Video games based on movies have a longstanding tradition of simply translating their movie counterparts scene by scene into an interactive format (ZZZZ). But with Enter the Matrix, the Wachowski brothers have made an unprecedented effort to reverse this trend by using the video game to explain and complement the movie through side stories--in this case the stories of Niobe and Ghost. Unfortunately, nothing revealed in the game is consequential, so it comes across more as a bonus disc of deleted scenes than anything else. Still, the fighting in the game has all the movie's best moves. I don't think I've ever felt quite so satisfied by a video game as I did in Enter the Matrix, when I performed a rotating dive towards my enemy, dodging bullets in slow motion and firing back as I spun through the air, before finally landing two swift punches to his gut and stepping up the wall close by, spinning my leg back around to crush his face. JOE COLLVER

If you've played the classic arcade hit NBA Jam then you'll know what Street Vol. 2 is all about: humiliating your opponent on the court and looking good while you do it. Street Vol 2 may not have the half-court slam-dunks of NBA Jam, but there are trick moves and dunks a-plenty to aid you in the belittlement of close family and friends. Like all basketball games, Street Vol. 2 has single-player season modes for those incapable of producing real-life companions, but for the rest of us it's going to be 2-4 players, in games to 21, with old school legends and the hottest and latest NBA stars as weapons for the choosing.

The best thing about Street Vol. 2 is that it's remarkably easy to pick up the controls. Street Vol. 2 uses a shiny, almost cartoonish look for the players that fits right in line with the other-worldliness of their moves. Everything about this game is dripping in style, from the car alarm sounding across the street to the cocky announcer. Even haters of sports games will have fun with this one. JOE COLLVER