A slightly updated version of the orange marsupial's 1998 debut on the PlayStation.

The game's shallow goal design keeps it from achieving the same level of addictiveness as competing games like "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3" and "Aggressive Inline."

For those five or six hours, the game is quite fun, especially when playing with other people and using teamwork to mow down the zombie hordes.

Despite a cruel learning curve this bridge-building puzzle game is both fun and unique.

It's primarily the strength of its cast and its presentation, not the strength of its gameplay, that sustains you through the many long hours of this quest.

The Sims 4's biggest problem is that The Sims 3 exists, and describing where it stumbles by necessity means looking at where the series has been. This is a lovely and lively game that elicits constant smirks, but The Sims 4's moments never feel like part of a bigger picture.

Offers a fine collection of classic pinball machines. It looks good, controls well, sells at a budget price, and should be a no-brainer as an addition to your library if you're a fan of simulated pinball.

The latest Guitar Hero is an Aerosmith fan's dream come true, but the game's narrow focus and lack of content will prove unappealing to many others.

No matter how appealing any of it may seem at any point in play, Septerra Core's rigidly linear structure and reprehensible combat system unequivocally rear their ugly heads and weaken what could have been a better game.

This movie-inspired action game is fun while it lasts, but sadly that isn't very long.

Though there is a certain roughness to the action, Wet is still a raucously entertaining adventure.

While the list of games may look enticing, the package has a sloppy, thrown-together feel to it that significantly nullifies the nostalgia factor.

Thrillville: Off the Rails makes every part of building and running a theme park great fun.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is ultimately a competent but underwhelming platform game that has little to offer fans of the genre.

Retrovirus is a nod to the classic Descent series that makes battling virtual viruses a mostly pleasant pursuit.

UFC Personal Trainer offers the most exhausting workout in video games, but bugs, repetitive programmes, and overlong stretching periods cause you to tire for the wrong reasons.

An interesting time-shifting mechanic and fun-to-shoot weapons can't make up for the rest of TimeShift's run-of-the-mill first-person shooter gameplay.

Contra: Operation Galuga has it where it counts. It feels like classic Contra in all the ways that matter, and a series of changes and upgrades--from minor tweaks like auto-equipping weapons to major new elements like the perks shop--are just enough to make it feel smooth and modern. This may not be a modern classic, but it shows how a classic series like Contra can feel fresh again.

Rival Swords is much the same game as "Two Thrones," which means it's still good, but it's nearly a year and a half late to the show.

Spooky atmosphere and a great story save Dracula: Origin from being a formulaic pixel hunt.

Homefront's engrossing vision of the future and gratifying competitive multiplayer outweigh its squandered potential and workaday game mechanics.

There is a certain superficiality to The Moment of Silence that prevents you from getting totally immersed in the story.

Virtua Tennis is too easy and inconsistent to entertain you for long.

Evergate is remarkably clever. It's a short and sweet treat of a game that constantly invents new ways to interact with the world and to blend game elements together, making for a satisfying test of brainpower and reflexes.

The core ideas are full of promise, but there's no follow-through. What ought to be a cheeky, charming celebration of a delightfully furry woodland creature is instead too rote, too dry, a neat idea undone by a lack of imagination. The only thing left to say is, well… nuts to that.

This year's Madden is a lot like the past decade of Madden in that it suffers a number of self-inflicted wounds and returns features that were unpopular in years prior. However, it's crucial to reiterate, on the field, Madden genuinely feels great for the first time in a long time. The changes to Franchise are helpful but not revolutionary, the MUT Field Pass system is promising but janky at launch, and other modes are largely forgettable. This would all present quite a lackluster view of the game if not for the impressive on-field leap it performs. The improvements on gameday make Madden 23 a flawed game, but clearly an improvement in the series' most important way: the actual playing of football.

Fans of puzzle games will find a passable but somewhat shallow game in Drill Spirits, but fans of this specific series will find that it really hasn't changed much over the years.

