This won't appeal to everyone, but those willing to put up with tired genre formulas are bound to have some fun. [Mar 2008, p.102]

When a mission is underway, Warframe is at its best. Getting to that point is a challenge of menu navigation, unexplained features, and a lack of crucial stat comparisons when choosing weapons. Right now, Warframe is definitely worth your time, but a UI tune-up would make it worth your money.

Probably doesn't have the depth to give it the long legs of other titles in the genre. [Dec 2006, p.130]

If you’re not keen on learning by jumping into the fray and taking your lumps, Samurai Shodown likely won’t do much for you. But when there’s another player facing you down, Samurai Shodown’s bouts are a fantastic mix of fighting disciplines. It’s accessible, nuanced, and flashy, and the ways it asks you to bet big to win make matches as exciting as they are tense.

Fan or not, you also won't think this is the typical shoddy Gundam game. [Mar 2006, p.106]

This was born to be on the GBA. [Nov 2002, p.150]

The impressive Dynasty mode and new Team Intensity Mode (which lets you track and alter the individual momentum of your players) offer some interesting strategic aspects to the game, but in the end March Madness still ends up a few baskets short of its competition.

It's a lot of fun, and definitely not the run-of-the-mill GBA license cash-in. [Dec 2002, p.152]

Tweaks are needed in the AI to better replicate competitors' actions and racing lines, and I'd like to see some long-overdue additions (like user-controlled pit stops), but this game has got the feel of a stock car down pretty good – especially with about a billion ways to setup your car. It's a mix of the new and familiar that shakes out to be a pretty fast restart.

Need for Speed has meant different things over the years, but Heat is a good all-around representation of the franchise. The police could be a little more prominent, and the world – while well stocked – isn’t as interesting as Forza Horizon’s, for instance, but NFS Heat is the best iteration since Ghost Games’ reboot in 2015.

As good, if not slightly better than all the other FIFAs before it. And as long as this is all anyone asks for, it looks like FIFA will crawl along from year to year knowing that it never has to fully pull it all together. [Nov 2004, p.149]

Gameplay, meanwhile, makes some minor adjustments this year--giving a few more control options including the ability to play with a scheme that is identical to Konami's "Winning Eleven" button layout. [Oct. 2006, p.94]

Evan’s Remains successfully achieves what it attempts: It delivers a compact story punctuated by neat puzzles. It switches between these central elements frequently, so no one idea overstays its welcome, but the concepts aren’t deep or compelling enough. A disappointing conclusion hurts the narrative, and a lack of evolution hurts puzzles; since the game is split distinctly into sections involving only those two things, even the best moments of Evan’s Remains carry a sense of unfulfilled potential.

Those looking for a huge step forward in the EA Sports’ football franchise won’t find it with Madden NFL 21. However, despite its lack of major upgrades, Madden NFL 21 is still a mechanically sound and fun football game.

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.

My time with No More Heroes 3 jumped between the short highs from entertaining bosses and cutscenes to long, ugly stretches in the world. Much of the design is dated, and I wanted to drop it after a few bosses to avoid the mundanity, but I’m happy I saw it to completion. There are many fun moments, and I love how unafraid it is to be strange or referential. Those who are already invested in the tale of Travis Touchdown should be right at home in this new No More Heroes. Still, I’d insist newcomers try out previous entries before diving into this Garden of Insanity.

Even with these positives, and a better-late-than-never addition of the Ultimate Team mode, NCAA Football 14 is not a game that shows a series playing at its peak as a console generation ends.

Tales of Xillia 2 has its flaws, but it also has plenty of what fans of the series love: Challenging battles, great character interactions, and a story full of twists. I'm still continually lured in by the series, I just wish this entry felt like more than a sideways step.

Leave your stuffy music and game sensibilities at the door – Boogie has a more plebeian appeal.

Outlast 2 asks more questions than it answers, and too much is left to your interpretation. This ambiguity might have worked, but it makes the conclusion unsatisfying. Even with its hiccups, it is nonetheless an intense ride that makes you question your sanity. If gory thrills are something you seek, Outlast 2 provides plenty to keep you on the edge of your seat as long as you can look past the clumsy storytelling.

The endless waving of the Wii remote that accompanies every part of Smooth Moves makes you feel excited, surprised, and more than a little stupid. It also happens to make you and your friends laugh pretty much non-stop for an hour or two, and that may very well be worth the price of admission.

This game won’t stay with me long, but I’m not sure it was meant to. With Dead Island 2, Dambuster Studios asks little of the player – only that you enjoy a good excuse to kill zombies in increasingly gory ways for a weekend or two – and in doing so, it delivers on the promise of what this series is all about.

Battle for Neighborville delivers exciting competitive and cooperative multiplayer, but an overly complicated economy and inconsistent PvE elements take away from the experience.

Simply put, outside of the boss battles, fighting is boring and often times sloppy. [Feb 2003, p101]

Regardless of the fact that you can pass now with the right analog, this game is for anyone who yearns for a simpler time when hockey was arcade-like and EA wasn't afraid to hit it on the ice--unlike the next-gen version. [Oct. 2006, p.94]

In the hands of an expert fighter this game is stunning, but joystick jockeys who are out of shape might want to start an intense training regimen. [July 2009, p.83]

It's by no means a blockbuster, but rather a gimick-driven oddity that just happens to be fascinating and enjoyable. [Dec 2002, p.120]

Unfortunately, the only place this intriguing design has a place to shine is in multiplayer. The campaign is laughably awful, with a tepid story told through awkwardly acted cutscenes surrounding poorly scripted scenarios.