It's a tossed salad of good ideas and cliché concepts that veers wildly between extremely polished and inexcusably sloppy.

Those looking for existential ponderings, heavy characterization, or even minimal variety in gameplay should leave it alone, but people who want lighter fare might appreciate kill.switch as a small, zesty snack. After all, we all need a bit of comfort food once in a while.

A fine 2D platformer, but a rather undistinguished and disposable specimen.

An ambitious game that attempts to breathe new life into the genre. It's not entirely successful, but it is the best gladiator game I've played.

Truly a superlative game, offering unparalleled control, fine presentation and plenty of play modes to toy around with.

Since innovations in this series seem to come in microscopic increments, it's safe to assume each subsequent game will not only feature the elements that made the main game fun, but also the flaws that marred the experience as well.

Rejects spectacle in favour of the sort of satisfaction that results from a slow culmination of small triumphs—a video unlocked here, a trickbook completed there. In the end, though, it's because of this very process that Amped 2 fails to evoke the butterflies-in-the-stomach level of excitement that I get from playing the very best video games.

It represents somewhat of a mixed bag, a mass of good and bad ideas that vie for dominance as the experience alternates between genuine fun and genuine tedium.

Crimson Skies does so much to propel itself above mediocrity that it seems strange that, though it succeeds, it doesn't capture the robust energy of its larger-than-life story in its gameplay.

It can be oddly frustrating at times, yet it has enough merit to make it one of my favorite games this year. It doesn't necessarily refresh the nostalgia I had when it was SSX two releases ago, but it definitely re-introduces the fun lacking in the gaming slump I've experienced lately.

By the end of the first level, the player will have encountered every type of objective that the game has to offer, aside from the afore-mentioned "guard the thing" scenario. This depressing formula repeats itself throughout the game, with the "levels" distinguishing themselves solely through window-dressing and increasingly difficult enemies.

Unfortunately the game has poor layouts for the levels that even adults will have trouble navigating. The game certainly had a strong sense of personality and a well realized world. It's unfortunate that all players can do is run circles in such a nice environment.

Lacks the cohesion, pacing, and spirit the others possess. All else being equal, those missing qualities put Jak II squarely at the rear of the pack.

I enjoyed the game far more than I thought I would; enjoyed it far more than I probably should have.

It's an amalgamation of one-trick ponies (cel-shading, time bending, old school nostalgia tickling) to make a fulfilling, satisfying and jaw-dropping experience. Meet the new action game, better than the old action game.

Commanding soldiers works exceptionally well, the environments look fabulous, and the entire project is built on a concept I can appreciate, but because the game runs out of ways to use your squad so early in the adventure, it feels all dressed up with no place to go.

Its unique theme and dark humor make it well-suited to gamers (such as yours truly) who enjoy the mechanics of the genre but are aching for a more refreshing and mature thematic backdrop.

Developers looking to break into the platform genre these days have to go above and beyond the standard requirements while completely nailing the technical side at the same time, which is no easy feat. Billy Hatcher is a perfect example of a title that fails on both counts.

May get flack from the hardcore D&D crowd for simply being a "Diablo" clone set in the D&D universe, but it's still hard to deny the simple joy in teaming up with three friends to kick the crap out a Beholder.

Perhaps all of the limp comedy wouldn't be so offensive if the game did anything new in the gameplay department.

It exposes what a chronically under-explored medium portable gaming really is, and demonstrates the potential that exists when a creator is given some space to indulge his vision. Sure, it's unbalanced and at times inconvenient, but I'll take Boktai and games like it over Super Nintendo Entertainment System ports any day.

It's hard not to cringe when a game takes such liberties with its license. The introduction of a currency system and randomly placed "stores" to buy items from seems more than a little forced in the Tolkien universe.

Generally a good game by Advance standards, but practically all of the series' charm and sophistication is lost without complete use of the third dimension.

While I certainly find myself wishing the developers would fix the problems with the game and incorporate more of the pen-and-paper game's RPG elements, it's still a game that I look back on with more fond memories than bad ones.

Dull, mediocre games… well these games are like a painter's palette filled with nine shades of gray. There isn't much to work with, so the end result is as lifeless and flat as a Midwest landscape study in wintertime.

While the game suffers from minor technical flaws and repetitive gameplay, it does something legitimately new with its TV show concept.

I miss my sprite-based 16-bit hockey games, deficient opponent AI and all. Somehow I recall enjoying those more than I did ESPN NHL Hockey, even despite all that it brings to the genre: nuanced controls, deep physics and mechanics, a licensed presentation and polished visuals.

The worst offender by far, though, is the menu system. For a game with such a simple storyline (which would seem to be designed to appeal to kids), the interface is completely out of whack.