A surprisingly addictive experience. The problem is, it takes forever to learn how to play the damn thing. [Apr 2003, p.120]

True fans of the books will look past the problems and enjoy the game. [Dec 2002, p.210]

Maybe if this blah shooter had better controls - and maybe if you haven't played a first-person bast-em-up since 1995 - it would be worth your time. Ah, who am I kidding. Coded Arms would still suck. [Aug 2005, p.119]

Isn't a terrible game, but its sketchy camera, imprecise controls, and lackluster combat relegate it to the realm of the terribly average to me. [Jan 2004, p.124]

Yet, with the game rooted in arcade sensibilities, TMNT ends up a short and repetitive journey. Noninteractive environments and scant gameplay differences among the four turtles diminish my desire to replay.

There's nothing good to say about the gameplay, which ignores skill and encourages button-mashing. Stay away from this beast -- it bites. [Dec 2003, p.222]

Crown is entertaining only if your other option is taking an algebra test... You know, maybe I'll grab some pals and play "Risk" instead. [Nov 2003, p.175]

08 gives good fan service, but the car nut in me is more satisfied with the recent releases of "Dirt" and "Forza 2". [Sept 2007, p.92]

Evolution 2 has all the right ingredients to be fun – it just doesn’t put them together well. [Dec 2001, p.250]

But between the high frustration factor and the frequent need to crisscross the large city (some kind of warp option would be nice), I feel Rush tries a little too hard to turn me off.

Sure, you've got to pull off a few tricks here and there to keep up your momentum, but "SSX" it ain't. [Apr 2006, p.96]

Repeating the same mundane tasks every day so that I could do what I actually wanted to do--go exploring, which was great--really got to me. [May 2008, p.87]

This game is a rushed, slapdash effort intended to prey on unsuspecting consumers. [Dec 2002, p.250]

While the different endings are the most interesting aspect of Samurai, they also introduce a whole pile of tedium, as you're forced to sit through the same lengthy cut-scenes over and over. [Aug 2004, p.104]

Shooting centerfolds and putting together a magazine is halfway interesting, but the gameplay is nothing more than a third-rate "Sims" clone. [April 2005, p.114]

Too bad it handles like a remote-control car, bolting from a stand-still to top speed in an instant. I'll pass. [Apr 2008, p.73]

Remind me - what exactly is it about frantic, feverish, and somewhat random button-pressing that's...fun? 'Cause these minigames just aren't. [Oct 2004, p.114]

In the end, Live 07 reminds me of Shaq at the charity stripe: It throws up way too many bricks. [Dec. 2006, p.126]

"Need for Speed Underground 2" did two years ago everything this game does, but with much more style and variety. [Nov. 2006, p.124]

And why must I hit <I>left</I> on the right analog stick when my intention is to look <I>right</I>? Talk about counterintuitive. [Nov 2004, p.140]

The controls are stiffer and less forgiving than Ike Turner on Viagra, and when your crash-prone rider respawns after eating dirt, he's often facing a wall. [Sept 2003, p.122]

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

I literally fell asleep 15 minutes into my first "exciting" mission of taking pictures of fish, so that should tell you something. But stick with it, and you may find yourself inexplicably drawn in. [Mar 2003, p.116]

The developers got so many of the visual details dead-on...didn't they think that maybe the gameplay should be at least marginally decent too. [July 2007, p.86]

Eminently playable, and more importantly, replayable. All the hacking and slashing should get old after a while, but the infamous "quest for stuff" kept me going for the long haul. [Oct 2003, p.168]

Problem is, getting to the good stuff requires battling through a blitzkrieg of banality. [May 2006, p.98]

But between the high frustration factor and the frequent need to crisscross the large city (some kind of warp option would be nice), I feel Rush tries a little too hard to turn me off.

