I cannot forgive the miserable checkpoint system; no matter how long and difficult a particular room is, get hit at the end, and it's back to the very beginning for you.

It quickly degenerates into as absurd a mess as four turtles that are supposed to be ninjas with a rat for a sensei sounds like on paper. As Michelangelo might say, "cowabunga dudes, this is one gnarly game wreck."

Its biggest flaw is feeling old hat in an already overcrowded marketplace, and it is unlikely to pull any FPS devotees from their game of choice. No Mercy -- despite being a competent shooter set at a value price -- simply doesn't stand out like its title character.

Unless you're obsessed with all things Sonic, or you simply must own every Kinect title, stay away from Sonic Free Riders.

A system this young doesn't need any more titles like this potentially damaging its rep. The only thing keeping the game from absolute worthlessness is the fact that a competent SRPG can still be found within.

An absolute mess that isn't worth your time.

The Transformers formula was meant for videogames. Giant robots destroying cities as the forces of good and evil struggle for supremacy. It's too bad the PSP developers weren't able to parlay that into a semidecent game.

You never quite reach the same pumped-up heights you get while playing similar games, like "NBA Ballers" or "NBA Street" -- and despite the tricks, online play, and generally responsive controls, it would take a serious interest in the AND 1 legacy to maintain any level of interest in this game.

The back of the box declares that it's "fast action fun!" Believe us, and believe our young friend Ethan -- Pokemon Dash is not.

A stiff, by-the-numbers experience that mixes a few good ideas with generally middling execution.

Now what are you waiting for, a medal? You'll only get that if you survive, marauder -- if you can survive the tedium of never-ending waves of bugs and repetitive missions.

Those coming in clean to the series will wonder what the fuss is about, though -- and should probably wait for the next installment in the series instead.

It's also a travesty that the original arcade games aren't included in this collection (though, perhaps Sega felt those would invalidate these new installments -- especially in the case of Golden Axe, which just plain sucks).

It would be easy to pinpoint the games faults solely on the new, unresponsive control scheme, but Ride's gameplay lacks several established principles of the skateboarding genre. Concepts as simple as session markers and on-foot travel are nonexistent, and the ability to restart a challenge mid-run (a longtime staple of the Pro Skater series) is simply not there.

As neat as the touch-screen controls are, they don't take attention away from the rest of Freedom Wings' faults. The whole thing feels like a 1990's shareware PC game; it loves to dole out its action in small chunks.

As a basic XBLA port at half the price, RayStorm might have made for a fun novelty. But it's frankly bewildering that Taito is charging $15 for an extremely marginal upgrade to a game that we played some 13 years ago.

"Ultimate Destruction" was on the PS2 as well, but it still had a beautifully rendered, detailed city that was fully visible from any rooftop -- and a blast to wreak havoc on. Instead of building on that better game, though, Incredible Hulk is a weak attempt at mimicking it.

The game could have been so much more bearable if they had simply changed the camera operation. The camera is not in your usual third-person perspective, and it quite often faces her, making gameplay very difficult if not impossible at times.

Rampage: Total Destruction is broken and a perfect example of how not to port a game to the Wii. (And then charge extra for it.)

As a stand-alone download, it's a short rendition of the Watchmen brawler experience that features more low points than high points -- but with an admittedly awesome moment of Rorschach punching a fat pervert.

Casual players will have a hard time jumping in and having some quick fun due to the game's rigid combo system, unforgiving CPU, and lackluster training mode, and the competitive fighting community has expressed no interest in this game at all.

If "Need for Speed Underground" had an inbred cousin (possibly by "Bust-a-Groove"), and that cousin was mutated by exposure to radiation, I'm forced to conclude that Lowrider would be the result.

So while Operation Darkness could've lit up strategy nuts, the completely awful camera and primitive PlayStation 2-quality graphics drain the life out of it. Even online co-op, the one unique feature that actually justifies Darkness' place on the 360, is about as fun as waiting to get your blood drawn.

If only the developers had focused on delivering a simple, fun experience rather than trying to create something far beyond their reach.

In plenty of cases, the system has done a great job at reducing the barrier of the controller, making it easier to interact with games thanks to simple motion controls. In a game like Barrel Blast, however, it's added a whole lot of complexity -- not to mention physical exhaustion -- to what would otherwise be simple steering controls.

In the end, it turns out Dungeon Lords wasn't so much released before its time, as it was given up on in an admission that time had already long since passed it by.

But sadly, the strength of the game's characters doesn't lead to a positive, or memorable, gaming experience.

We've come to expect a missing coat of polish on film tie-ins, but Iron Man seems to lack even a level of care, resulting in a drab adaptation that sinks well beyond simple mediocrity.