If every mission is going to take place around the same five blocks, try giving the different areas a bit of character instead of exploding walls. Make bosses that are fun to beat up and not just another thing you throw cars at until they stop moving. Just getting rid of the multitude of minor glitches could have easily raised the score.

Bruce Campbell voices Ash's dialog, which should please fans of the movies, but his deadpan delivery might come across as bad acting to those not familiar with the distinct style of his character.

Imagine an M-rated RPG set in the Virtua Fighter universe with the real VF combat engine. Until that day comes you'll experience more virtua pain than virtua pleasure with this one.

Multiplayer action adds as a bit more life to this bare bones game. Coming from a series that understands character progression and massive battles so well, Circle of Doom seems more like a quick way to put out a title instead of a fully developed idea.

Next to Silkworm and Ninja Gaiden, these efforts are just warm-up practice for the real thing. Even at a budget price, spend accordingly.

For slightly more money, those players could pick up one of the season box sets, in which even the commentaries would provide more consistent entertainment than this dry drama.

But the game runs clean and looks nice enough in action. For a budget price, you could do worse. Yeah, it’s not a ringing endorsement, nor is it meant to be.

On paper, it's got the potential to be more than a match for "San Andreas"; in practice, it's nowhere near it.

A cute idea with limited appeal thanks to the spotty quality of the minigames and the watered down multiplayer.

If you don’t care too much about precise game play, Chosen One is a good, brainless time. Otherwise, the game just becomes infuriating.

The online mode in PocketBike Racer is fantastic...when it works. If you can get through random crashes and dropped games, the title has a nice, robust, eight-player online mode.

It retails for only $20, which is hard to beat. On the downside, you can probably find used copies of old UFC games for even cheaper than that, and many of them are better than Sudden Impact.

It's definitely preferred to the average character-based kids' games; just don't expect to cast your Tony Hawk or Katamari aside to play it.

There’s better acting in a preschool production of Equus than in this game. As atrocious as the voice-acting is—and it is unbelievably godawful—the writing is worse.

A tremendous improvement over its predecessor. It's just too bad that the original "Real War" needed way more improvement than this to make it a great game.

The game gets points for presentation but falls short when it comes to gameplay.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh offers a solid foundation with high production values and surprisingly good combat as the first of perhaps many episodes to come, but is it worth sacrificing your Jackson for a chance to slip into Rorschach’s trench coat? The answer is… up to you really.

Astro Boy would've been better as a straightforward genre game; instead, it's neither a full-fledged actioner nor an exploratory adventure game. It feels like a pasted together hybrid that never jells.

The controls handle adequately, although KITT's steering feels far too responsive. All in all, the controls aren't as good as the controls in most recent driving games, and the physics lack accuracy. The game also lacks a sense of speed.

There are some great bits of level design to be found here, but it's a shame that the stealth elements are used almost entirely as linear puzzles.

The story mode is boring and full of repetition, the controls are overly simplistic, and the lack of online play on the Cube hurts the game even more.

Conquest hits the same beats that we’ve hit over and over again in previous titles. It’s not that they don’t hit them well, but they hit the exact beats we’ve come to expect from a Lord of the Rings title.

On the other hand, if all you want out of your video game is a bloody binge, Dead to Rights II is the gaming equivalent of sitting alone in a dark room and downing shot after shot of cheap, hard liquor. If you're in the mood, it gets the job done just fine.

Sneak King is the gaming equivalent of the Whopper – tasty at first, though nothing special, and it makes you feel kind of ill by the end.

Do yourself a favor. Take that money and go buy an old Sega Genesis and a copy of Streets of Rage. You'll spend less money, and have a much better time. Honest.

But there's nothing in the game that you haven't already heard blabbed around the water cooler. Besides, if you play the modest mess that is Lost: Via Domus you'll never again wonder if the TV series has jumped the shark. It can't possibly get this muddled.

But this brief, easy, and repetitive experience never comes close to the games it’s emulating.

It's definitely preferred to the average character-based kids' games; just don't expect to cast your Tony Hawk or Katamari aside to play it.

We can only recommend this to people who are interested in quitting videogames completely.

The controls aren't nuanced enough to please hardcore fighting or boxing fans. The frenetic pace and cheap shots will clearly alienate the more casual gamer. If your sole reason for getting this game is to enjoy multiplayer with your friends, it might be worth a look. Otherwise, stay away from this stinker.

Valhalla’s a well-meaning blend of old and new, but most of us have come to expect a little more from an RPG.

This is one of those games that will remind you that, many times, your imagination is the most powerful console.

Obviously, your enjoyment of the story line and setting are largely dependent on your familiarity with the show, but thankfully the gameplay is solid enough to provide enjoyment for Rocket Power neophytes as well.

