It's not "Halo," but PS2 owners finally have an exclusive FPS that is worth bragging about. [June 2005, p.129]

With speeds that border on being too great for the human eye to comprehend and computer opponents that never once falter, F-Zero GX is designed specifically for hardcore gamers and people who are gluttons for punishment. [Sept 2003, p.112]

It's not a revolution, but it's an improvement. [Nov 2005, p.140]

It's not every day that a licensed game actually makes its source material cooler, especially when you are talking about Star Wars. [Mar 2006, p.114]

EA has touched on most of the elements of NASCAR. Now it needs to draw them all together and blow the whole thing out. [Oct 2005, p.119]

In terms of visuals and pace, Live runs circles around rival "ESPN," but the gameplay is still a distant second in terms of execution. [Nov 2004, p.142]

Its strengths greatly dwarf its shortcomings. [Dec 2002, p.126]

The story is intriguing in that sweeping fate-of-the-galaxy sci-fi kind of way, without being completely overblown and melodramatic. [March 2005, p.138]

HarmoKnight is among the best the 3DS eShop has to offer. Playtime only clocks in at around 4-5 hours, but it is a full experience. With its diverse levels, rhythm-focused gameplay, great music, and charming characters, HarmoKnight will be a memorable experience for those lucky enough to discover it.

Boss fights are rarely this exhilarating, but at the same time, disposing of pawns is hardly ever this boring. I walked away from Lost Planet with sweaty palms from combating giant monstrosities, but also with the feeling that I wanted so much more as I progressed through the quest.

The good easily outweighs the bad in this case, though, and plants Death Jr. 2 firmly in the upper echelon of PSP titles. [Nov. 2006, p.145]

After the embarrassment of The Perseus Mandate, F.E.A.R. 2 should be in consideration for comeback player of the year. While the multiplayer is weak and the mood won’t make people forget Dead Space any time soon, the solid action core makes it worth a play.

Warrior's Code is one of the better action/RPG's to hit the market recently, on any platform. [Apr 2006, p.133]

The missions find the right balance between challenge and ease of play. Having battles against enemies like giant flying fortresses offers enough fantasy to balance the realistic military vibe. There’s even some ad hoc multiplayer, if that’s your thing.

Overall, Stray Gods rocks. Between the cast's fantastic performances, a fun twist on Greek mythology, and a genuinely novel game mechanic, it's a game I didn't know I needed, but one I'm happy to give a standing ovation to.

If you want to know the setup for the next big entry, you have to play this game to find out what's in store for the conclusion of the Xehanort arc. You could just watch some cutscenes online, but you'd be cheating yourself out of a lot of fun.

This is the best you'll see in this generation of handheld hardware. [Mar 2003, p.92]

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a solid package, retaining the charm and entertainment of previous entries. It's not the series’ best, but there’s plenty to keep you entertained as you work your way through case after case. The new scenery and characters made things feel fresh, but playing another Ace Attorney game also felt a bit like coming home.

Dyad is not a pure racing game, but sometimes I aimed for speed. It's not quite a rhythm game, but the steady beat and ethereal enemy sound effects influenced my pace. Dyad falls into a genre gray zone that makes it hard to define. Playing for long stretches feels like sensory over-indulgence, which could be good or bad depending on your sensitivity. No matter how busy the onscreen action becomes, Dyad is consistently entertaining and rarely frustrating.

In all, it’s a good game that feels like a bit less than the sum of its parts. While I appreciate Brothers’ languid storytelling, I can’t help but feel as if the game had pretentions of being a much deeper experience than what has actually been delivered.

The AI seems insanely good one minute then misses an obvious attack the next, and the story is completely throwaway, but there is enough gameplay here to keep puzzle fans busy for a long time. [May 2007, p.99]

The twist behind Children of Arkham is a good one that I didn’t see coming. If you thought it had ties to the comic book storyline Court of Owls, keep guessing. I like where this is going.

