It's disappointing that many of the new features fail to bring value to the table, but elements like last year's excellent motion system are at least in place to make the game exciting from moment to moment. Although I wasn't in awe of the new player hot/cold streaks, I liked the player roles and how they changed from year to year and gave your players a career progression arc. Other bright spots are the online communities that help weed out the riff-raff from your online multiplayer (thanks to stronger griefing rules), and the accompanying leaderboards also offer a larger structure to the experience. This is especially useful since the online franchise feature is still a bust.

Cosmic Star Heroine has a lot of great ideas, but they never develop into anything that leaves you fully satisfied. The game is still fun and worth playing, though; as someone who grew up with Phantasy Star, Suikoden, and Chrono Trigger, seeing some of their elements collected and compiled is charming. I just wish Cosmic Star Heroine was better-rounded and the rest of the game had as much depth as its battle system.

For the ongoing Final Fantasy VII re-examination, which Square Enix has officially dubbed the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core feels like required reading. Its place in the larger story is important and will likely grow in significance moving forward, but making your way through those story moments sometimes feels like a school assignment. Reunion is a well-executed remake of the 2007 game that delivers fun combat alongside a stilted story with an interesting and narratively important final act. If you plan on starting or continuing the Final Fantasy VII Remake journey, make sure to do your homework.

It's disappointing that many of the new features fail to bring value to the table, but elements like last year's excellent motion system are at least in place to make the game exciting from moment to moment. Although I wasn't in awe of the new player hot/cold streaks, I liked the player roles and how they changed from year to year and gave your players a career progression arc. Other bright spots are the online communities that help weed out the riff-raff from your online multiplayer (thanks to stronger griefing rules), and the accompanying leaderboards also offer a larger structure to the experience. This is especially useful since the online franchise feature is still a bust.

After having a year to settle into the Wii's brand of pro football, this branch of the Madden franchise is certainly less alien, but at the same time it's not necessarily more comfortable to deal with. [Oct 2007, p.122]

Though the battles themselves get incredibly complex, the combat system remains simple and sometimes frustrating due to the use of an awkward real-time/turn-based combat hybrid. [Jan 2005, p.125]

Ninety-Nine Nights may be the best that the genre has to offer, but it also shows us that this style of game still has a long way to go. [Sept. 2006, p.96]

My grievances with Monster Hunter Stories 3 are relatively minor. It's an RPG that plays it safe, and while that means it avoids massive missteps, it also fails to make much of an impression. Despite spending over 60 hours exploring its world, I don't expect to think much about Twisted Reflection now that I've rolled credits. Still, its good outweighs its bad, and I don't regret my time in office as the prince of Azuria. At the very least, it was a joy to look at.

The Madden NFL series has long had a solid gameplay foundation, maintained by small improvements year over year. Madden NFL 23 is the first iteration in a long time that rebuilds that foundation, and that’s where this year's greatest success lies. Some slippery collisions aside, the more physics-based action is a good change, and the control over ball placement from Skill-Based passing is a welcome addition. This comes at the cost of only minor updates to the core gameplay modes, but it was ultimately the right call to make, and Madden is a better game for it.

Here's a classic case of a good game with a bad control scheme. [July 2002, p.83]

The game itself is good, but not stellar. It looks most like a late-era PSone game, but has a fairly solid camera, great dialogue, imaginative level design, and a definite emphasis on platforming rather than fighting action. [Oct 2003, p.118]

An uneventful, but not altogether unenjoyable racing game that fails to distinguish itself from the pack. [Dec 2002, p.120]

In the world of games, it deserves a body bag. In the world of 24, it's just as good as the show. [Apr 2006, p.122]

Original design and a quirky style keep Fancy Pants enjoyable throughout, but some significant features need a little tweaking before this sketchy hero can stand with the big platforming heavyweights. [July 2011, p.94]

Lacking in serious challenge, Sonic 2 does feature decent level design, imaginative graphics, and impressive velocity. [May 2003, p.94]

The jumping portions of the game are still a little iffy, and I killed myself quite a lot from misreading the view, but in the end I enjoyed exploring the worlds. [Dec 2002, p.152]

In the end NBA Live 10 may have the glamorous look of a basketball superstar, but it still needs to round out its game to steal the crown of best hardcore hoops game from its rival.

Even with a well-balanced multiplayer experience, I can't say that Sword of the Stars is incredibly ambitious, but it's definitely an entertaining and accessible way to extend your galactic influence. [Sept. 2006, p.99]

Original design and a quirky style keep Fancy Pants enjoyable throughout, but some significant features need a little tweaking before this sketchy hero can stand with the big platforming heavyweights. [July 2011, p.94]

The entire mood is much darker than the earlier games. I appreciate the scope of this tale, and it makes up for some of the bad feelings I have about the cost of playing the whole series. [Sept 2003, p.109]

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.

Alias, in essence, boils down to an age-old sentence in the gaming review business: Fans will mostly dig it and newbies won't be terribly disappointed. [Apr 2004, p.94]

However, the overall roughness in every aspect of the game and the mediocre single-player element make this a niche title in an already-niche genre. [May 2006, p.113]

A Brighter Darkness is more than passable, but it’s not my favorite. Compared to Disgaea 4’s ambition and heart, it is a letdown. Disgaea 4 took the series to new places, opening up multiplayer and community, but A Brighter Darkness doesn’t do anything as impressive. This is even more disappointing if you are a fan anticipating a reunion with beloved characters.

When it embraces the full weight of its gameplay mechanics, it’s an enchanting experience. It hits speed bumps often and comes dangerously close to losing its way, but concludes with two strong acts. Valley is one of those gaming oddities with unique highs unlike almost anything else, which makes the lows worth tolerating.

Ultimately, Rango's another example of how to do a licensed property justice. Rather than simply rehash the movie's story, EA and Paramount are giving players a new adventure to experience. It's a little on the short side – and even then it starts to get repetitive near the end – but it's definitely one of the better tie-ins I've played over the years.

Your objectives change so constantly that it's easy to forget about the blurry graphics and simplistic combat. [Feb 2004, p.114]

I enjoyed my time with Edgeworth, but it's the weakest entry in the series. [Issue#203, p.95]