The gameplay really needs an upgrade before I can recommend this series again. [Nov. 2006, p.130]

You could fit the amount of innovation this game has into Yoda's shoe. What's that you say? Yoda doesn't wear shoes? Exactly...It somehow loses the magic of the movies and feels flat and lifeless. [Oct 2004, p.146]

Many points where the puzzle design, level layout and management of the teens' special skills are just plain clumsy and almost unusable. [June 2005, p.127]

The core gameplay is simply tired. Jumping around collecting random doodads is just old - it's time to move on to new objectives in platformers. [Dec 2004, p.167]

This game, like the monkey villain I speak of, is also quite bad. [Jan 2002, p.98]

It has potential, but doesn't deliver the gameplay necessities to warrant a purchse. [Feb 2003, p.110]

Puzzle gaming has had a number of complex entries recently, and this isn’t one of them. It is, however, a fun diversion for about an hour.

This meter is somewhat emblematic of my overall experience of this game. Ideas that were once novel are outdated or uninteresting by today’s standards. While Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is a welcome update to a classic farm sim, stripping away nostalgic fondness leaves you with an experience that feels lacking in the genre's modern landscape.

Despite a few memorable sequences, the occasional good puzzle, and some barely adequqte multiplayer modes, Geist fails in most respects. [Sept 2005, p.106]

Quite and ugly game. There's more pop-up than a toaster, and the music is unappealing to anyone without a straw hat. [Apr 2002, p.79]

House Flipper seems like a killer idea for a sim game, and while your first few sales deliver some of the before-and-after magic, the game fails to capture the larger remodeling fantasy. Empyrean has been delivering a steady stream of updates and improvements to House Flipper, but it’ll take a lot more elbow grease to get this fixer-upper ready for market.

The Wii version is notable for using motion slashing on both the nunchuk and remote, although the attacks you generate aren't that sophisticated. The game's areas are also slightly bigger and require less loading on the Wii. [Apr 2009, p.81]

As much as I wanted to love it, Risen 2 ends up as another entry in the long list of games with a great premise, a few interesting ideas, and an unforgivable anchor dragging the whole thing down.

It simply doesn’t have enough to redeem itself from its laundry list of flaws.

All of the spoken dialogue is loaded with swearing, prostitutes are everywhere, and the talk radio stations may contain the most sexually explicit content in any video game to date. The result is an immature and offensive clone of a far superior game ["GTA III"]. [Oct 2003, p.118]

As much as I disliked lumbering through levels as Sonic’s hulky Werehog, I disliked hunting through the hub worlds looking for coins even more. Sega, if you really want to fix Sonic, the first thing you should do is stop trying to fix him.

The onscreen golf is just as poor as the disappointing gameplay mechanics. [July 2008, p.93]

"Robotech" has the hot license and nifty cel-shaded look. Where does this leave Gun Metal? Nowhere, I'm afraid. [Oct 2002, p.91]

Scattered across its unnaturally lengthy campaign, Payback has several fun event sequences that blend cinematic action with rousing racing. And as players begin to control more sophisticated cars, the sense of excitement and speed can be engaging. Unfortunately, too much of the rest of the game feels lackluster, unpolished, and catered to other priorities besides fun. Payback hits a lot of the checkpoints on a bullet list for a big modern racing adventure, but lacks the discipline and execution to come in for anything but a disappointing finish.

For all the harm the middling presentation does to Jump Force, the fighting does have satisfying explosive moments and the online versus mode does work well. There is depth to uncover in the combat, but it never truly sang to me or made me excited to tackle the next fight. Mostly I was just happy to not have to repeat a fight when I won, even if I was performing iconic attacks from some of my favorite anime.

Altas Mugged ends on a huge cliffhanger, with the fate of all four protagonists hanging in the balance.

The word I would best use to describe Black The Fall is perfunctory. It mostly functions, but has no highs outside of the opening. It offers no narrative incentive to deal with its onslaught of boring and outright bad puzzles. I rarely finish games that make me wish I could have the time I spent with them back; Black The Fall is an unfortunate exception.

Frustrating instead of addictive. [Sept 2004, p.118]

I love this title’s core idea of using custom-leveled heroes and their squads of minions to conquer the world (or defend it; same difference) in a turn-based framework. Until I can do that without attending to details that I don’t care about through bland menus, though, I’ll be sticking with "Fire Emblem."

It’s one of those experiences that falls apart as it unfolds.

It feels like a war machine that is too far behind the times, and it gets blown away by its competitors before it can even begin the battle. [Feb 2005, p.121]

Though you can get used to the sub-par controls, there’s still no real reason to play Vanguard, from the uninspired level design to the tired subject matter. Sure, it works on a basic level in that you shoot Nazis and they fall down. Beyond that, there isn’t much here to enjoy.

I can't see the point in playing a boring retro-wannabe when there are plenty of good games that are actually retro and don't use "old-school" as an excuse for lack of originality. [Jan 2006, p.156]