Despite my multiple gripes with Sonic Forces, I still enjoyed the adventure. 3D Sonic games still aren't to where they should be after such a long time of iteration and experimentation, but through improved gameplay and level design, Sonic Forces continues the series' evolution in the right direction.

While I like the added emphasis put on replaying older levels, I am frustrated and baffled that the action-stopping tutorials from the earlier levels persist on repeated playthroughs.

Only a diehard Wild Arms fan will be able to take these physics, and much of the game, seriously.

I just wish I was rewarded with a bit more humanity and meaning to my struggles by seeing them create that memory for themselves.

Despite my multiple gripes with Sonic Forces, I still enjoyed the adventure. 3D Sonic games still aren't to where they should be after such a long time of iteration and experimentation, but through improved gameplay and level design, Sonic Forces continues the series' evolution in the right direction.

It's about as fun as a bowl of wheat. [Aug 2004, p.107]

If Rainbow would have made it competitive, I would have loved it, but without challenge, there really is no reason to continue playing. [Apr 2002, p.75]

Along these lines, Cooking Mama could have been a wacky, gameplay-oriented way to have some fun with my food. Because of the dual-screen layout and minigame design, it just plain isn't. [Oct. 2006, p.114]

The humor and style will charm many, but those looking for a hardcore experience in any of the game's genres should look elsewhere. [Jan 2005, p.125]

Graphics (especially on Xbox) are sharp and colorful, the characters and areas from the movie are represented well, and the licensed songs are far more impressive than most similar fare. [Dec 2004, p.168]

You spend so much time wandering aimlessly and kicking prone undead that you never really have a chance to get wrapped up in the exceptionally intriguing and involved story. [May 2004, p.100]

The camera lock-on and Wii-exclusive split screen co-op are nice additions, but the simplified combat and truncated levels ultimately leave this game a little flat. [July 2009, p.81]

Destiny is a fiction and gameplay I deeply love, and I’d be delighted to continue to invest time in its characters and adventures. But the bloat of currencies and systems on display at this point is a major turn-off, and The Edge of Fate’s new additions and changes don’t make me feel compelled to play more. I’ll continue to cheer for the game to grow and expand, and I believe there’s some strong potential to this new saga focused on issues of freedom and pre-determinism. But the current thrust of this expansion just isn’t working.

Graphics (especially on Xbox) are sharp and colorful, the characters and areas from the movie are represented well, and the licensed songs are far more impressive than most similar fare. [Dec 2004, p.168]

ASB's terrible fielding and baserunning are enough to turn me off from the rest of the game. [Apr 2003, p.98]

Its graphics are merely average and the fighting is uninspired. [July 2003, p.107]

The Council’s bad graphics, voice acting, and load times didn’t bother me as much as its problematic narrative. What’s the point of having choice and consequence when you don’t care about the story you’re inhabiting? The Council seems promising with its good ideas, but then when you get further into it, it betrays you like a dishonest politician.

Gamers will be bored by the mechanics and fans of the lore will be disappointed by the ham-fisted depiction of the series' climax. While saying goodbye to Harry in the final book was bittersweet, I felt nothing but joy as my time with this tedious exercise finished.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

When you're pulling switches, backtracking, and participating in boring combat through these large areas, you tire quickly. [Jan 2003, p.122]

Life is Strange has remained unpredictable, to its benefit. I can't tell where this is going, but I hope the conclusion takes a step back from the more horrifying things we see in Episode 4.

The bulk of the thrills in ScreamRide come early, then taper off as the experience becomes more complicated. After that, the frustrations stack up and make everything feel like a chore – not the ideal mood for a game about amusement park attractions.

The remake disappointed me more than delighted me, but it’d be disingenuous to say I didn’t have fun with it. Taking down a boss that’s triple your size is still satisfying, and the wondrous world is teeming with creative baddies, from mushbooms to nitro pumpkins. Even so, this remake doesn’t do enough to address or improve the original’s problems. Some tweaks are for the better, others are for the worse, but the end result is a remake that fails to do anything meaningful with a beloved classic.

The linear missions and worthless squad AI were my biggest issues with this game. [Feb 2005, p.116]

Once again, Codemasters has created an F1 game that's true to the studio's driving pedigree, but fails on other fronts. It looks nice and drives well, but unless you're so caught up in the F1 season that you absolutely have to sate your cravings with a video game, you may have already played this game and put it down.

