It's still a blast to recklessly hurtle over the countryside, avoiding psychotic police and enemy factions. However, after a few hours you'll grow tired of the simple gameplay dynamic. [Dec 2001, p.94]

MTX is simply the fastest motocross game I've ever played. [Apr 2004, p.89]

Fast, fluid, and deep in-game control will satisfy soccer vets. [Holiday 2004, p.88]

Complaints and rough spots aside, this is a very solid and enjoyable effort. [July 2006, p.111]

The magic just isn’t here. Repeating the success of Star Wars with a radically different license requires more than Star Wars as a foundation. It really never finds Indiana Jones’ pulse, and ends up being somewhat of a mess, albeit a moderately fun one.

One of the best console adventure games in the last few years. [Jan 2004, p.151]

This replication of LA suffers from some of the worst pop-up I've seen in a game. [Jan 2004, p.138]

What I really enjoy is buying painted Muscle figures from the in-game vending machines. [July 2003, p.110]

Cosmic Star Heroine has a lot of great ideas, but they never develop into anything that leaves you fully satisfied. The game is still fun and worth playing, though; as someone who grew up with Phantasy Star, Suikoden, and Chrono Trigger, seeing some of their elements collected and compiled is charming. I just wish Cosmic Star Heroine was better-rounded and the rest of the game had as much depth as its battle system.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a fighting game that tries to appeal to everyone, and it largely succeeds (unless you’re a die-hard Wolverine fan). I occasionally cringed at the bad one-liners, but I also giggled with absurd joy every time photojournalist Frank West tossed a demigod like Thanos across a dilapidated space station. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite isn’t trying to be taken seriously; it’s a series of geeky what-if scenarios that play out in spectacular aerial battles. After I embraced that, I had a lot of fun.

A Fold Apart is a different puzzle game, and that’s a good thing. The concept is novel, and I like a story with some emotional pull, but it never moves beyond that. I can’t think of a puzzle that stood out over the others or even a moment in the story that was particularly poignant. It all comes together in a presentable package. Its creative folding-paper mechanic makes it worth opening, even if what’s inside won’t overly excite you.

Still Wakes the Deep is a relatively short game (I completed the campaign in under five hours). The story is strictly linear, akin to some of The Chinese Room’s other games, with no collectibles or secrets. While it’s true that the game builds on the setting, atmosphere, tension, and body horror, it flubs the most crucial aspect: the moments when you actually face the creatures. It’s like if The Thing was “from another world,” but it’s revealed to be E.T. due to how harmless it is. In the end, this romp through an infested oil rig might look slick, but it spills over and slips when it matters most.

Dive into the co-op with your friends to see all of the fun, strategy, and depth Dungeon Defenders has to offer. [July 2011, p.94]

Even if you're not old enough to remember blowing on carts, Retro Game Challenge is interesting and varied enough to entertain for hours. [Feb 2009, p.87]

Challenge mode offers a few uninspired minigames like banana catching and log hopping.

SNK has proven with King of Fighters XIII that it cares about the fans. Nearly every bit of negative feedback about the last game has been addressed here, resulting in distilled fan service in disc form. Devout King of Fighters fans left wanting last time won't have much to complain about here. And while the tutorial and missions mode offers some guidance for casual players, I can't recommend this over other superior fighters on the market.

Planning gets you ahead, but making choices in the heat of the moment is just as important. This dichotomy makes Sanctum 2 some of the most fun I've had with a tower defense game in a long time.

Basically, only play this game if your friends are willing to run at your side. When the game is functioning as intended, it can be brilliant. But don’t let your guard down. Problems will arise, and your most difficult challenge may be combating a bout of boredom.

Duels of the Planeswalkers isn't the full Magic experience. It's a taste of the broader landscape to entice players and make them more comfortable attending a casual Friday Night Magic event. If you're new to Magic: The Gathering, Duels of the Planeswalkers remains the best way to learn how to play without the intimidation of other players. Even with the online connection issues and additional purchases tied to making the most of Sealed mode, this is the best version to date. It's easy to recommend for new players just learning and veteran spellslingers looking for new single-player matches.

