With more technical polish on the exterior, some better camera work, and a few more clever level designs, Dual would have been quite a thing...but even as it stands, you’ll still find plenty of gameplay value.

Also lacking is the game's graphics, which are a huge letdown. Despite its tight story and well-balanced action, the killer buzz Haze cultivates all but dies when it comes to the visuals thanks to janky animations, blurry textures, and downright pitiful special effects-it really is fitting that the game is called Haze.

For a fraction of the cost of Mario Kart (HCR sells for 800 Nintendo Points/$8) gamers can have almost as much family racing fun, almost.

"Fantavision" has prettier graphics, but the time-tested gameplay in Bust A Move makes the switch to the PS2 nicely.

While still basically a Pokémon clone, Robopon 2 is a far better game than the short and unsatisfying Game Boy Color original.

There’s a lot of game to explore in Driven if you’re dedicated; just be prepared for a steep learning curve.

Not only can you not just doodle to your heart's content, but when you get near the limit they post annoying signage all over the drawing field as a warning to be feared, and the help tips up top get replaced with messages that tell you to watch it, buster.

Gameplay mechanics and controls are pretty solid, but there're a handful of missions where after a cut scene my shooting button actually ceased to function for a minute or two. Additionally, the ally AI is pretty dumb.

But the core still involves lots of non-skippable cinematic sequences, a fidgety camera (and finicky controls), overearnest voice acting, and tepid platform-style action (any game where the first true action sequence takes place in a room full of crates set up for jumping puzzles is trouble).

Far from a bad game. Stellar art and a darkly unique stage help set it apart from the brown and bloom of this console generation, and Spicy Horse should no doubt be commended for their approach to an underfed genre in the HD-gen platformer.

A forgiving, kid-friendly experience. Any times I somehow fell off the course were balanced by the times I probably should have, but didn't. Since you never actually explode, it's pretty much mindless fun, even when dealing with AI that always seems to manage to catch up.

Far from a bad game. Stellar art and a darkly unique stage help set it apart from the brown and bloom of this console generation, and Spicy Horse should no doubt be commended for their approach to an underfed genre in the HD-gen platformer.

If you just wanna run around and bust heads, this mindless, Mature-rated game is for you!

Contains the most enjoyable modifications the series has seen in some time. [Oct 2004, p.82]

While it's always great to see an arcade title faithfully ported to a home console, Crisis Zone is nearly too arcadey for its own good as both story mode scenarios can be completed in well under an hour on the normal difficulty setting.

Overall the visuals for creatures and terrain are crisp, sharp, and Pokemon-perfect even if the sounds are a little too sweet. Dash might not make much of a splash, but it should be a good kid-pleaser.

New arrivals will probably enjoy the multitude of activities in Animal Crossing: City Folk, but long-time residents won't find much to keep them from moving out.

This mediocre conversion is better than the last Game Boy effort, providing gamers with fairly short-lived button-mashing fun.

This recipe needs a little more work before its ready to be served as a main dish. [Dec 2004, p.114]

It takes more than formulaic adventuring and dusty turn-based combat to craft a role-playing title worthy of the LOTR name.

It's fun enough, but it's definitely not dangerous.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 certainly builds upon the ideas of the original, but the minor changes make the upgrade seem more status quo than truly super-powered. It's still (mostly) fun to blast and claw through large groups of foes, but it's also much harder to overlook recurring issues when so much time has passed.

Vastly more playable, but still falls short of the series' graphical capabilities and ideological potential.

Despite the shortcoming of its snail-like pacing, it's hard not to like Atelier Iris 3, what with its anime-style art and solid battle system.

Mind-boggling quick, XGRA is quite possibly the fastest entry in the futuristic racing subgenre - so fast that a lot of time is spent playing knock-hockey against barriers despite tight controls.

This isn't a game that's going to make you want to abandon your big-screen basketball games by any means, but it can be enough to temporarily satisfy a serious basketball jones.

I can't really recommend Metal Slug XX if you're not already an established fan of the franchise, and in all honesty, I have a bit of trouble recommending it if you've already purchased Metal Slug 7.

In the end, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is a solid golf game that should keep you interested for hours. [Nov. 2006, p.103]