The novelty of racing teeny, tiny cars is more than a little bit stale, and so is Micro Machines v4.

Shaun White's latest appearance starts off with some board-flipping fun, only to squander its potential.

CSI has a good premise, good tools, and good scenarios for an adventure game, but the developer clearly tried to make CSI accessible for a wide audience and in the process also removed all challenge from the game.

The gameplay still hasn't received the attention it deserves, and, as a result, GameBreaker still fails to get many of the fundamentals right.

Even though Speed Kings doesn't stray very far from the "Burnout 2" formula, it's a solid racer that does a great job of conveying an insanely fast sense of speed and requires you to think and react in an instant.

Unfortunately, Panzer Claws' skirmish mode doesn't offer much in the way of new thrills, and to date [11/26/02] there are hardly any players playing the game online.

Gundam Battle Assault isn't a good enough game to live on its own -- the fighting is competent, but hardly compelling for any length of time, and the story mode is completely uninteresting.

Unlike "Ace Combat 04," however, AirForce Delta Storm lacks the overall gameplay and visual polish that made Namco's game so memorable.

Isn't exactly a fresh take on fighting games, though it looks good and controls well enough.

It's not the ultimate track and field game by any means, but if you read on, you'll find out just how close Konami's latest effort comes.

While the addition of cooperative play is a big step in the right direction, the core elements that made Episode 1 a tepid experience persist here: mediocre level design, slow pacing, and erratic levels of fun.

Brilliant shoot-outs are dulled by maddening side missions in this inconsistent add-on.

Shallow, mindless hack-and-slash action makes this a crushingly tedious slog through an anachronistic version of 16th-century Japan.

The game desperately needs its own identity and doesn't quite achieve the same consistency as the more established fighting game franchises.

A few unique touches are overshadowed by crushingly dull gameplay in this perfunctory animated movie tie-in.

The shooting elements are uninspired, but Lethal Alliance features enough variety to please action and Star Wars fans alike.

As a game, it's nothing special--just a mediocre platformer stuffed with all of the usual platforming elements. In terms of storytelling and presentation, however, Unmasked grabs the imagination and delights the senses easily as much as a feature-length version of the cartoon show would.

TMNT has some legitimately neat platforming sequences, but it's more frustrating than a kid-oriented game ought to be, and the combat is completely brain-dead.

Some technical troubles notwithstanding, this derivative action game is a bunch of silly, stylish fun.

A few unique touches are overshadowed by crushingly dull gameplay in this perfunctory animated movie tie-in.

Racing these speedy little cars can be fun, but Smash Cars is disappointingly light on content.

The game is brief and polished, so I think it's possible someone who loves the games You Will Die Here Tonight is affectionately cribbing could manage to enjoy this too, but probably only if they're really itching for something else to play. There's no shortage of games resurrecting this style, and many of them have been memorable. Others have been worse, but at least some have been interesting in their shortcomings. The overarching issue with You Will Die Here Tonight is that the death alluded to in its title can be attributed to boredom.

Micromanagement and repetition really bog down this original but unfulfilling game about directing the lives of people trying to make it in the Middle Ages.

F1 2015 is an incredibly frustrating game, representing both a wonderful step forward and a massive stumble.

Simply being the only hockey choice doesn't excuse things like the awful frame rate, the sloppy puck handling, and the generally lackluster gameplay that Gretzky NHL offers. You're better off without this one.

A fairly unique game. Unfortunately, sluggish controls, missing features in the interface, and a nonexistent online community detract from an otherwise decent strategy game.

While "The Simpsons" is often entertaining and enjoyable, The Simpsons Road Rage for the Xbox is not.

Double Helix doesn't do anything that hasn't already been done better in Activision's own Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Rather short. It only takes a couple of hours to finish the entire quest and a few more after that to collect all the film reels.

A fairly decent "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" clone, putting a different face on a familiar game.

Tolkien fans may enjoy the game's presentation of Middle-earth lore, but The Hobbit tends to rely too heavily on derivative, uninspired gameplay for it to stand up on its own.

Because its core play mechanics start to wear on you after even a few hours of playing, anything beyond a quick look makes little sense.

If you don't mind the lack of depth, however, Bang! Gunship Elite will send your senses for a loop.

Jump Force is a worthy celebration of the legacy of Shonen Jump manga, but it honors its source material a little too well with how filler-heavy the middle of its story arc is.

Practically every criticism you could lobby against the original game is still an issue here, along with a host of new issues that make this version decidedly less fun to play.

This classic turn-based strategy game feels old and slow on the Nintendo DS.

MLB 2K9 for the Wii is still a flawed distortion of baseball, but it's definitely a better bet than its Xbox 360 and PS3 cousins.

