Knack winds up being a pretty good game that definitely falls short of its potential.

There is a very specific kind of player for whom Hard Corps: Uprising is going to be better than crack. These are the people that keep Cave employed, who lined up for Gradius V, and who have characters from Metal Slug tattooed on their unmentionables. It's an arcade game for serious shooter fans, and only for serious shooter fans.

There is a very specific kind of player for whom Hard Corps: Uprising is going to be better than crack. These are the people that keep Cave employed, who lined up for Gradius V, and who have characters from Metal Slug tattooed on their unmentionables. It's an arcade game for serious shooter fans, and only for serious shooter fans.

The greatest tragedy that befalls a game is not inconsistent visuals, as these can be easily overcome by compelling gameplay, but rather, poor direction.

Joy Ride Turbo isn't perfect, but does wind up delivering a more satisfying racing experience than its predecessor. It controls far better with an actual controller than without it and is delivers a lot of fun. The only qualms I have with it are the sterile world, busy work caused by searching for car parts, and forgettable music.

On the ice, NHL 2K8 has improved by leaps and bounds in the graphics department.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy The Walking Dead: Season Two as much as I did the first season. The game still works well and has high production values, but the storyline doesn’t make as much sense, especially when everybody — including the zombies — can’t tell the difference between your eleven-year-old character and an adult.

Could it possibly be more impressive than Commandos 2? The answer is no, and I don’t think developer Pyro Studios even really tried.

Sadly, there's little depth in Season of Flame.

NBA Live 09 is not a bad game. In fact, it's a relatively good game, if a bit incomplete.

For Origin, since it's a little easier than the norm, and since it has modest system requirements, it might be best for players who are new to adventure games or who have aging computers.

NBA Live 08 is a good game. It's not a great game yet. It has plenty of problems, and I must say it's still not quite on par with the impressive basketball simulation that is NBA 2K8. But the gap has closed this year. It plays, looks, and feels better than last year, and if it keeps improving, we'll have the great NBA Live series of old.

MLB 2K10 is a good game of baseball. Not a great game, yet, but a good game. I will say that for the first time in recent memory, I get the sense playing this game that it does have the chance to be a great game in the next couple of years.

It was the iron-like grip of the plot Gestapo forcing me down the script line that griped my cookies. Still, you have to give them some credit just for attempting to make a game that breaks out of the mold.

If you already have played through this game on another system, the new controls probably aren’t enough to warrant a new purchase, as they are the only new addition. But if you haven’t had the 07 version, and are a Wii-control fan, this is a must have for the Wii.

The game itself is bright and happy and optimistic, it’s well made, and it includes enough content to be well worth its suggested retail price.

The lack of a matchmaking service surely will make racing against real-life opponents a little difficult but visually, the game is spectacular and with most of the licenses in place, NASCAR Heat is an enjoyable ride.

Easily one of the best fighting engines in a hockey game to date.

Overall, I'd say Prototype 2 is a worthy follow-up to the original game. It improves on some key areas, has an intriguing plot, very good voice acting, and is a blast to play. However, its formula can get old after a while and there are some nagging control and camera issues as well. It's a bit lacking in replay value, but is a must-have for anyone who enjoyed the first game.

NBA Live 08 is a good game. It's not a great game yet. It has plenty of problems, and I must say it's still not quite on par with the impressive basketball simulation that is NBA 2K8. But the gap has closed this year. It plays, looks, and feels better than last year, and if it keeps improving, we'll have the great NBA Live series of old.

It's not fancy and it's not amazingly deep, but it does let you chop up an awful lot of zombies. It's entertaining for what it is.

And that, in a nutshell, can be used to sum up Alice: The Madness Returns. There are moments of brilliance; of clever design, fiendish platforming, loads of secrets, and intense combat. At others, though, Alice's adventure can be an unpolished, frustrating exercise in repetition. To say Alice is trippy would be more than a slight understatement. I have to say I enjoyed my journey into madness as I plunged further and further down the proverbial rabbit hole more than I thought I would initially. Still, I can't help but feel like it could, and probably should, have been better.

And that, in a nutshell, can be used to sum up Alice: The Madness Returns. There are moments of brilliance; of clever design, fiendish platforming, loads of secrets, and intense combat. At others, though, Alice's adventure can be an unpolished, frustrating exercise in repetition. To say Alice is trippy would be more than a slight understatement. I have to say I enjoyed my journey into madness as I plunged further and further down the proverbial rabbit hole more than I thought I would initially. Still, I can't help but feel like it could, and probably should, have been better.