I applaud Digimon Survive for being a dark, harrowing, and wonderful visual novel, and subverting what I thought a Digimon story could be. While I wish the combat evolved as much as the surrounding story presentation, it’s not enough to deter someone from seeing the narrative through. Don’t expect a tactical masterpiece, but rather a well-made melancholy tale depicting Digimon in a light they haven’t been in before.

Spidey's acrobatic moves are also captured perfectly, and experimenting with his powers is the most enjoyable aspect of this adventure. [Nov 2005, p.142]

For a first-time entry into the firts-person market, Black is impressive. [Apr 2006, p.112]

Tchia drips with joyful, explorative fun. The idea of letting players loose in an interactive sandbox is a goal that has been chased by developers since video games began. Few truly give you the freedom to frolic in a virtual playground, and though Tchia is not without its shortcomings, it’s a rare instance where the temptation to just play in the digital world is rewarding at just about every turn. The tone, the music, and Tchia’s abilities all come together to create something that is simply fun, and it all takes place in a setting that demands to be explored.

Stranglehold is not a disaster. If you desire nothing more than to kill criminals on a massive scale, turn nightclubs into a war zone, and look cool doing it – this is your game.

Even though I liked the racing in Riders Republic, overall, I can't say I enjoyed my time with it. It's a missed opportunity of a game, focusing on all the wrong things, making for an experience worth skipping.

The magic just isn’t here. Repeating the success of Star Wars with a radically different license requires more than Star Wars as a foundation. It really never finds Indiana Jones’ pulse, and ends up being somewhat of a mess, albeit a moderately fun one.

Little touches like the DCMs and base-building elements help keep the action fresh, and the frenetic Conquest mode offers plenty of replay value. For a budget title, Section 8: Prejudice offers a lot of content. It doesn't rank alongside the Call of Dutys and Battlefields of the world, but it's worth a look for FPS fans itching for a new experience.

The best strategy games are able to transform you into a tactical powerhouse as you maneuver your units to victory. Yggdra Union manages to tap into this feeling occasionally with some innovative strategy mechanics, but more often it made me feel like a spectator rather than a commander.

With its physics-warping mechanics, thoughtful brainteasers, and playful atmosphere, Quantum Conundrum should appeal to the legions of Portal fanatics. Some may complain that it's not as funny or as clever as Valve's hit series, but Quantum Conundrum is a unique experience that deserves attention nonetheless.

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.

Not many games are built like The Centennial Case, and I enjoyed the ambition behind trying something different to tell a complex story and involve the player in piecing it together. It gave me the feeling of reading a great mystery novel, where your head is spinning with possibilities, but the interactivity and structure allow you to better understand the clues and what they all mean. Sometimes The Centennial Case stumbles, but it’s worth enduring for the wild ride it puts you on and the broader questions it poses about what’s ethical in the world of science.

It's an engaging game that took me about 20 hours to finish. It travels to far lands, features challenging bosses, and does an impressive job of showing that, even from a third-person perspective, games in VR can transport you to another world. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures is a solid action/platforming throwback, but it’s held back by the subpar games it lampoons. It plays well and packs a challenge, but the by-the-numbers level design detracts from the fun. I recommend AVGNA for fans of the show and anyone looking for straight-up punishment without much substance.

I would love to see more experiments like Skyrim VR and Resident Evil 7 in virtual reality, where fully featured games get ported to this still-young medium. This port is rough, but I’m still hopeful that there is a game out there that works both ways. For now, if you want to revisit Skyrim, your best bet is to boot up one of the editions you already own or grab it on Switch.

