The game will keep youngins busy, but if any gamer over the age of 10 gets stuck playing this thing, well, that’s gotta hurt! [Nov 2001, p.210]

Throw in boring unskippable intros and interstitials in every stage, and congratulations: Katana completely lost my attention. [Feb 2008, p.79]

The play-style variety may be decent--and you get to upgrade abilities--but each character's level sets grow horribly repetitive and pointless, with stingy checkpoint placement compounding the frustration [July 2006, p.91]

Collectively, the infuriating missions and maddening difficulty swings prove to be overwhelming, sucking away what little fun there is. [Nov 2004, p.136]

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]

You absolutely need more than one (perhaps two) friends to get past the game's flaws: bland menus, a ridiculously annoying announcer, and less than 50 minigames that get old fast. [Mar 2007, p.88]

No online support and "everyone's the same" characters mean no reason to bother at all. [Jun 2006, p.110]

The play-style variety may be decent--and you get to upgrade abilities--but each character's level sets grow horribly repetitive and pointless, with stingy checkpoint placement compounding the frustration [July 2006, p.91]

Collectively, the infuriating missions and maddening difficulty swings prove to be overwhelming, sucking away what little fun there is. [Nov 2004, p.136]

The play-style variety may be decent--and you get to upgrade abilities--but each character's level sets grow horribly repetitive and pointless, with stingy checkpoint placement compounding the frustration [July 2006, p.91]

Collectively, the infuriating missions and maddening difficulty swings prove to be overwhelming, sucking away what little fun there is. [Nov 2004, p.136]

The play-style variety may be decent--and you get to upgrade abilities--but each character's level sets grow horribly repetitive and pointless, with stingy checkpoint placement compounding the frustration [July 2006, p.91]

It’s hard to take a game seriously whose hero looks like a plastic, blue Reboot reject. I think Paul Reubens would have been more believable. [Feb 2002, p.164]

Do not buy this for yourself or your kids or anyone you know - you do not ever want to be in a room where it's being played. [Feb 2004, p.127]

As a fan of stealth-action in general and the Xbox Chaos Theory in particular, playing the DS version is like reuniting with an old friend...who's gained weight, lost his hair, had his limbs chopped off, his brain sucked out, and been through one of those car-crusher things. And smells. Like cat pee.

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

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

No online support and "everyone's the same" characters mean no reason to bother at all. [Jun 2006, p.110]

One of the least exciting party games I’ve ever played. [Jan 2002, p.228]

Navigating your too-large cartoon plane among clunky cliffs and bluffs is akin to playing in a world of giant Duplo bricks. [Apr 2007, p.82]

I expect "Seven Samurai" Director Akira Kurosawa's grave is equipped with some sort of industrial centrifuge to accommodate the amount of spinning he's doing right about now. [May 2004, p.96]

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

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]

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

The story and voice acting offered me several unintentional laughs, but inexcusably stupid elements, such as unskippable cut-scenes and the inability to pick up fallen enemies' weapons, pair with rotten gameplay to make this one of the worst games I've played all year.

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

Circle of doom indeed. [Feb 2008, p.81]