Sniper Elite 4 doesn’t always hit its mark, but I still recommend it to virtual sharpshooters who prefer a more methodical approach to their shooters. The campaign is perfectly enjoyable solo, but adding a friend heightens the overall experience, as does raising the difficulty level to increase the intensity and really capture the essence of being a marksman. Sniper Elite 4 may be a “wait for sale” kind of title, but if you’re a fan of tactical shooters, you’ll want to keep this one in your sights. - See more at: http://www.game-over.com/content/2017/02/sniper-elite-4/#sthash.wpJqyL7D.dpuf

The audio is about what you'd expect from an Outrun game - nearly perfect. Both the remixes and original OR songs enhance the action, and accurately reflect the casual vibe given off throughout it.

Overall, Pursuit Force has all the elements of an exciting high-speed Hollywood pursuit: fast cars, loud guns, and daredevil jumps. The gameplay does get a little repetitive at times.

The audio is about what you’d expect from an Outrun game - nearly perfect. Both the remixes and original OR songs enhance the action, and accurately reflect the casual vibe given off throughout it.

It does some things well and some things badly, and overall it lands somewhere around average. Fans of the first game will no doubt like the sequel, but for everybody else it’s likely to be an iffy proposition.

I've already seen it done before - and quite possibly done better.

It’s got some rough edges visually, but also has some striking shots that will dazzle thanks to impressive lighting effects and features the same kind of music that made the other Arkham games so atmospheric.

The PC version is sometimes difficult to control (the mouse is severely underused, and you’re not given any options for redefining hotkeys), but the game itself is bright and happy and optimistic, it’s well made, and it includes enough content to be well worth its $30 suggested retail price.

There’s a lot of stuff built up around the actual racing—pictures of pretty girls, a frenetic soundtrack, and a whole Driver DNA mechanic that doesn’t really seem to do anything at all—but once you cut through all that to the content itself it actually ain’t half bad.

Metroid: Other M has a lot of flaws, but winds up being greater than the sum of its parts. No matter how annoying the voice work is, or how disappointing the first-person view is, the core game itself is always fun.

As with Telltale’s other recent titles, Guardians of the Galaxy is basically an interactive movie where your choices make a minimal difference. There is only one “sort of” puzzle in the game, where you have to figure out how to open a door. Everything else happens linearly, and you only have one way to do it. Luckily, the writing is good, and the opening episode raises enough questions that I’m interested in seeing what happens next — which is certainly an improvement over Telltale’s recent Batman and Minecraft games. So everything looks good for Guardians of the Galaxy so far. Hopefully, Telltale can maintain the momentum.

The part that will grow on you will be the interaction between you and the monster. The developers have instilled a lot of detail in rendering emotional attributes to the monsters.

TC is an OK fighting game with a snappy plotline, and some unfortunately crappy driving segments thrown in for good measure. It would have been much better if they had been able to get the camera under control.

It possesses excellent technical qualities with a run-down view of the world that Nostradamus would be proud of. But it lacks any heart.

Despite its blemished presentation and short-lived overall game time, Disaster Report manages to stay entertaining on a by-the-moment tension-inducing level, and without the benefit of gratuitous violence or paranormal gimmicks to boot.

The sad fact is if you already played the main story of Splinter Cell, it'll only give you cause to lament on what this game could have been.

For me, Full Throttle was one of my least favorite of the LucasArts adventures, being about half the length you’d expect from an adventure and using a setting that I didn’t really care about. So I’m mixed in my feelings here. If you’ve never played the original version of the game, then it’s worthwhile to try out the remastered version — just to see some adventure game history if for no other reason. But if you’ve played Full Throttle before, then the remastered version is more of an iffy proposition. There is some new stuff to see (and hear) but it’s basically just the same game, and you’ll have to decide if that’s worth $15 to you.

While Grand Slam Tennis 2 is not a Game of the Year candidate, it's certainly a very good game of virtual tennis, and a great value – especially at $49.99 - $10 cheaper than your average retail sports game. It's not without its frustrations, and it's not a technical masterpiece, but the online modes, smooth career offering, and ESPN classic matches will give you plenty to do. For a fan of tennis games, if you're looking to scratch the itch of swinging the old racket, I can certainly recommend this one to you.

What was most surprising about Chessmaster was its inclusion of a tutorial that teaches you in set games how to best maximize the use of your pieces, including tricky moves like castles and turning pawns into queens.

And so, overall, The Walking Dead: Michonne is a worthwhile game to try out.

LEGO The Hobbit is ultimately par for the course.

