Incredibly difficult and insanely enjoyable, Gradius V is one of those magical games that you can pick up and play instantly, but spend weeks mastering. [Nov 2004, p.104]

The poor gameplay sadly ruins the entire experience. [Nov 2004, p.112]

Action/adventure fans who dare to the take the plunge will find themselves drawn in to a compelling world of puzzles, traps, stealth, animal acrobatics, thumb-burning boss battles, and wise-guy humor.

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

Call of Duty: United Offensive's white-knuckle WWII scenarios will blow away even jaded FPS veterans. And that's no small achievement, especially for a mere expansion pack. [Dec 2004, p.126]

The graphics and sounds don't help too much in keeping the excitement going - you may have to make up for it with a bit of imagination. [Nov 2004, p.130]

The freewheeling surprises are where Fable really shines, but even within the surprisingly short main story there exists a diversity of challenging obstacles and enemies.

The 2D-animation cel-like graphics are simply gorgeous and animate smoothly. [Oct 2004, p.80]

The poor gameplay sadly ruins the entire experience. [Nov 2004, p.112]

The mediocre graphics do an adequate job of rendering believable jungle environments, but the unattractive artistic style tends to jar with the hardboiled atmosphere. [Dec 2004, p.114]

The mediocre graphics do an adequate job of rendering believable jungle environments, but the unattractive artistic style tends to jar with the hardboiled atmosphere. [Dec 2004, p.114]

While fleeing from ghosts may seem like a small issue, it really does drag down an otherwise brilliant game. [Oct 2004, p.74]

To say that this game is "fast" is an understatement - it absolutely blazes, so much so that blinking becomes a liability. [Nov 2004, p.96]

Instead of just slapping together a string of mayhem-filled events, Monster created an absorbing and surprisingly unique Career mode that makes the game worth playing for a good while. [Oct 2004, p.78]

The gameplay area is huge.

Pokémon LeafGreen and Pokémon FireRed draw you into the mesmerizing world of strange little creatures no matter how many times you've been there before.

To say that this game is "fast" is an understatement - it absolutely blazes, so much so that blinking becomes a liability. [Nov 2004, p.96]

Redemption gives some luster back to the Terminator name but not much. [Nov 2004, p.102]

If there's one feature that's unique to SRS, it's the "official" ladies of street racing as seen in the many import tuner magazines. If that's your main interest in the game, then you'll find plenty of incentives to keep playing. [Oct 2004, p.83]

A friendly but flawed rehash of "Metal Gear Solid" fused with several interesting (but poorly developed) concepts that intend to give the game a unique flavor but end up tasting stale. [Nov 2004, p.112]

Thankfully, Capcom included a near-perfect arcade port of "Street Fighter III", a fighting game as unsung as it is flawless. [Oct 2004, p.82]

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

The biggest issue in the Ocean is boring and repetitious town and dungeon designs...The battle system is out of this world - the rest of the game is a little more grounded. [Sept 2004, p.108]

May not have the best control scheme or huge production values, but it does have heart - this one pays like a labor love. Crazy, wacky, weird, mad love. [Oct 2004, p.110]

A pack that responds to each race's events is an outstanding concept that should elevate the gameplay, but NASCAR 2005's execution of it is too unbalanced to create the hoped-for effect. [Nov 2004, p.142]

The mileage you get from the selection of women and their respective dances is dependent on your personal taste. If that's your main interest in the game, then you'll find plenty of incentives to keep playing. SRS is above average, but there's a lot of heavy competition out there.

A pack that responds to each race's events is an outstanding concept that should elevate the gameplay, but NASCAR 2005's execution of it is too unbalanced to create the hoped-for effect. [Nov 2004, p.142]

Despite the shortcomings, ESPN NHL 2K4 is the Cup champ because it really plays and, aside from the rather sluggish-moving players, feels like a hockey simulation should. [Dec 2004, p.144]