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]

While it's got heart and spirit in spades - heck, even the cutscenes are up to snuff - it sorely lacks depth. [July 2005, p.113]

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]

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

If you've already hacked through any of the "Champions of Norrath" or "Baldur's Gate" PS2 games, then you'll find little here to hold your interest. [Jan. 2007, p.80]

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

Spectacularly bizarre in a good way. [Oct 2001, p.148]

The quick races, which play a lot like a lamer, more grounded version of Hydro Thunder, only draw attention to the ghastly load times. [Aug 2001, p. 109]

It's just too bad the menus and team customization options require more intensity and concentration than the actual game. [July 2002, p.122]

Every good idea here is brought down by bad basic design, including a shoddy third-person camera, a too-slow first-person mode, and bizarre forced switching between the two. [Sept 2008, p.82]

It's unnaturally hard, with save points so few and far between, you'll definitely relate to Wolverine when he goes into a Berserker Rage. [July 2003, p.120]

You haven&#146;t experienced big air until you&#146;ve tried this pup. No joke, on the vert ramps you literally float for 2-3 seconds a pop. [Sept 2001, p.141]

Samurai Warriors 2 offers nothing new over any other single-button-mashing sequel. Pass. [Oct. 2006, p.110]

If someone handed you a lightsaber, I bet you, like me, would want to rip a lot of things a new poopchute with it. Unfortunately, this isn&#146;t the Ginsu simulator I was hoping for. [Feb 2002, p.168]

But this classic weapons-based fighting series has lost much of its soul. While the original cast moves as fluidly as ever, the newer faces are the epitome of mediocre design and animation. Luckily, Xbox Live saves the day.

Sure, you can play as either the boy or the girl now, but either way you're saddled with a worthless A.I. companion who has the audacity to get annoyed when you ask him or her to pitch in to survive. [May 2007, p.88]

It's official. Splinter Cell is not meant to be a portable game. I think these other reviewers are too forgiving because Splinter Cell's so great to begin with. But I'm a fan of the series, and I think this one stinks.

An extremely frustrating, poorly programmed mess. [Feb 2005, p.106]

A number of flaws kill the game's flow, namely a particularly atrocious camera, a weak lock-on system, a frustrating lack of checkpoints, and poor enemy A.I. [March 2005, p.124]

With all these hiccups, I'm shocked this war lasted one year, let alone 100. [Dec 2007, p.109]

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]

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]

Play is for people who don't really play games, and as someone who really does, that's a problem. [Feb. 2007, p.86]

It's just a mess whenever it thrusts you into confusing fully 3D levels. Here, the ugly, high-contrast backdrops look like a Lite-Brite melting underwater. [Nov 2003, p.186]

Faceless-cyborg-smashing melee battles are repetitive, uninspired, and glitchy. And with each story line presented in a series of minimissions averaging 3 to 4 minutes apiece, you spend a lot of your time switching characters and saving and loading instead of just playing the darn game.

Now, if they could just manage decent graphics-the game slides dangerously close to PS1 territory at times-ditch the freakish characters, and pen a halfdecent tale to go with the gameplay, SaGa could finally become a series worth paying attention to.

Only a hollow shell of the landmark 1979 series that started it all. [Oct 2001, p.148]

Difficult - even the homeliest guy on earth could get laid before he could complete the inane tasks required to unlock all the R-rated stripper videos (which aren't worth the effort, by the way). Only the most patient, hardcore, and masochistic will be able to play through XXX. [Feb 2003, p.152]

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]

Ultimately, the game simply isn't that engaging: The unique FFVII setting feels totally wasted here, as you're often running through boring corridors looking for keycards. [Sept. 2006, p.103]

The plot is intriguing, but a poor translation drags it down. Compared to the likes of "Silent Hill 4," though, Kuon feels as ancient as its setting. [Holiday 2004, p.115]

Like it or not, this is an OLD game, and the play mechanics are archaic by today's standards. [June 2002, p.124]

Unfortunately, the game suffers from so much slowdown when multiple cars are onscreen that it curtails any fun you might be having. [Sept 2003, p.116]

I find it sharp, fast, and stylish, which is just what this kind of game needs to be. Just keep the volume low&#151;these Turtles be talking too damn much.

