You could quite easily mistake Nanostray 2 for a game in any other shooter series, but it lacks the focus and polish that make series like "Gradius" and"R-Type" great. [Feb 2008, p.84]

Barely recognizable as a "Sims" game, MySims also lacks the compelling variety and randomness of "Crossing". [Oct 2007, p.84]

The worst problem is that certain jumps are damn nigh impossible - it's not even a question of skill. [Nov 2003, p.176]

No game’s shoddy camera in recent memory has given me more headaches than this one, and it couldn’t have happened to a better game. [Nov 2001, p.218]

The camera can be absolutely maddening at times. [Jan 2004, p.138]

But a lack of feedback to help you understand what caused an errant shot makes it more frustrating than fun to perfect your motion. [Feb. 2007, p.87]

Just watch out for that crazy difficulty spike that happens about halfway through each title - and don't forget the Visine. [March 2004, p.120]

You do get a sense of accomplishment when luck favors you and you can clear a board or topple a boss, but rarely does the fun reach full tilt. [Jun 2006, p.119]

Only hardcore Batfans should bother enduring this frustration. [Dec 2001, p.236]

A cute and fun little racing game that has a great multiplayer component, but there's simply not enough to it. [May 2005, p.138]

Fight the war with friends instead: Co-op mode minimizes casualties and lets the otherwise captivating "oh sh***!" moments shine. [Dec 2004, p.156]

Entertaining enough at first, but lacking any staying power. [Apr 2008, p.78]

The worst problem is that certain jumps are damn nigh impossible - it's not even a question of skill. [Nov 2003, p.176]

I recommend Bug Mutha Truckers for the occasinal distraction or one-nighter, but don't expect it to keep you entertained for the long haul. [Aug 2003, p.111]

I just wish the camera weren't so horrid (especially during the boss fights) and that the leveling and backtracking weren't so tedious. It's solid enough, but it could have been so much more. [Apr 2005, p.125]

The fighters here look great in a shiny Ken doll sort of way, but the gameplay and general presentation are merely passable. [May 2003, p.134]

Battling enemies is both frustrating and boring thanks to touchy hit detection and extremely repetitive fights. [June 2002, p.122]

Though it's a solid entry to the staid genre, World Rally is a bit too kid friendly to recommend to anyone who reads past a fifth grade level. [Sept. 2006, p.99]

The premise intrigues, but Assassin's Creed is an incomplete template based on multiple other games. [Jan 2008, p.88]

So it's too bad that the missions themselves suffer major malfunctions. Despite their frantic firefights, they're completely canned, with enemies--and even your allies--going through the same motions every time.

The worst problem is that certain jumps are damn nigh impossible - it's not even a question of skill. [Nov 2003, p.176]

Controls aside, almost every aspect of Legends feels dated. [Jan 2008, p.82]

Though it's a solid entry to the staid genre, World Rally is a bit too kid friendly to recommend to anyone who reads past a fifth grade level. [Sept. 2006, p.99]

Besides the poor enemy A.I., the paint-by-numbers gameplay (requiring surgically precise cursor movement for actions like jumping or climbing) makes the action feel canned. [Dec 2003, p.195]

Problem is the game is about as friendly as a Cylon; there's no tutorial to ease you into all those moves or the different mission types, and the difficulty spikes at odd moments, making some levels painfully tedious.

Fight the war with friends instead: Co-op mode minimizes casualties and lets the otherwise captivating "oh sh***!" moments shine. [Dec 2004, p.156]

Entertaining enough at first, but lacking any staying power. [Apr 2008, p.78]

No way would I recommend this game to legal eagles with the superior "Phoenix Wright" titles already out there. [Feb 2008, p.78]

It's more fun for folks who just want to remember two or three key moves and make those last through a night of clunky combat with a few buddies. [Apr 2002, p.144]

Is it a game or is it a simulation? Yet again, it's neither, and Tiburon has failed for the second year running to strike the gllorious balance it achieved with NASCAR 05. [Oct. 2006, p.110]

Too much of the good stuff (unlocking new areas, upgrading equipment, and raising livestock) happens either by accidental discovery or hours into the game--after most people will have lost interest. [July 2007, p.97]

The U.S. Delta Force puts up such a piss-poor fight in this game, playing through it might actually boost the Republican Guard's morale. [June 2003, p.130]

It's just a shame the wonky battle system forces this game to fold. [Nov. 2006, p.132]

Well, for what it's worth, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam wins the distinction of being the first game that made me fall asleep while playing it. [Sept 2007, p.92]

If I only owned this game, I'd watch more television. [Mar 2006, p.102]

The gameplay feels nearly identical to "Crash Team Racing's" (PS1), even down to the speed-boosting wumpa fruits, so if you loved it before, you'll still love it, and if not...not. [Jan 2004, p.110]