The cute claymation couple look and sound pretty good in this mission-based platformer, but the gameplay isn't all that compelling.

Zax is simple and repetitive in the same way that simple and repetitive arcade games of the past offered action-packed, addictive entertainment.

Surprisingly, you'll find that the graphics hold up remarkably well, and the control, though at times frustrating, is as unforgiving and challenging as in the original.

There's no escaping the been-there, done-that feel of Rotohex.

You get what you pay for with this budget first-person shooter.

The graphics have been redone, the music is different, there is a slew of new weapons, the mission structure is a bit more complex, and the city feels a bit more alive. But at its core, GTA2 is the same old game.

Short and relatively uninspired.

Exactly how much the Turok series has evolved with this latest installment is debatable, but the game does provide a healthy dose of shooting lizards with big guns, and, in the end, that's why we play Turok.

Ultimately, the gameplay has a few minor flaws, and the available modes aren't quite as deep as those found in other college football games that are available on the market.

An approachable arcade-style take on one of the world's most grueling rally races--and a significant improvement on its predecessor.

Though it's missing some of the stylish action that helped make Budokai 3 so exceptional, Shin Budokai still stands as a fun and accessible 3D fighter.

You don't need to be a Neopets fan to enjoy this puzzle/adventure hybrid.

The flashy free-to-play shooter Ghost Recon Online front-loads the fun, despite some inconsistencies.

Trial-and-error frustrations diminish the impact of this add-on's great characters and dialogue.

Based on 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception, this version gains some extra characters but little else to make it worthwhile for fans of Midway's gory fighting-game series.

Homefront's engrossing vision of the future and gratifying competitive multiplayer outweigh its squandered potential and workaday game mechanics.

If anything, it's a lovely game to relax to--even if you're forced into a slow pace.

This port of the excellent PSP game filters out online play and much of the fun that comes with it.

A fun change of pace from other multiplayer-only games. It comes with a decent tutorial and bot match options as well, but the fast and fun 10-on-10 matches are the obvious draw. The Escape Run mode is an intense and creative twist that keeps things lively. For fans of old school shooters, this is especially worth checking out.

All of which amounts to new levels, harder difficulty, and not much else. This is pretty much the template for second expansion packs these days, so Tribes of the East is at least somewhat trendy. Nevertheless, you can't praise this mediocre add-on for fitting in with the cool kids. Nival should have finished the Heroes V series on a higher note than this.

The tennis is merely average, but the challenges and minigames in Sega Superstars Tennis are creatively done and a lot of fun.

Aquia is a fun puzzle game that combines Tetris and Bejeweled with a unique twist, but annoying quirks prevent it from shining as brightly as it should.

While the futuristic backdrop may still have some life left in it, Pariah's combat, story, and weapons loadout are all positively lifeless, making the game feel like nothing more than an also-ran shooter that barely stands on its own, let alone stands up to the genre's best.

Provides a fair amount of entertaining, highly kinetic, action adventure gameplay at a very affordable price. But it's also a game that probably would have looked a lot more impressive if it had been released a year ago.

Apache: Air Assault faithfully captures all the nuance of piloting an attack helicopter while including plenty of extras to keep fanatics coming back for more.

Scene It? Movie Night provides fun multiplayer movie trivia and has an appealing price, but it's not as exciting if you've Scene It? all before.

Surgeon Simulator 2 likely began its own medical school in protest of being kicked out of the real thing. In creating its own brand of hospital hospitality, there are plenty of laughs to be had. However, hearty chuckles from chucking a heart across a grimy hospital room only last for so long before Surgeon Simulator 2's clumsiness begins to frustrate more than entertain.

The graphical foundation is in place, but there are too many flawed combat systems to call this a strong debut for what's sure to be an annualized series. EA Sports UFC manages to make only certain aspects of MMA both fun and functional, forcing most fights to play out in a familiar, brawling fashion.

