Vice City doesn't just match the magic of "GTA III"; it bests it in every way possible. [Dec 2002, p.104]

LittleBigPlanet is a gaming epiphany – one of the rare titles that opens new horizons on the landscape and changes the way you think about interactive entertainment.

The game perfectly captures the expansiveness of frontier life and the gritty gunplay of spaghetti westerns, rightfully earning its place alongside the great Western films and the best Rockstar games. [Issue#206, p.86]

Simply put, Halo 2 is by far the greatest first-person shooter the console world has seen to date...Nothing I say can prepare you for this game. [Dec 2004, p.180]

This title is the definition of perfect pacing. [Jan 2003, p.121]

The Last of Us is a deeply felt, shockingly violent game that questions what we're willing to sacrifice and, more disturbingly, what we're willing to do so save the ones we love. The conclusion offers no easy answers. You won't forget it.

As monumental as each entry has been, nothing, and I repeat, nothing can prepare you for the adventure that unfolds in Twilight Princess. The debate that has waged for decades over which Zelda game should stand as the series’ best will at long last come to a satisfying conclusion, as this is unquestionably the greatest Zelda yet.

Madden's major changes have occurred on the defense to raise the learning curve and create more strategy. [Sept 2002, p.78]

Hades II is the pinnacle of the roguelike genre, a position I previously granted its predecessor, but one that its sequel has handily earned.

With so many additions and improvements, Persona 5 Royal is an improved version of what was already one of the best RPGs of the last decade. Whether you’ve been itching to enjoy the Phantom Thieves’ journey again or looking to experience it for the first time, Royal wears its crown well.

Like the best visual updates, Remastered plays like you remember it. If you played 2013's Game of the Year near release and have been dying to return to the dark tale, then this is a great opportunity. If you never played The Last of Us at all, this is absolutely the way to do it. But be careful - you'll never want to go back to the PS3 original again after reveling in all the improvements.

The game's quality stays consistently outstanding throughout; there isn't a minute of filler content to be found anywhere in single-player or co-op.

The game perfectly captures the expansiveness of frontier life and the gritty gunplay of spaghetti westerns, rightfully earning its place alongside the great Western films and the best Rockstar games. [Issue#206, p.86]

My only hesitation in recommending it to Xbox players is the unwelcome presence of launch bugs that impede stage and achievement unlocks for some and other strange odds and ends. Patching has helped so far, and I hope it gets to be as relatively issue-free as the PC versions soon. Despite these early console setbacks, Vampire Survivors has quickly become one of my favorite games of all time. Consider this me grabbing the sides of your head and shouting, "Play Vampire Survivors, you fool!"

The game's quality stays consistently outstanding throughout; there isn't a minute of filler content to be found anywhere in single-player or co-op.

The game's quality stays consistently outstanding throughout; there isn't a minute of filler content to be found anywhere in single-player or co-op.

Astro Bot can proudly stand beside the PlayStation icons it so fondly celebrates.

My favorite aspect of Infinite is the one about which I can say the least: story. The build-up is slow, but it works wonderfully thanks to the small ways other elements flow into the narrative.

Modern Warfare 2 is a masterpiece of careful iteration, with an unmatched presentation and a well of content that will take months to run dry.

Kratos’ reinvention serves as a narrative hook, but it also parallels the series’ evolution as a whole; where God of War once relied on bombast and bloodlust, now it leaves space for strategy and nuance. It still has superb action and plenty of jaw-dropping moments, but it supports them with a new level of depth and maturity. God of War learns from its past while clearing an exciting path for the future, and emerges as one of the best games of this generation.

This game does retain its glory, but you actually have to work, and work hard, to find it. [Dec 2002, p.106]

The boring but ultimately correct shorthand to summarize Shadow of the Erdtree is that it’s more Elden Ring. The incredible sense of discovery, fantastic dungeon design, entertainingly deep combat, and intriguing lore and characters that defined From Software’s 2022 masterpiece all apply to this expansion. From Software didn’t drop the ball and make Elden Ring worse, nor do I believe it wholly topped what it had achieved before. Shadow of the Erdtree maintains a sky-high status quo, even if it loses a little magic from being a known quantity this time instead of a complete surprise. Still, Shadow of the Erdtree is one hell of a mic drop that further cements this adventure as one of the finest ever crafted.

The gameplay is a tour de force that feeds off of your skills and unleashes hundreds of intense battles. The graphics, while somewhat disturbing, are beautifully designed, becoming transparent when Dante veers behind an object.

Start to finish, online or off, Call of Duty 4 is solid gold. Some might decry the single-player’s short length or that it’s more of the same, but its amazing quality and the Arcade mode...more than make up for it. Infinity Ward has delivered on every front, and there is no question in my mind that this is the best action shooter that I have ever played.

Madden is even deeper this year with the return of the Create-a-Team and the Two-Minute Drill, but that's not why my jock is still on the field. Tiburon could have merely made these additions, but it went the remaining nine yards to make a football game that is that much closer to perfection, if it hasn't already got there.

This game could be one of the biggest and most enjoyable time sinks of the year. Arkham City not only lives up to the standards set by Arkham Asylum, it bests its predecessor in every way and stands tall as one of Batman's greatest moments. [Nov 2011]

Metroid Prime Remastered is more than meets the eye, serving as a testament to how spectacular and timeless the original design was. The visual and performance improvements go a long way to making it more approachable, but paramount to those upgrades is the fact that it controls as well as nearly any other shooter on the Switch today. Metroid Prime was a masterpiece in 2002, and that assessment still rings true in 2023.