Frequent and infrequent players alike should avoid it, for no amount of narrative sincerity makes up for this exercise in mechanical frustration.

Imprecise motion controls ruin all five of the sports featured in this disappointing collection.

Bad design choices transform this cheaply produced puzzle game into a mere exercise to see who can scribble the fastest.

When there are much better multiplayer shooters on the market, a lot of which are completely free to play, it's impossible to recommend The Mean Greens - Plastic Warfare. If you want to play with army men badly enough, I recommend looking for the ones you had as a kid or making a trip to the dollar store.

And don't try enlisting a few friends for some four-player co-op: it doesn't make the game any more exciting. Sure, having a few friends around makes those hordes disappear a little faster, and there are some extra quests you can take on, but the core experience remains as glacial as ever.

This awkward stealth action game is beautiful to look at, but it isn't much fun to play.

Dead Island: Riptide might look like an idyllic zombie-fest, but it's little more than a frustrating mess of half-baked ideas and repetitive combat.

Game-crushing bugs overshadow the turn-based tactical goodness Eador: Masters of the Broken World offers.

Aside from being poorly conceived, Th3 Plan is made all the worse by its unintelligent artificial intelligence, unlikely scenarios, and rote, mundane gameplay.

While UFO: Aftershock improves on its predecessor in some ways, there's just far too much wrong with this copy of the classic X-COM alien-hunting strategy series to recommend it.

A lousy conversion of the anime's story, as well as some equally poor beat-'em-up action, keeps the golden shine out of Fullmetal Alchemist on the DS.

You won't like it when this simplistic, repetitive, and occasionally broken game makes you angry.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is full of things that make you go "hmm." Why do midlevel checkpoints update your score but not save your game, forcing you to restart from the beginning if both characters die? If you're going to steal from Gears of War, why steal the slow-walking, earpiece-cradling mission updates?

Go! Sports Ski's asking price is so low that it might seem to be worth every penny--but inconsistent controls make it barely worth a second of your time.

And that's the overall feeling with Syberia 3. Slivers of enjoyment and potential are found within a disconnected and underwhelming journey. The characters, their interactions, the way they speak, and the reason they even exist all mash into a puzzle-adventure game devoid of significance or impact. The Syberia series deserved a better return, otherwise, it should've been left in the past.

This disappointing strategy game isn't nearly as engaging as the Discovery Channel show it's based on.

A short, confusing, and unfulfilling adventure.

Flaky detection and awkward menus seriously hamper this dance fitness game.

While its setting and story are initially intriguing, the experience of playing the game becomes painful over time. Enemies are plentiful and tough to avoid, and the tools that you do have at your disposal are frequently hampered by extreme item scarcity. The complete removal of UI or any helpful visual cues makes stealth encounters a chore. The moments of satisfying key-hunting are bogged down by a world that is a frustrating bore to explore. In retrospect, I wish I could stay in the "before" times, on the other side of that grand reopening banner. At least then, I was optimistic about what awaited inside.

Though Prince Caspian is not without its charms, the game never lives up to its potential and ends up being too boring and repetitive to live up to the exciting tale it's based on.

Doesn't, in any remote way, come close to redeeming its prequel, much less the majority of the series.

Aaru's Awakening is a dreamy display of artistic imagination that yanks you back to waking life with every awkward leap and every ill-conceived level.

The remake is packed with clever dialogue, and the HD artwork looks very nice, but there's not enough new gameplay to hide the fact that the original Leisure Suit Larry game was every bit as shallow as its sexually frustrated protagonist. Mr. Laffer makes a terrific jester, but he's not good for a whole lot more.

A horrible train wreck of problems ranging from poor rebounding and passing to inconsistent shooting percentages and a worthless post-up game.

One brutally boring brawler.

It's noticeably better looking than the lackluster PlayStation 2 version, but it still has its fair share of problems...[It's] not fun.

Nitrobike works well when it's living up to its boost-inspired name, but most of the time, it's a slow, clumsy mess.

The game also featured mind-numbingly simplistic and repetitive gameplay, as well as a dearth of worthwhile added content. Luckily, the Wii version has come along to deliver the coup de grace, effectively retaining all of the games vices while delivering a control scheme that would be obnoxious even if the camera controls weren't completely busted.

Its flaws are too numerous, and its strengths seldom manage to work in concert. The end result is more disappointing than it is entertaining, which is a real pity if it means another 25-year delay before someone takes the next crack at doing the concept justice.

Gas Guzzlers does some things right, but the whole deal ends up feeling decidedly under par. Graphics are only fair, music is canned and looped, and the voice samples are poor. But beyond its mediocre production values is a wobbly foundation, and that's ultimately Gas Guzzlers' insurmountable flaw.

Doesn't improve upon Battlebots: Beyond the BattleBox in any meaningful way, and it's disturbing that Majesco is trying to pass off this collection of bug fixes as a brand-new game.

Three Kingdoms China meets Sengoku Japan in this fan-service-powered snooze fest.

Cheap shocks and poor controls await unsuspecting victims in this outdated horror game.

