Just more of the same old formula in a candy shell. Take away the coatings and purportedly new features, and the game finds its way back to its roots - in the past.

It's your basic shooter without any impressive features and that's the problem: It's a game that doesn't stand out from the rest. It feels like the game was developed with an idea, but the idea wasn't executed to its fullest.

It surprises with its cool references and attention to detail, but loses a lot of luster in attempting to appeal to a wee audience.

I can really only recommend Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm to the die-hard. And even then, I'd recommend older titles in the series, if you can find them.

The new style is breathtaking, although the heavily tweaked gameplay will leave most Spider-fans hanging and the horrible pace will make them want to cut the thread.

There are a ton of in-jokes, sure. But when you've heard them all before, it feels less like a tribute and more of a "we ran out of interesting things to say for ourselves", and when you haven't heard them you won't get them anyway.

A mixed bag of intense and exciting racing action which suffers terribly from a total lack of extras and is beset by weak collision physics, bad camera angles and crappy load times.

No amount of zen can keep a player from dying so many times and feeling so helpless that they punch through a poster for a band they actually like. If you appreciate an abusive relationship however, this is the way to go.

Tecmo Koei sometimes doesn't realize when it stumbles upon good ideas, and Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 abandons several gameplay elements of the original title that it didn't need to. The sequel will still satisfy fans that don't mind the Dynasty Warriors design while nostalgically revisiting the animation, but the game's vital points could have been much stronger.

Lego Rock Band is a watered-down version of the original; dressed up, for sure, but with few places to go.

No amount of zen can keep a player from dying so many times and feeling so helpless that they punch through a poster for a band they actually like. If you appreciate an abusive relationship however, this is the way to go.

A solid attempt that unfortunately does nothing new or unique and suffers from some strange gameplay quirks.

The new style is breathtaking, although the heavily tweaked gameplay will leave most Spider-fans hanging and the horrible pace will make them want to cut the thread.

The marginal graphical changes don't really make for a better overall game than its disappointing PS2 counterpart.

It’s really a shame that a game with so much depth in its combat system turns up so thin everywhere else. It’s the exact opposite of Untold Legends, but that doesn't make it a great deal better.

Bad physics, bad level design and a paltry choice of vehicles overshadow the cool weapons and interactive maps. Where's "Twisted Metal Black" when you need it?

Astonishingly, this series is showing progress. If you owned the first Rocky, there is not much new here beyond playing as other characters, though newcomers will undoubtedly appreciate the way the game pays homage to the films.

You have to give Ridge Racer Unbounded points for trying something new. The series has gone downhill at a blistering pace following industry embarassments like this one. Bringing fresh ideas to the table and executing them in a stylish matter is exactly what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, none of these ideas are original and they were all better accomplished in the titles that originated them. Take one of the older models for a spin around the block and see for yourself.

The linear track design and lack of depth leads to a somewhat boring kart racer that will mainly appeal to young gamers or Looney Tunes fanatics.

An average game. It's got a lot of good ideas that we've seen before, but isn't able to pull it all together. Still, it's got a decent story and extras that will continue to challenge after Racing Life is done.

Stop pilfering from the classics, Japan, because that's not how you top them. Start doing something different, and leave those classics in the paradise of childhood memories where they belong.

The combination of an indecipherable plot, throwaway character design, 90% standard platformer gameplay and the world's most irritating music counteract what should have been some interesting additions to an old genre.

The Secret World is a title that may have made a splash five years ago. Now it's just another archaic MMO looking to fit in.

Overall, the experience of playing The Flame in The Flood is more frustrating than nerve-wracking. I get that survival games won't be easy, but their systems should feel balanced, not bullshit. And the nodal method of traveling down river can feel futile in its own way. There's a big, bad wolf between me and any desire to play this further.

It’s sad, really. Now that Sega’s console days have gone the way of the Colecovision, Sonic just doesn’t get the respect that he used to.

A great presentation and even better writing can’t compensate for the fact that the game practically plays itself. This is a good comic book, but a below average adventure.

As a standard third-person action-platformer, there's nothing substantially wrong with THQ's take on The Incredibles, but neither is there anything original.