I don't doubt that the DS can be a good system for sports, but I really don't think this is the way to go about it. [Oct. 2006, p.113]

Legendary is by no means awful — it’s just about as vanilla as first-person shooters get. It all wraps up with a completely unsatisfying “wait for the sequel” type cliffhanger. We’ll see.

Sadly, Square Enix’s attempt to update the classic doesn’t live up the original’s legacy, nor does it improve its more problematic elements. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but the Secret of Mana remake is middling in every way.

I enjoyed the original Psychonauts, and it was fun to see the characters again – even though the circumstances are fairly lame. If you find yourself in the slice of the Venn diagram that overlaps “Psychonauts fan” and “PlayStation VR owner,” then it might be worth the couple of hours it takes to play through Rhombus of Ruin. Otherwise, this isn’t a great showcase for VR or an introduction to the Psychonauts.

The steep learning curve and sometimes confusing objectives detract from the fun. [July 2002, p.83]

Divinity II isn't without its charms, but weak game design sullies the thrill of digging into the many secrets of its outstanding world.

The nine maps available aren’t nearly enough, the lack of rankings and leaderboards provide no incentive to hone your skills to perfection, and the extremely meager offline options drag everything down.

If you can't get enough of dramatic, transparent shots of enemies getting shredded by sniper fire, Sniper Elite III has you covered in spades. If you're interested in more motivation beyond the glory of the kill, look elsewhere.

It just doesn’t play well. The controls are clunky, the pacing is unsatisfying, and the multiplayer feels tacked-on. While the original Overlord was a compelling game at heart, Overlord II just feels like an unpolished retread of ­familiar ground.

Harry Potter’s latest adventure may be light on action, but it does replicate the Hogwartian life better than any game before it. Out of all of the books, games, and movies, it allows you to get closer to the school than ever before – all at the expense of actually enjoying your stay. It’s boring and tedious, just like a real school is. However, it’s also a place where your Harry Potter knowledge can bloom.

Internet is the focus, and I admit XSN has a lot going for it. However, the game just slips further and further into mediocrity. [Dec 2003, p.172]

Worst of all, however, are the on-foot sections - which would appear to be in the game for the sole purpose of annoying people. Scrap indeed. [Apr 2005, p.136]

If you can't get enough of dramatic, transparent shots of enemies getting shredded by sniper fire, Sniper Elite III has you covered in spades. If you're interested in more motivation beyond the glory of the kill, look elsewhere.

Whether you are defending the colony from a hornet invasion by manning goo cannons, racing an obstacle course with a team of ants, or foraging for food, the game keeps things fresh. Too bad none of it is exciting. [Feb. 2007, p.102]

The nice backend clan support is wasted since the game just isn’t much fun to play. The shooting lacks the high-intensity lethality of Counter-Strike, the lightning-paced speed of Tribes, and the great cooperative mechanics of Battlefield. You won’t spit this hamburger out, but you probably won’t tell your friends about it, either.

This is pretty much a status quo "Puyo Pup"-style game featuring a license (Tiny Toons) tht ran its course a decade ago. [Jan 2003, p.122]

Heroes is better than the typical Move cash-in, and every now and then the action is reminiscent of what makes these three franchises popular. However, with more characters than gameplay events, and no interaction between the protagonists outside of a few cutscenes, it's hard to imagine a fan that wouldn't feel disappointed by this (non)mash-up.

The new weapon wheel makes firefights less stressful, and adding more missions is never a bad thing, but the basic design of the game remains painfully dull. The uneventful stretches of driving, repetition in interrogations, and simplicity of missions has not improved.

It doesn't excel at anything. [Aug 2003, p.99]

I might have recommended this simplistic formula for younger gamers except for the fact that encounters with Omnidroid are some of the most tedious and unforgiving bouts I've ever fought. [Jan 2005, p.118]

Natural Doctrine isn’t noteworthy outside of it’s combat, if you feel like strategy games have grown stale, Kadokawa Games’ curious take on the genre is an interesting change of pace.

On one hand, the lack of polish and the glitches cause me to give the game a less-than-stellar score. On the other hand, I can’t deny that my co-op partner and I were laughing and enjoying ourselves for the large majority of the campaign. As a mindless co-op shooter, it delivers.

Gardening Mama could use more of a Harvest Moon crop economy instead of rewarding players with lawn decorations and new slacks. But if you like Cooking Mama, this is certainly on par.

