'Aces' heads trio of recent games

You control the Hulk as he rampages his way through the Big Apple, leveling buildings and terrorizing the populace while also protecting them from deadly enemies. Enemies are seldom powerful enough to trip you up for more than a few minutes, and there's little creativity to the level designs.

The voice acting is slack and game-play glitchy. Although it's fun to smash through walls and pick up cars to use as weapons, there's not much to hold your interest after the first hour. Rating: 4.

Kung Fu Panda (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, DS, $29.99-$49.99) — You almost never see games based on family films turn into something decent, but "Kung Fu Panda" lends itself well to fast, furious hand-to-hand combat.

You guide Po the Panda on his quest to become a kung fu master. Easily dispatchable foes barely stand up to your flurry of punch and kick attacks. The combat is repetitive but well-designed enough to be satisfying, but irritating quests have you collect items in a cheap way to get you to explore the levels. Kids who enjoyed the movie should have fun with this, but there's not enough to the game to draw non-fans.

Rating: 6.8.

Aces of the Galaxy (Xbox 360, $10) — The slick, nerve-racking rail shooter has the computer control the movement of your spaceship while you handle a gun turret and blast enemies away.

Although most games in the genre feel more natural with a gun peripheral, the Xbox 360 method of guiding your shots with button taps and analog stick movement is a reasonable alternative given its similarity to what you'd really be doing if you happened to be a gunner on a starship.

Sometimes you slip into an area in which enemies are cloaked, and you need to frantically scan for enemies before popping them. The option to play cooperatively with friends online or locally is a nice bonus.

Rating: 8.

— Phil Villarreal