This movie-inspired shooter is fun for a while, but the action becomes repetitive long before you reach the end of the six-hour story.

This is a great, cheap way to get your hands on an underappreciated arcade classic.

Those unfamiliar with Jojo are likely to be bewildered playing Eyes of Heaven; the game pulls no punches in declaring its priorities with its thick layer of fanservice, pleasing only those who've read far into the series' three decade long run. It's an unfortunate misgiving to newcomers, but for fans, it's unequivocal bliss.

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature and Harvest Moon for Girls are poorly ported together in this bundle that brings nothing new to the farm.

Lost Planet 3 is a difficult game to hate and an equally difficult game to adore. It might feature monstrous aliens, but it never thinks big.

When The Crew puts you into races with good AI, and you get to race through interesting and varied environments, you get the feeling that you're playing a good game. When you struggle to find people to join your crew online, balk at the outdated graphics, and shake your head at the AI and the occasionally unpredictable physics, you realize: The Crew isn't that good after all. When you can't play due to server issues, you find a new game to play and leave The Crew in your dust.

The ambitious and atmospheric E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy will enthrall you, if you can overcome its harsh edges and convoluted mechanics.

Aqua is a pretty but uninspired dual-stick shooter on the high seas.

Desperate Housewives isn't much of a game, but it does a pretty good job of telling an original, interactive soap opera story in the quirky tone of the hit show.

A mostly successful operation with a couple of unsightly scars.

Stacked presents itself as a typical game of poker, but thanks to a pretty intriguing artificial intelligence system, it plays things much smarter than your average poker title.

If you haven't played the previous games, you won't know or care what's going on in the latest one, but if you have played the previous games, you'll feel like you're paying almost full price to play the same game over again.

The aesthetics and vibe are still unlike anything else out there, and they’re still worth the hassle. But the greatest trick Parappa the Rapper ever pulled was convincing the world it's not a broken game.

A decidedly awkward English translation, some lackluster production values, and a poorly implemented multiplayer mode all prevent it from having the same appeal as the games that influenced it.

Unfortunately, the multiplayer is also an unmitigated disaster.

It simply takes the weakest part of the original game and repackages it with a few ultimately inconsequential bonuses--and then it ends up being even less impressive than that description.

NBA Live 07 isn't much different from last year's game, and the numerous bugs and glitches make it not much fun to play.

Hanging 10 in this movie-licensed surfing game has its moments--just don't expect to enjoy it for very long.

It's almost a shame that the detail put into the graphics is all but hidden by the overhead view that you're seemingly stuck with.

Silly music and controller headaches aside, Intellivision Lives! does a fine job of compiling a huge number of games into one package and presenting them in an easy-to-pick-up manner.

The gorgeous sci-fi burgs in Cities of Tomorrow prove that beauty only runs skin-deep. Once you get bored with the neon-clad gimmicks of the MegaTowers and OmegaCo, you're left with pretty much the same flawed game that annoyed the city-building community last spring.

Across the board, Skully occasionally shows signs of strong, creative design, but often in isolated, incomplete forms. A cutscene's well-written dialogue gets hamstrung by its animation. A strong platforming sequence feels hollow because its challenge offers little reward. A puzzle takes more time to complete than to solve. Even with those flaws, Skully isn't altogether unpleasant. It lacks the depth and attention to detail to make the act of rolling, running and jumping an act of joy unto itself.

All of which is such a shame, because there is a fun team-based sport tucked away in Roller Champions. For the first few hours, I had a great time with it--it's just that the uniformity in regards to its maps and mechanics eventually makes each match start to feel a bit samey. I can see myself picking it up every once in a while for an enjoyable bout around the rink, but there's just not enough meat to the bones of this live-service game to make it a part of my daily rotation.

In the nine years since Rocksteady's last game, the superhero genre in video games has shifted dramatically, from a story-driven solo experience evocative of comic books to the multiplayer loot-obsessed open worlds of the current day. Returning to tell a new story in the superhero world meant adapting to that landscape, and Rocksteady does better than its predecessors in this endeavor. And yet, thanks to repetitive mission structure, wildly messy visual noise, server issues, frequent combat and movement hindrances, and a setting void of personality, it's still well below the quality this studio has shown it's capable of. I consider Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League to be the best this melding of heroes and loot grinds has produced so far, but it's a low bar and proof that 'best' doesn't necessarily mean 'good.'

Whether you play it alone or with friends, this uninspired update to the '80s swords-and-sorcery arcade dungeon crawl misses the mark with its boring, mindless action and short, forgettable quest.

