It’s a poor excuse to round up the gang. Presumably, the reason why your friends are your friends is because you share some common interests. Do some of those together instead.

Ultimately, 3D Dot Game Heroes combines the original Legend of Zelda's world with A Link to the Past-style gameplay, which proves to be an absolute blast.

This one seems to have a bit more "oomph" than its predecessors. [August 2002, p.79]

I'd rather waste my time and enjoy it, too.[Feb 2002, p.100]

Solid physics, colorful graphics, and bearable sound do make this a decent pinball title. [July 2003, p.122]

If you like Tolkien and have a GBA, Return of the King is a no-brainer. [Dec 2003, p.186]

This is EA Sports' first use of Kinect, and it shows. The peripheral doesn't come close to replicating your backswing with fidelity, and it lacks fluidity and accuracy. The PS3 Move functionality fares only slightly better, but the hiccups in the backswing animation are annoying when you're trying to gauge how much power to use during putting. I don't recommend either of these peripherals over the normal control setup.

As someone who had a strong but brief fascination with original game when it was released, I’ve always been looking for another reason to get hooked to Don’t Starve again. Shipwrecked is not that reason. However, for those who love trying to best Klei’s ruthless brand of survival simulation, this expansion brings enough new content to be worth a go, even if it doesn’t take Don’t Starve into uncharted territory.

It's worth playing for any fan of the genre, but it isn't the brightest star in the sky.

I love that Milestone is experimenting with new ideas within the arcade racing formula, and while the story didn’t land for me, I applaud the effort at narrative in a genre that frequently doesn’t even try to add meaningful context to its races. Even so, difficulty spikes and arbitrary objectives combine with overly convoluted mechanics to rob Screamer of some of its fun. It’s worth experiencing to see a developer try something new, but this race track might just have too many turns to be a winner.

So this is what it must feel like to be the Arizona Cardinals: You’ve got a new home, but the results are just the same.

Bravely Default II succeeds at delivering what it’s best at: offering a taste of the past with the emphasis on creative class combinations, hordes of foes, and big boss battles. Bravely Default II deftly harnesses some of the ancient enchantment of classic grind-and-go console RPGs – but don’t expect anything beyond that.

This impressive graphical fidelity takes a serious hit in the transition to multiplayer. Though Crysis 3 has some of the better-designed maps in the series, the muddied textures are a far cry from the jaw-dropping visuals of the single-player campaign, especially on consoles.

The gameplay needs some tuning, but if you've got a mind to crush some skulls on and off the field, then I think you're gonna be pretty happy with this title. [Nov 2005, p.149]

The narrative hooks are numerous and capable of sinking in nice and deep. I can’t wait to see where this crazy tale goes next in the forthcoming episodes. Hopefully less of my time is spent on needless action, and more of it is focused on the case and characters.

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

The Enigma lives up to its name of being difficult to understand from start to finish. Telltale is all over the place in this episode, but the desire to be gritty and different is exposed too much, and the story suffers from it, feeling more like an odd one shot than the first part of something larger. Mysteries abound, however, and enough engaging narrative threads are left dangling to potentially right this second season’s direction.

Even with its stumbles, the initial release of Destiny is a colossal achievement in interactive design, integrating a number of differing genre elements into a smart and unified whole. Bungie’s latest futuristic opus is one of the first true event games of this new generation, and while it still has room to grow, it’s worth your attention right out of the gate.

I continue to be a fan of this franchise because it offers the best soccer gameplay, hands down. But that sexy, albeit underperforming, ride on EA’s lot may win me over if Konami doesn’t step up and offer a better package soon.

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.

LawBreakers delivers in terms of neat weapons, lightning-fast kills, and aspirational skills. You’ll look back in awe at performing feats like landing a triple kill while blasting yourself backwards into a zero-g environment. Despite the adrenaline-fueled highs, the title falls back to earth due to uninteresting environments, generic characters, and a lack of variety.

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.

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.

Demonschool is infectious. The tactical clicks as I fired off a masterful turn that wipes out swathes of demonic creatures kept me coming back, day after day, week after week. Each new character pushed me in new directions, opening new horizons, while also luring me into new bonds and relationships. Though it takes a while to get going and falls a bit short in its side activities, Demonschool still manages to be a haunted PS1 disc of tactical joy.

If, like me, you've cooled on the music genre in recent months, I don't think Green Day is the band to reignite your love affair with Rock Band. In the future, maybe Harmonix could attempt a single band title based around a more complex – and more fun to play – band like Muse or Rush.

I got the distinct impression that I was jumping through hoops for the sake of the hoop, not the game. [July 2003, p.120]

The strategy aspects are great, as is the audio. [May 2002, p.89]

Pulling off tricks is frustrating at first, and boring and simplistic once you get the hang of it. [Dec 2001, p.109]