With the basic formula of Dead Cells still highly effective, Return to Castlevania is a terrific and natural addition to any run. From the moment Dead Cells' remix of "Vampire Killer" blasted over my speakers, I lost track of the number of times I smiled. The Castlevania series may feel forgotten by Konami, but this Dead Cells DLC proves there are still plenty of developers and players who still love it. [Impressions]

I was happily surprised by the breadth, depth, and challenge of the Iki Island expansion. For new players, it will extend an already lengthy adventure into something more. Meanwhile, returning players should be thrilled at how well this experience dovetails out of an already stellar game. Iki Island is what I want out of single-player game expansions. And it’s further proof (as if we needed any more at this point) that Sucker Punch has a standout new property to continue building on.

Legends of Runeterra has a lot to offer as it enters the digital card game ring. Exploring the League of Legends universe in card form is enjoyable and addictive, and slicing an opponent down with a Fiora flourish or a Thresh-hooked hero is a blast. [Beta review score = 83]

If you've never played Death Stranding, I think you should. Whether it's the original release or the new Director's Cut, the game is worth experiencing. Not to say it's perfect by any means (read Game Informer's review for a second opinion). But there's nothing like Death Stranding. And there may never be again; I struggle to think Sony or any other publisher will ever let Kojima be this free a second time – at least not with this kind of budget. That's what makes Death Stranding worth experiencing. Gravity Gloves, race tracks, and cargo catapults are just icing on the cake.

There is no denying that Dark Souls on Switch is not the absolute best way to play the game. That honor belongs to your PS4, Xbox One, or PC, but the Switch version of the game is perfectly fine. You sacrifice a higher frame-rate for the opportunity to play the game handheld (and have the option to pause!), and in my experience the trade-off has been worth it.

Regardless of its shortcomings, this still serves as a great way to play these three games on modern, portable technology. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a must-have for all die-hard fans of Nintendo's flagship franchise, but it's unfortunate to have it outshone not only by the collection's contemporaries, but also by the collection it was essentially modeled after nearly three decades ago. If you're on the fence about Super Mario 3D All-Stars, you can't go wrong with these three classic adventures in one neat package. However, you'll want to grab these before they disappear forever; Nintendo currently plans on pulling the sale of Super Mario 3D All-Stars at the end of March 2021.

Yes, it is worth revisiting, mostly on the merit of the original being such a great game. If you’ve played it before, you know what to expect, but it holds up well and the new mode is worth checking out (and it’s entirely optional if you ‘re not interested). If you’ve never played the original Mario & Luigi, then you should absolutely check it out. It was a great game in 2003, and through it may not by wholly improved, depending on how you feel about the visuals, it is still a fantastic game.

The Heist is well worth your time, especially if the post-credits sequences in the main game have you counting the days until a potential Spider-Man 2.

An uninspired nightmare that tarnishes the Star Wars name. [Dec 2001, p.115]

The vehicles don't act how they would in real life and it's so short on thrills that it needs to sit atop a stack of phone books to see over the dashboard. [Oct 2003, p.145]

It's not as if the game itself is bad, it's that the technology is so horribly mangled that the delicious puzzle-laden universe is almost unplayable on Xbox. [June 2005, p.132]

Outriders doesn't revolutionize any type of genre, and it's not trying to (nor does it have to). From what I’ve played so far, what Outriders provides is a well-thought-out shooter experience with expertly tailored RPG twists. It's an enjoyable ride that is made infinitely better by playing with friends, but not inherently hurt by running solo either. This game takes the best of looter-shooters and the best of sci-fi RPGs and blends these elements into a game experience that is worth diving into because of its high replayability, customizable play style, and fun story.

The only good that can come from this game is sending it as a prank gift to Jake Lloyd with a note reading "You aren't the only one who ruined Star Wars." [July 2005, p.126]

This weird ass-end swing out makes circuit racing all but impossible until you re-learn the concepts of physics, weight distribution, and even gravity. [Feb 2005, p.125]

If you've had neurosurgery more than twice, you may (and I stress the word) find a thimble's worth of entertainment here. If not, you'll get more kicks out of a sponge...just an ordinary pantless sponge. [Nov 2003, p.153]

Labo VR is a novelty, to be sure, but it knows its limitations and constructs some fun experiences within those boundaries.