Crown is entertaining only if your other option is taking an algebra test... You know, maybe I'll grab some pals and play "Risk" instead. [Nov 2003, p.175]

You're stuck with a game of disparate modes - driving, shooting, sneaking, and cut-scene-watching - that never gels into the cohesive, cinematic product the developers were promising. [Feb 2005, p.104]

08 gives good fan service, but the car nut in me is more satisfied with the recent releases of "Dirt" and "Forza 2". [Sept 2007, p.92]

Matches are slower than molasses on a flat surface and play out like blooper reels, with fighters facing the wrong way, refusing to pick up tables or pull off signature strikes. [Sept 2004, p.99]

A tamer, single-player "Time Crisis 2" with fewer unique enemies and lamer bosses. [August 2002, p.124]

The cruel difficulty hampers the enjoyment. [Apr 2003, p.116]

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

The game where yelling at the television is actually productive. [Jan 2004, p.189]

Without the ability to transform when you want, Spy Hunter 2's confining missions are just too monotonous. [Feb 2004, p.106]

Even crash-test dummies would yawn at this wreckage. [June 2004, p.96]

Without the ability to transform when you want, Spy Hunter 2's confining missions are just too monotonous. [Feb 2004, p.106]

Sadly, online play ranged from silky smooth to nearly unplayable. [Holiday 2004, p.126]

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

Unfathomably derivative. [Aug 2006, p.90]

This is the first game to successfully mix death-on-the-freeway antics with a plot you might actually care about, and it's worth a shot for that alone.

It was the mission objectives that put fear in my heart. Many are downright illogical to the point where I could only figure out what to do by screwing up over and over. [Oct 2003, p.142]

With its bleak environments, surreal plot and button mashin' gameplay, Eve of Extinction is one big mess. [May 2002, p.106]

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]

Wow, is Deep labyrinth ever boring. [Sept. 2006, p.106]

Many of the characters that are included in this game are awkward to control or just plain boring. The gameplay itslef is fairly bare bones. [Holiday 2004, p.115]

It doesn't look any prettier on the more powerful Cube - the periodic slowdown is inexcuseable (especially in a Sonic game), and the camera is still awful. [June 2003, p.122]

By axing most of the series' normal role-playing elements, the developers have effectively devolved Dawn of Mana into a linear adventure-platformer. [June 2007, p.90]

The moronic A.I. and repetitive missions will bore you, and the irritatingly humongous levels just prolong the torture. [Aug 2003, p.123]

An epic game. But like other grand-scale projects, say the movie "Waterworld" for example, it ends up spreading itself too thin for its own good. [Apr 2002, p.144]

Yet, with the game rooted in arcade sensibilities, TMNT ends up a short and repetitive journey. Noninteractive environments and scant gameplay differences among the four turtles diminish my desire to replay.

Unlocking new tracks is a tedious chore - and even then, the tracks all look too similar. [Dec 2002, p.228]

A bland flight-combat shooter. [June 2002, p.114]

What helps it overcome mediocrity is the alchemy bit (you can transmute common objects into weapons) which makes for some mildly creative puzzles and combat sequences. [Feb 2005, p.107]

The only snag: You spend most of Combat Elite shooting at offscreen Germans, placing you at a natural and frustrating disadvantage. [Sept 2004, p.100]

And I'm somewhere in the middle, because even though Contagion does have an interesting techno facade and a completely tolerable control scheme, it still feels like every shooter I've ever played. [June 2007, p.95]

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

I'm thinking Koei should've just dubbed this one My First Dynasty Warriors, as this romp through ancient China is ridiculously basic. [Aug 2007, p.81]

Screw fighting, I surrender--anything to keep me from wading through this awkward war game. [May 2007, p.81]

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.

Fun dance patterns, not great music, make dance games worth playing. It's an interesting idea that doesn't quite work. [Sept. 2006, p.106]

Any aspect of the game that apires to distinction is negated by mediocrity. [May 2003, p.126]

Makes a great first impression, but behind the flash, there's little to keep you truckin' for the long haul. [Dec 2002, p.212]