Grow Up plays with gameplay elements that are unapologetically unwieldy. When even basic things like jumping and climbing feel clumsy, it’s difficult to get excited about playing with B.U.D., even if he elicits a laugh or two. There’s enough charm and visually rewarding exploration to make Grow Up worth a look if you can get past the control issues, but that's ultimately easier said than done.

If you're not looking for an unofficial sequel to "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail," and you can see past a few problems, you'll find that The Bard's Tale is a decent enough action RPG.

In the end, Republic Commando Remastered doesn't do anything to drastically change the experience of playing the original game. And to that end, its shortcomings have only become more apparent with time--tactical shooters have evolved to offer more satisfying experiences with choice and consequence--so you likely won't find much replayability here. But it's still entertaining all things considered.

A disappointing effort on all fronts, and probably isn't worth your time.

It's a lightweight package, but UEFA Euro 2012's great presentation captures the grand atmosphere of the tournament.

This role-playing sequel's big world and seemingly countless quests make it easy to overlook its wrinkles.

If you can forgive its unimpressive multiplayer and its problematic interface, Frontline Command's innovative features and gameplay depth may make it worth the trouble.

Ty's difficulty is tuned for younger or casual gamers, but it also attempts to appeal to older players, who should still be able to appreciate the quality of the game even if it's a little on the easy side.

Team Sabre may not be realistic, but it's packed with explosions, wild gunfights, and quite a bit of fun--though it's also extremely frustrating at times, due to a limited save system coupled with some excruciatingly difficult gameplay.

Though it lacks the unique modes that are the series' trademark, MLB Power Pros 2008 is currently the best baseball game on the DS.

What developer Climax has produced here is a simple, accessible racing game with modest goals that it, for the most part, accomplishes.

Unfortunately, Hitmaker's quirky sense of style and revising of existing formulas are all but absent from Confidential Mission, though it's doubtful these things could've saved the game from its well-worn premise.

For those of us who were big fans of the original game, the gameplay and presentation of R2RB: R2 are all too familiar, making the sequel seem like little more than a simple roster update.

There's some strong writing in Richard & Alice, and a little bit of intrigue in the way the story's various threads wind their way back together. But when the game fails to convince us of its own high stakes, its Cormac McCarthyism loses its gloomy appeal.

Mr. Shifty isn't a huge game in terms of length, but the three- to four-hour campaign is ample. It's like a shot of adrenalin, offering an exciting, intense experience, and it's easy to forgive the game's performance flaws when it so consistently makes you feel like a badass.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. offers the most frustrating kind of steampunk: It brushes up against potent themes, but then turns its back on them in favor of pure aestheticization.

Immortals of Aveum stops just short of fully complementing its traditional military shooter story with an engaging environmentalist message, instead opting to primarily use those narrative themes to inform the world design and lore. It leaves the overall story feeling half-baked, further highlighting the uncharacteristic actions of its unlikable protagonist. The actual shooting fares a bit better, especially in the first half, when combat is more like a color-coded puzzle. But it, too, falls short--the repeated use of enemies and arena layouts make for repetitive firefights and the sheer number of combat options is difficult to navigate when combat reaches an overwhelming fervor. I enjoyed small pieces of Immortals of Aveum, but not enough to strongly recommend.

While there is fun to be had in F1 2009, it's a long way from being a faithful reproduction of the pinnacle of motorsport.

EVE offers little in the way of instant gratification, and progress in the game is slow and often unnoticeable.

The game tries to break out of the third-person shooter blueprint by offering sometimes-gory interrogation sequences, but these portions don't do enough to change what is otherwise a very by-the-numbers action game.

Rogue Trooper is at times a very exciting and enjoyable shooter, which makes it all the more disappointing that it's over so soon.

Halfway's environments, writing, and musical score convey a sense of quiet perseverance, but the gameplay doesn't communicate that feeling as clearly as it should.

Losing progress in a roguelike is meant to entice you to hop back in with new accessories to change your next run, but Genesis Alpha One doesn't have the mechanics in place to make these variations interesting enough to experiment with.