These games might have been fun portables 20 years ago, but now they're too simple and boring. [Feb 2003, p.110]

Combined with clunky controls and a bad camera, Monster Hunter Freedom winds up about as appealing as a pile of the Wolfman's droppings. [Jun 2006, p.119]

It looks like a freakin' "Doom II" mode, except the framerate isn't as good. [Jan 2004, p.157]

If anything, the game did show me how much torment I can put up with before breaking down, sobbing, and pleading to make it stop. [Dec 2002, p.125]

From design to execution, this is a mess of a game, and a new low point for the once-loved marsupial. [Dec 2008, p.110]

While I love the feeling of crafting my own stuff, slowly increasing the areas that I’m strong enough to explore, and fastidiously upping all my gathering and crafting skills, I can see those charms fading rapidly as the activities become somewhat rote. The dynamics involved in faction wars and territory control seem to be the peppy antidote for the never-ending rock farm in various undead shacks and homesteads. As with other games that lean into this kind of emergent gameplay (RIP Shadowbane), some of New World will be what players shape it into. [Early Impressions]

Wow, generic platform games have reached a new pinnacle of dull and cliche. [Feb 2005, p.113]

The only laughs come from knowing your friends are suffering the same punishment you are...They're cursing this to anyone within earshot, just like you. [Dec 2003, p.154]

Wow, generic platform games have reached a new pinnacle of dull and cliche. [Feb 2005, p.113]

It's simply so boring that my mind wanders to the chores waiting for me at home. [Jan 2004, p.151]

The only impressive thing about Wii Party is how Nintendo dumbed down and removed the soul from a franchise that was already as stupid and soulless as Mario Party.

Given the breadth of exciting content to play, including Portal’s six classic maps like Battlefield 3’s Caspian Border and 1942’s Battle of the Bulge, this entry is an easy recommendation for fans of the series. If you’re on the fence about purchasing Battlefield 2042 at launch, you can look forward to my full review in the coming days. [Review in Progress]

This is the most mindless button masher I've come across in a long time...Like its silently morbid hero, the new Gungrave shows up dead on arrival. [Nov 2004, p.158]

What kills this title for me, though, is the ridiculous emphasis on scouting. How am I supposed to conquer the continent when I can only see what's happening on 20 percent of any given battle map? [Jan 2006, p.138]

This game had the chance to go in a different direction on the Wii and do something interesting with the Olympics, but unfortunately merely substitutes remote-shaking for button-mashing rather than offering genuinely fun activities.

I can either pity this title, or I can tell you the truth - Galleon just isn't worth your time. [Oct 2004, p.140]

The visuals are a throwback to the early days of PS2, if not Dreamcast. [Aug 2003, p.91]

An experience that is unquestionably less fun than doing one's taxes. [May 2005, p.116]

It’s been awhile since I played a game that butchered so many of the basics of gameplay and design. [Sept 2008, p.103]

It's so stiff and sluggish that you'll often find yourself wondering if the buttons on your PSP are shorting out. [Nov 2005, p.180]

You know you're in trouble when you can tally the number of frames per second on one hand. [Dec 2002, p.152]

One of the stupidest, most disappointing games of all time. [Dec 2003, p.175]

Eidos has produced a turd of such magnitude that there is no adjective to describe my overwhelming distaste for this game and many of the things it stands for. [Jan 2004, p.134]

What kills this title for me, though, is the ridiculous emphasis on scouting. How am I supposed to conquer the continent when I can only see what's happening on 20 percent of any given battle map? [Jan 2006, p.138]

The Outer Worlds is not at its best on Switch, since the visuals and performance take a serious hit on the system. The textures, framerate, lighting, and more have been downgraded to run on the hardware.

Even if you had fun with Point Blank, you'll forget it existed minutes later. [Aug 2006, p.92]

Punishing players and withholding any reward adds replay, right? At first I thought this game was a joke, but I was wrong. It’s a joke and total garbage.

If everything was working correctly, the Xbox One version would be on par with the PlayStation 4, but pervasive technical difficulties ultimately undermine it. More than two weeks into the review, we were still experiencing crippling lag in the Crime.net mission select screen, and when missions do load we had a less than 10 percent success rate in joining the matches. Your only bet to have a stable experience playing Payday 2 on Xbox One currently is to set up your own heist and invite friends.

