Combat is sloppy, with poor hit detection and enemies that score cheap shots; all of the fun special moves have to be unlocked, which requires meeting unreasonably difficult time and health goals; and most of the levels devolve into tiresome thug/robot hunts.

Don’t get me wrong, I love weird games as much as the next guy, but SP never moves beyond what feels like an elastic 3D engine tech demo. [Sept 2001, p.144]

Played it, beat it, forgot it... Oh, and it has the worst unlockable secret ever - an art gallery of the load screens...that's right, the ones burned into your memory during the long load times. Gee, thanks. [Oct 2003, p.139]

Pretty levels and power chords can't hide Dawn of Fate's real weakness: crappy gameplay. [Nov 2002, p.304]

Too bad the actual b-balling action has been done before and better. [July 2006, p.92]

The repetitive challenges are uncreative, and the game's choppy graphics and collision-detection isues make the whole experience head-splitting. [Aug 2003, p.116]

Something is wrong with a football title when you spend more time laughing at the instant replays than actually playing the game. [Oct 2001, p.154]

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough the first time: THIS GAME NEEDS VOICE CHAT. [May 2005, p.135]

This Frankenstein seems to have been assembled from the Pariah spare-parts bin. [May 2006, p.104]

Control is stiff and floaty, while boss battles often require stubborn persistence instead of strategy. [July 2004, p.95]

What we have here is a title that tries hard to impress with its flash, yet stumbles over fundamentally busted gameplay. [June 2005, p.99]

Ostensibly a real-time strategy title, Future Tactics is really a glorified game of hide-and-seek: You either fall into your enemy's sights or manage to luck out for another turn. [July 2004, p.94]

The whole package amounts to a single "Vice City" car mission in which you tail jalopies along rigidly scripted trails, but without the room for improvisation you'd find in "GTA." [Nov 2003, p.173]

The controls are great once you get them customized properly*fire buttons on L1 and R1), with nimble movement and crazy bursts of speed seldom seen outside of anime, but this dexterity is wasted on short missions, bare-bones multiplayer, and the same ol' gameplay AC has been recycling for years. [Apr 2007, p.85]

The whole package amounts to a single "Vice City" car mission in which you tail jalopies along rigidly scripted trails, but without the room for improvisation you'd find in "GTA." [Nov 2003, p.173]

From the annoying time management of the schedule-based career mode to the ho-hum training minigames, Smash Court feels like a less entertaining "Virtua Tennis" knock-off. [Aug 2007, p.84]

The controls are great once you get them customized properly*fire buttons on L1 and R1), with nimble movement and crazy bursts of speed seldom seen outside of anime, but this dexterity is wasted on short missions, bare-bones multiplayer, and the same ol' gameplay AC has been recycling for years. [Apr 2007, p.85]

Ostensibly a real-time strategy title, Future Tactics is really a glorified game of hide-and-seek: You either fall into your enemy's sights or manage to luck out for another turn. [July 2004, p.94]

Control is stiff and floaty, while boss battles often require stubborn persistence instead of strategy. [July 2004, p.95]

The action isn't bad - just appallingly generic. [Jan 2004, p.110]

The edgy cartoon trappings kept me interested in this game far longer than its actual gameplay. Which is to say, about an hour - or maybe three, if you count the two times I had to restart because I was still figuring out the Story mode's rules that don't let you retry events.

An epic adventure is hiding in here somewhere, but AI3 doesn't bother getting around to it till it's done boring you. [June 2007, p.91]

In other words, it's prescribed, with reservations, for patient <i>The Longest Journey</i> zealots only. [Jun 2006, p.115]

Where Ape Escape Academy should feel like a festive minigame extravaganza, it comes off as more of a collection of half-assed prototypes due to the overly complex challenges, unresponsive controls, and complete lack of coherency. [Feb 2006, p.111]

While intriguing, the game is never captivating. [June 2007, p.94]

Played it, beat it, forgot it... Oh, and it has the worst unlockable secret ever - an art gallery of the load screens...that's right, the ones burned into your memory during the long load times. Gee, thanks. [Oct 2003, p.139]

The game is stupidly, punishingly difficult. And its save "system," pardon my Latin, blows syphilitic goats. [Jan 2004, p.108]

Too bad the actual b-balling action has been done before and better. [July 2006, p.92]