I was surprised at how fast this GBA version of Doom moved. It can really haul. [Dec 2002, p.152]

The levels aren't overly complex and are definitely linear. However, stealth has never been done so well on a handheld (including GBC's "Metal Gear"). [June 2003, p.120]

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

While the story is mostly bluster, later encounters introduce some much-needed nuance and muddy your role in the narrative. I'm sure some masochistic players will enjoy bashing their head against Furi's towering wall of difficulty, but with little else to go on, I was questioning my reason for fighting long before the protagonist started to.

A World of Keflings still succeeds at being a unique and accessible simulation that serves as an excellent first step into a larger world. [Jan 2011, p.88]

The hottest online shooter is now better than ever. Do yourself a favor and experience it firsthand. [Feb 2006, p.110]

The title’s gameplay is fun and the coordination between the Wii remote and nunchuk enables you to act quickly when it comes to using surgical tools.

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.

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

Still a solid RPG with interesting mechanics and an engaging story, living up to its reputation. Even playing all these years later, it still feels very fresh with its own unique identity. While the Switch version is still fun, it’s far from a great port, and the extra content is pretty disappointing.

Fun, innovative, and surprisingly deep, de Blob 2 is bright spot in a sea of gray games and iterative sequels.

For players interested in the progress of interactive narrative frameworks, it’s a laudable success. But even for someone who never plays games, it works. That’s because good characters and storytelling make for a universal experience, and this is a project that has both.

If you're a Nintendo loyalist who's never experienced "Max Payne," this should be the next game you buy. [Jan 2003, p.102]

Peggle 2 is surprisingly void of a free-to-play framework, although a shop is listed as “coming soon.” It’s one of those games that you can just pick up, play, and have immediate fun with. Yes, it plays out more like a level pack than a true sequel, but that’s okay with me. As long as this formula remains entertaining, I wouldn’t mind more of it.

Star Renegades looks incredible, has a solid combat system, and succeeds in beckoning you back for run after run until you eventually surpass the final foe. While you may not immediately grab your blaster for another play after you’ve surmounted the radical difficulty spike near the end of a run, there are a lot of great systems at play here.

While the PS2 version shines as the best baseball game released this year, this iteration really needed to cook a little longer in the minors to nail down the fundamentals of the sport. With that said, PS3 owners should look to the previous generation’s game.

Gnog is a simple puzzle game that never pushes the player too hard. Opening each box to rotate its wheels, push its buttons, and solve its puzzles is relaxing. It surprised me with its charm and made me eager to pursue each new box as I unlocked them. Putting together solutions and watching the resulting animations and musical numbers simply made me happy.

It's simplistic, clumsy, unresponsive, and boring, even with the improvements over last year's entry. [Jan 2005, p.122]

Trails of Cold Steel may not turn the genre on its head, but it does almost everything well. It is the first game in a trilogy, and Xseed has already confirmed the next game is coming to North America. After this delightful entry, I'm on board to see the next move.

It's the most faithful treatment of the Transformers brand for fans across any medium in recent years, and it manages the feat while remaining welcoming to new potential players. It's also a clear message to the world that High Moon Studios has joined that most rarified breed of game developer that can create an honest-to-goodness great licensed game.

The depth is appreciated, but the graphics, camera, and collision could use polish. [Nov 2005, p.149]

You won't find many other new features if you played the original Joker, but the familiarity doesn't keep the formula from working on a basic level.

It might sound dry, and there are some issues with the voice and handwriting recognition(it frequently struggles to detect that you've said "blue"), but you'll be surprised how addicted you will become. [Jun 2006, p.119]

Armed with a nice roster of characters, Skylanders is an engrossing experience. Outside of an odd difficulty spike at the end and a few less-than-polished moments, the game hits its target. If I were a kid, I have no doubt I'd be saving my pennies to buy more Skylanders. However, as an adult, it's hard not to feel manipulated.

If you've been looking for an entryway into the flight combat genre this is a great place to start, and if you're already a fan, Assault Horizon has something a little bit different to offer you that you can definitely appreciate.

Nintendo has always lagged behind when it comes to online offerings, so the quality of New Super Luigi U is reassuring. It may recycle tons of content from the main game, but more Mario platforming action is rarely a bad thing. As a fan of New Super Mario Bros. U, I enjoyed these new twists on the decades-old format.

If you can forgive some frustrating control and AI issues, République’s first episode is an intriguing start to this ambitious episodic title.

Before the Storm made me care about Chloe and Rachel, giving me backstory into both of their lives before Max comes back. The journey is bittersweet, knowing the tragic events from the first game for both characters. As a prequel, Before the Storm succeeds because it tells its own story that leaves you content, while also connecting to the original game in a meaningful way. Deck Nine may not have a hand in the original, but it made sure to do Chloe and Rachel’s story justice, capturing the essence of Life is Strange while providing plenty of nods to fans.