There is one and only one good thing to say about Two Worlds: the game truly gives you the freedom to align with any faction and change the gameworld by your choices. Everything else – and I mean everything else – sucks.

Like sitting alone in the woods with a bottle of peepee tends to be, this game is damn boring. [Nov 2003, p.171]

The difficulty wouldn't be so frustrating if you could quickly retry the mission, but the load times are unforgivably long. [Dec 2001, p.93]

A Sound of Thunder is chock full of some of the worst box-pushing tasks I've ever seen. Then again, it's also home to some of the worst driving controls and blandest graphics I've seen, so I guess that shouldn't shock me. [Apr 2004, p.110]

Long story short, this is a flawed game through and through. Even the most devout Spyro fans should avoid it.

Mario and his pals starred in some great sports titles back in the Nintendo 64 days, but gameplay like this just doesn't cut it in 2011. [March 2011, p.93]

Terrible when it comes to gameplay. [Apr 2002, p.83]

Like a pizza covered in chocolate, this game's touch screen swing is appealing for about half a second before you swear it off forever. [Feb 2005, p.125]

Thank God. Now I can stop pretending that I was having fun rocking out to Metallica and live my dream of playing backup cowbell in a cruise ship band version of “Yankee Doodle.”

A listless, sludgy slog through a knee-deep slush puddle of suckiness. [Dec 2003, p.187]

I hope some developer takes the gaffe that is Raw Danger, extracts the great idea at its center, and creates the blockbuster experience it has the potential to be. [June 2007, p.110]

Just when you thought the updates and lack of people online couldn't make PlanetSide any worse, Sony Online Entertainment drops perhaps its biggest turd in history: Core Combat. [Jan 2004, p.157]

The leader in sports [ESPN] and the company behind "Metal Gear Solid" should just go their separate ways. [Mar 2002, p.85]

A foul dead fish aroma surrounds every gameplay aspect. The techniqes of casting, jigging, setting the hook, and landing the fish are miserably executed. [Sept 2004, p.115]

Simply put, this game is bad and I hate it. [Nov. 2006, p.140]

The scope of this title covers the final third of the Legacy of Goku storyline, but it does so in splotchy, episodic segments relying on the most generic "walk around, talk to people, and fight things" formula. [Oct 2004, p.147]

Don’t confuse Wave Rally for a Baby Ruth floating in the PS2 pool – It’s a turd. [Feb 2002, p.84]

One of the most pathetic jobs of porting a PC game to the console I have ever seen in this horrid little life of mine. [June 2003, p.114]

Never has a hero looked so stupid. As catastrophic as these missteps are, they pale in comparison to Spidey’s egregious video game blunder, Friend or Foe. [Nov 2007, p.144]

This game stinks. That's really all there is to it. [July 2004, p.115]

Reshef feels like it was assembed from various rejected design concepts and shards of concentrated boring. [Sept 2004, p.118]

The majority of your time with Infernal (may it be short, for your sake) is spent gunning down goons in the employ of Heaven with one small handful of weapons. [June 2007, p.116]

From design to execution, this is a mess of a game, and a new low point for the once-loved marsupial.

There is little in the way of discernable strategy or skill, the controls are never explained, and they’re unresponsive once you do figure them out. If this game had a head, it should hang it in shame for claiming to be part of the 360 library.

Never has a hero looked so stupid. As catastrophic as these missteps are, they pale in comparison to Spidey’s egregious video game blunder, Friend or Foe. [Nov 2007, p.144]

Where the game falls depressingly short is in Level-5 ignoring the many valid criticisms of the first game and churning out a cookie-cutter sequel that is even more of a rehash than the average yearly sports title or shooter franchise.

Even ignoring the ludicrous plot, what really matters here should be the shooting mechanic, which just isn’t much fun. The strangely designed cover system has you popping up and down like a hyperactive rabbit, so you never really get a full view of the action. And get this: in the cooperative multiplayer, you play in split screen – in letterbox format! What were they thinking? I don’t know what else I can tell you to discourage you away from this complete disaster.