Holding true to its heritage, Monster Rancher 4 is a wildly addictive game that is capable of sucking away your life in no time flat. [Dec 2003, p.145]

It's not nearly as good as "GTA," but entertaining nonetheless. [Dec 2003, p.134]

The environments are graphically tedious, the targeting system is downright baffling, and unless you have a USB keyboard, you'll spend so much time navigating the cursor around to enter text, you'll think you should be getting experience points for it. [Feb 2004, p.103]

Everything about this title makes the previous installments seem archaic in comparison. [Nov 2001, p.100]

If Harmonix’s latest project at times fails to find footing as a traditional game, it makes up for it by invoking a novel experience of discovery, creation, and involvement with music.

The 360 version of the game is identical to the PC incarnation, but the control blows. [Dec 2008, p.113]

Nintendo’s goals with this game appear more modest, and they are largely accomplished. If better controls for an eight-year old game meet your equally modest goals, you should find little that disappoints.

LEGO Harry Potter 5-7 is a charming farewell to the series. As with a lot of Traveller's Tales' games, you won't see a whole lot of crazy gameplay innovations or surprises, but it's reliably entertaining and appropriate for a wide range of gamers, Potterphiles or not.

Downstream Panic’s Lemmings-esque gameplay is hard to resist.

If your GBA hole needs plugging, this is a good choice. [Nov 2005, p.182]

The nature of the franchise itself makes Heroes VI an excellent title for gamers who don't typically spend much time in the strategy genre, and if Black Hole and Ubisoft can entice an old hand like me to stick around as well, I consider it a success.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare features a compelling single-player experience with plenty of optional missions for those looking for more, and robust multiplayer modes for players of every style, whether you’re leading the scoreboards in kill confirmed or goofing around with friends taking on an alien invader in an over-the-top amusement park.

Soul Sacrifice has some shining components, and should hold its head high. The depth of weapon customization, strategic layer of combat, and robust multiplayer offerings kept me invested and having fun – even in the face of frustration.

The city’s sections felt too similar to each other. I admit, I don’t have all the answers on making a perfect open-world racing title, but Carbon falls short in this area. Don’t worry though, the speed in this game is enough to outrun such criticisms.

Though everything is very well-done, it's difficult to shake the feeling that I've been playing this game since "Diablo" came out on PC in 1997. [March 2005, p.124]

The XCOM series is well-known for its intricate turn-based action. Chimera Squad augments those systems with a few clever ideas, but some of the new systems don't play well with XCOM's existing foundation. The interwoven turn order and removal of permadeath are fun experiments, but they ultimately weaken XCOM's delicately balanced action. Chimera Squad is a neat standalone project, but it doesn’t stand as tall as the rest of the series.

[Crimson Desert is] a beautiful, exploration-rich open-world game that’s a clear technological achievement, hampered by a cornucopia of little frustrations and a stark lack of narrative depth.

Even with some unpolished technical aspects, the way the story unfolds is innovative and engaging, and the number of ways around every problem is impressive. [Sept 2004, p.106]

Endless Space is far from a disaster despite its bad AI and unfortunate micromanagement issues, with excellent online play making it one of the better multiplayer turn-based strategy games around. My decade-and-a-half wait for the space empire savior continues, though.

Costume Quest is cute and funny, so it may look like a good game for kids. Let me assure you: After completing the adventure (which took me about five hours), I can't recommend Costume Quest to gamers of any age.

The story's ending does not land. While it's logically sound, it doesn't register with its intended gravity. I'm not sure how you'd figure out its finer points on your own; as a detective, it feels like you've been taken off the case, and are instead reading how some other detective figured it out via the case file after the fact. It also works from without rather than from within because it relies on sentiments for a character that I didn't feel.

I am having a blast playing this game with my daughter, and it’s just nice to see a game that doesn’t make you stress in any way. Just sit back, relax, and watch the fields grow.

While the campaign suffers from a lack of variety, the shooting mechanics are solid. Zombie Army 4's action is fun and over-the-top, but slaughtering the undead shouldn't feel this routine.

