A year later, the series has packed on a couple of off season pounds, and gets left in the dust. [Nov 2002, p.142]

It really is no exaggeration to conclude that Puyo takes that nearly religious level of concentration before you can truly excel at it. [Aug 2004, p.100]

Sand Land has its shortcomings and feels a little overlong despite seeing credits around the reasonable 20-hour mark, but it maintains a charm throughout. Toriyama’s fun sense of humor is front and center with Beelzebub taking on the adventure primarily so his dad will give him an extra hour of video game time every day. I may not have had strong connections with most of the cast and was annoyed with a number of specific sections, but I liked spending time in Sand Land (and beyond) and seeing my garage upgrade and grow.

Missions are fairly repetitive and directionless, and the load times are a little too long. MHF is, at times, so slow it might put you to sleep if you’re not careful.

The detailed world of Neo-Paris seems like it should be full of great stories, but the one Dontnod tells is uninspired. The environmental climbing sequences offer some simple fun, but the linear paths diminish any sense of exploration this otherwise would have achieved.

Despite some creative visual tricks, Layers of Fear doesn’t have sharp enough teeth to maintain its bite.

I can see a certain subset of nostalgic shooter fans having a total blast with Serious Sam 3, but you have to be pretty enthusiastic about old-school co-op shooting to get your $40 worth out of the game.

If you like what Type-0 has to offer, the presence of additional story and mission content offers ample reason to return for subsequent playthroughs, but it comes with the cost of having an indecipherable plot the first time through.

It's definitely the closest video games have ever come to capturing the essence of a kick-ass action flick. [Feb 2003, p.92]

Its bare-bones nature is simply unacceptable in this day and age when racing games are getting more interesting. [Mar 2009, p.89]

It just needs to get its butt back into training camp to iron out the fundamentals of the game. [Dec 2005, p.190]

The game suffers only by clinging a bit too tightly to its roots. [March 2005, p.128]

There is nothing that makes this worthy as a standalone release. [Jan 2005, p.68]

It's entertaining enough to plow through the two campaigns, but the fact that there are fairly clear-cut optimal solutions to all three facets of gameplay makes this nothing more than a mildly enjoyable look at part of the genre's history. [Nov 2007, p.163]

As the game wears on, the simple pleasures of the gameplay fade, and the incredibly frustrating boss battles mount in aggravation, leaving us with nothing more than another unsatisfying licensed game. [Dec 2005, p.159]

It offers something you simply aren't going to get from a lot of other games right now: a surprise. [Jan 2006, p.155]

If you still find yourself playing "Raven Shield" instead of the newer FPSs though, Athena Sword will only make you fall in love with it all over again. [May 2004, p.107]

It just doesn't do anything to make the gameplay more accessible or enjoyable to the general gaming public. [Jan 2004, p.157]

Inside Line is a step up from its predecessor in every way, but it falls short of being a winner. However, this year's title is like points racing: Even if you can't win it all, you can still make up some ground.

Magic fans will likely scoff in disgust, but if you're in the market for a game that plays like a fighter but has a little more depth, you may want to give this a whirl. [Dec 2003, p.173]

Wayward Sky is an entertaining adventure that never quite takes off. I enjoyed exploring the environments, but it doesn’t build on its delightfully charming world to make it memorable. It’s a good showcase for VR, where you feel immersed in its universe as you take control of several quirky machines, but the alluring concept falls flat as it never manages to be as intuitive as the world it presents.

The addition of the new Aggro Kick, which lets you build up speed with timed button presses, is pure genius. Having the ability to smoothly go online and enjoy multiplayer is absolutely fantastic, but the single-player experience is more chore than score, and brings down the whole experience because of its uninspired design.

Tales of Zestiria feels like a game from another time in many ways, and not in the charming type of way. It forces you through some the most boring and outdated elements from RPGs of yesteryear. If the series wants to stay relevant it needs to put forth a better effort than Zestiria.

The game's levels take you through a variety of iconic areas, but they ultimately lack the wow factor that more fanciful takes that other games in the genre offer. At the end of the day, however, Cars 2: The Video Game is a satisfying racing game with a reserve tank of charm. And if multiplayer is your thing, the entire game can be played via a four-way split screen. Chances are, if you have younger gamers in your household, you'll have a few eager challengers in no time flat.

Hopefully, updates will stamp out these issues because RoboCop: Rogue City provides a respectable adventure that feels like a long-lost shooter of the early 2010s in mostly good ways. Admittedly, the license carries the game through its rougher patches; if you’re not a RoboCop fan, the adventure may feel dated or buggy compared to other shooters. But as a B-tier love letter to the tin man in blue, Rogue City is a nice return to the limelight for Alex Murphy.

It can provide some wacky fun, but it lacks all of the finesse of a genuine fighting game. Budokai Tenkaichi 2 relies exclusively on a mediocre combat engine and the naivety of fans who will buy it because they want to play through the Cell Saga yet again.

Team Sonic Racing delivers a fun, easy-to-play experience that bolsters its adequate gameplay with distinct flavors to help it stand out from the rest of the genre. Unfortunately, the core gameplay provides mediocre action, limiting the fun of the otherwise promising racer.

It took me about 4 to 5 hours to play through the main story missions with a co-op partner, though the secondary missions can double that, depending on how thorough you are.