Even serious fans should rent before buying this half-baked cash in. [Jan 2009, p.77]

The game's complete lack of refinement and polish... renders all of its strengths irrelevant. [June 2003, p.112]

I want to strangle this game with my bare hands. [Dec 2005, p.186]

Beating levels felt more in the realm of schoolwork than satisfying puzzle action. Presentation is very bland and simple, but that somehow doesn’t prevent loading screens between every stage.

Just like a real carnival, you’ll feel cheated more that once playing these virtual simulations, but the real carny scam might be trying to sell this “discount” title for $40.

The gunplay is bland, the graphics are solid but repetitive, and most of the multiplayer aspects can be found in a free patch for "NOLF 2." [Jan 2004, p.157]

Ecco has such great, ocean-worthy graphics; but it plays so, so poorly. [May 2002, p.82]

Living up to a legend is practically impossible, but instead of providing an entertaining experience on its own terms, SolSeraph adheres to an ancient blueprint. It seems content to imitate rather than innovate, but its tedious gameplay can’t even accomplish that. I love ActRaiser, and I can’t blame SolSeraph for failing to recapture the magic of a 16-bit classic. At the same time, SolSeraph doesn’t have much value apart from how it reminds you of a better game you may have played about 30 years ago.

After a cool introductory sequence, things go downhill immediately. [Jan 2010, p.85]

I was deeply frustrated by Ancestors, so it may seem strange for me to say that I found a lot of promise, complexity, and nuance here as well. The novel concept and grand scope are far more appealing than dozens of other action or survival games on the market. This is a deeply flawed but richly imagined effort, but like many ambitious gaming projects at launch in recent years, it can now either die off like the Neanderthals, or evolve into something better from here.

I found myself repeating ("stupid") endlessly as I writhed and winced my way through this lifeless and contrived adventure. [Jan 2005, p.119]

The Legend of Korra is a great TV series that is ripe for a strong video game adaptation, and Platinum has laid the groundwork for an interesting combat experience. However, missteps in balancing, combat timing, and level design add up quickly, and even Korra’s sassy quips can’t pull the game back from the brink.

The developers failed to develop a camera system capable of dealing with the 3D action. [Mar 2002, p.79]

Like a deep-fried supermodel, the scarred beauty of Still Life is sadly buried under inches of unpleasant greasy breading. [Apr 2005, p.136]

A relic of gameplay design that should have gone extinct with the dinosaurs. [July 2008, p.92]

This quirky RPG port of a PSone title has a reworked turn-based battle system that makes the already simplistic experience mind-numbingly dull.

I simply can't imagine anyone trying this [game] for more than five minutes unless they were on illicit drugs. [July 2009, p.86]

Don't think of it so much as a game, but more as an exercise in anger management. [May 2005, p.132]

Most of this game’s content is in betrayal of the license, and it’s not all smut, either. In one mission, you are tasked with assassinating Fidel Castro, an act that ends up being just as comedic as The Naked Gun’s assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth II. Unfortunately, the intent of this sequence isn’t to make ­players laugh. [May 2009, p.82]

If you have such a child in your household, I would do everything in my power to ensure they never catch wind of this game.

This title is notable only in the fact that every single facet of the game is mediocre to bad. Control, graphics, sound; all are very unimpressive. [Apr 2004, p.106]

A relative disaster. The PC version of the game still comes highly recommended, but steer clear of this console iteration.

I found myself repeating ("stupid") endlessly as I writhed and winced my way through this lifeless and contrived adventure. [Jan 2005, p.119]

Disciples III is pretty enough, but it doesn't take long to figure out that there's no soul behind the enticing facade. [Sept 2010, p.95]

Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back underwhelms and disappoints at every turn. Bland level design never improves, and tedious boss battles are unrewarding and unsatisfying. Bubsy's return 21 years later could have reminded us why he was once considered a potential peer to the likes of Mario and Sonic. Instead, The Woolies Strike Back only serves to remind us why the mascot hasn't seen a new adventure in over two decades.

Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back underwhelms and disappoints at every turn. Bland level design never improves, and tedious boss battles are unrewarding and unsatisfying. Bubsy's return 21 years later could have reminded us why he was once considered a potential peer to the likes of Mario and Sonic. Instead, The Woolies Strike Back only serves to remind us why the mascot hasn't seen a new adventure in over two decades.

Infinite Air offers a lot to like on a conceptual level, but its faulty trick system creates a hole that is impossible to fill.

I love using the right analog to reel in and the left to set the hook, but other than that, the gameplay is pretty drab (and I mean that in comparison to OTHER fishing games.) [Sept 2003, p.121]