I just got one of those Unlimited Rental deals at Blockbuster and amazingly enough it pushed me to start playing a lot over the last month. So without further ado. . .

Lego Batman - Well it's the lego formula with Batman. Do I need to break it down any further than that? Didn't think so. Good rental, not worth the buy. 7.5

Wario: Shake It - The whole is not greater than the sum of its parts. Wario should have been a much better game. It looks good, sounds good, handles well, and has some unique gameplay elements. Despite all that it just wasn't a great game. I think it would appeal more to the kind of gamer who likes to get every trophy/goal/quest completed as there is a lot of things to collect and a lot of missions. 7.0

De Blob - This generation's Katamari Damacy. By that I mean it's a game with both an extremely original look and idea. Nothing else is like it. It looks good, the music is incredible, and it a ton of fun. It's a little short though, and the elements they added for replay value don't really grab me, but it's still one of those games that every Wii owner, and really every gamer need to at least play if not add to their collection. 9.0

Samba De Amigo - So much wasted potential. The game could have been great, but Sega half assed it on the controls making playing very frustrating. I won't go so far to say they're broken, but they needed a lot more work. I found a way to get pretty accurate reads with the Wiimotes but it was uncomfortable as hell. Just so sad. 5.5

Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Incredible. I never thought a puzzle collection would appeal to me so much, but it did. I've already written about this one, but I just wanted to emphasize how good I thought it was. 9.0

Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass - I was completely caught off guard by this game. It may be my favorite Zelda game of all time. It took the Windwaker formula and art style, and fixed all the problems with it and put out a very polished and amazing game. The whole mapping system was brilliant. Though I wasn't sure about it at first, it actually was natural fit for Zelda. Being able to make notes in-game... how was this never included before?? Brilliant. I had small issues with combat, but aside from that there are no complaints. Even the one dungeon that you have to repeatedly return too wasn't that big of a deal to me. I'm going to replay the game one more time in about 6 months to see if it still holds up, but either way I hold this game in the highest of regards. 9.5