The AI isn't awful enough to really bother me. The lack of save feature is annoying. The graphics and sound are pleasant, and the gameplay works.

It’s just the details of the game I didn’t get along with, all the unnecessary walking back and forth, and the general simplicity of the puzzles. So The Black Mirror earns a borderline recommendation from me.

The missions are challenging, you get lots of options for how to play through them, and the 10-mission campaign takes about 20-30 hours to complete, which, all-in-all makes Death to Spies a pretty worthwhile purchase at its $30 suggested retail price.

Emperor’s Testament needs more variety. Even the surprise plot twist in the game doesn’t enable Emperor’s Testament to break the formula.

The audio effects and soundtrack have been pared down, but this is as close as Nintendo's handheld will get in recreating the arcade experience.

All in all, Sumioni is a very good game, but one hurt by its limited scope. It allows you to do a nice variety of things with the touch screen, and even made great use of the back panel, but its strict formula gets old pretty quickly. Its $20 price tag feels a tad steep given that, but most of what's offered is done really well, so I think you'll get your money's worth out of it if you like hack and slash games with some platforming and even a touch of bullet hell shooter gameplay thrown in.

With an interesting premise, four campaigns and a large amount of depth with the researchable technology tree, Earth 2160 allows hardcore strategy fans the option to tailor make their own units and plans for galactic conquest.

In all, Heretic Kingdoms does more new things in one game than I’ve seen in the last dozen games I’ve played combined. That’s a good thing, and it almost makes up for the game’s technical problems.

There’s a lot of unrealized potential in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. I don’t believe the developers were able to squeeze as much out of the open world island warfare concept as they could have.

Much better than last year’s title by leaps and bounds, and comes closer than ever to presenting a challenge to EA and other baseball titles.

However, the bottom line is that Kinect Sports: Season Two is a lot of fun to play. It's not a game you'll play for hours on end, but instead it's one you'll pull out when friends come over for a fun couple of minutes.

In the end, Dragon's Dogma is an average hack-n'-slash RPG with a great gimmick that falls short in execution.

A vast improvement on the EyeToy formula, and an engaging diversion for a short while.

A pretty average adventure. I think if Presto Studios made a mistake, it's that they tried to make the game too much like the original Myst. They got the look and feel right, and they created a good set of puzzles, but, like Myst, they completely ignored story elements and character interaction.

While NBA Live 06 makes a couple of steps forward with the Freestyle Superstar Controls, it manages to make a couple steps backward at the same time.

The puzzles are still really easy, and they still only account for maybe 10% of the game’s playing time.

It’s not going to wow you or keep you up at night, and I doubt it’s going to make any adventure gaming Top Ten lists, but it’s pleasant and accessible, and I enjoyed it enough during the 5-6 hours I spent with it that I feel comfortable giving it a modest recommendation.

But the puzzles work well enough, and it has just enough going for it to bring back fond memories of LucasArts adventures, and so it’s a reasonable enough purchase, especially at its $20 suggested retail price.

Visuals are definitely the strength of the game. Controls and audio would fight for second place. Variety, unfortunately, is last.

I love the game, I really do, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's still playing Dawn of War. If you're not you may want to wait for the full sequel to the game, which is already in the early stages of development.

Overall, I liked Frostpunk, but it felt like half of the campaign was missing. Just when I got to the point where I understood the rules and how to play the game, it was over. Still, Frostpunk is challenging and interesting, and it has a unique setting that brings in some new gameplay mechanics, so it’s worthwhile to try out.

Deadpool is rough around the edges in some major ways, but if you love the character, it’s worth picking up on sale. $50 is way too high a price to pay for a game that is just an 8-10 hour campaign with some challenge missions thrown in.

But as I stated initially, I feel like PES 2012, while still a pretty good soccer game in it's own right, has fallen significantly behind the FIFA series, like a player past his prime who has lost a step... and he knows it.

But as I stated initially, I feel like PES 2012, while still a pretty good soccer game in it's own right, has fallen significantly behind the FIFA series, like a player past his prime who has lost a step... and he knows it.

Double Dragon: Neon hits more than it misses, and is a must-buy for anyone who loved beat-em-ups in either the late '80s or early '90s. This game was made for the 25-to-30 crowd, and is right in my wheelhouse as a result. If you loved that time period either literally or ironically, you'll find something to enjoy with the game's sense of humor.

While NBA Live 06 makes a couple of steps forward with the Freestyle Superstar Controls, it manages to make a couple steps backward at the same time.

The bottom line on Armored Fury is this: if you’ve been away from BF2 for a few months, it’s doubtful that a glitchy booster pack will draw you back in.