After playing through some of the early levels, I started to enjoy myself, but when it really got down to the challenging bits, I was left wanting to hurl my 360 out the window. I think Giana Sisters as a whole is nice, with some really colorful and interesting visuals, but it just left me mad more than anything else.

If your measure of a game’s quality is in its length, you won’t be disappointed by this 50-hour epic, but I couldn’t bring myself to dedicate that much time to it.

Not a great expansion...basically extra building space and a few more objects.

The copycat gameplay is sound and fun enough not to be instantly grating. It will be in the long-term, though, when you realize there's really nothing else to do other than mindless combat with generic enemies.

While there are some cool view modes and the front-end is nice, you’d have to be quite a die-hard to shell out forty bucks for Final Fight, Strider, Street Fighter and a bunch of stuff no one even liked in the 80s.

Even through Battlegrounds uses the "Age of Empires" engine, it just doesn't look as impressive. Map textures and units look okay, but they don't seem to sport the amount of detail that was included in AoE.

It's not a successful music/rhythm game and it's not a successful racing game. It's merely an adequate hybrid with a kickass soundtrack.

Should have been pushed back even further if only to deliver the key online element.

It's a good thing that the marketing genius in the Skylanders franchise is so effective. An uninteresting game may actually serve the purpose of of the franchise, since it allows people to level up their figures relatively quickly, prompting them to buy a new figure and start over again at square one. Also, since Skylanders figures can be taken from console to 3DS back to console and continue to gain experience, the 3DS version may be just the accessory that fans of franchise will want, even if the game itself is boring and bland.

While fans of the franchise will get a kick out of re-enacting their personal favorite battles, most folks will probably be wishing that hacking up hobbits was more like blasting Ewoks. And even if you do get a kick out of it, much like dating a crazy hot chick, the enjoyment will be short-lived once you start to look beyond the surface and see the glaring flaws.

Legends isn't so much bad as brutally derivative. Fans of Counter-Strike will certainly find some fun within these castle walls, but ultimately will likely opt for a more legendary adventure.

Frankly, I’m not sure what the developers were thinking with Sacred 3.

The flow is maddeningly repetitive. It's also way, way too linear. You cannot fly around and explore at your own free will. Instead, you just land on a big base, kill stuff, shoot ships, then move on to the next level.

Discovering and learning to use the different disguises keeps Wario: Master of Disguise exciting for a few levels. But once the novelty wears off, there’s really nothing to keep you interested in the game.

A fitting finale to a second banana series.

This one's okay, if you just get into the excellent mood, the environmental detail and the strategic puzzle-solving of it all. If you try to get too rogue or off the beaten path, however, you'll end up phasering yourself in the foot.

I was very close to loving NHL 07 but I think I’ll save my money for a year when I can hold onto the puck.

The major fault of Silent Scope 3 is that it's more of the same, just memory and repetition.

The game mechanics, voice acting, and enemy designs are all wonderfully polished. But if people could live on polish alone, there’d be gourmet restaurants serving linoleum and fingernails. A game should first and foremost be enjoyable. G-Force’s downfall is in its repetitive puzzle design, bland visuals, and antiquated 3D technology.

However, these added touches and wonderful, momentary glimpses of what Hotline Miami 2 could have been only stand to make the game more disappointing.

While Sacred is a fun, addictive diversion, its relentless simplicity makes it feel like it’s not quite a full fledged game. I don’t need a complex crafting system, but I do need to feel like I have some control over my character’s abilities and destiny.

It’s a great concept and could have been a ton of fun if only it were set in a more open-ended, no-load time world, like "GTA" with zombies.

Even with all of its faults, Bloody Roar 3 still has its moments. There's nothing like chomping on a little bunny or mauling a lizard for the win. Even getting a 50+ hit combo is usually a good reason to celebrate.

It surprises with its cool references and attention to detail, but loses a lot of luster in attempting to appeal to a wee audience.

The Simpsons Game may just be the funniest video game ever, but funny is not the same as fun,and it's just not a very good game. I found myself wanting to finish the game just for the humor, even though I was screaming at the TV after falling down the 10,000th pit or when the camera showing me the wall again while i get killed.

In the end, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris was almost an enjoyable sequel to Guardian of Light. However, it’s impossible to look past its glaring problems with performance, which sully what could have been an otherwise enjoyable sequel.

