Until the developers master the riddle of team A.I. (players here don't always respond properly in certain situations), work remains undone. Even so, this year's model is great.

The new on-the-fly weapon-selection system helps me overlook TC3's inherent brevity and outdated graphics. [Nov 2003, p.187]

Perfect controls. Perfectly constructed stages. Perfect graphics (for an old, trippy 2D game, that is). [Nov 2003, p.200]

It's your plane's incredibly fluid feel that turbo boosts the fun here into the stratosphere. [Jan 2004, p.148]

Gameplaywise, this is a disaster. [Jan 2004, p.154]

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.

I love this game, but I've eaten enough snow to have some gripes. It's too difficult to catch rails—miscalculate ever so slightly, and you'll wipe out hard, killing any combo and losing tons of turbo.

The difficulty curve is perfect. Can't win a particular race? No problem. Take a practice run to look for shortcuts or shell out some prize money to upgrade your character, and you'll be right back on the road to snowboarding superstardom.

The difficulty curve is perfect. Can't win a particular race? No problem. Take a practice run to look for shortcuts or shell out some prize money to upgrade your character, and you'll be right back on the road to snowboarding superstardom.

An unforgiving difficulty level and harsh time limits <I>severely</I> undercut the fun... [and b]am-powing hordes of goons becomes achingly repetitive over time. [Nov 2003, p.172]

An unforgiving difficulty level and harsh time limits <I>severely</I> undercut the fun... [and b]am-powing hordes of goons becomes achingly repetitive over time. [Nov 2003, p.172]

It's sometimes difficult to track down the Sim you need in order to advance a quest, and the dialogue is maddeningly repetitive, but otherwise, Bustin' Out is engaging, original, and just plain fun. [Jan 2004, p.164]

The good news: The on-foot segments are mercifully short. They only spoil about a third of the game. The other two-thirds - the deep-space dogfighting, speederbike racing, and other vehicle missions - are as thrilling and stunning as ever.

Thanks to some intelligent tweaks, you'll now find a much better balance between offense and defense. It's not as easy to blow by a defender on the perimeter, but when you do, the adjusted A.I. compensates and another defender picks you up.

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]

These new free-roaming, carjacking Haven City segments are both Jak II's triumph and biggest failing. They're a triumph because they add variety and give you some control over what you tackle next, yet they fail because they're punch-you-in-the-gut difficult. [Nov 2003, p.182]

Thanks to some intelligent tweaks, you'll now find a much better balance between offense and defense. It's not as easy to blow by a defender on the perimeter, but when you do, the adjusted A.I. compensates and another defender picks you up.

Although MMZ2 fails to deliver anything substantially new (sorry, Phil, powering up a blaster isn't exactly innovation), at least it serves up a solid action romp. [Nov 2003, p.201]

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

Thanks to some intelligent tweaks, you'll now find a much better balance between offense and defense. It's not as easy to blow by a defender on the perimeter, but when you do, the adjusted A.I. compensates and another defender picks you up.

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

As a car-combat game, it's passable but not exceptional. As a postacopalyptic "GTA" clone, it falls well short of the mark in terms of story, mission diversity, and replay value. [Nov 2003, p.171]

As a car-combat game, it's passable but not exceptional. As a postacopalyptic "GTA" clone, it falls well short of the mark in terms of story, mission diversity, and replay value. [Nov 2003, p.171]

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]

Combat feels stiff, rote, and only semi-interactive: dodge an enemy's flurry, then press the correct sequence of buttons (ad nauseam) to counterattack. [Nov 2003, p.178]

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]

Much of the disorder is unintentional. Like some half-assed high-school theater production, nothing works as it should and no one seems to be doing the right thing. [Dec 2003, p.202]

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]