Apart from the controversial violence contained within, there's little of real value here. [Jan 2002, p.83]

This sad excuse for a port doesn't even deserve a body bag. Just toss it in the river. [Nov. 2006, p.146]

I don't use this example lightly, but think back to "Grabbed by the Ghoulies," a similarly good-looking, but unfun and almost unplayable nightmare of gameplay design missteps. [Nov 2005, p.178]

The story is delivered witih all the emotion of a grade school play. This woldn't be such a bad thing, if the gameplay weren't absolutely abysmal. [Dec 2002, p.122]

We're talking like Weather Channel boring here. Guinness World Record boring. [Oct 2004, p.129]

Like those vacuum-powered hair trimmers, this one sucks while it cuts. [July 2004, p.116]

At the most, this game is great for punishing ill-behaved children.

Never has a hero looked so stupid. As catastrophic as these missteps are, they pale in comparison to Spidey’s egregious video game blunder, Friend or Foe.

A game that is likely to be frustrating to experienced players of the miniature game and nearly impossible to grasp for newcomers. [Dec 2006, p.157]

The fun of these party games wears thin rather quickly. [Dec 2002, p.144]

Maybe some gamers will be pulled into the aquatic world of Steel Diver despite the limited content, tech demo quality, and seemingly broken multiplayer. For the majority of Nintendo fans, though, it's destined to become a strange and forgotten footnote in the publisher's history.

Even the most patient gamers will be bored to tears for the first few hours of this adventure. [Jan 2004, p.157]

I have to go to the courthouse and file a restraining order so this crappy game cannot get within 1,000 fee of me ever again. [August 2002, p.91]

Tron: Evolution will probably have a handful of defenders, but I can't reasonably suggest that anyone play it. It's a shoddy experience that ultimately isn't much fun. Tron superfans would do better simply watching the movie again and calling it a day. [Jan 2011, p.80]

Tron: Evolution will probably have a handful of defenders, but I can't reasonably suggest that anyone play it. It's a shoddy experience that ultimately isn't much fun. Tron superfans would do better simply watching the movie again and calling it a day.

Dense with the most boring, tedious, and limp gameplay this side of sewer-water. [Nov 2005, p.180]

This bird will need a true miracle to rise again from this disaster. [June 2005, p.130]

There's absolutely no reason to put up with the frustration of doing the simplest of tasks in order to check out the futuristic abilities that you'll eventually command here. [Mar 2007, p.105]

Foremost among these flaws is the camera, which is so poor that it almost defies imagination. [Dec 2001, p.113]

Given its diehard fan base, it would be easy for Nintendo to forget that the point of first-party launch titles is to sell consumers on the capabilities of a new system – especially when it has Breath of the Wild up its sleeve. But most consumers would like more than one reason to buy a new console, and 1-2-Switch is insultingly shallow. Nintendo has created an intriguing piece of hardware, but its default runner-up launch title presents the Switch like it's a cheap gimmick machine.

Punch Time Explosion had a good opportunity to impress 3DS owners hungering for a worthwhile experience following the handheld's weak launch lineup, but it simply falls in line with the other disappointments. Cartoon junkies may love seeing their heroes in action, but those used to Smash Bros. polish will want to pass on this one.

Unfortunately, no amount of options can overcome the inane gameplay. I’ve defended the series in the past as harmless, dumb fun, but Island Tour is wholly unenjoyable.

It's a shame that the developer couldn't also license some fun gameplay to go along with the Corvette name. [June 2004, p.129]

Pencil Test Studios clearly needed time to fix the litany of embarrassing bugs that plague Armikrog at launch. Even then, it wouldn't have helped the overly simplistic story and bland puzzles. If the developer ever plans on doing a sequel, I hope it's an animated film – the visuals are the only thing Armikrog has going for it.

The game, on the other hand, is just plain gruesome, and for all the wrong reasons. Avoid it like the plague. [Nov 2001, p.131]

Initially amusing, but it wears out its welcome quickly thanks to a lack of variety. [Mar 2012, p.95]

This is a quirky Japanese kissing game. I say kiss it goodbye, because it’s not worth your time. Some games are just made broken. I don’t mean broken in the bug-riddled sense, but Chulip is probably one of the most poorly designed games I have ever played.