We’d like to give credit to Graffiti Kingdom’s designers for sticking with a daring concept, but then they went and surrounded it with a mindless action shell. Overly repetitive, simplistic gameplay dominates the landscape, and only the monster creator saves this game from running out of ink completely.

While the Dreamcast edition is still on the cheap side, the emulation is just lousy in comparison to the PC.

Though the character customization may be enough for fans to spend hours in Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi without complaint, the limited combat system doesn't encourage much thought. Preventing projectile spamming by employing quick-time events and coin flips merely replaces one problem with another. A cleaner, skillful, more polished fighting system would, ultimately, have been better.

Its interesting customization feature is effectively buried underneath the mindless fighting and mind-numbing Story.

The Sims Online is burdened by an intense emphasis on drudgery and an amazing lack of emphasis on fun - unless it's a quick pit stop at a pool table or in front of a TV to juice up your Sim's Fun meter to prepare for more work. That's just a little bit too much like real life for my tastes.

Sadly enough, I just can't see this as anything special. The cinematics are nicely done, and the voice acting isn't terrible, but it's not worth the hours of running on foot and wandering over the same areas multiple times to see some odd body language with forced English dubs.

It adheres to dated, formulaic gameplay far too much and is over quickly. But I grew up on this game, and if you did too, you will likely have some fun with this as a rental.

For die-hard fans of the series, I'd suggest renting Futurama if you feel the urge to see your favorite characters in new situations. For the rest of the gaming audience, a suicide booth might be a bit more fun than putting up with this tedious game.

This caught-between-generations game manages to just barely clear graphical obstacles and shallow depth by introducing some simple, fun game mechanics.

Too typical and boring. Moving from level to level cutting down waves of baddies isn't really what we need on the PS2.

It's hard not to appreciate the artistry behind The Rub Rabbits, but it's quite easy to write off its boring, repetitive gameplay.

There are a few interesting gimmicks, but the crazy camera and spawning enemies are outright annoying and bring dishonor to an otherwise average game.

The sound and music constantly find the most irritating corners of your ear to hammer away. The slightly cheesy music hides behind six annoying voiceover samples, which play over and over every five seconds. Literally.

Far rougher around the edges than the first game. Since the game is built around broken and gutted execution mechanics, there’s nothing left to play but an emaciated and less-than-average stealth game. Even if the executions were restored to its original state, the game would still be a headless corpse wandering the dark streets searching for its missing gameplay.

Many of the right elements are in play – lots of bad guys, decent graphics, online functionality - but it seems Shadow Ops: Red Mercury is merely following an old recipe without adding the proper seasoning to spice things up. The result is just a shadow of the competition.

The easy playability, decent graphics and dumb violence are perfect for the young, inexperienced and generally immature gamer. However, the lack of multiple paths, weapon variety and useful shortcuts keep it from satisfying basic kart racing requirements.

The amount of backtracking required in Sonic Unleashed is absolutely inexcusable, and this mandatory medal hunting is the nail in the coffin.

The cut-scenes, however, deserve special mention. They are performed not with CGI movies or even with the in-game engine, but with absurdly primitive flash movies that use cardboard cut-outs of the characters.

While it manages to float a few meters above the bottom of the ocean ["Surfing H30"], it sure as hell isn't the sunny beach it claims to be.

I can respect Funimation’s attempt to change many staid fighting game conventions throughout their Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series, but in the process, the controls have become almost impossible to learn.

Let's be straight here: Harmony of Despair is a frustrating game. What should have been a step forward into new territory seems to have landed in some sticky bat guano.

The plot is weird enough that some collectors and video game novelty-seekers might find it worth their money, but ultimately, nothing can save Haunting Ground from its own tedious gameplay. Run and hide, indeed.

Younger kids who can enjoy a game on the merits of simply making a nice looking character move around will dig it, but its strange difficulty might be too much.