At $40, it’s worth buying if you loved the original release and just want to go through it again.

If you have played the other Tropico games, and if the similarities haven’t bothered you yet, then there isn’t any reason not to give Tropico 5 a whirl as well.

Spider-man's gravity-defying stunts really exasperate the engine's inability to consistently provide an optimal view for gameplay. This is quite a shame because Spider-man is a wonderful looking game.

Overall, I found Tesla Effect to be entertaining enough to recommend. It’s just good goofy fun, and the writing and the acting help to carry it along and make up for the so-so puzzles and environments.

The game lacks the necessary bells and whistles that contemporary gamers have come to expect from their digital entertainment but it’s hard not to like MR4’s simplistic, RPG style, monster fighting mechanics nonetheless.

Batman: Arkham Origins does its best to continue what two of the generation’s best games started, but falls far short of either game.

Since the game is so friendly and upbeat, it might work as a family adventure, as long as you don’t mind a few sporadic instances of profanity.

The camera issues and combat problems complicate this version of Sir Dan’s adventures, making this one less than perfect, but more than adequate as a basic platformer.

At the very least, this is worth a rental just to see how well the TMNT franchise translates to the Smash Bros. gameplay style, but it’ll probably take more than a rental if you want to unlock everything.

If you've never played these games before, having the first three titles all on one disk is very nice, especially considering the price point.

Despite some technical issues and odd design decisions (namely the overly repetitious parts that elongated the game), if you have friends to play with all the better, as that's definitely the way to go.

Rent before you buy, but if you are fan of the series at all you will find a lot here to warm your heart. The title may not be a hole-in-one, but it certainly is on par.

If they hadn’t rushed this game to match the release of the movie, if they had ditched the driving, if they had cleaned up the camera a little, if they had given me the targeting ability of every other first person shooter in existence, and if they had let me play as one or more of the major characters rather than just a couple of second bananas, then they would have really had something.

Maybe if PopTop could put "Railroad Tycoon 2’s" economic model into Railroad Tycoon 3’s engine, something great would emerge, but as it is now Railroad Tycoon 3 isn’t a game I’d recommend.

It is engaging at times but it is not always forgiving both in difficulty level and features to make it a truly well-rounded product.

A faithful representation of that old school gaming experience, but the extremely high difficulty level, continue flaw and lack of additional features or levels past the original arcade game hinder this from restoring faith in the side scrolling genre.

If you can get through a slow start and endure the troubles with bothersome levers, there is a lot of hack and slash fun to be had. The combat system is not quite the innovation that it has been made out to be, but it is smooth and responsive and quite fun to play with.

Something could have been done on the developer's part to reach out to this target audience and indeed, to the audience that needs to be introduced to Romance of the Three Kingdoms; something that AOE excels at. If you can get past this threshold, there is a gem underneath, if only a little unpolished.

If you’re a Lovecraft fan, you’ll want Dark Corners of the Earth because it’s great service to a fanbase that’s rarely treated this well. Any of the game’s problems can be overlooked considering what’s being given in return.

Would have been a great game… six years ago. Now, it’s nothing groundbreaking, creative or innovative.

It was silly in all the right ways, and the graphics and the voice acting got the job done. So if you like strange but straightforward adventures, then you might enjoy Atlantis Evolution.

Longtime fans will probably enjoy this enough to buy it, but casual fans should probably stick with a rental.

Questionable design decisions and technical issues aside, I love the LEGO games and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean is no different. These are still some of the best family friendly titles available. Having said that, I can't escape the feeling that this tried and true formula is beginning to get a little stale. But if, like me, you're okay with that, then LEGO Pirates is another swashbuckling romp along a familiar theme.

Questionable design decisions and technical issues aside, I love the LEGO games and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean is no different. These are still some of the best family friendly titles available. Having said that, I can't escape the feeling that this tried and true formula is beginning to get a little stale. But if, like me, you're okay with that, then LEGO Pirates is another swashbuckling romp along a familiar theme.

Despite moving to Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition rules, the game seemed much too familiar, it didn’t look particularly good or run particularly well on my computer, and it didn’t even come close to capturing my imagination.

Represents a ton of commitment and hard work, and I commend Battlegoat on that fact. But they do have some issues in AI, complexity and general gameplay that still leave room for improvement.

A good Civ game, not revolutionary but more evolutionary, although even at that it seems to pale against the more refined "Alpha Centauri." CTP2 has its charms and if Alpha Centauri alienated you, CTP2 is worthy of any Civ gamer' s time.