Emergency 2's narcoleptic gameplay serves as the ultimate pacifier. [Apr 2006, p.101]

Stiff, robotic controls present the game's biggest hurdle. Most action sequences are a joke, as gun battles consist of standing while firing at a bad guy who is five feet away. [March 2004, p.119]

As with the previous MK installment, Midway again augments the core fighting action with binus modes. Unfortunately, they suck. Konquest mode, a rudimentary action-RPG, and Motor Kombat, a widly unfun kart racer, both look and feel like PS1 budget titlees. [Dec. 2006, p.140]

The action on the track is mediocre, especially once you realize you'll have to wrestle with the touchy control on the same tracks in the same cars over and over. [Jan 2004, p.124]

But it's mostly mediocre. Fantastic 4 desperately tries to break up the button mashing with lame minigames, like hacking a door by doing preschool puzzles, which just made the game feel like a fantastic chore. [Sept 2005]

Gone is the great adventure, lost to the simple need to collect stuff, and in its place is the carrot and the stick - which even the most dedicated mule will only chase so far. [May 2004, p.88]

Well, for what it's worth, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam wins the distinction of being the first game that made me fall asleep while playing it. [Sept 2007, p.92]

Like so many PS2-PSP ports, you won't find much compelling new content, either. [July 2006, p.93]

Gone is the great adventure, lost to the simple need to collect stuff, and in its place is the carrot and the stick - which even the most dedicated mule will only chase so far. [May 2004, p.88]

But it's mostly mediocre. Fantastic 4 desperately tries to break up the button mashing with lame minigames, like hacking a door by doing preschool puzzles, which just made the game feel like a fantastic chore.

With a measly two play modes and no real solo campaign, it's hard to believe Microsoft expects anyone to pay $50 for what feels like one-third of a game. [Feb 2004, p.126]

Victory goes to the guy who can jam on the buttons faster. [Aug 2001, p.109]

The gameplay feels nearly identical to "Crash Team Racing's" (PS1), even down to the speed-boosting wumpa fruits, so if you loved it before, you'll still love it, and if not...not. [Jan 2004, p.110]

The tracks get harder to follow and the AI racers become aggressive and nasty. I don’t know how many times I was set to win a race only to be spun around in the last stretch by some jerk. [Oct 2001, p.146]

You'll never get lost instantly die from misjudged jumps, or have to play through difficult parts ten times over. Consequently, it's also a little too easy. [Oct 2003, p.135]

Pretty dull, even for a first-person shooter. [Dec 2004, p.150]

Slowdown, crappy animation, dumb A.I., and a laggy control scheme are bad enough, but it's the stupendously awful level design - with impassible areas that might as well be invisible walls - that really takes the cake. [Nov 2004, p.130]

Don't count on using this stuff the way it was intended, though. Unlike the routines real wrestlers choreograph, these matches are absolute button-mashing chaos. [Dec 2003, p.194]

The developers should have spent more time fine-tuning the controls. [Jan. 2007, p.60]

I remain a firm supporter of the original PS2 Roses, but this flaccid follow-up fails to get me in the mood. [May 2006, p.89]

If I only owned this game, I'd watch more television. [Mar 2006, p.102]

It's pretty telling that it's a simple cash-in when the game is far better using last generation's controller. [Aug 2007, p.70]

Too bad about all that aimless wandering, which would be annoying on its own but is even more bogged down by the frequent battles and their requisite load times. [Nov 2005, p.156]

The requisite Franchise mode and instant replays are foolishly MIA - what gives? The graphics also fail to impress, and trying to control more than one runner at a time gave me headaches. [June 2003, p.131]

As with the previous MK installment, Midway again augments the core fighting action with binus modes. Unfortunately, they suck. Konquest mode, a rudimentary action-RPG, and Motor Kombat, a widly unfun kart racer, both look and feel like PS1 budget titlees. [Dec. 2006, p.140]

No matter who you play as, the near constant, incredibly frustrating puzzles paralyze the otherwise decent gameplay. [Apr 2004, p.122]

But it's mostly mediocre. Fantastic 4 desperately tries to break up the button mashing with lame minigames, like hacking a door by doing preschool puzzles, which just made the game feel like a fantastic chore.

You'll never get lost instantly die from misjudged jumps, or have to play through difficult parts ten times over. Consequently, it's also a little too easy. [Oct 2003, p.135]

Fortune II doesn't have the same visual polish or addictive team-based onlne play of ["Return to Castle Wolfenstein"]. [Aug 2003, p.112]

Wayward needs something to keep it interesting, like stronger melee weapons to discover or moves to learn. [Sept 2003, p.117]

The arena-based combat is banal, combos are almost accidental, the dialogue consists of goo goos and gah gahs, and the difficulty curve seems designed to boost a baby's confidence. Overall, it's an all right little game, provided you're still in Pampers.