The essential elements of Sir, You Are Being Hunted--the conflicts between man and machine, between hunter and hunted--aren't getting their due. Here is a game that wants to tell a basic story, but that's left too much space between its opposing forces to make them duel.

It's difficult to come to terms with Predator: Hunting Grounds being nothing more than a single game mode with shallow gameplay and abundant technical issues. It works when you're navigating the tree line as the Predator and hunting down a team of players, but these moments are fleeting. For the most part, you're going to be running through the same types of missions as one of four human players, with unskilled Predator players not providing the ample tension required to make the undertaking worthwhile. And even if you do find yourself playing enough to be matched against some of Hunting Grounds' best players, there's not enough depth to sustain it for much longer.

Though the plot is poorly delivered, it provides an appropriate context for the role you assume as the omniscient commander. There is an eerie sensation when you realise your PC is actually listening to you. Unfortunately, far too often, it simply isn't.

Every so often, 8-year-old me--the part of me that thinks that asking everyone what word starts with "f" and ends in "u-c-k" is funny--got a kick out of Yaiba's exploits. Most of the time, however, I could only wish that Ninja Gaiden Z's striking art style had been applied to a better canvas.

New driving controls add barely a smidgen of excitement to this Wii port of a thoroughly boring monster truck racer.

One Piece: Unlimited Cruise SP is a dull, time-consuming collect-a-thon that fails to do the license justice.

Even though you can climb higher than ever before in Dynasty Warriors 6, the series as a whole seems stuck on the same wrung.

This dull physics-based puzzle game is neither charming nor exciting, and most importantly, it isn't fun.

Ninja Gaiden Z is crass and stupid but rarely funny. It's mean and dumb but never witty or subversive.

The only connections this boring real-time strategy game has with "Star Trek" are the logo on the box, the names of the races, and the types of weapons that your units use.

This factory comes off more like a real industrial complex than the fantastic playground of a fop who makes candy with magical midgets.

If you had a mandate for all of the things a No More Heroes game shouldn't be, "boring" would be near the top of the list, but this sequel frequently is just that. No More Heroes 3 lacks the irreverent charm and personality of its predecessors. Combat picks up the slack, and there's a degree of vivid style to be found there, but the game falters in so many other areas. After an 11-year wait, maybe No More Heroes 3 was always destined to fall short of our expectations. But to end without so much as a touchdown is a mighty disappointment.

The very definition of a stripped-down budget title, as practically every aspect that would make a game fun or interesting is missing.

An inferior copy of a classic, Swashbucklers isn't worth your time.

A lesson in boredom. Without a jump command, the platforming elements are all but wasted, while the spell-flinging portions of the game are equally forgettable.

Aside from the Reservoir Dogs name in the title and the colorfully named characters, Bloody Days shares almost nothing in common with its namesake. With its rewind mechanic, you can see the potential for an exhilarating top-down, twin-stick shooter, but this never comes to pass. The game is easily exploitable and produces frustration far too often to become even the slightest bit interesting. Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days devolves to a banal experience that's all bark and no bite.

Ultimately, Redfall is a game that should not have been released yet. Its litany of bugs hampers the gameplay loop of exploring its world with friends, and that loop itself feels compromised by elements that are poorly executed and ill-suited to the team implementing them. I can't pretend to know whether Arkane chose to make a loot shooter or was assigned to make a loot-shooter, but I can tell you what it feels like: one of the best game studios in the world suddenly made toothless.

Bravo Team slogs on, stranding you in huge spaces, throwing wave after wave of cannon fodder your way, making its short play time feel hours longer that it actually is. Bravo Team is a game that feels unsure and tentative about ideas that have been tried and tested for years now, even in VR.

With more attention to balancing and better, earlier explanations of how its puzzles, boss encounters, and items behave, I could see Funko Fusion eventually being the enjoyable, adult-oriented Lego alternative it wants to be. It needs some important fixes, but they don't seem like unattainable goals in this era of living games that are constantly evolving. The eventual widespread co-op functionality should hopefully make the game better all on its own, and if more helpful visual language and tooltips arrive soon, too, the game could be redeemed. Until then, however, this is one Funko product not worth displaying on your shelf.

As a licensed product, it's mediocre, with enough charming moments to rescue it from the immediate bargain-basement abyss. But as a game, it's an absolute insult and more likely to put kids to sleep than it is to entertain them.

Regardless of your enthusiasm for swashbucklery, there's just no reason for this cheap attempt to cash in on Pirates of the Caribbean.

Neither quality fan service nor a good action game on its own merits, The Shield fails miserably to live up to its license's pedigree.

Primal Prey is a budget version of another budget-priced game, and it's exactly as undistinguished as that makes it sound.

It may carry a $20 price tag, but even at half that price, the technically flawed gameplay and dated production values add up to a gaming experience that's hardly justifiable.

Scratches is dull, ugly, a bit short, and a perfect example of exactly why traditional adventure games have fallen out of favor.

The biggest challenge found in this uninspiring BMX game is actually enjoying it.

The graphics are poor, the frame rate is ridiculously slow, the gameplay is primitive, there's no online play, and simply no reason to play this game.