Given how much repetition is in the game, one would think it was much longer than its six to eight hour length. The lack of any kind of multiplayer hurts it further. And the final stake to the heart is the appallingly abrupt and inconclusive ending.

Sadly, the best thing about this game is testing the crash physics...To my delight, the crashes in this game are superb. Not only does the car fly into the air, but debris from the car litters the track and remains throughout the race. Neat.

Unfortunately, there really isn't much more meat on the bones here. No create-a-skater, no skater statistics to flesh out or tweak, not even a bunch of new outfits or anything.

The Dreamcast fishing games came out much better, odd as it may sound, especially with the fishing controller and the native Naomi code instead of this haphazard port job.

I get the feeling that development on Star Wars: The Clone Wars may have been rushed to coincide with the release of the second season of the show, which is kind of a shame because there is a lot potential in the concepts behind it.

Don't get me wrong, the game does handle fairly well, and with friends this could be a fun one to share, but single-player is worse than most. Combine a three-player team with the smallest roster KoF has ever had, and you'll have your faves chosen like a routine in no time.

But sim racing fans will find it sorely lacking in key details, and arcade racing fans will find the game far too boring and long-winded for their taste.

If Transmission Games had put a little bit more effort into the title and taken it out of WWII and into a world of their own design, they could have been more creative with the story, style, weapons, and gameplay.

The one major difference between the fake Calvin Kline's and the rip-off game is that you can probably get the GoW2:GOTY edition for the same price or cheaper than the imposter.

With the right combination of driving aids on, the game is actually playable for anyone with an interest in driving around in non-ovals, but there just isn't anything here to get in a tizzy about. It's not gorgeous, it's not deep (even Career mode isn't), and it's not anything you haven't played before. And while that might not say much for what's actually here, it isn't the worst thing either system has to offer.

The one major difference between the fake Calvin Kline's and the rip-off game is that you can probably get the GoW2:GOTY edition for the same price or cheaper than the imposter.

It’s fun and humorous at first, but the lack of substance and challenge is a Spider-killer.

Even after a sequel, this Street still falls flat on its asphalt.

Twenty years ago, it would have been worth forty bucks. But today, it’s just another obsolete space ship, grounded in favor of better, faster rockets.

It's slow to get moving, it's nothing like what a console gamer is expecting in an action game or a “normal” RPG, and with the noticeable graphical problems it feels half-way done. It's a real shame, because it's a fun twist on the “hero vs. dragon” story with some neat ideas that just don't make it to fruition.

As it stands, though, Teenage Zombies is a mediocre game at best, offering less and less incentive and getting increasingly repetitive the more you play.

In fact, it’s repetitive and (quickly) becomes boring. Regardless of the enemy, expect a lot of walking around, smashing, taking of elevators to the next floor, more walking around, and more smashing and more … well, you get the picture.

If you're looking for an easy hack-n-slash to play in between servings of some better, more robust game, then Legion: The Legend of Excalibur might not be a bad rental.

Order of the Pheonix is all about homework and chores, and feels harder to take in than a whole book - those are poor marks for a video game.

Even with the courses meticulously pieced together from the real thing, I'm just struck that, again, this is a full-price purchase for what is essentially a collection of two-button games that have been around since the earliest video games.

If you're looking for the thinking man's shooter, then keep searching. Soldier of Fortune is all about the mindless yet blissful twitch.

NBA Ballers: Phenom might mark a change from its predecessor with a new story mode and faux third-person exploration, but it ultimately tries too much and does too little. Compared to EA's more complex series, this is one street baller you'll want to leave on the curb.

It fails in the most fundamental aspect: the gameplay. It’s generally dull. Despite a high initial learning curve – usually the sign of a game with depth and complexity – Knights in the Nightmare is shallow and simple.

Simply steeped too deeply in old role-playing game conventions and standbys. Games like "Star Wars: KOTOR" have changed the landscape, while more similar titles like "Final Fantasy X" and "Xenosaga" have a better battle system and a more epic feel, respectively.

With total presentation so lackluster, it's just disappointing overall.