Console players interested in seeing what all the fuss about RTS is about are probably best served here rather than with the other mediocre efforts to date.

Several games offer players the chance to rewind time and pause the action, but I’ve never grown tired of this particular power fantasy. I appreciate Timelie’s stealth-based, tactical approach to time manipulation. But just as Timelie starts to hit its stride, I hit the credits. Timelie isn’t the most comprehensive exploration of time manipulation, but its bite-sized puzzles are a welcome distraction.

While this game plays better on the pitch because AI teammates are smarter at taking runs, distributing the ball, and springing others with through balls, it lags behind FIFA in its feedback to the player and the fact that it has a better sim feature while you are on the bench.

Bloober Team’s latest is one of the scariest horror experiences I’ve played in a long time, and its strong sense of place, story, and action put it above the majority of other games in the genre. Observer is simply the best of both worlds and is a must-play for anyone who considers themselves a fan of either sci-fi or horror.

Metro 2033’s greatest success is the consistency of its pacing. You’re constantly encountering new factions, discovering interesting new locations, or being tasked to do something you haven’t done before.

Exit isn't a perfect experience, but if you can get the feel of the controls, it does offer some smart puzzles and a unique presentation. [Mar 2006, p.120]

If you think Peter Jackson's true masterpiece is "Dead Alive," you'll be right at home with The Suffering. [Apr 2004, p.90]

Outside of new pitch types and fielding animations, the over-the-top angle hasn't evolved at all in this iteration, and the new simulation aspect pales in comparison to al of the other titles on the market. [July 2004, p.114]

Basically, if you are level 30 and up, this expansion throws a ton of new content your way. [Dec 2004, p.177]

Accent Core is the latest of these, and it provides a fresh wave of balance tweaks, new mechanics, and two additional playable characters (ABA and Holy Order Sol). The changes are solid, but there isn’t anything that radically alters the landscape of the combat.

This game has but one feather in its cap: its difficulty. [Nov 2004, p.170]

Sniper Elite 4 is a well-rounded experience that delivers on multiple fronts. The campaign is flexible and full of satisfying objectives, and I enjoyed jumping into missions with a friend. The unique collection of competitive multiplayer modes rounds out Sniper Elite 4, giving shooting fans a game that’s worth a look despite its flaws.

Even with these positives, and a better-late-than-never addition of the Ultimate Team mode, NCAA Football 14 is not a game that shows a series playing at its peak as a console generation ends.

As it is, Evolve does its one thing remarkably well, and the few other gripes I have – including long, multi-stage load times and the inability to customize A.I. teammates when playing with friends – don't dampen my enthusiasm for playing more.

War for Cybertron isn't a perfect game, but it fulfills my youthful fantasies in a way that has me believing the developers had a window into my boyhood imagination.

NHL 18 may not win every scrum in the corner or go top shelf with every shot it takes, but it still shows enough grit and hustle to earn your respect. The new offensive and defensive tools are welcome additions on the ice, and the entertaining Threes mode could become a party staple for hockey fans.

NHL 20 is an uneven experience. One minute I’d feel the high of setting up an awesome play and seeing the puck land in the back of the net, but then I’d slam my stick into the ice frustrated by disappointing aspects across its modes. Seeing similar issues continually bleed over year after year is getting harder to forgive the longer they go on, but it’s still the only way you can really experience the thrill of being on the ice, and at the very least, it captures that well.

Tropico 4 is a great game that suffers from a few regrettable issues on console. Assuming the sound problems get fixed (or you install it to your Xbox's hard drive), I heartily recommend it as the simulation/city-builder of choice on 360 despite the less-than-ideal gamepad interface.

However, the fact remains that this is still the same flawed game that was released for the current-gen systems. [Oct. 2006, p.104]

Strider is a great reboot for old-school arcade junkies and at the same time a fresh action experience for newcomers to the franchise.

