To the untrained eye, the Link To The Past cartridge may well appear to be nothing more than another videogame for kids and others who refuse to grow out of childhood. However, it is much more than that, being as worthy a narrative as many popular books out there can be.

A little more challenge, depth, and length with the trimming of the lame on-rails levels would have made this one a near classic. As it is, though, it's an above-average shooter with just enough variety and charm to make the familiar trip worth your time.

An effective game in terms of delivering visceral thrills and exotic sights. However, I'm not recommending it as a full priced purchase. The biggest reason is that the entire adventure is nearly over before you know it (my first play-through took about five hours).

The Phantasy Star games are classic RPGs (yes, even the third one…which everyone seems to hate), and they deserved at least a little updating.

Nearly all progress in game design over the last fifteen years has been ignored, and it shows.

While Outcast is not perfect, what it does right it does damn well. It's a well-organized and planned platformer with the best elements of the Star Wars universe rolled in.

So the game doesn't have any real characters at all, the graphics are nothing special, and the story actually gets in the way of the gameplay... Now if someone would just make a game where these wonderful play mechanics made some sort of logical sense, we'd be cooking with gas.

Poor control, graphics, level and mission design. These are flaws, and major ones at that. Where the game really fails, though, is that not for one second while I was playing it did I ever feel like I was controlling Superman. Is there anything worse that you can say about a Superman game?

A little more challenge, depth, and length with the trimming of the lame on-rails levels would have made this one a near classic. As it is, though, it's an above-average shooter with just enough variety and charm to make the familiar trip worth your time.

Creative, unique, accessible, and polished. It comes up lacking in a few areas, but is clearly the most effectively realized version of Mortal Kombat yet.

Sadly, the latest incarnation of that landmark effort doesn't have the personality, lush animation or blisteringly fast pace that made the original such a hit. What it does have is...not much.

A little more challenge, depth, and length with the trimming of the lame on-rails levels would have made this one a near classic. As it is, though, it's an above-average shooter with just enough variety and charm to make the familiar trip worth your time.

A little more challenge, depth, and length with the trimming of the lame on-rails levels would have made this one a near classic. As it is, though, it's an above-average shooter with just enough variety and charm to make the familiar trip worth your time.

The game, like a movie trailer, provides various disjointed snippets of action without delivering the complete picture.

The linearity of Metroid Fusion was definitely a disappointment, but not something to write it off... In terms of simple gameplay mechanics, control, boss-battles and overall design effort, it is top notch.

This is a very linear game, and... one can't but feel it's a wasted opportunity to limit the player's freedom in choosing how to approach a situation.

A shining example of how a classic videogame series can be vividly reborn. While taking an enormous amount of liberties with the original concept, it manages to zero-in on the spirit of the Metroid series and hit a resounding bull's-eye.

A fun game. But it is not as good a simulation of soccer as it could be. Too much of the gameplay feels scripted, and although you can pull off some beautiful moves, the unexpected occurs far too seldom.

The bottom line is that Resident Evil Zero's title perfectly describes the content and play value of the game itself.

Opponents cannot be forced off balance, pressured, or intercepted. Kaktuo Chojin rarely forces players to think, react, or adapt to their opponents. Worse still is the absence of a deep grappling system.

And the compelling nature of the online game is thanks to the same simplicity that makes the single-player game utterly forgettable. Simple to pick up and understand, the game mechanics allow the player to concentrate on the strategies of the various online games and immerse themselves in an action-based flow.

From its Lego-inspired visual style to its deceptive elegance, there's a certain undeniable charm-yet the actual play is disappointingly shallow, not to mention having one of the worst camera setups I've seen in quite a while.

The game's executions of different standards in platforming are almost mathematical in a sense that it's measured with surgical precision... The best the platforming genre has to offer right now.

RAD may not have a great story or impressive graphical opulence, but what it does have is an unbelievable amount of fun and originality where it counts: the gameplay.

Hardcore item-management fetishists might find some joy here, there’s simply not enough balance or content for Phantom Crash to stand on its own, much less measure up to the competition (I’m looking at you, "Armored Core 3").

Kojima seems to have recognized that he started running so fast that he forgot to tie his shoes, and thus Substance finally gives players the opportunity to more deeply explore the beautifully nuanced stealth engine that was so sorely undermined by his penchant for melodrama.

The maturation process of the series, and videogames, remain standstill because of the developer’s refusal to move outside racial and social stereotypes, and staying away from certain taboos of popular art, merely suggesting sex and drug use. Compared to what this game could’ve been, this is still kid’s gloves.

The series, especially this installment, has become among the most memorable game-playing experiences of my life.