While it does a great job displaying the fine art of toon graphics, it falls flat with almost everything else. From poor level design to brutally repetitive play, this game has been crushed by one anvil too many.

It’s more of a novelty, a third-party candidate – you’ll like some of what it has to offer, but it’s still pretty much just wasting your vote.

Even with the enhancements and tweaks, Dynasty Warriors 6 is still the same old fried rice - re-heated, re-seasoned, and re-served once more.

If you love LocoRoco but for some reason wished it were much, much harder, then you’ll adore this game. However, if you like that kind of pain, then you'd probably also enjoy having your PSP jammed up your nose.

While Drakengard combines two distinct gameplay styles, neither works well due to the awful AI and severe repetition. Enemy pop-up and some slowdown don’t help either.

Feels like it was never tested by actual players. There are some great concepts here and the 3D cities are a truly impressive piece of programming. Too bad all this originality is hidden deep behind one of the worst game interfaces ever.

Sort of like a dumbed-down "Powerstone," but with fewer weapons. Honestly, this game does nothing new at all. And what it does do, we've seen done better in games.

Aion is simply a poor game.

As a movie port using the oldest recipe in the book, Constantine is about as average a game as you can get, which is actually better than most licensed translations. Neither Heaven nor Hell, Constantine is merely a short stay in Purgatory.

The depth of unlockable modes and challenges is a welcome surprise and allows for plenty of action without the mess of searching for keys without a decent map. Did I mention that the map is worthless? It is.

I wouldn't recommend it but if it just looks so crazy awesome that you didn't believe anything I just said at least buy it on sale or rent it.

Load times slow things down, and long digressive missions and lame mini-games seem to prolong what should be a short, violent romp.

Half the time you're playing you find yourself staring into the screen at the same old scrap of evidence, no music, no sound, no action. If you like the X-Files, you're better off watching reruns on the television program or going out and seeing the movie.

For twenty bucks, it provides plenty of wacky pitches and some minor league couch fun, but the lack of modes and new gameplay really hurts. Instead of swinging for the fences, Midway has settled for a walk.

For twenty bucks, it provides plenty of wacky pitches and some minor league couch fun, but the lack of modes and new gameplay really hurts. Instead of swinging for the fences, Midway has settled for a walk.

$50 for 30 songs actually feels more like $50 for ten to twelve decent tracks—not a good deal in any decade. Like, totally bogus, dude.

Playing Sydney 2000 is going through rote finger tapping or timing exercises that will quickly get boring.

A game rusted stiff by recycling and repetition. The gameplay is still there and the challenge has taken some steroids, but there's no heart.

What really puts the hurt on this game is the lack of any real challenge or fun.

Given how much repetition is in the game, one would think it was much longer than its six to eight hour length. The lack of any kind of multiplayer hurts it further. And the final stake to the heart is the appallingly abrupt and inconclusive ending.

If it's beauty you're looking for, look somewhere else. Thunderstrike is a graphical plain Jane of a game, especially since so much of the action takes place at a distance.

A cool game hiding underneath scads of bugs, control problems and weak swordfighting, leading to not a cool game whatsoever. If you're dying to be a pirate, dig up one of the Monkey Islands.

Square-Enix manages to spin a good yarn and populate an interesting world full of fantastic characters, but a plethora of inexcusable design decisions threaten to unravel everything. Despite its promise, some serious growing pains prevent this adolescent from truly coming of age.

You know that complicated "some assembly required" toy the grown-ups have to set up, and twenty minutes later the kids are having more fun with the box than their actual gift? This is that toy... just a smaller box.

This title may be worth the rental to test the waters, but save your real money for another racer, as this one is covered in mud.

While the stylized cut scenes do a decent job of re-imagining the original comic artwork, the in-game graphics are blocky. Worse yet, they’re simply generic, evoking none of the turbo-charged, blood-soaked style of either the comic or the movie.