If you’re in the mood for something that recalls games like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space, Cronos might hit the spot. But it’s not without its pain points.

Grandia III's beauty never ceases to amaze, but above all, this game just grips you with its winsome storytelling. [Mar 2006, p.104]

It fails to really capture that edge-of-your-seat feeling due to its slow combat. What it does do, however, is stir your emotions a little, which isn't easy. [Jan 2004, p.151]

Thanks to its vibrant art, music, and storytelling, I had a wonderful time with South of Midnight. Its narrative goes to some surprisingly dark places, yet it still brims with whimsy, making it a fitting adaptation of the source mythology's similar tone. I couldn't have told you what a Rougarou was a few weeks ago, but thanks to this game, I've got a catchy melody of its name that plays on repeat in my head. It's fitting that, like the stories and songs it seeks to honor, South of Midnight has successfully passed Southern folklore on to a new, wider audience.

Even though you may have to wince through a few conversations, VA-11 HALL-A sells its cyberpunk atmosphere with great presentation, including an exceptional soundtrack and cool character art.

Games of this era hold up well even today, and the excellent two-player mode is nice for those of you (all seven!) that still use you GBA link cables. [Nov 2005, p.182]

It's worth a look, both for the fun it delivers and also to see how closely it comes to mimicking the genre conventions.

The Gunstringer proves that Kinect can appeal to hardcore gamers looking for fast-paced action and a great story. You won't find animal petting, unnecessary exercising, or a blurry approximation of yourself digitized in this game. This is a classic game design that just so happens to have motion control.

If you’ve beaten the game and moved on, there’s enough new stuff to explore that it warrants another playthrough. And for those who are looking for a quirky RPG with epic moments (and pig-throwing hijinks), here it is in one neat bundle.

The multiplayer isn't much to speak of, but does offer some classic deathmatching. [Jan 2006, p.85]

Offers a ton of bloody entertainment, even when going online isn't an option. [Apr 2005, p.131]

Summon Nights wants to be "Chrono Trigger", but it only really reminds me how awesome that classic is, and how much this game isn't it. [Aug 2006, p.92]

It's sequel time and all NFL Street 2 can come up with on the field is one new move. [Feb 2005, p.113]

If you're a fan of games like Super Meat Boy and you're looking for some interesting twists to the platforming genre, The Adventures of Shuggy is worth checking out. Smudged Cat's first entry in the big leagues is a promising start, and has me excited for the studio's next project.

Archenemy mode flopping on its face and a few minor balance issues aren't enough to keep me from appreciating Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. This is a fantastic way to play Magic without eating your entire bank account in the process. Lapsed players like me will have a grand time messing around with some of the newer cards and mechanics, particularly in online play against other humans. If there were more decks and cards, and/or an online league structure to compete in, this could have been a true gem. As it is, it's fun as a solid, but limited, digital adaptation of one of the definitive tabletop games of our generation.

In a sport that symbolizes the cutting edge of car technology and the pinnacle of racing, the F1 series' slow progress is a contradiction. I enjoy the racing itself, but that only counts for so much. It's getting to the point that I'd rather see how other series like Forza incorporate F1 cars rather than play this franchise – and that's a bad sign.

The short cutscenes that bookend the level do little to set up the overarching narrative, and would be forgettable even if you didn't have to wait a month for the next few minutes of story. This simply isn't enough, even for devoted fans like me. I'm still optimistic that Hitman will end up being a good game, but you very well may have to wait for the full bundle in January to play it.

The sheer depth of your duties can leave you swimming. [Sept 2003, p.109]

A general lack of polish holds Perimeter back from being a real contender for top dog in the RTS genre. [July 2004, p.121]

Not only is it incredibly detailed for a game you can put in your pocket when you're done playing, but it also has multiplayer capabilities. [Jan 2002, p.98]

Bereft of any originality, BN 3 plays almost exactly like its predecessors. [June 2003, p.120]