The missions are quite ingenious and the multiplayer modes are wildly entertaining. [July 2003, p.107]

The addition of online trades and battles finally delivers on the promise that the first Pokémon games made. The crucial social interactivity aspect of Pokémon now takes place on a global scale. It only took 10 years!

By zeroing in solely on the catastrophic potential of the Hulk (no Banner stealth garbage this time), Radical has succeeded in providing a depth to demolition that similar sandbox titles have yet to achieve. [Sept 2005, p.97]

Though sub-par action and cheap deaths are endemic to the Bard's quest, this title made me feel like I was taking part in a real fantasy adventure teh way few others have over the years. [Dec 2004, p.167]

I haven't had an opportunity to test my new moves at a club yet, but with Dance Central 2's drop-in, drop-out multiplayer, I don't need to leave my house to have a social dance experience. I still think that 90 percent of all dance moves look better when anyone other than me performs them, and that children dance with a wild abandon that few adults are confident enough to muster, but my time with Dance Central 2 has convinced me that even those of us that aren't dance enthusiasts can have fun busting a move if we're willing to give it a shot.

Reanimal is a simple game with a challenging subject matter. Those looking for a fun co-op experience should look elsewhere, as it is neither great as a shared experience nor fun. But it is thought-provoking and stimulating, and if you can stomach combat suicide, animal harm, and more – all proxies for the effects of war on the people who wage it and the victims of that destruction – Tarsier has created something worth wrestling with.

If you've never played this game before, the thrills it delivers are of the highest level, and the unique Geo-Mod technology creates a number of interesting gameplay strategies. [Apr 2003, p.93]

If your interest lies solely with the single-player experience - and let's be frank, this is why we counted down the days until BioShock 2's release - I walked away from it pleased, but also unfulfilled. BioShock 2 eventually becomes the sequel I hoped for, but spends too much time getting there. [Issue#203, p.82]

Minecraft fans should enjoy the references to the game, while Telltale fans will enjoy the traditional storytelling elements they’ve come to expect from the studio. The Order of the Stone grabs your attention at a number of points and sets you down the path of actually caring about what’s going on in a story set in the player-driven Minecraft universe.

Mario isn’t featured in this title, but Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker shares the same creative spark that so often fuels games bearing the Mario name.

Thankfully, the classic Lego gameplay dominates the main game, making Lego Batman 2 another goofy brick-building blast to play. [Aug 2012, p.110]

The game plays almost exactly like the Apple II original, albeit with many improvements, and the frustration involved is just as high. [Dec 2003, p.185]

But what matters most is when the bell rings, and taking control of this massive roster and mixing it up – regardless of gender – across a now-impressive selection of stipulations is a blast. Although it’s the only real game in town, WWE 2K25 retains its title as the best and most substantial pro wrestling sim fans can buy.

The real-time strategy genre remains relevant, fueled by a few big titles once in a while. While Age of Empires IV lacks any ambition to even gently jostle the standards set by Age of Empires II decades earlier, it’s a good way to play a classic-feeling RTS today with some slick polish and panache.

Boxboy is an easy-to-overlook entry in the 3DS digital library. It’s inexpensive and doesn’t have a particularly remarkable look about it, but its well-designed puzzles continue to surprise, making it absolutely worth playing.

Although it's certainly not a masterpiece, The Warriors gets by on style, flair, variety, and simple fun. [Nov 2005, p.144]

In terms of visuals and pace, Live runs circles around rival "ESPN," but the gameplay is still a distant second in terms of execution. [Nov 2004, p.142]

Shin Megami Tensei V makes smart improvements to its already strong core, creating an entertaining and rewarding journey.

The level designs and objectives just aren't as clever and the game itself is rather short, even for inexperienced FPS players. [Jan 2003, p.118]

Rather than focusing on the political or militant side of war like many games do, Bury Me, My Love's humanistic approach is refreshing. This window into war never feels heavy handed or disingenuous; it's grounded in its storytelling, and kept me glued to the screen until Nour's journey concluded.

This sequel doesn't dramatically change the formula, but like its predecessor, you want to curl up in a dark room with this mobile title and experience all it has to offer.

