While Tales of Phantasia may not shine with the glory that it did in its prime, there are still parts of the game that are worth checking out. [Mar 2006, p.116]

If you’re willing to play the game of “try, try again,” you can have fun with The Bigs 2’s career mode. However, if you’re looking for a multiplayer game or an experience based on skill, the unbalanced run scoring and Big Slam will drive you crazy.

Both the dialogue and gameplay of Marvel's Deadpool VR sometimes grated on me, but there are a number of impressive moments and the occasional strong joke that surprised me and made me laugh.

I've lost a good portion of my life to this series, and thanks to this collection, I'm losing more of it from anywhere I please. [June 2006, p.119]

A competent tactical shooter blessed with a dedication to narrative rarely seen in shooters. If Gearbox can build off this success with more inventive gameplay, the series has a chance of overcoming the boredom that curses so many WWII titles.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Gunslinger's shootouts. The game certainly doesn't turn any FPS conventions on their ears, but it still presents tense and entertaining shootouts frequently.

Obduction’s gradually unfolding setting is compelling, and its narrative answers your big questions while leaving enough ambiguity to uphold a sense of mystery. A few exceptional puzzles reproduce the best of the genre’s glory days but the gameplay moments filling the space between them are too uneven and unrefined. Since it comes from the same creative talent, Obduction clearly takes some pages from Myst’s book, but these excerpts only result in flashes of greatness rather than a true successor.

While I can’t help but point out some notable missteps, I also can’t deny Star Command’s irresistibility, and I happily recommend it to fellow sci-fi enthusiasts.

Into the Nexus’ gameplay holds true to what we’ve known and enjoyed for over a decade. Should we be demanding bigger and better things? Maybe, but there’s something about this formula that just works. I walked away from it hungry for more.

The camera is still bad and the dungeons desperately need a makeover. [July 2003, p.105]

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]

All these years later, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from ToeJam & Earl beyond a blast of nostalgia. In some ways, the original was ahead of its time, and it only took a little tweaking to bring it up to contemporary expectations. Back in the Groove is a great gift, tucked inside an earnestly funky wrapper.

The buttons can be unresponsive, and the pace is slower than it should be. On the upside, flatland tricks live up to the hype; you can string great combos together. [Sept 2002, p.80]

One heck of a game. [Feb 2002, p.100]

The charm of LEGO blocks is exploring your creativity and building new things, so Traveler’s Tales’ habit of sticking to one formula stands in stark contrast to the entire LEGO philosophy. We’ve had fun with this series, but it’s time to dump the franchise out on the floor and start piecing it back into something new.

Much like the rest of Roiland’s work, Trover Saves the Universe probably won’t be for everyone. The narrative and cast of characters are weird, but this is a game made by a team of people who clearly love the medium of video games, embracing its shortcomings for well-executed jokes and delivering satisfying and often hilarious moments throughout.

The perfect party game for nerds. [May 2005, p.111]

Elemental Gearbolt is just a great gun game (even though it's short). The anime cut-scenes are awesome, the game engine is super smooth with lots to shoot, and the music is fantastic. [Aug 1998]

An exceptional adventure and worth a try for any RPG enthusiast. [Aug 2005, p.109]

This newer game is by far the more impressive choice, with fully fleshed out features, excellent animation, solid soccer gameplay, and an exciting presentation, replete with another batch of great music from around the world. [Jun 2006, p.112]

It's every bit as profane, violent, and over-the-top as the movie, and delivers not only the gunplay you're expecting, but as much depth as almost any other game in the genre. Like the film that inspired it, it's sometimes a bit clunky, but makes up for it in bravado and style.

Even a clunky, hard-to-control Modern Warfare is better than no Modern Warfare, and Reflex may be fun for Wii owners who haven’t played – or seen – another version of the game. Ultimately, however, Reflex is proof that if there’s a way to make an FPS work on the Wii, no one has found it yet.

The original Mafia was well-received at its release, and I’m sure a lot of people remember it fondly. For me, it’s something that’s probably best seen as a foundational statement in a series that got better over time and subsequent entries. As part of the Mafia trilogy, it’s an interesting footnote on what came before. As a standalone game that can hold its own against modern titles in the open-world genre? Fugetaboutit.

I like aspects of Madden 20 like the addictiveness and slightly easier progression of Ultimate Team, the way players feel, and the new abilities. But too much remains stagnant and unchanged. It’s like expecting a few free agents to change the course of an entire organization when there are key areas the franchise needs to have addressed yesterday. Instead, its roster has gotten old fast and the problems are mounting.

Developer Wolfeye Studios has crafted one hell of a debut release. Weird West subverts expectations, twisting well-trodden cowboy tropes into dark fantasy vignettes brought to life by immersive sandbox elements.

Still, this has more than its share of thrills; it's a fender mangling joy that few games can match. [Apr 2007, p.101]

The Beginner's Guide addresses a lot of heavy issues in its 90-minute journey: Depression, loneliness, self-doubt, and the need for validation are but a few of the topics touched upon. Despite the inherent veil of fiction, Wreden's narration is well-written and feels honest.

For Pokémon fans, it’s a hard recommendation for its self-imposed separation from the grand Pokémon universe. For the person in the middle of the Pokémon and fighting game Venn diagram, however, enough depth exists to encourage heated, practiced competition to earn it a spot next to Super Smash Bros. on the shelf.