It's not as if the Olympics, be it summer or winter, has had anything special to call its own when it comes to video game adaptations over the years, but Torino 2006 is especially egregious in that it pares down the number of included events to a fairly measly number, manages to make every single one of them completely uninteresting, and skimps entirely on the presentation.

It's neither smart, nor frightening, nor fun. Readers are better advised to look at either the most recent "Oddworld" or "Resident Evil" titles, and leave this one for the antique collectors.

The shooting interface is unreliable and tough to get the hang of, which is unfortunate considering that Dead to Rights is supposedly an action game steeped in gunplay.

The game misfires at almost every turn, featuring repetitive and overly simple gameplay, as well as dated graphics and an almost complete lack of sound effects.

It's not as if the Olympics, be it summer or winter, has had anything special to call its own when it comes to video game adaptations over the years, but Torino 2006 is especially egregious in that it pares down the number of included events to a fairly measly number, manages to make every single one of them completely uninteresting, and skimps entirely on the presentation.

Even at the low retail cost of $19.99, Robot Arena isn't worth it. You'd end up getting more entertainment if you randomly chose two movies at an over-priced movie theater.

Neither quality fan service nor a good action game on its own merits, The Shield fails miserably to live up to its license's pedigree.

"Dance Dance Revolution" fans might find a bit to like here, but the game is so mind-numbingly simple that anyone familiar with Konami's game will whip through Rhythm N'Groove in less than an hour.

Save for meager communications with villagers and a lackluster end-game sequence, Dark Angel has nothing in the way of instruction, plot, or character development.

It's simple, short, slightly buggy, and generally not very good.

It's not as if the Olympics, be it summer or winter, has had anything special to call its own when it comes to video game adaptations over the years, but Torino 2006 is especially egregious in that it pares down the number of included events to a fairly measly number, manages to make every single one of them completely uninteresting, and skimps entirely on the presentation.

There's nothing fun or exciting about flying helicopters in Blades of Thunder II. And considering that's all you do in the game, that's really sad.

The game itself is executed poorly enough that neither fans of the cartoon nor fans of action sports games will want to have anything to do with it.

An oversimplified arcade racer without a drop of the wildness or excitement that the best arcade racers offer.

The main asset to the license -- a degree of smart sexiness akin to old '70s James Bond movie posters -- has become crass and obvious in its translation to 3D.

If you happen to be a very, very young child, and your parents are trying to distract you with a nonviolent game for short periods of time, you might actually enjoy Lightweight Ninja.

Thanks to a claustrophobic clipping plane and frequent dead zones, BackTrack still feels like unfinished shareware.

Gauntlet Legends wasn't a particularly good arcade game, and it's just as bad on the PlayStation.

"BeachHead 2000"'s limited gameplay won't hold your attention for long.

Inuyasha for the DS is a lousy Final Fantasy knockoff with mediocre graphics and a ridiculously high encounter rate.

The game is too short, the combat is way too repetitive, and the graphics and audio are years behind the curve.

Open Season was a mediocre adventure game on the GameCube, and it's even worse on the Wii thanks to the cruddy controls and higher price tag.

Freedom's total lack of action is complemented by a complete absence of adventure, leaving only bland graphics and a general sense of tedium to fill the giant void that exists between installing the game and finishing it.

As a licensed product, it's mediocre, with enough charming moments to rescue it from the immediate bargain-basement abyss. But as a game, it's an absolute insult and more likely to put kids to sleep than it is to entertain them.

Even kids who loved the animated film won't find Happy Feet to be worth their time.

This derivative kart racer is no fun for the entire family.

The game's problematic interface makes it too complicated to be mindless fun, and the combat itself is too mindless to have any strategic depth.

Surprisingly dull and is lacking in both personality and depth...Sloppy, shallow, and ultimately forgettable, the game never lives up to its undeniably catchy concept.

A short, ugly, slightly buggy, and brain-dead beat-'em-up that all but nullifies the good work of the Budokai games.

Questionable design decisions, terrible implementation, and the apparent lack of faith in a project doomed long before its completion make for a game that is more frustration than fun.

It's a collect-a-thon that's not so big, not so deep, and not so tall, and it's also devoid of the fun that's craved by all.

If nothing else, this game should serve as a fine example of what not to do when developing a street sports game, and if it serves this purpose well, hopefully no one will ever have to endure another urban-themed train wreck like Freestyle Street Soccer.

Clunky and unpolished.

Starship Troopers has little dedication to faithfully re-creating the things that made the film unique, and it's a pretty lousy and technically deficient shooter to boot.

The discount price isn't enough to make SnoCross 2: Featuring Blair Morgan an attractive purchase for even the most price-conscious consumer.

Playing Appaloosa's ultraviolent and ultrastupid take on the titular killer shark is about as much fun as having your legs chewed off.

The game is inadequate and tedious--22 levels of mindless button mashing that will come as a major letdown to anyone who grabs it hoping to relive any portion of the film.

If nothing else, this game should serve as a fine example of what not to do when developing a street sports game, and if it serves this purpose well, hopefully no one will ever have to endure another urban-themed train wreck like Freestyle Street Soccer.