Although Elegy for a Dead World is commendable as a unique and thoughtful writing and teaching tool, much of its implementation seems either limited or unfinished. It exists mostly as a launching point, and I question how many will spend long hours with it composing new works. Many existing games are inspiring in and of themselves, even if the characters are removed, because the environments are well-thought out and painstakingly realized.

If you swear by Pokemon, have attached a surname of Wuggly to your name, or are one of the many who want me dead for calling these creatures "silly," then you'll probably like it.

Well, I have good news! This game doesn't suck! But I also have bad news. It's not that much better.

The bad enemy AI, poor enemy variety and extreme linearity makes it hard to want to play any of the levels more than once. In the case of the Banner levels, you won't want to play them at all.

It’s not a particularly baaaad game, and it achieves what it sets out to do, but there’s not enough content there, nor hilarity outside of its initial gag, to keep you playing for more than an hour or so. It’s fun while it lasts, but it doesn’t last for long.

If you’re a hardcore fan of Family Guy, this might be worth checking out. If you’re familiar with this style of F2P gaming, you may want to pass or wait a bit to see if the developer decides to add some balancing adjustments to the time investment and real currency expense.

And come on, Square Enix, I know you want to re-release more of Square's back catalogue, but trying to sneak an FFTA remake past us with another title on the box is just bad form. Try VP: CotP if you like, but don’t be shocked if you end up ditching Wylford and his stupid hair for Marche and his.

A game that has a nifty combat system, but sadly not much else.

Tales of Zestiria desperately tries to retain its retro JRPG roots while also attempting to stay relevant. The stat-heavy nature of the game combined with numerous unimaginative dungeons slows it down to a crawl, which is unfortunate because the fast-paced combat is enjoyable.

It's simply not as good as the first Buffy game and suffers from loose control and repetitive gameplay. I guess hot chicks and vampires don't automatically make things awesome.

If you’re a fan of the show or manga, you’ll surely find something to like in Burning Blood. If you’re only a casual fan or have a friend who is, after some adjustments to the battle system, you should have some fun as well. Just remember that the story is an exercise in abuse: it’ll give you a win before pushing your face in the dirt, and not always in the fun, big-kid-who-doesn’t-know-their-own-strength kind of way.

While Gunman Chronicles looks a lot like Half-Life, it lacks the personality and creativity that made Half-Life such an epic game.

The best part of Starsky & Hutch is that it only costs a Jackson, which makes it one of the highest quality "bargain" games yet for the PS2.

Leaves a fairly bland taste in the mouth. With its cool creature-catching concept and some field items that would make a Boy Scout proud, it sets a good table. Unfortunately, the poor control and lack of solo playability hinder it from catching the big one.

The steady mechanics and sheer brutality of The Punisher save it from the slaughterhouse and lead to a decent rental, but repetitive gameplay and some stupid design errors make it hard to commit to Frank Castle's crusade.

As promising as a role-playing game based on The Lord of the Rings mythos sounds, The Third Age’s reality is one of strict linearity, wacky plot foibles, and generic turn-based action.

Mirror's Edge is the kind of game that you can see in the curriculum of some design school for its outside-of-the-box approach and polished style. But playing it is a different story. If you do feel the need to punish yourself, spend your money on a dominatrix instead of Mirror’s Edge.

The biggest offender here is that Episode Gladiolus has stripped Final Fantasy XV of most of its best qualities, relying on a dull character to carry the weight instead of the game's expansive world. Having tossed out many of the reasons I enjoyed Final Fantasy XV in the first place, it's a far less interesting addition to the game than the free content that has been introduced during the past few months, including this week's 1.07 update.

But while exercising my stealth skills can be fun in the myriad of mazes the Nazis have set for me, my inability to fight back and incessant item hunting have driven me quite mad. Yes, quite.

The game mechanics, voice acting, and enemy designs are all wonderfully polished. But if people could live on polish alone, there’d be gourmet restaurants serving linoleum and fingernails. A game should first and foremost be enjoyable. G-Force’s downfall is in its repetitive puzzle design, bland visuals, and antiquated 3D technology.

