Far from being a cranium-stretching taut and suspenseful Sherlock Holmes mystery, this release falls flat in almost every dimension of its design and execution.

Had the absurdity of the setting been more efficiently exploited for humor value, the many shortcomings might be more easily overlooked. As it stands, this title comes across as a last minute, off-the-cuff port from consoles to PC that skimped as often as possible.

Its logic flaws and thoroughly vexatious difficulty are so omnipresent that any gains made via technology are completely overshadowed. In trying to mix strategy with action, a sense of identity got lost in translation.

Drop dead tedious as a construction simulation, limited and rigid as a business management experience, and ridiculously uninteresting as a people-watching escapade.

If you don't have the facility to gather at least two other people to your GameCube, then you will not find much fun in Wrestlemania X8.

Unfortunately, the unbalanced squad-combat and wrap-around maps are not enough to pull this one away from the Pit of Despair.

The final score loses many points due to the awkward controls.

The foul language, twisted humor, nudity, gore and violence are beyond what most gamers will appreciate, unless "Postal" is your idea of fun. When compounded by the obscure hotspots, redundant puzzles, archaic control system and strictly linear gameplay, the audience for which this offering would be a treat becomes really small.

While a good story can sometimes save even the most mediocre of RPGs, and The Legend of Alon D'ar does provide a compelling beginning and plot, the pacing is so slow that only the most patient will make it through to the end.

Gamers have already seen, heard and played everything Team Factor has to offer - and had more fun doing so.

A bland experience with nothing innovative to free your mind from concentrating on the annoying aspects of the gameplay.

Fans of the series deserve the same content for far less money in the form of a true expansion pack, preferably one that actually adds fresh content beyond new scenarios.

War Times struggles along and ultimately becomes a casualty of its own conflicts. The shallow tech tree, paucity of unit types, ineffective pathfinding and tedious gameplay make enjoying it a losing fight.

The title of this game is ironically accurate, as I have not encountered a platform side-scroller this lightweight in years. There is simply nothing to recommend.

Misfires on pretty much all cylinders.

Fighters with minimal moves at their disposal, unbalanced characters, and an AI that can't hold up its end of the bargain conspire to make Kakuto Chojin feel like an empty shell.

Gets marks for depth and scope, but unfortunately so much of the detail goes to waste due to the frustrating interface, horrendous learning curve, and sparse gameplay options.

The all-too-forgiving AI, the no-brainer puzzles, the watered-down adventure elements and straightforward mini-games combine to create an experience that'll only last a scant three hours for experienced players, which is nearly unforgivable when you consider its $29.99 price tag.

It is a frustrating, extremely short title with ugly graphics.

The gameplay can't hold a match to even the most basic competition, since the distinct lack of modes, oversimplified approach and lackluster execution combine to make a release that's the exact opposite of what a party title needs to be.

Problems such as an awkward control interface, overbalanced gameplay, and easily confounded AI sadly undermine the innovations.

A key problem may simply be that the international system is too hard to replicate under its current condition of relative anarchy.

The graphics are the one high point of this downhill slalom, they are neither innovative nor gorgeous enough to save this title from the abysmal control scheme and furious key tapping required to stay afloat in most of the events.

The complete lack of innovation and diversity, along with the utterly draining repetitiveness of the obstacles you encounter, suck most of the joy out of the gameplay experience.

The quality of every component of the final product - from graphics and sound to vehicle physics and gameplay - is uniformly dismal.

The unnecessarily tedious unit movement coupled with the debilitating difficulty level of many battles leaves this title stranded with too many moments of frustration for the average user.

The extremely behind-the-times graphics, frustrating interface and game mechanics, and lackluster plot all lead to a gaming experience that's more tedium than it's worth.

Glaring deficiencies, such as the redundant environments, weak camera system, and most importantly, a severe lack of challenge.