Control issues taint the overall experience of the otherwise enjoyable World Gone Sour.

City of Brass' enemy difficulty and character upgrade system is tuned well enough that you will never be too over- or underpowered at any stage of the game.

For all the gripping tension that its setting instills, Blair Witch can't maintain its initially frightening atmosphere and ends up losing it entirely by its conclusion.

Beyond the name, there isn't anything remarkable about The Secrets of Da Vinci. It's a solid but standard point-and-click adventure that isn't the least bit adventurous. Despite that, it still proves satisfying enough for fans of adventure games.

Even though it's being offered at a budget price, there just isn't any reason to play Worms 4: Mayhem if you've played either of the last two games in the series.

Despite its slightly aged appearance, the accessible strategy and comical violence retain most of their appeal.

With a short story mode that serves as a fun, linear introduction to sequential stomping, Mario Mix is suitable for a child, or for an uncoordinated friend.

Complexity and accessibility are rarely so well-balanced in a strategy game.

It's a long game whose simplistic but satisfying combat can be quite addictive, but mostly for meticulous players who don't get frustrated easily.

Pokemon Ranger has a similar look and feel to all the other lighthearted Pokemon games, but invites you to capture all those critters in a rather exciting new way.

This fast-paced role-playing game is faithful to the movie and is also downright fun.

Despite a few frustrations, Your Doodles Are Bugged is an accessible, challenging, and rewarding puzzle game.

The Fidelio Incident being nice to look at and listen to doesn't necessarily make it interesting to play. The haunting, frozen vistas and enthralling backstory constantly trip over uninspired gameplay. Though there’s a measure of forgiveness to be had considering the length of the experience, even that concession is fragile in light of the obvious disparity that exists in the quality of the narrative and the gameplay that's forced upon it.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox is one of my favorite flavors of metroidvania: the kind that keeps you guessing all the way up to the end on what's exactly going on. In the first half of the game, it goes too far in terms of setting up its mystery but the narrative payoff in the latter half partially makes up for it. This is the type of game where having a trusty notebook on hand is a good idea because the world design and cryptic story--though wonderful--aren't going to do much to guide you beyond hinting at a potential path forward. The combat and platforming don't quite match the game's intriguing story and wonderful Lovecraftian-inspired art direction, but the game does include ways for you to transform the experience of playing the game to make it more approachable.

Master of Illusion is a neat way for kids to learn how to perform simple magic tricks.

The sheer number of quests and the complexity of customization will keep you busy for hours. If you like that sort of thing, that is. Even though its economy leaves a bit to be desired, it's not clunky enough to dissuade you from working hard to earn items and craft your ultimate armor.

For a few in-game hours, Arcadegeddon may seem like a loud and gaudy co-op shooter worth a slot in your weekend rotation, but the combination of been-there-done-that objectives, a shallow loot pool, and a grating cast of characters soon unravels what could've been the next standout co-op game from a team otherwise doing well in that space. But this end result merely looks like better games in certain lights. It has aspirations to be many things at once, but Arcadegeddon struggles to formulate its own identity and suffers death by a thousand market research data points.

Man of Medan is still telling a weak story, though, as much as Shared Story plasters over this with its excellent take on co-op, which lets you plan things out and work together to craft the narrative you want to tell (and kill the characters you find the most annoying). If you can organize a session with someone else who owns the game and play through the whole thing together, it's an excellent experience; but if you're after another single-player horror narrative experience like the one offered in Until Dawn, it's very disappointing. As a show of the potential for the Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan is largely a success, but as a first episode, it leaves plenty to be desired.

While the main game is brief, it’s plenty of fun, and bonus minigames like dodgeball add some extra charm to Tokyo Rumble. It’s a solid action game with a charming retro flavor that leverages RCR's foundation to construct both a new adventure and a different perspective on beloved game.

The Blazkowicz sisters steal the show in a bite-sized co-op FPS spin-off that packs a hell of a punch, further invigorating the Wolfenstein franchise.