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.

To learn how to perform each event, you need to check the directions from the pause menu; what happened to just explaining the mechanics onscreen? [Sept 2004, p.102]

Breaking up recipes into several steps, each its own minigame, is an enjoyably elegant gameplay mechanism; it works particularly well here on the Wii. [May 2007, p.80]

And like "Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires," it mistakes drastically overcomplicated tactical menus for strategic depth...but underneath, it's just another tepid hack-n-slash tour of ancient China. Wise man say: Learn some new tricks.

Technological feats aside, N3 doesn't do much else....er, make that anything else that you haven't seen from this stuck-in-the-mud genre. [Sept. 2006, p.96]

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 lack of a career mode and create-a-wrestler (both considered genre norms) makes Bandai's grappler one of the shallowest wrasslin' titles out there. [July 2004, p.98]

This includes multiplayer, which is a joke: dull levels, instant respawns in capture the flag (try invading a base when downed enemies just reappear right away, with full health), and a horrible interface that leaves online soldiers more confused than eagerly anticipating the action. [Aug 2004, p.110]

A little more fantasy throughout the game might have given ADS the personality it desperately needs. [Jan 2002, p.231]

Laughable characters aside, this game just ain't fun. It's so simple that even experienced players fare better pounding one button than trying to executre combos or reversals. [July 2003, p.122]

Even with my "I dig all things Star Wars" glasses on, I still realize this is an average-at-best game. [Feb. 2007, p.99]

The throwaway storyline, endless loading times, small environments and barely Dreamcast-quality graphics are instant turn-offs. [Jan 2002, p.230]

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

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]

Reminisce feels like a long-winded anime with mediocre RPG battle mechanics grafted on just so they could sell the thing for more money. [June 2007, p.92]

NC is too shallow to be an RPG and too complicated to be a quick-fix good time...highly repetitive. [Mar 2002, p.144]

Seven Sorrows baits you with a role-playing-game-style character development system, but the game's short length (easily clocking in under six hours) makes leveling up unrewarding.

With the bland levels, generic PS1-era platform gameplay, and cheap enemies, you shouldn't bother. [Sept 2005, p.116]

The game deteriorates into a sloppy mess of nonsensical objectives, oh-so-awkward moments, and guards as brainy as microbes. [Oct 2004, p.110]

The game's strange mix of sim and arcade gameplay will please no one, and will leave serious Lotus fans in support groups, talking about what could have been. [June 2003, p.124]

Rogue Agent does do a lot of things extremely well, though. The enemies are realistic, ducking in an out of cover, constantly moving, even updating each other on what you're doing ("He's behind the bar!" - brilliant). [Jan 2005, p.130]

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]

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]

The in-game dialogue has all the creativity and wit of a Fred Basset cartoon. [Nov 2001, p.222]

Factor in obscene load times and overly difficult enemy A.I., and it's a game that only rabid X-fans will enjoy.l [Jan 2003, p.194]

This game is so supremely easy for anyone to pick up and play that what initially seems one-dimensional and lame ends up leading to awesome multiplayer. [Nov 2003, p.196]

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]

Business as usual. [July 2008, p.84]