What’s here isn’t really worth the insane load times. While it manages to emulate the console version in terms of content, Midnight Club 3 comes to a screeching halt in its technical problems and overly simple racing.

What was once a breathtaking daredevil stunt ride is now just a business commute in rush-hour traffic. It might be good business sense for EA to squeeze a few more bucks out of its prior success - just make sure they're not yours.

Those who've never had an appointment with the doctor may take to it, but others who in the past made regular visits might feel that he hasn't kept up with the times.

Nothing truly stands out besides the Technicolor palette. The polygons are simplistic, the animations are typical and the worlds are environmentally lackluster. It just seems uninspired.

If you need a fix of some classic run-and-gun action, both of the original Dooms are available for pretty cheap, $15 together (a fiver for the original, tenner for the sequel). If you still want the third, this will do, but you'd be better off buying an original Xbox copy. These three games for forty bucks? No frills or "making of" videos, no concept art or anything behind the scenes? For a poop-ton of extras I could see a full release, but this simply reeks of the combination of "let's fix minor prior mistakes", like the flashlight with a weapon and some other lighting bits, and cashing in on a 20th anniversary, minus any… you know, history. Wait for the price for this to drop, or just save your cash.

You would probably get a greater sense of being underwater by watching "The Little Mermaid."

The game is still fluid enough to keep my attention and the NISA writing charm hasn’t yet worn off. It’s not as solid as their tactical stuff, but for a discounted price it’s worth a look. Helping this bitchy witch get some unjustified payback is still a great way to let off some steam.

As a reminder of what was, Jolly Rover is a great diversion. But up against the smarmier, sassier, sharper, and quick-witted-er Telltale games (or even worse, compared to the old LucasArts ones), it's also a reminder of what separates a good point-and-click adventure from a mediocre one.

The new style is breathtaking, although the heavily tweaked gameplay will leave most Spider-fans hanging and the horrible pace will make them want to cut the thread.

The level design, added mini-games, and continuous action make the campaign surprisingly entertaining.

The level design, added mini-games, and continuous action make the campaign surprisingly entertaining.

An amazingly funny game. It’s not actually good, but it manages to fail in such a stylish, over-the-top way that it’s endearing all the same. Although you’ll probably have no real desire to replay the game ever again upon completion, it’s a hoot the first time through and is absolutely worth a rental.

This game will really only make Castlevania devotees truly happy. If the original came out today, it would be quickly persecuted for how dated it looks and plays.

The game mechanics, voice acting, and enemy designs are all wonderfully polished. But if people could live on polish alone, there’d be gourmet restaurants serving linoleum and fingernails. A game should first and foremost be enjoyable. G-Force’s downfall is in its repetitive puzzle design, bland visuals, and antiquated 3D technology.

It's passably fun and offers cool ideas for the future, but in a world packed with incredibly addictive fighters, that's damning with faint praise.

A disappointment. I expected your character to play a more integral role in the story. No such luck. I expected better AI from a game that has been in development for this long. Nope.

Dark Legacy has more than enough items, upgradeability and weird creatures to keep your attention for more than a rental, but only if you have a few friends to play it with.

It might supply tons of carnage, but without a solid game surrounding it, this is little more than a frantic, gorgeous wreck.

Why keep buying Genesis collections?

Dark Summit sets its sights high, but the final product is mainly just a decent snowboarding game with a weird, lame story. A few cool concepts raise it above mediocrity, however.

Fine for its intended audience. Simple gameplay with familiar heroes is enough to keep the little ones occupied for a while. Just don't expect anyone over the age of six to go ga-ga over it.

Its simple controls and variety of styles will easily impress the newcomers. The rest of the vets might enter the ring for a fight or two, but this tournament isn't worth coming out of retirement.

The Last Remnant is better than Infinite Undiscovery if you’re looking for a long, easy-breezy romp through fantastical lands, but RPG fans who care about a challenging combat system or characters who are worthy of your empathy will be disappointed.

Kirby manages to star in yet another passable game for a Nintendo system. No, Kirby Squeak Squad isn’t ground-breaking by any means, but hey, you could do a lot worse.

The film came out a year ago and we've already endured one tragic game offering. This one is far better than that mess (which admittedly isn't saying very much) and despite its fundamental flaws, the game delivers some decent fun.