The visual style immediately stoked my interest. It’s arresting and stylistic, accented by interesting and appropriate movements of the camera. The graphics’ clean lines are still expressive and often a fundamental part of the puzzles, instructive in how players can move about the world and interact with it. With that also comes enriching aural flourishes that further pull you in and changes of color that help express the protagonists’ progression.

Despite making players run the same levels multiple times, The End Is Nigh is a worthy successor to Super Meat Boy. It offers the same ludicrously hard and satisfying approach to level design and spices it up with some substantial changes. Its interlocked world introduces some fun exploration, even if it can be a pain to backtrack through brutal gauntlets time and again. But if you’ve found the platform genre a little too lenient in recent years, The End is Nigh will give the fix you’ve been looking for.

Hopefully Ensemble will focus a little more on substance than style with its next game. [Dec 2005, p.184]

The games are a blast worth remembering. Old racing is the new hotness. [Oct 2005, p.128]

Home to some of the greatest gameplay that you'll ever encounter, but unless you compete online, it mostly goes to waste. [Dec 2005, p.154]

Even so, FTL is richly imagined and hard to put down, and an impressively deep and complex game for the iOS platform.

I like Fallen Enchantress. It's the closest anyone has come to producing the game I've been dreaming about since I was an adolescent with visions of wizards carving fantastical empires out of a hostile world. But as much as I feel like I should be head-over-heels in love with it, my 50-plus hours with the game leave me satisfied rather than ecstatic. Maybe some enterprising modder will use the included tools to expand on the base game's good parts while mitigating its issues and add a little soul to the mix. I'll gladly dump another 50 hours into Fallen Enchantress on that blessed day.

Whether or not Tekken is your fighting game of choice, this portable bruiser puts up features and performance that could convert some of you non-believers out there. [Sept. 2006, p.100]

Although the controls fit as comfortably as Master Chief's glove, the targeting system is too demanding of precision, especially when you are required to unload dozens of rounds into certain enemy types. [March 2005, p.136]

The immense roster is a glorious thing, but by altering the sacred Fatality, the action just isn’t up to the series’ standards or what fans expect.

Rocket Slime harnesses these creatures' irresistible charm and pairs it with cclever exploration and puzzle solving to form a fun adventure with a decidedly classic feel. [Oct. 2006, p.112]

This title is absolutely stuffed with content. [Dec 2003, p.156]

UFC still has some untapped game potential, but Throwdown is its best effort so far. [June 2002, p.78]

At its best, Warhawk delivers constant thrills through exciting team-based action that'll have you coming back for more if only to rank up to the next level in your leaderboard standings. At its worst, Warhawk will disappoint because you'll never really get a good context or sense of the world around you, since there really aren't any plot or characters to deliver those elements.

Gamifying your food habits is, indeed, an awful idea, and Consume Me lays it out in a manner I found deeply compelling and entertaining. Even if you ignore the content warning, its message is clear from its opening moments. If its ending hadn't stumbled, it might've been one of my all-time favorites, but there's still a lot to love here despite that underwhelming conclusion. Consume Me is teeming with creativity and personality, and for that, it's earned a special place in my heart.

The most beautiful PC game on the market. [Dec 2003, p.182]

It's the fast-paced, procedure driven puzzling gameplay really sets Trauma Center apart. [Oct 2005, p.154]

This title's epic scope, engrossing story, and addictive combat system easily outweigh these minor concerns. [Aug 2003, p.92]

The last Toca shot itself in the foot instead of putting the pedal to the metal by restricting players with a linear career structure. Luckily for us, Codemasters has rectified the situation in this newest Toca. [Mar 2006, p.100]

Similar to my experience playing Final Fantasy XIII-2, I eventually just had to tune out the plot to enjoy the gameplay. That's a shame, but it doesn't erase the entertaining battle system, the satisfaction of building an unstoppable monster collection, or the thrill of seeing your favorite characters back in action. [Nov 2016, p.84]

Unlocking cars is great, but it doesn’t take long before you tire of doing the same routine. Racing, of course, is what it’s all about, but where’s the personality? Where’s the great track selection that doesn’t make you feel bored within a few hours? Where’s the career mode that’s less like flipping through a car catalog and more like participating in an actual career?

