Lengthy and well crafted.

The freshman debut of this series has quickly moved to the head of the class, but it has to share the seat of honor with "March Madness."

Ghost Recon’s visuals took a deadly hit, too. Characters don’t move in a realistic manner and there’s less detail on both the soldiers and the environments.

Wow! Steet Fighter Alpha 3 looks and plays great on the GBA with very few compromises made for the handheld. [Oct 2002, p.76]

Poor A.I., stiff controls, and rough game flow may make you turn back around again.

Compared to D2D, "Thunder's" cars don't handle as smoothly and its Career mode is heavy on complexity and short on fun. [Dec 2002, p.194]

The game’s length, dialogue, and uneven difficulty are this legend’s only blemishes.

Dead-on fun.

Wacky camera angles that can be frustrating and difficult to adjust during heated battles plague every level.

The titles also have difficulty levels that no company would dare set their games to today; nearly every encounter is a life-and-death struggle in the first two.

A much bigger, much longer version of a Sega classic that captures the spirit of the original perfectly, but the repetitious nature of the gameplay doesn’t quite withstand the test of time.

Despite a few well-placed jolts, it lacks the unmentionable-damaging impact of more fright-fraught fare like "Silent Hill 2."

While the series has strayed from its hardcore sim roots pioneered by Coach K College basketball way back in the Genesis’s heyday, it at least has defined an identity and found a fun formula as well.

It’s really a thinking man’s shooter that plays out like an explosive game of chess—a very, very hard game of chess with limited continues.

You can't help but wonder if the game could have been even better if they had decided to slightly re-design the gameplay for 2D.

Occasionally the platform-leaping gets tedious and some of the levels needed more work, but nevertheless Outcast dominates.

Take note, game developers: Loading and re-loading does not a fun play experience make. Give us quick-saving or give us death.

Requires a bit of fancy powersliding, but it feels a lot more natural and comfortable here than it does in other games - the controls really respond well.

A game full of lousy gameplay and poor visual effects that will only make you ask, “Why?!” ... Clearly belongs in the bin of horrendous movie-to-game translations.

The camera is pretty awful, requiring way too much fussing by the player to maintain a clear field of view.

While kids will love the cheerful graphics and cute characters, adults can marvel at the simple but polished 3D levels-such as the reflective floors in Monkey Bowling.

The graphics are generic, but the audio presentation is quite nice. The GBA has a large library of average side-scrolling action games, and Revenge of Shinobi is just a slight notch above them.

The Fun Factor suffers because of repetitive gameplay and unbalanced weapons and power-ups.

No matter how many bonuses are unlocked or how many special guests show up, the core gameplay of Superman: The Man of Steel is boring.

If you’re looking to play hockey of the NHL variety, to tackle pro challenges and use real-life strategies, NHL 2K3 will thrill you as much as watching your team heroically survive a five-on-three penalty kill.

Its bargain-basement visuals, vapid enemy A.I., and flaccid controls ensure that the game could stand accused of lameness in a court of law.

With all of these faltering features, Spyro’s newest adventure feels more like it was meant to be played on the PlayStation rather than on the GameCube.

If incredibly sore hands and a serious feeling of relief after busting caps in countless Shogun hoodlums constitutes a solid console light-gun shooter, then Ninja Assault screams for your attention.

Although it’s essentially a port of an arcade game that’s two years old, this is one matchup that’s a pleasure to kill hours with at home.

While there aren't as many modes as in a pure multiplayer FPS like "Unreal Tournament," you'll be treated to an intense and thoroughly entertaining skirmish.

Unfortunately, the stealth elements fall tragically short of well conceived—it’s more along the lines of comically maddening.

When Dead to Rights is good, it’s damn good…pity that parts of it are such buzzkills.

Even with its A.I. problems, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance will restore gamers' faith in the pioneering fight series with its amped-up gameplay and delicious visuals.

The A.I. is much brighter, and the difficulty levels are scaled more smoothly. The controls could use a crisper auto-aim and more efficient item management, but otherwise handle great.

If you're considering purchasing NightFire, make sure you have at least three friends or you'll miss out on the lasting appeal of a Bond game that can actually stand up against its N64 predecessor.

It's outlandishly short (10 hours if you're good), the controls take getting used to, and the multiplayer mode's limited to only two players, but the whole of Baldur's Gate is still far greater than the sum of its parts.

The game’s endless top-down horde-shooting and limb-hacking is an absolute blast with four people (the five characters complement each other well), but the friendless may find Hunting and Reckoning to be a lonely, repetitious profession.

Despite the intended scope of the game, Haven’s sights and sounds are barely average.

A little too short, but the secrets are bountiful, and the addition of power-ups that potentially fight back is sublimely ingenious.

Inexplicably fun despite its obvious flaws.

Realistic scenarios in realistic environments add to Splinter Cell’s tantalizing world of covert operations. With a strong overall package of incredible features, the stealth/action genre has a new hero.

While Prime's graphics lack a little polish and flair and the controls never really become second-nature, the game itself simply rules.

Some of Deadly Alliance's game elements are still very arcade-minded—such as ludicrously difficult bosses and schizophrenic A.I.

They’ve succeeded on the crude humor front—but with a high frustration factor and graphical glitches, BMX XXX fails to completely satisfy.

A too-straightforward, by-the-numbers Zelda-style action number that’s strictly for the younger Potter fan interested in playing an interactive storybook.

While Potter fans will enjoy seeing Gilderoy Lockhart on their GBAs, uncompelling gameplay makes him just another pretty face.