MediEvil still deserves to be heralded as a classic for its time and place in gaming, and I love how it looks in revitalized form on PlayStation 4. However, its gameplay is a relic of yesteryear, and an example that shows us just how far games have come over the years. Rest in peace, Sir Dan.

Not only behind the times, but it's buggy and not very much fun to play. [Feb 2006, p.102]

If you don’t mind playing a game for six or seven hours before getting to the good stuff, Web of Shadows eventually packs a nice little punch. However, if you want instant gratification from your games, this experience won’t do much for you.

There’s certainly a lot to love, yet equally as much to shake your fist and scream obscenities at in Lethal Alliance.

Episodic games can be tough to evaluate without seeing the story as a whole, since effective storytelling relies on narrative peaks and valleys. I don't expect every chunk of a multipart tale to knock my socks off, but this abrupt shift in density and quality of puzzles is tough to ignore. I'm hopeful that the series is able to conclude on a high point, and that this was just an unfortunate misfire.

The trick system gets points for being integral to building speed, but its execution is uneven, meaning you don't always perform the tricks you've punched in. [Feb 2004, p.108]

Whether you are defending the colony from a hornet invasion by manning goo cannons, racing an obstacle course with a team of ants, or foraging for food, the game keeps things fresh. Too bad none of it is exciting. [Feb. 2007, p.102]

I have nothing against mega-difficult games, there are just better ones to spend your time with than Fenix Rage.

Empire Earth III’s handful of units per tech tier, problematic unit AI and pathfinding, and lackluster factional differences between the West, East, and Middle East types do little to give RTS players anything they haven’t seen before.

With no engaging story or personalities, this title doesn't even come close to hooking you with its shifting, convergent story lines - unlike Without Warning's supposed inspiration, the show "24." [Nov 2005, p.148]

Strange missteps abound in Heroes Over Europe, but glimmers of fun WWII arcade flight shooting shine through from time to time. [Oct 2009, p.90]

With other exceptional titles out there like "Street Fighter Anniversary Collection" and "Guilty Gear X2," I just don't see a reason to waste your time with this jumble of problems. [Nov 2004, p.163]

The unique abilities of Constantine and scary atmosphere that Bits has established will make your mouth water, but you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who can tolerate the shoddy gameplay. [Apr 2005, p.120]

Stepping into the shoes of the lead guitarist adds a new layer of excitement to the Rock Band formula, and the new gameplay mechanics are fun to mess around with, even if it feels completely different from the original gameplay style. Harmonix has always prided itself on giving players new ways to experience their music, and Rock Band VR succeeds in that regard. Though lacking in content, Rock Band VR is a fun, new way for the long-running series to let you live out the rockstar fantasy.

Depressingly lackluster. [Mar 2004, p.106]

Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles tries to capture the essence of hard-boiled sleuthing, but it falters mainly because it takes itself way too seriously. [June 2008, p.101]

The Wii version has less annoying traits than the others and still retains all the usual mediocrity. The motion-control elements in the Werehog levels add an extra dimension to the action, and the hub worlds are entirely text-based and aren’t nearly as annoying. If you can stand the diminished graphics, the Wii version actually edges out the PS3 and 360 entries.

Whether you are defending the colony from a hornet invasion by manning goo cannons, racing an obstacle course with a team of ants, or foraging for food, the game keeps things fresh. Too bad none of it is exciting.

While the first episode fails to evoke the fond memories I have for Telltale's superb work on The Walking Dead, I haven't completely abandoned hope for the adventure to come.

Much of the iconic music, sounds, and emotive quality of the classic cartoon are absent here, making the game a fairly standard sci-fi romp with little of the magic it might have had. [Oct 2004, p.128]

I appreciate the interesting format AC V employs, and enjoyed the sense of camaraderie I had for my team. However, the story missions are too confusing and difficult, the order missions are too short and repetitive, and there is no in-between.

Even if Sports Story was polished and bug-free, it would still fall strikingly short of the first title in the series. The new sports don’t play well, the fetch quests are tiresome, and the story is tedious and less charming than that of Golf Story. What remains of the retro golf experience is fun, but the whole game feels like a textbook example of being unable to deliver on lofty ambitions.

