One of the best in the series with exciting gameplay and clever mission objectives.

If you can suffer the controls or have GameCube controllers lying around, it's not a bad kickback-n-relax option for some speedy cartoon laps. [Apr 2008, p.81]

An excellent 2D hack-n-slash title, but it really doesn't stand up to today's handheld gaming standards. If DW Advance was released 5 years earlier, it would have turned a lot of heads.

Repetitive to the point of brain damaging; and a few giant leaps in enemy difficulty will have you cursing the fact that save points are at the beginning of each area.

From its hilariously campy dialogue to the fantastic seventies vibe, Tokyo Beat Down is worth checking out for on-the-go rumblers, and with it's almost non-existent learning curve it's absolutely perfect for first time brawlers as well. [Apr 2009, p.77]

The shallow fighting system, the teenage snark and animation won't impress older fans of the series, but it's good fun for younger Jedis in training.

Carnival Games may look cute, but it doesn't translate into gameplay you'll come back to, and in the end, is just a novelty Wii game that wears out it's welcome way too fast to be worth any price.

There's nothing awful about Iron Man for DS, but there isn't really anything that spectacular about it, either. Shmup fans already know they can get great, stylish games online, so this one will probably be left to young fans of the movie.

Sonic Riders certainly gives fans the velocity they've been craving, but isn't tightly tuned enough to be much more than an agreeable party game.

Graphics are decent, but the sound is obnoxious.

Bet on Soldier attempts to up the ante on the genre, but instead deals a conservative hand that only FPS fans will want to check.

I give credit to this game's developers for working in the cool new visuals and features that they managed to fit in, but for a $7 "remake" of a 15-year-old game, the bar was too high UMK3 to reach.

Viva Pinata Party Animals is squarely aimed at a specific audience populated by those that find burping hilarious and think cartoon violence and comic mischief are peak entertainment; i.e. children.

RF Online delivers an MMO that focuses more on battles and less on stories and quests. For those who lust after solid plots and definitive quests, they can stick to their "World of Warcraft" and "Final Fantasy XI." For those who just want to log on and kick butt, RF Online is the prescription for you.

An intensely frustrating trial of patience that's rewarded with only the most fleeting glimmers of fun.

For a goofy little action game Evil Dead isn't terrible. The juxtaposition of the art style and the gore (which you have to wipe off the screen with your finger) is fun, though once you're done with story mode, there's not much else to do. Some additional game modes might go a long way in making this a more rounded-out experience.

Looks great with well-animated action and vivid story-buiding cut-scenes. However, the gameplay is simply too redundant to hold interest, even with the addition of two-player action. [Aug 2005, p.77]

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.

But even if you are in the game's target demographic, you should avoid this lackluster effort as it just isn't a faithful representation of the upcoming Games; instead, expend that energy on following the actual action and look for the title in a bargain bin once the Olympics have concluded.

Once you get the hang of the game engine and acquire better strike craft, the game becomes a very pleasurable experience. Ace Combat Advance is the perfect stopgap between an air-combat sim and an arcade top-down shooter.

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).

Touch the Dead is like a decent B-grade horror movie: sure it's laughably bad at points but there's a loveable camp quality to it that makes it worth enduring through.

Simply put, it’s ok, but it’s not great.

Regardless of the system you play it on, Trenches: Generals is a strategy game that offers a unique take on the genre, and is sure to appeal to players of all ages, but only if you can overlook its shortcomings.

It's barely better than mediocre, and just another game that should be heading to the used shelf in record time. Pick it up on the cheap for a young sibling/nephew/cousin if you do buy it at all.

Once I got past all of the problems in the collision-detection and accepted the fact that as long as my ninja stabbed the floor within a three foot radius of a bad guy, it was a kill, I had a mild amount of fun.

Weighing in at five cases, Miami Law isn't a terribly long game nor is it terribly original, but for what it is -- a rather mindless police point and click -- it's a decent enough adventure.

A satisfying scrap that'll keep you mashing buttons, if for nothing else than to see Stacy Keibler in her bitmapped bra and pixel panties.