Those who enjoyed World Heroes in the arcades, all twenty of you, will adore this collection from SNK. The conversions are as close as you'll get without owning a Neo Geo and several hundred dollars worth of cartridges. Yet the titles here are far from classics, especially considering SNK's extensive library of 2D fighting games.

Steer clear of this occasionally interesting but unfortunately flawed title.

From the look of the graphics to the general feel of the gameplay, we've seen this before -- with the exception of the track editor. But it's not really enough to make the game stand out from the rest of the pack.

It's just in no way remarkable. The combination of average graphics, short campaign scenarios, and limited tactical options put the game squarely in the middle of the pack.

Enemies are downright dumb and it's pretty hard to tell what's solid and what isn't. Bullets breeze through some things but won't pass through the gap between the spokes of a wagon wheel.

Dragon battles break down to attack-block-repeat. Ships appear from nowhere. Boss fights are more “follow the leader” than actual epic battles. Lair is not a broken game, just one that overcompensates to hide all its flaws rather than fix them.

Warpath isn't horrible, but it is incredibly uninspired. The design is, on every level, lackluster, as if the developers were so sick of the genre that they didn't even try this time.

It's no sexy party in the gameplay department, but it's no smoked meat log, either.

The game fails on every level. The controls are a mess, the camera is terrible, and the presentation is offensively bad.

No matter which monster you pick, you're in for a set of eight disappointingly quick battles.

Improving your rider's living conditions aside, there's nothing here that hasn't been done countless times before.

It's an improvement over the first one, but is there enough of a difference to warrant buying it? Only if you're a fan of the series and plan to spend a lot of time collecting.

The same old Samurai Warriors game with a bit of strategy pasted between battles. The new features are not enough to draw strategy fans into the fold, but they might just be what longtime fans of the series need to keep going with the genre.

If you're looking for a GBA game to show off the system's graphical capabilities, you can't do much better than Iridion 3D. You just may not want to play the actual game.

Even at a scant five hours, it's hard to believe that playing this game will be a worthwhile experience for any gamers, no matter how fond they are of the series.

For a game with a name that screams “party”, Bust-a-Move Bash! Doesn't offer much to keep the gang occupied.

It has plenty of significant flaws mixed with some excellently done gameplay elements.

It doesn't help matters when Purge looks as bad as it does. It's an ugly little game. The maps are genuinely uninteresting, with far too many forced corridors designed to help you set up choke points.

The controls aren't nuanced enough to please hardcore fighting or boxing fans. The frenetic pace and cheap shots will clearly alienate the more casual gamer. If your sole reason for getting this game is to enjoy multiplayer with your friends, it might be worth a look. Otherwise, stay away from this stinker.

At best, Obscure is worth a rental solely for co-op play with a friend. The voice acting, dialogue, and silly looking enemies are surely good for some laughs on a weekend when there's nothing better to do.

And although Blade & Sword tries to make it more interesting with the custom combo system, it's still boring. Make that, boring and tedious. The levels aren't even randomized, so incentive to play again as a different character is limited.

Even given how solid Cy Girls combat elements are, the shoddy level design really makes it more frustrating to play than anything else. If you're going to play it, we recommend using a walkthrough.

Nothing more than a second-rate shooter. It's obvious that the developer has talent, but it should have focused its skills more on gameplay than on presentation.

Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending upon how you view these things), quite a few of the game's levels can be beaten simply by running like heck through them and avoiding all conflict.

A simple, unpolished action game. The music is comprised of simple, repetitive loops that are just begging for the mute button, the voice acting is absolutely atrocious, the plot of each campaign is held tenuously together by the slimmest of threads, and the most important part of a game, the gameplay, is shallow and unsatisfying.

A great concept for an EyeToy standalone title, but the quality and variety of minigames simply fail to do the theme justice.

The story mode is boring and full of repetition, the controls are overly simplistic.

Warriors Orochi is really only for the hardcore fans of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors franchises. We freely admit that we’re not one of those. You either like it or you don’t. You either care about the story or you don’t. Put Average Joe Gamer and this reviewer down in the “don’t” column.

Imagine an M-rated RPG set in the Virtua Fighter universe with the real VF combat engine. Until that day comes you’ll experience more virtua pain than virtua pleasure with this one.

No amount of clever quips and Master Chief parody characters is worth slogging through a shooter that makes Dark Sector look like an inspired stroke of genius. By the end of the game, no amount of clever enemy character names or profanity-laced outbursts by Neil Patrick Harris can distract you from the fact that you’re simply not having much fun.

Consider Spy vs. Spy a third-person parody of the genre that doesn't add much to the equation.

Combat is occasionally brilliant, but the stealth scenes are a real chore. Developing your characters’ skills adds a lot to the game, but listening to them talk will give you a headache.

Strictly fans-only.

Practically unplayable and should be avoided at all costs.

A depressingly face-value take on a dystopian future that works neither as a game or a parody, except of itself. There's some humor in each arrest procedure, but it wears thin quickly.