Like its predecessor, Vietcong 2 offers up some challenging gameplay, though it's plagued by technical issues and short campaigns.

This 4x space strategy game could have been something special, if it were finished.

What's especially unfortunate is that you'll find sprinklings of a great game concept all throughout Death Jr.'s relatively short storyline. It just never successfully delivers.

A strong protagonist and enticing visuals make Venetica worth playing, but problems with the questing and combat drag this role-playing game down.

Enjoyable as it can be in spurts, Raiden III doesn't do anything unique to stand out from other modern shoot-'em-ups, and that it isn't priced at a flat-out budget rate is a bit disquieting.

This downloadable prologue is a bit barren, but it still packs a delightfully destructive punch.

I could never call it good, or imaginative, or varied. I can see through its obvious attempts to appeal to my most primitive impulses. But I can also say that Ryse succeeds in tickling your brain stem even when you know your time is better spent. I don't believe, however, that it deserves congratulations for having done it.

Despite its unrealistic physics, repetitive racing, and insufficient options, the game can, at times, be surprisingly enjoyable.

It's a rigorous, realistic simulation of what it's like to command a brigade of combined-arms troops in modern warfare.

A mediocre re-creation of the sport, but it doesn't have the level of polish or any of the bells and whistles that have become standard in other EA Sports series, like "Madden" or "NBA Live."

The game would have been better if the robots had back attacks or other, better options to prevent enemies from getting behind them. Regardless, there certainly isn't anything else out there that's quite like it, so fans of other fighting games should give it a look.

The game's arcade elements aren't done well enough to ever balance with the simulation elements, and the end result is a game that's too wacky to be a sim game, and too simulation-based to be an arcade game.

It offers a couple of neat mechanics to spice things up and should be enjoyable to the hardcore stealth fan, but others will probably find that they've seen most of this stuff before.

A sharp-looking, amusing romp through a handful of levels that should please those with a taste for the game's whimsical nature.

While far from perfect, it is easily the best surfing game on the market, but more importantly, it's also a fun game.

The game initially seems to offer everything you'd want out of an action-packed military-themed shooter. However, online multiplayer features are of little value when the action itself isn't good.

Sluggish controls and lifeless gameplay make Ghost in the Shell worth playing only for loyal fans of the anime, and even then it isn't worth more than a rental.

Dead Rising veterans might see a downsized port, but for newcomers this is an enjoyable horror-themed action game.

Though occasionally enjoyable, this Force-powered sequel is a mere apprentice to its superior predecessor.

An uninteresting story and lackluster gameplay, both online and off, leaves this latest adventure feeling rather flat.

Despite a slow start and some lingering issues, Revenge of the Fallen really makes it fun to be a Transformer.

Little League World Series Baseball 2010 may have a cheerful personality, but it strikes out where it counts.

F1 Race Stars is a competent kart racer that fails to go that extra mile and, as a result, outstays its welcome sooner rather than later.

The first few hours of Blackgate provide an exciting glimpse of what might have been a great game, but it slowly falls apart, hour by hour, villain by villain.

The rapid-fire minigames found in the DS version of Arthur and the Invisibles offer a different take on the WarioWare style of play, and they're a good bit of fun for the relatively short time the game lasts.

A great concept executed poorly. But if Deep Shadows puts some serious work into the upcoming patches (according to the company's Web site, version 2.0 is already in the works), this work-in-progress could evolve into one of the best shooters of 2005 and could become a real inspiration for shooter designers in the future.

The visuals are fancy, but this kung fu game suffers from uninspired combat and unresponsive controls.

A City Sleeps leans on hardcore difficulty to compensate for its lack of content, and its use of music, while interesting, is a source of frustration, especially as the difficulty increases. It's disappointing, because at its core, there are a lot of good ideas, but they never truly shine in the presence of the game's issues.

Were it better able to traverse the gap between an attractive presentation and engaging gameplay, Traverser would be a game to remember.

Take the complicated controls of this popular superspy series and make them even more finicky, lose the online versus mode, and you get Double Agent for the Wii.

The game suffers from imprecise controls, a lackluster presentation, a few bugs, and other issues that make it difficult to recommend.

Riptide is dumb, and mind-numbingly slow, and somehow manages to make the art of zombie-slaying feel like utter tedium. And if slaying zombies isn't fun in a game that's all about slaying zombies, why bother?

Namco's back catalog deserves better than this slapped-together cash-in.

A game that you will have no desire whatsoever to play in your free time, but as soon as you have something important to do, it will become the most interesting thing imaginable.

Seems not only unpolished, but also unfinished - and the problems are so inherent in the design that a patch wouldn't likely salvage it.