Running from cover to cover, you'll need to master the art of popping out at just the right time to blow away the enemy. Unfortunately, Liberation seems unsure what to do with it, falling into a repeating loop of key hunts, escort missions, and increasingly impossible battles. Bummer. [Dec. 2006, p.156]

If you have a PS2 and are interested in a solid, addictive squad shooter...get "SOCOM II." Oh, you say you really want to play "Rainbow Six 3"? Then buy an Xbox and play that version instead. [May 2004, p.94]

TimeShift definitely looks a lot prettier than it did the first go-round, but once again it finds itself behind the times. [Holiday 2007, p.80]

Electro-plankton might have been more engaging if it gave you goals, such as coming up with a certain number of notes in a given amount of time or having to replicate songs and riff on them. It should, at the very least, have allowed you to save your work; instead, your musical creations are fleeting and forgettable.

Illogical puzzles, vague directions and objects almost impossible to spot against the backgrounds cause you to waste too much time wandering the same rooms again and again. [Sept 2001, p.147]

Slowdown, crappy animation, dumb A.I., and a laggy control scheme are bad enough, but it's the stupendously awful level design - with impassible areas that might as well be invisible walls - that really takes the cake. [Nov 2004, p.130]

The gameplay feels nearly identical to "Crash Team Racing's" (PS1), even down to the speed-boosting wumpa fruits, so if you loved it before, you'll still love it, and if not...not. [Jan 2004, p.110]

This game actually slows down time. Its characters move at the speed of Elmer's glue. [May 2005, p.124]

The action on the track is mediocre, especially once you realize you'll have to wrestle with the touchy control on the same tracks in the same cars over and over. [Jan 2004, p.124]

Three times superior to its predecessor. Though still well shy of very good. [Feb 2005, p.100]

Once you learn enough to outfit your mech to personal preferences (which quietly becomes addictive) and begin to effectively execute missions, Nexus can suck you in. Not great, but worth it for more patient mech-heads. [Oct 2004, p.102]

I felt the magic before, but Rabbits! left me feeling a little heartbroken. [Apr 2006, p.105]

While the graphics may show a hoops or pigskin player, you’re actually just playing a dressed-up Pong or a simple button smasher. [Aug 2001, p.111]

This game actually slows down time. Its characters move at the speed of Elmer's glue. [May 2005, p.124]

EXA sports the same exact engine, combat system, enemies, environments, and amateur-hour voice acting as 2005's "Shining Force Neo." It's probably more appropriate to think of it as an "expansion pack" than anything else. [Apr 2007, p.89]

Pretty dull, even for a first-person shooter. [Dec 2004, p.150]

Warhammer is so crammed with cliches -- color-coded door keys, exploding barrels, and grimy environments I swear I've already prowled through in "Quake" -- that it feels like it's just going through the first-person-shooter motions. [Dec 2003, p.210]

Unfortunately, the actual battles aren't that great; they're a tedious exercise in repeatedly pressing the A button to advance dialog boxes. [March 2004, p.130]

Three times superior to its predecessor. Though still well shy of very good. [Feb 2005, p.100]

At best, BlackSite is a poor man's "Resistance"; at worst, it's half of an unfinished game with a few cool set pieces. [Holiday 2007, p.74]

The action on the track is mediocre, especially once you realize you'll have to wrestle with the touchy control on the same tracks in the same cars over and over. [Jan 2004, p.124]

Gone is the great adventure, lost to the simple need to collect stuff, and in its place is the carrot and the stick - which even the most dedicated mule will only chase so far. [May 2004, p.88]

While the game won’t win any awards for originality, it is well-paced and does a good job of keeping the player glued to the tube. [Oct 2001, p.145]

It's too poky and awkward to work as a new-age light-gun shooter, too shallow to work as an RPG, and too mediocre to merit attention.[Mar 2008, p.74]

All the alternate routes in SD make the game highly replayable, [but] there are still only a handful of tracks that add up to a total estimated playing time of oh, let’s say…15 minutes before you’ve seen just about everything. [Mar 2002, p.139]

Don't count on using this stuff the way it was intended, though. Unlike the routines real wrestlers choreograph, these matches are absolute button-mashing chaos. [Dec 2003, p.194]

Poor Harry’s world slows to a coma-inducing craw whenever he’s running, flying or…well, moving. [Feb 2002, p.170]

It's the kind of game you'd make your mom play to show her that not all videogames involve stabbing hookers. [Jan 2005, p.135]

It may be stupid fun - and it certainly gets monotonous - but at least it is fun. Apologetic kids should be thrilled. [Aug 2006, p.89]

If you can get past how limited it all feels, you'll have a modicum of fun. [Nov 2007, p.123]

The only thing more frustrating than fighting the overpowered CPU is hoping a boneheaded A.I. tag partner won't blow a crucial match. [Nov 2004, p.151]