Thunderforce's control is perfect; it is neither too sensitive, nor too sluggish. Plus, the player can adjust the speed at anytime. Trust us, without a perfect speed, Thunderforce V is nearly impossible. [Sept 1998]

The cheesy sci-fi atmosphere won't do much to convince you to play this game, and neither will the derivative gameplay and level design. [July 2003, p.106]

I appreciate the interesting format AC V employs, and enjoyed the sense of camaraderie I had for my team. However, the story missions are too confusing and difficult, the order missions are too short and repetitive, and there is no in-between.

The concept may delight hardcore fans, but the unrefined gameplay ensures that everyone else is left out in the cold. [Sept 2009, p.92]

I was left wanting more, and wondering why solid gameplay sections were only used once.

It's about on par with a video poker machine in terms of graphics and sound. [May 2004, p.108]

Legendary is by no means awful — it’s just about as vanilla as first-person shooters get. It all wraps up with a completely unsatisfying “wait for the sequel” type cliffhanger. We’ll see.

Brawlout probably isn’t for most Smash fans, including me. It simply can’t compete in terms of roster size, interesting characters, and overall personality. All of those things are critically important. Gating what little it has to offer behind a slow-drip progression feed is a mistake, too. Players who don’t have the time or patience to unlock everything can console themselves with the knowledge that they aren’t missing out on much.

I did enjoy the escort missions, and the co-op is decent, but they can't hide the fact that 187 is just plain mediocre. [Oct 2005, p.128]

About the best definition of average that I could ever imagine. [Nov 2002, p.144]

The most painful and obvious flaw is the camera. It hangs up on walls, drifts inside your character, and is otherwise difficult to handle. [Sept 2004, p.109]

You became a slave to theTV and a slave to Pikachu. Pokemon fans will be glued to their seats. Everyone else will be turned of, pun intended. [Jan 2004, p.141]

The game basically says, "You're obvioulsy really stupid, so we're going to hold onto your hand and lead you through this stage. [Jan 2004, p.151]

Where Armageddon really shines is the combat. [Jan 2004, p.132]

With so many genuinely good action/RPGs that aren't riddled with archaic missions and gameplay, I have trouble recommending Nier solely on the basis of a decent (but unevenly executed) story.

Basically, play it for the multiplayer, or don’t play it at all. [Dec 2008, p.110]

I just couldn't get into the bland fighting half of the game. [Nov 2002, p.128]

I definitely recommend renting this one before fully committing. [July 2007, p.102]

It looks and plays (especially in the first "go and get this" section) like a cheap "Hitman 2." [Sept 2003, p.109]

The rhythm-based combat and malleable difficulty set Way of the Passive Fist apart from most brawlers in an interesting way. But while it starts strong, the combat doesn’t carry it over a host of issues. Without other ways to keep players busy it isn’t worth going back to after the first unsatisfying playthrough. Way of the Passive Fist offers an interesting alternative to the mash-happy games of the genre’s past, but after the novelty wears off, it fails to connect.

The environment designs are not as creative, the stages are way too short, and the boss battles are surprisingly easy. [Feb 2002, p.94]

In the end, I don't see this title connecting with an audience beyond the most hardcore Rampage fans. [May 2006, p.97]

Wayward Sky is an entertaining adventure that never quite takes off. I enjoyed exploring the environments, but it doesn’t build on its delightfully charming world to make it memorable. It’s a good showcase for VR, where you feel immersed in its universe as you take control of several quirky machines, but the alluring concept falls flat as it never manages to be as intuitive as the world it presents.

The nine maps available aren’t nearly enough, the lack of rankings and leaderboards provide no incentive to hone your skills to perfection, and the extremely meager offline options drag everything down.

You'll reach velocities so incomprehensible that your reflexes are paralyzed. [July 2003, p.107]

Edge of Time is a major step back from the formula that worked.

Biomutant consistently shows glimmers of promise but it takes patience and a pair of rose-colored glasses to see them. I genuinely loathed my first several hours with the game, but once I made cooler weapons that made combat more tolerable or admired another postcard-worthy sight, I felt more disappointed than anything. Biomutant has all the ingredients of a unique, entertaining adventure. It just spends too much time doing everything possible to try and impress its audience instead of polishing its handful of strengths.

With a history including games like Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights 2, the team at Obsidian Entertainment knows role-playing. Alpha Protocol isn't necessarily a counter-point to that expertise; the RPG systems under the hood are solid. I just wish that I could experience them in the context of a compelling espionage adventure, not a last-gen third-person shooter.