If Transmission Games had put a little bit more effort into the title and taken it out of WWII and into a world of their own design, they could have been more creative with the story, style, weapons, and gameplay.

For all of my bitching, I don’t hate Metal Slug 7. It’s fun enough, functional, and perfect for short bus rides, but I enjoyed playing it more the last six times it was released. Metal Slug 7 proves that shaking down a series for a seventh installment only works if it stars Ron Perlman.

A weak game with some good features; namely, the combo system and the fact that it sells for only 20 bucks. Yep, 20 bucks. However, waves of meaningless enemies, stupid objectives and a very limited shelf life make it quite evil indeed.

On the one hand, there are more than sixty games available in portable form. Some of them have even been genuinely enhanced, if you're interested. Unfortunately, many players probably won't have the patience to unlock the full library of classics and will be stuck with the eleven that are available from the start.

Madden's first outing on the 3DS is disappointing, not for its gameplay but for its lack of multiplayer and rushed 3D graphics. Sadly, it feels incomplete and there's little reason for a purchase, especially with Madden 12 just a few short months away.

Even though it's got loads of personality and it fully embraces its own craziness, it fails to be a sturdy combination of different game genres, and is just not fun enough to justify hunting through all those pixels.

Sure, I’m busting its balls, but Gangs of London isn’t all terrible. It’s just really easy to pick on the bad A.I. and repetitive gameplay.

In fact, it’s repetitive and (quickly) becomes boring. Regardless of the enemy, expect a lot of walking around, smashing, taking of elevators to the next floor, more walking around, and more smashing and more … well, you get the picture.

The old songs mixed with the new, the unchanged gameplay, the redundant difficulty modes, the atrocious inclusion of really really bad music videos.

I’d like to get past my seeming bias for the Old Days, but every mistake and death reminds me of some comfortable feature from yesterday’s Sonics that didn’t make it into Sonic and the Secret Rings. Sonic is just too fast for his own good.

What really takes me away from the serious nature of Post Mortem are the shoddy character animations. The characters fidget and jerk in repetitive, awkward ways. It really gets distracting and pulls you out of the narrative. Less movement would be have been far more effective.

It's blatantly obvious that this game isn't quite finished... While it does have its moments and diehard Matrix fans will drool over the extra videos, this game receives the blue pill.

I can't shake the feeling that Star Wars: Bounty Hunter started off as a grand and ambitious project that got pushed out into space before it was ready.

Though it does have some addictive qualities, Crimson Tears feels a little half-baked, a hodgepodge of different gaming styles crammed under one very confusing roof.

Gives World War II games a bad name by skimping on the essentials - story, A.I. and multiplayer - to focus on floating icons and the art of hiding behind crates. Instead, just hide your wallet.

Foto Showdown feels like a tech demo for the DSi that doesn't show off any tech.

For anyone who has already played CS, it’s quite annoying having to suddenly unlock maps, especially since every one included here has been playable in CS forever. Additionally, many of the level requirements are counter-intuitive.

This is essentially the same game they’ve been making for years with a couple new characters and updated graphics.

The Game Gear titles are a welcome bonus, but having to play through the broken game just to get them is a hassle.

Despite its solid delivery and the admittedly groovy prospect of controlling Sauron and Saruman in Moria, the notable gameplay and pacing problems bring the whole adventure down in a hail of arrows.

If the main Dragon Quest series is the main course, then Dragon Quests Swords is a frothy aperitif - not enough to fill you up completely, but appetizing enough to get you interested in the next meal.

That's the basic problem with this title; it is built on an outdated 3-D fighting engine. This leads to frustrating control issues and limited types of attacks you can perform.

Comparing World Poker Tour to "World Series of Poker" is like asking if you'd rather be short & fat or ugly & stupid. The generally competent A.I. and career mode make this one the better choice, but your best bet is to leave both flops on the table and find a new game altogether.

A fundamentally flawed game. It's a skateboarding game that's trying to be a snowboarding game, instead of trying even harder to be a good snowboarding game.