of tennis returns, this time to Sony's powerful hand held. Virtua Tennis: World Tour is just as fantastic as its Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 older brothers, and Sega's sweetened the deal by adding new mini games, a more robust World Tour mode, four player Wi-Fi, and gameplay smoother than a baby's @$$. It's clearly the best sports title for the PSP and it's deceptively brutal, a classy-looking and for the most part well-mannered sports title that's capable of exploding with each 125mph serve or wicked backhand shot. The damn thing's just as addictive as Tabasco sauce on a chicken wing, making it one of the few must buy PSP titles of the year.

Shining Force Neo
Platform: PS2
Release: 10/18/05
Estimated MSRP: $49.99
First Look: Shining Force Neo

Now this is what I'm talking about. Sega finally ditched all of that RPG nonsense found in the previous Shining games and went with real time combat, an appealing decision because this game has blossomed into something truly special. You can be attacked by well over 90 enemies at the same time, there are over 70 upgradeable weapons, 11 characters can join your party, the animation (done by Studio 4C, whose credits include Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke) is outstanding, and full voice acting means you won't be reading so damn much. Shining Force Neo is definitely one of my most anticipated games of 2005, and its October 18 release cannot come fast enough.

Spartan: Total Warrior
Platform: Xbox, GameCube, PS2
Release: 10/25/05
Estimated MSRP: $49.99
Preview: Spartan Total Warrior

This bloody hack-n-slash title is actually a fictitious fantasy battle that pits the mighty Roman Empire against ancient Greece. You play as an unnamed Spartan who just so happens to be the one man who can send the Romans packing, but that's not going to be easy. Even with Aries on your side, you'll have to contend with marauding barbarians, wave after wave of evil soldiers, and a bunch of scary mythological creatures. But with a nice selection of sharp weapons and some ridiculously powerful special moves, you'll be spilling buckets of blood and decapitating idiots within the first few minutes of play. The controls are very easy to learn so just about anyone can pick it up and achieve results with very little effort. Spartan's also quite attractive, boasting fairly large and detailed environments that truly capture the time period. It does get a bit repetitive if played for prolonged periods, but that doesn't keep it from being worth a look.

Continue...