One of those game where you can actually enjoy driving. [May 2003, p.83]

NBA Live 08 is a vastly improved game that is nearly ready for primetime. With another year under its belt, NBA Live may be contending for the championship.

A bare-bones affair that has little in the way of depth or real strategy, nonetheless delivers a solid meat-and-potatoes (or fish and chips, in this case) fishing experience. [May 2002, p.83]

I didn't think a side-scrolling boxing game would work in this day and age, but Rocky comes through as a solid, if unspectacular, GBA title. [Jan 2003, p.122]

This Advanced Warfighter tries to follow along the same evolutionary path as the Xbox 360 title, but it can only make half the effort. [May 2006, p.106]

If you're ten, or simply itch for a decent, albeit short action title, Blender Bros. should fit the bill. [June 2002, p.87]

I realized that playing this game is a little like having a girlfriend: You experience brief periods of joy followed by extended intervals of utter confusion. [Nov 2001, p.29]

Even through my multiple gritted-teeth attempts at the battles, I loved figuring out the puzzle of how to take down each monstrous foe. Finally executing on your plan to defeat a boss you’ve been stuck on is beyond rewarding. Mechstermination Force is action packed and exciting, but hit-or-miss controls and a disappointing final boss prevent it from reaching its best form.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity looks a lot like Breath of the Wild, but it lacks the exploration and puzzle-solving elements that define the mainline Legend of Zelda series. Age of Calamity may not resemble a traditional Zelda game, but it’s not a bad time. The action is repetitive, but also relaxed and comfortable. It trades on your love for Nintendo’s classic franchise, and I was happy for the excuse to return to this version of Hyrule. I still feel like I'm chasing Breath of the Wild's high, and Age of Calamity is a small solace.

Outlast is a virtual tour through a hall of terrors. Even playing the game in full daylight makes me uneasy. However, the game's overall level design and gameplay were sacrificed at the altar of fear. If you're looking for an experience that will get your adrenaline pumping, Outlast is hard to beat, but if you’re looking for a meatier horror experience then you might want to run past this one.

After Us poses some well-tread but timely questions about our impact on the world and its living things. However, optional discoveries throughout the game suggest that Piccolo is trying to present a slightly more ambivalent take on the subject. Some of that is best left for the player to discover for themselves. I recommend After Us strongly as a piece of visual artistry. It’s less successful as an interactive experience, but none of its problems are so glaring that it should dissuade someone from discovering its striking and haunting world.

Being predictably solid is both a blessing and curse for the Hot Shots series, and at the end of the day I try to not overthink the fact that World Invitational is simply a fun experience. I approach it a lot like my real-life golf game, where I just try to enjoy being out in the sunshine and not get too wound up at the numbers on the score card.

Rune Factory 5 is rough around the edges, but I still loved my time with it. Something about how all the parts work together keeps pulling me to it. Even after completing the main story, I’m still playing, as I have recipes I haven’t unlocked, a romantic journey I’m embarking on, and many upgrades I can still do to the town. It has its flaws, but Rune Factory 5’s enchanting loop of constant progression and discovery helps mitigate a lot of these annoyances, so they don’t sting so much.

If Luna had not been so obtuse, it might have been close to greatness. I loved the atmosphere and the little touches in this world. Many puzzles are a joy to solve, but the bad ones are so poorly constructed that they tipped my frustration over the edge. As much as I wanted to love Luna, I felt like the game was pushing me away.

This game hasn't solved all of its pivot-based racing problems, so unfortunately that doesn't help matters, but at least it's better simply because the tracks are more interesting and the sense of speed is pretty good. [Sept. 2006, p.88]

Unmistakably an SMT title: It still features the distinctive art of Kazuma Kaneko, demon fusion, and an atmospheric story. It may not have the gameplay or challenge that fans have come to expect, but it does a good job of taking small steps toward the mainstream without renouncing its roots.

Crashlands unfolds a structured progression and ongoing story in a branch of games that often feels too freeform for many players; that framework is what makes this the crafting game that could finally appeal to those who’ve never grasped the genre’s charms.

It's nice that this sequel let's you freestyle more often, and the scoring seems more logical than before. [Feb 2002, p.82]

All-Stars is clearly similar to Smash Bros., especially because it's far more fun to play with friends. Solo, it quickly becomes repetitive and doesn't give you much reason to continue. If you have company over, however, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale can be a lot of chaotic fun.

Inazuma Eleven is a quirky and novel RPG, but the on-field action is too unrefined to be rewarding.

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.

The characters – despite the level of depth that there is in the subtleties of gift giving and partnering up – aren’t really women at all. Aside from the obvious problems with presenting such unrealistic body images, there’s something disappointing about the way these hypersexualized characters are portrayed as childish, vacant, silly, and vain.

Juiced certainly has the makings of an average street racer, with lots of customizables and affected street appeal. [July 2005, p.116]

Grappling around each room and deftly making split-second moves still makes me feel nimble in a way other platformers don’t, and the feeling of finally defeating a boss after several failed runs is a reward worth chasing, even if you can’t pursue it for too long.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

It actually contains a good, unique mechanic for turning which lets you slide around curves and even whip out a muddy 180 degrees if you want. [Aug 2003, p.104]

A gorgeous game with a couple examples of spectacular level design, but it doesn't have any tricks up its sleeve once the novelty wears off. [Apr 2005, p.130]

EA is definitely focusing on an area of the sport that I feel that all developers should be, but the series has fallen far behind "NBA 2K6" in nearly every category. [Nov 2005, p.145]