Day of the Tentacle is largely removed from the adventure genre’s shortcomings, such as obtuse puzzle design, though it lacks a certain depth to its story. Nonetheless, its strange premise, witty one-liners, and brain-teasing puzzles help it remain something special.

Despite some disappointing option and feature exclusions, Super Mega Baseball 4 is a strong alternative to the annualized sim-facing MLB game from Sony. Fans of retro-style arcade baseball games will find a lot to love, and roster customization enthusiasts have their new gold standard.

Forza Horizon 2 may not be the perfect sequel, but it still delivers stiff challenges, fun racing moments, and a variety of experiences. Hopefully another few years on the Xbox One can create a clearer direction forward for the series and enable it to continue being a worthy branch of the Forza brand.

Offers some amazing visual effects and locations that will blow your mind, and it still remains a blueprint for movie video games. [Dec 2003, p.130]

For all the annoyances of repeating areas and slow (but engaging) combat, Thousand-Year Door is now a series highlight. It marks the first instance of where I didn’t want a Mario RPG to go (I generally prefer the Mario & Luigi direction), but the constant fourth-wall breaking, myriad colorful and unique characters, and its willingness to just be weird all lead to a joyful journey. I am grateful that this shined-up version of the GameCube classic I missed is finally available on a contemporary platform.

Snipperclips is at its best when you bring your friends together, but I also enjoyed playing through a large collection of the puzzles by myself. Fun, clever, and overflowing with charm, Snipperclips is a delightful experience no matter how you play.

Fans of frequent save points will be frustrated, but devotees of the old hack n' slash will be satisfied tenfold. [Feb 2004, p.96]

The addition of online trades and battles finally delivers on the promise that the first Pokémon games made. The crucial social interactivity aspect of Pokémon now takes place on a global scale. It only took 10 years!

A little more polish and variety could have made it a landmark, but this release is far from disappointing. [May 2005, p.122]

Though the unforgiving moments where I watched my followers drop like flies wore on me at times, I loved how each scenario challenged me to balance all of these factors to accomplish a set of goals. Outlanders can be challenging and frustrating, but I rarely felt overwhelmed. Outlanders doesn't deliver on the grand scale of the large city simulations many associate with the genre, but its small-scale approach appeals to the task-oriented part of your brain, creating an immensely satisfying experience that brought me back time and time again.

Failing a rejection of the entire mindset that Tita Quest caters to, however, many good times can be easily found in this land of mytholigical wonder and fat loots. [Aug 2006, p.89]

All around, it's the same great handheld fighter with a host of much-needed and superfluous enhancements. [Aug 2003, p.104]

While the multiplayer is weak and the mood won’t make people forget Dead Space any time soon, the solid action core makes it worth a play.

DemiKids (both Light and Dark versions) are what the last Pokemon entires should have been... If you have any affinity for the GBA Pokemon games, DemiKids is a must-buy. [Sept 2003, p.126]

This doesn't feel vastly different from last year's model, which is my biggest complaint. If you're a UFC fan and you didn't pick up Undisputed 2009, this is definitely a superior product. But if you still have your copy of '09 you probably won't find enough fresh meat on these bones to satisfy you.

What these games lack in depth, they make up in charm and accessibility. The Lab is joyful and light, and a perfect evangelist for VR’s many possibilities. [Tested with Vive]

By zeroing in solely on the catastrophic potential of the Hulk (no Banner stealth garbage this time), Radical has succeeded in providing a depth to demolition that similar sandbox titles have yet to achieve. [Sept 2005, p.97]

Most of the positive elements of Black Ops II make their way to Nintendo's console unchanged. Visuals are sharp, the campaign offers great branching paths, and multiplayer is deep. No amount of multiplayer depth matters if people aren't playing, however, so this version of the game lands just a little shy of the mark set by its brothers on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Arms is a zany fighter that delivers excitement and fun at every turn. While I wish there was more to do, what is included in the package is worthwhile. If you're looking for a fresh and exciting experience to play on your Switch, Arms is worth a look.

