Great visuals can’t make up for repetitive and unchallenging gameplay.

It just seems to consistently fall short in the action, puzzle, and suspense categories.

Not quite as ultimate as the title suggests, but Ultimate Mortal Kombat is still a faithful port of the classic Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

Even with the insanely boring story and dialogue, this game has some pretty good gameplay. If you can reach the point (around 2-3 hours) where the game actually starts to allow you to venture out on your own, the game gets much better, but before that time, it really drags heavily. If you can get adjusted to the quick QTEs and having to waste turns on pinning, the combat system is actually quite good. The hype system is one of the best parts of the combat system. If you can gain enough hype to build the meter all the way, each battle becomes much more fun. Boss battles are also a lot of fun and a good challenge as well. WrestleQuest is definitely a long RPG with a lot of content (side quests, main quests, hidden items). WrestleQuest is worth a try for fans of JRPGs if you’re in it for the long run. If you’re expecting quick amusement however, this game really takes a while to get good.

Past Cure is a mix of good and bad, but all of it is very cinematic and filled with atmosphere at least.

A multitude of flaws takes the enjoyment out of fighting off multitudes of enemies.

Ferrari Racing Legends is more of a game for the true hardcore fan of Ferrari cars rather than a player looking for a good driving simulator.

It's nice that many games include achievements and support online multiplayer and leaderboards, but if you're not having much fun with the games, what's the point? Atari Flashback Classics would have been a stronger collection if it had fewer games and more effort could have been put into making them play as well as the originals. As it stands, though, this collection is strictly for the hardcore gaming classicist.

Adequate but lackluster.

Younger kids will probably find that there is some fun to be had with the game, but other Bee Movie fans will probably find the gameplay too simplistic and repetitive.

There were times while playing that I felt the zen of cleaning, my mind cleared by the soothing sound of water as it steadily droned on or changed pitch while moving between different surfaces. There’s also a certain sense of satisfaction that comes with transforming some grossly dirty areas into the pristine places that they were meant to be. However, there were plenty of times when the simulated work felt like real work. Spending over ten minutes walking slowly back and forth across a driveway to finally get it clean and then looking up and seeing how far you have to go to get the rest of the home clean can be both frustrating and disheartening. The relaxing moments provided by the game were simply outnumbered by those that became more and more tedious by the sheer number of large surfaces that must be cleaned in the game. You can easily spend an evening cleaning somebody else’s home for them, and then look back and think that you could have spent the limited time you have for relaxation and entertainment more wisely.

Best suited to younger gamers new to RPGs as veteran gamers will find it too simple and repetitive.

Straight-forward, no nonsense trivia best left to the most diehard of fans of European soccer.

The lack of any control over the game's timescale is a serious drawback. Otherwise the game does have it's own, albeit quirky, charm.

There are better online shooters available for you to spend your money on.

If you're looking for a short-term diversion, the game is good enough to fill that role, but not many people will be returning to it just to beat their best time through the game.

QTEs and button mashing for Pirate Warriors only.

The game is fun enough at its core to have made it very popular with the PC casual gamer crowd, but as an Xbox Live Arcade title it just falls short.

It's funny for a minute or two, but still… thirty bucks is a lot for three levels and a few giggles.

A rather bland entry in an increasingly overcrowded genre.

Taking everything into consideration, I'd have to say that while I like the novelty of the ghost enemies mimicking the player's actions, once that novelty wears off you begin to notice the cracks and things begin to feel repetitive. The challenge levels extend the game's life, but overall it's probably the kind of game that you'll play for a little bit and then not be particularly compelled to return to.

There's a decent game hidden under all of this monetization, but it's not worth subjecting yourself to all of these aggressive attempts for you to put a lot of money into the game. The game's just not good enough to cost so much to enjoy.

If you are a new Wii U owner, make sure you play New Super Mario Bros. U, Skylanders: Giants or any of the other big name games hitting this holiday season. But once those have come and gone, keep your eyes open and trained on the bargain bin. If you see Transformers Prime: The Video Game in there, it's one afternoon of fun might just be worth it as you wait for the next big release.

By the end of the game, it's easy to tell that there was a lot of love put into this game for the overall concept and story alone. Even with all the flaws, it's still a game that I enjoy deep down, but I cannot deny all the annoyances that I had in trying to stay focused on completing it.

Visually stunning but ultimately it is simply just another repetitive button masher.

Overall, Painkiller (2025) is a decent online shooter, but it really lacks content. You can rush through all the levels very quickly and complete the full campaign in a few hours (like maybe 4 hours). It is nice that it has multiple difficulties, but that just doesn’t hold up when you have so few of levels. The single player is basically an afterthought – it’s like a mode that punishes you for not playing online. If you plan to play Painkiller online with friends or randoms then you might find something to like here, but those that want a single player experience, look elsewhere or just go back to the older Painkiller games.

Overall, The Cecil: The Journey begins is an ok survival horror. It’s not bad, it’s not good, it’s just in between. If you like horror games, you’ll probably enjoy this game for what it is, but it’s nothing that memorable. The main problems that I have with this game is just that it’s hard to find item to manipulate a good bit of the time and also the game has a major need of variety. Just finding an enemy to shoot is such a blessing when those moments come!

King of Fighters XII attempts a new fresh start for the series, but beyond the new character sprites, not too much else has changed.