From the random bugs and collision problems to some joke missions that have no punch line, the whole game feels rushed and unfinished.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan with Buddha-like patience, you’ll likely love this game.

The gorgeous GameCube version delivers the best graphical pop in the slew of Chamber of Secrets games.

Totally revamped from the ground up, and it shows. Great graphics and the best gameplay the series has seen in years.

Droid Army's one-note gameplay includes fierce button tapping broken up by stretches of aimless wandering; the vague missions ("make your way to X") don't help.

Totally revamped from the ground up, and it shows. Great graphics and the best gameplay the series has seen in years.

The fact is that there are games on both the PS2 and GameCube that easily outclass this one in everything it sets out to do.

The fact is that there are games on both the PS2 and GameCube that easily outclass this one in everything it sets out to do.

All the hours of trial and error eventually pay off since the freedom in creating move animations is immense.

The A.I. could use more brainpower, but the controls handle beautifully, and the graphics and sounds are stellar.

Thanks to the lifeless puzzle design, TR quickly becomes dull-hit the switch, jump to another ledge, repeat.

Totally revamped from the ground up, and it shows. Great graphics and the best gameplay the series has seen in years.

Some of the new play elements miss the mark, but overall Zero is a long, rewarding night of fright.

Compared to D2D, "Thunder's" cars don't handle as smoothly and its Career mode is heavy on complexity and short on fun. [Dec 2002, p.194]

Poor graphics and animations, a tear-jerkingly simple fighting system, painful bonus rounds, and one of the worst end-boss encounters ever put to pixel.

Attempts to be an exciting pugilist but fails miserably.

Surprisingly, the graphics look much better than the game's PC counterpart - the faces are much more detailed and the environments look crisp and sharp. [Dec 2002, p.170]

A blitzkrieg of metal-mauling combat and strategy, purely for stick jockeys. It’s no sim, but it’s not simple either.

If you’re looking to play hockey of the NHL variety, to tackle pro challenges and use real-life strategies, NHL 2K3 will thrill you as much as watching your team heroically survive a five-on-three penalty kill.

The challenge may be too steep for some, but it’s ultimately rewarding for determined gamers.

A fun package that doesn’t tax your noggin the way "Halo" did.

Pastel graphics comprise the visuals, and the audio ranges from passable (Sonic 2) to outright atrocious (Spinball).

A rock ‘n’ rollin’, wrist-snapping slug of adrenaline on four-wheels that challenges you at every turn.

The one snag is the character graphics, which are nicely detailed but look slightly indistinct (particularly for the enemy combatants) and are not quite up to the caliber of the rest of the visuals.

When enemies appear in the same place and use the same simple attack patterns, the game becomes more monotonous than fun.

For the most part, though, Spyro is a graphics bonanza with blasts of color and eye-catching nuances, such as rippling water, glowing flames, and shimmering portals.

R & C's innovation comes in the form of all those crazy, non-gimmicky weapons and tools. This is a complex, polished platform gaming machine.

The anime-mech lover’s dream come true.

A surprisingly solid, fun game engine doesn’t quite counteract boring, repetitive missions...it’s kinda like driving a Ford Mustang around a Wal-Mart parking lot.

With a slick visual style and fast-paced, finger-banging combat, it’s an impressive display of power and polish.

Those expecting a true sequel here will be disappointed: Substance strictly builds on the success of existing material.

Features stupendously well-animated characters and a boopy-yet-catchy soundtrack. The control's spot-on, too.

Polished, intuitive, balanced, and fun, this is one of the best RTS games ever made, but if you’re bored with the genre this isn’t going to suddenly make you a believer again.

It has its faults, and they’re similar to last year’s, but there’s no better game for getting the feel of being a WWE superstar.

Visually, SSX’s twisty 3D environments look excellent but are maddeningly monotonous.

A slightly better value than 2002 with tweaked gameplay and a few new features. The problem is that the competition has jumped ahead substantially within the same time frame.

It gives serious golf fans a deep sim while offering casual fans an approachable, gorgeous game with tons of play modes.

The gameplay in Vice City is more addictive than ever, except now there's twice as much of nearly everything that made the first game so great—more streets, more cars (and other vehicles), more cool missions, more awesome street life.

While the game’s levels offer plenty of freedom, TransWorld Snowboarding itself sticks close to the established trail.

The mixture of play styles may rub some people the wrong way, but most will find the vast scope of this venture too alluring to resist.

Seemingly does the impossible: It gives serious golf fans a deep sim while offering casual fans an approachable, gorgeous game with tons of play modes.

To say that Sonic Team has added a lot of new stuff to PSO would be the understatement of the century.

Gives serious golf fans a deep sim while offering casual fans an approachable, gorgeous game with tons of play modes.

Would have appeared more innovative and garnered a higher Fun Factor rating if not for its blatant similarities in presentation, features, competition modes, FMVs, and even screen layouts with "SSX Tricky."

Delivers in modes what it lacks in next-gen flash.

The amount of onscreen action and opponents can be daunting yet exhilarating at the same time.

With some work on A.I., animations, and a deeper Franchise mode, Konami’s game has a shot at spoiling the establishment’s party next year.

Improved in more ways than is physically possible to list.

More variety in the levels and mini-games would have made it an absolute must-have.

The levels are not only more interactive, but they're also enormous - much larger than those from "THPS3." [Nov 2002, p.50]

Accurately re-creates the series’ addictive gameplay, so most classic strategies and combos are intact.

No, there ain’t much of a story...and, a’ight, there ain’t a whole lotta depth...but if variety, challenge, off-color humor, and plain stupid fun is what your soul craves, then your soul craves the flava of ToeJam & Earl.