Though Hauntii offers simplistic shooter pleasure, my favorite moments didn’t involve blowing targets to smithereens. The voice-less story of the ghost gradually regaining precious memories only to be faced with surrendering them to crossover touched me at points. I enjoyed interacting with the kooky, amusing ghosts, like a paranoid scientist concocting hair-brained schemes to capture your angel friend like a Team Rocket villain. I never tired of soaking in the swelling musical score as the camera panned out to reveal a jaw-dropping backdrop. The beautiful ending sequence stands out as a highlight of the year. Hauntii transforms the understandable anxiety and fear surrounding death into an alluring and comforting reflection of the joy of life.

Travis Strikes Again finds a good balance between fun, approachable action and reveling in Suda51 and Grasshopper’s signature style. It’s not the most intricate action game out there, but the simple combat works well as a vessel for several one-off moments that elevate it above its simple premise. It’s more of a prelude than a main event, but both on its own and as sign of things to come, Travis Strikes again is a promising return to form.

It may be horseracing, but Gallop Racer once again proves to be a surprisingly irresistible and incredibly deep play. [Oct 2004, p.134]

#IDARB is a fantastic party game with its large player count, simple-yet-solid mechanics, and the ability to let those spectating interact. It’s the perfect game to keep loaded on your Xbox One, as long as you have someone nearby to join the fun.

While the severe environment and sound design didn’t always work for me, and some of the puzzle solutions were stymied by wildly unpredictable onscreen variables, I was thoroughly impressed with Bionic Bay’s high challenge and ingenious twists on real-world physics. It’s a tight, fast-moving, and no-nonsense adventure that demands careful observation and strong thumbstick control in equal measures. You already know if that’s the vibe that lands for you; if it is, this mysterious journey should be on your list.

Perception is a memorable horror experience that thrives because of its unique setup and gameplay. Although more unsettling than downright terrifying, Perception managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, forcing me to solve a compelling mystery by facing what lurked in the dark.

Perception is a memorable horror experience that thrives because of its unique setup and gameplay. Although more unsettling than downright terrifying, Perception managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, forcing me to solve a compelling mystery by facing what lurked in the dark.

Despite the overall fun I had with Superstar mode, it's unfortunate other aspects of the game haven't been fixed. [Oct. 2006, p.92]

My Player mode’s uphill struggle may not appeal to everyone, but the outstanding presentation and best-in-class Association mode make NBA 2K10 the best basketball sim.

Doesn’t do anything terribly interesting outside of adding two new factions (a defensive British division and a highly mobile German counterpart). The added campaigns are very average, but will no doubt be entertaining enough to satisfy the needs of offline-focused players. By all means, grab Opposing Fronts if you simply need more CoH – just don’t expect anything particularly revolutionary here.

Is Rocksmith always a thrill a minute? No. However, few recent games offer so novel an experience as playing a guitar part, and hearing the notes you play flow out of your TV as part of a great rock song. It's the added incentive a lot of potential musicians might need to put in the time it takes to excel.

I still recommend newcomers start with the original or its PSP remake for the amazing story, but I'd by lying through my teeth if I said I'm not enjoying the hell out of my time with Disgaea 3. [Sept 2008, p.83]

Is Rocksmith always a thrill a minute? No. However, few recent games offer so novel an experience as playing a guitar part, and hearing the notes you play flow out of your TV as part of a great rock song. It's the added incentive a lot of potential musicians might need to put in the time it takes to excel.

The levels present players with enough scenarios to justify each character's presence, which helps prevent the onset of monotony. [July 2003, p.112]

Though sub-par action and cheap deaths are endemic to the Bard's quest, this title made me feel like I was taking part in a real fantasy adventure teh way few others have over the years. [Dec 2004, p.167]