The real standout feature that sets this game apart is how players must manage their forces not only on the planet's surface, but also in the asteroid orbit above, and in the deep tunnels and caverns below.

The dance floor has never looked so dismal.

While not the deepest game around, there’s enough here to keep you engaged for weeks, especially in two-player mode.

Displays great imagination and attention to detail that is at once challenging, innovative, and fun. It accomplishes the task of re-creating the venerable beat-em-up genre with honor. [Mar 2004, p.62]

A perfectly run-of-the-mill platform mascot adventure, Ty doesn’t do anything wrong, necessarily—it just doesn’t bring anything particularly new or exciting to the table.

Filled with enough chaos and wicked humor to forgive the slight reliance on platform clichés, Whiplash really is a hell of a game. With a little more polish before release, this game could have been a true masterpiece.

But if you've got a choice, spring for the darker, freakier Xbox version.

In the end, it's important to note that this game will likely only appeal to hardcore series fans and masochists. But for those gamers looking for an incredible challenge and yearning for a title that feels like it comes from a bygone era of gaming, these flightless birds could be just the thing for you.

For 500 Wii points, Pop 'Em Drop 'Em SameGame is a very good game and definitely worth a look. While it may not be as enthralling as Dr. Mario Rx, it has its own quirks that let it stand out from the crowd.

The Galaga collection is a special kind of questionable. The question is if you're so into Galaga that you'd be willing to pay for and play up to four variations on the game that all look homogenous. Just don't forget that for $2.99 you can get the earlier Galaga Remix, which gives you two full games for the price of one, and is just as much a celebration of Galaga.

Playing side by side with some friends did yield some fun moments at times -- tag-teaming enemies with combos of physical and magical abilities, working together to solve puzzles, or the flustered excitement of teamwork-under-duress that's only possible in local multiplayer made me really wish the game wasn't quite so gimped. But in the end, the series' rep for punishing gameplay is intact, leaving this competently flawed experience as an oscillation between fleeting enjoyment and agitated boredom.

I do commend Codemasters for catering to the Wii with a brand new Overlord game instead of porting over Overlord II, which could only have ended in tears -- but give us a challenge guys. We're not stupid.

Although the game won't make its competitors sweat, it will definitely make them keep an eye out for future World Tour Soccer games. [June 2004, p.86]

Not to say that Crash Bash can't be played alone, but when there's a room full of people, Crash Bash suddenly becomes ten times more fun.

One of the biggest surprises in Orcs and Elves is the clever game design, which keeps the game engaging and fresh.

It's like an ugly puppy: it's not appealing to look at and it sometimes makes a mess, but it's got a special quality that makes you love it regardless.

Although it may not match the majesty of the books, The Chronicles of Narnia is still a solid choice for a group of younger gamers.

Brink is about two or three updates from being one of my favorite shooters of all time, but I'm not reviewing the game I want it to be. I'm reviewing the game that it is, and what it is is something just short of being the awesome experience that I want.

A mild-mannered blood-spattered adventure that's worth a one-time run through, and doesn't have a warrior's tenacity for a long-term fight to the legendary halls of action gods.

And to have the ability to see all 22 players on the field at one time as well as have the kick meter on the lower screen is more of a novelty than a practicality.

Interacting with the animals and learning their different idiosyncrasies is compelling and fun, but it takes a backseat to the conventional platformer mechanics that the genre is slowly leaving behind.

Sadly, Ducati's not first-rate in this trial run.

There’s a major Nostalgia Factor for those who were playing PC games in 1994, and the single-pak multiplay helps, but if you’ve never heard of Jazz, “old-school” will just mean “kinda generic.”

Fans of the Battle Network series will delight in the further adventures of Lan and Mega Man, but everyone else is warned to stay clear. [Aug 2004, p.78]

True-blue Medal of Honor fans will still enjoy Rising Sun’s cinematic style, respectful and historically accurate atmosphere, and heavily arcade feel. But for many, the game will feel too familiar in a fast-food way, lacking that old Medal of Honor magic.

Naturally lacks the novelty of the original, but it succeeds in correcting nearly all its faults... even if it creates a few in the process. [June 2003, p.112]

Hardcore fans of the original's online modes might find enough to justify a purchase, but the monotonous campaign and overall lackluster design makes it hard to recommend to anyone else. And if you didn't care for the original, don't expect anything in Lost Planet 2 to drastically sway your opinion.

Some youngsters might get impatient with stopping the action to draw every little nick-nack in the game (which requires a lot of sheathing and unsheathing the stylus), but those with an artistic flair will have a great time.