But there's nothing in the game that you haven't already heard blabbed around the water cooler. Besides, if you play the modest mess that is Lost: Via Domus you'll never again wonder if the TV series has jumped the shark. It can't possibly get this muddled.

Nothing short of a total disaster.

There’s a good game in here somewhere, but it’s buried beneath a layer of unpolished graphics, clumsy controls, and boring missions.

Blades of Time is a mediocre game, with an inventive combat system utilizing time manipulation. Dreadful writing and one of the most annoying protagonists in a dog's age dampen its charms, while the puzzles between combat show a dearth of creativity.

Two years later, this doesn't look any better than Cavia's earlier efforts -- its visuals are marred by aliasing that's unforgivable at this stage, and the animation blending is so primitive that you can't even reload while moving -- while its design doesn't try very hard at much of anything.

It feels like every single car in the game is driving around on bald tires. No matter what you do, you’ll be sliding off the road.

As a means of killing 20 minutes here and there, the game has merit. We can't condone fiddling with it for any longer in a single sitting, though.

A pedestrian title with the power of the Resident Evil series behind it...However, with a kickass multiplayer, mixed zombie/contemporary warfare, and a high-definition view of Raccoon City's infection, the game holds its own.

A middling action/adventure, The DaVinci Code has some interesting elements and puzzles, but tries too hard to be a jack of all trades. The presentation is mediocre, the combat extraneous and out of place, and the levels uninspired. The puzzles and teamwork elements are the high point, but overall, this is yet another forgettable attempt to cash in on a popular franchise.

If you dig dog-eared InuYasha and his rather violent friends, Feudal Combat is a pleasant diversion.

Despite the dull window dressing, Winter Sports does have lots of game modes. There are more good events than bad ones. The good ones actually show some pretty well thought out ways to use the Wii controls to good effect - a solid effort.

For the hardcore action fans that really need a fix, I suppose Time Ace might be worth a look. There are multiple difficulty levels, plenty of planes and power-ups to collect, and multiplayer battles for you and all your friends who also bought a copy of the game. But really, your money is probably better spent on a game that’s at least trying to be fun.

You know what would be a perfect fit? Tetris on Xbox Live Arcade. It’s really hard to understand why THQ didn’t take that route for this game.

Dark Messiah is a frustrating title, since moments of fun are outweighed by long stretches of tedium.

While it's not really fair to judge the last generation's hardware by the standards of the next one, the PS2 versions of these games are getting harder and harder on the eyes. Koei's development teams have done their best to keep up, and the character modeling here is still pretty impressive, but the drab backgrounds and draw-in show the age of the technology.

Truly stunning visuals, excellent, non-linear map design, hours of playtime, and an innovative magic system help bring it up a notch above the competition. Unfortunately, the control problems, a few technical glitches, a slow start, and a lousy camera hamper the experience.

Great War Nations might appeal to those new to the genre, but strategy vets will want to "erase this memory of Sparta from the histories."

More characters and multiplayer modes would have improved it a great deal, but as it is, there’s plenty of levels and engaging mutant action.

An unfinished, bug-ridden game. Blame Core for being too ambitious. Blame Eidos for shipping it too soon. But don't blame us if you buy it.

Between the dull kill-and-rob action, dopey wanna-be movie plot and the sheer fact that this game is recycled from a game that pretty much everybody hates there's not much to recommend this game – apart from the price tag.

Aside from the premise and dialogue, NeverDead does little else right. The controls feel underdone and glitchy, the graphics are lackluster, and the combat and level design for most of the game are just underwhelming.

This game has no personality because it is filled with predictable, relentlessly average design. Sadly, even the boring design actually manages to struggle, thanks to a few key flaws.

There's good work here, on the graphics, the soundtrack, the interface, and even the combat system, for all that it doesn't work out in the long run.

Sadly there’s no traditional one-on-one mode, so players aren’t given the chance to inflict heaps of damage on one another.

More open-ended environments, greater character customization, trickier puzzles, and smarter enemies would have all made for a memorable trip.

No amount of clever quips and Master Chief parody characters is worth slogging through a shooter that makes Dark Sector look like an inspired stroke of genius. By the end of the game, no amount of clever enemy character names or profanity-laced outbursts by Neil Patrick Harris can distract you from the fact that you’re simply not having much fun.

Even the most hardcore DBZ fans will feel ripped off if they purchase Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, and non-rabid fans will be angry to the point of violence.

Feels like a generic platformer with Looney Tunes characters pasted on top of it. All of the irreverent one-liners in the world can't save it, and neither can half-hearted appearances by supporting characters.

Capcom may have moved to true 3-D environments, but its design philosophy is still stuck in the old pre-rendered graphics days of the PS. This is a good series. Its third installment deserves a whole lot better.

Practically unplayable and should be avoided at all costs.