A fiendishly difficult, randomly generated dungeon crawler that at times can be an incredible work of interactive fiction, and at other times, a muddled mess.

Shattered Haven's inert levels and unwillingness to let you naturally learn obscure its more brilliant moments.

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 gives players what they've wanted for a long time by implementing deckbuilding, but it doesn't excuse the bare-bones package and needless extra monetization.

Like the crab combatants themselves, Fight Crab feels like it smashed its ridiculous concept into a clunky, physics-based fighting system with gusto and didn't let up until something kind of worked. And a lot of the time, it does work. There's magic here--it's impossible not to be charmed by the silly, uproarious dynamic of watching two crabs having a knife fight. It's sloppy and ugly at times, but so is life. Fight Crab taught me that sometimes you just need to stop, take a minute to appreciate the beauty that lies within those colliding carapaces, and let yourself smile.

Crash Bandicoot's latest adventure has too much backtracking and too many camera problems to make it recommendable.

Frustrating issues make Shaun White Snowboarding seem less like a downhill rush and more like an uphill grind.

The newest Agatha Christie adventure game suffers from monotonous tasks and contrived plot twists that drag it down to mediocrity.

Even if you forgive the flimsy story, cliché characters, and derivative gameplay, it's impossible to look past the myriad game-stopping bugs, frustrating glitches, and glaring technical problems that plague this game.

Captain America bashes enemies with style, but a dull story and bland visuals keep Super Soldier from being a star-spangled success.

A fun, lighthearted platform action game with colorful graphics, challenging and varied levels, and fast-paced gameplay.

While the game at times relies too heavily on its frantic pace, and its graphics aren't very interesting, it does provide a fun new perspective on the traditional pinball game.

Though we wanted to like Joan of Arc, we found it burdened by a number of rookie mistakes, including a bad camera, poor pathfinding, and lackluster artificial intelligence.

Even though it's not quite up to prevailing standards, Speedball 2100 still packs quite a bit of wallop.

The combat is shallow and repetitive, and, as a whole, the game is awfully brief--perhaps five hours from beginning to end.

Frogger Beyond brings the gameplay back to the frantic puzzle action that made "Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge" an enjoyable little title.

The shopping list of things that don't work right is long and comprehensive.

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

The tedium of the G.U. trilogy comes to a welcome end.

Overall, The Edge of Fate is far from the worst expansion that has been released during Destiny 2’s tenure, but as the direct successor to 2024’s phenomenal The Final Shape, it falls short. It reuses old assets, fails to impress with its new environments and mechanics, and the main story seems to stop just as it’s about to get interesting. Of course, that’ll be fleshed out through the year’s updates and seasonal content, but with a distinct lack of anything exciting to do now, I fear I’m on the brink of another involuntary Destiny 2 hiatus.

It's not a bad game, and portions of it are competent, if not quite remarkable. But Avatar wears thin quickly, and the story is too fragile to compensate for the deficiencies.

Unfortunately, the excitement of that original Mortal Kombat 1 ending is gone, and in its place rests a trepidation and unease over where the story might go next. Fittingly, it seems this once-promising story has been thrown into, well, chaos.

Zoo Tycoon 2 for the DS is an overly simplistic zoo-management game that won't find many fans over the age of 10.

While the racing is solid, it's tough to recommend Hot Wheels Ultimate Racing when so many other, similar games on the PSP offer more bang for your buck.

Despite the fact that Krome Studios was able to translate the story, look, and feel of the film well enough into its offering, the gameplay is simply too lifeless and frustrating to hold your attention the entire way through.

Excellent atmosphere notwithstanding, this third-person action game is hobbled by tedious combat and a number of dubious design problems.

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

The AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack is a short but sweet experience that leaves you feeling like you didn't get a Whole Lotta Rosie.

Much like its own arkfalls, Defiance offers treasure, but you have to battle an array of bugs before you can reap it.

Through fiction, I've traveled to one space station or another more times than I can count across many years and many forms of media. It's a setting I always enjoy--as an opening at least--and from there, stories may or may not keep me invested depending on what they do with that foundation. Fort Solis places a small but intriguing cast in its off-Earth saga in ways that can be familiar, but it justifies its addition to the subgenre with its own fun twists and philosophical arguments.

It's disappointing to see The Town of Light struggle so often, because the story it presents is both harrowing and captivating at times. While there's an interesting narrative to be found in its world, the moment-to-moment gameplay and repetitive environments impose an unavoidable malaise.

Puzzle Scape is a passable but conventional puzzle game that tries, and fails, to imitate Lumines' unique sensibilities.

Ryse is all sizzle and no steak, a stunning visage paired with a vapid personality. Everything from the leveling system that's so painfully easy to complete (and so devoid of any impact on the game that it might as well not be there), to the story that does little to flesh out its lead characters beyond puerile notions of revenge is a testament to how little Ryse can back up its gorgeous visuals with anything more than a shallow set of fisticuffs.

Could have been better.

More than just a technical marvel--it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience, albeit with a few shortcomings.

It's a solidly average game whose few original ideas are compromised by screwy controls, some pacing problems, and a punishing save-game system.

The PC version of this package does a far better job of emulating these classic Atari hits.

Dust Strikers defies convention for the worse, resulting in an awkward and frustrating fighting game.

It might be short, but there's some solid fun to be had in this family-friendly Move shooter.

Contrary to its title, this disappointing puzzle game possesses little in the way of creativity.

A passable puzzler, but it lacks polish, and the touch-screen controls weren't necessary.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes is a bit rough around the edges, but it offers some fun, quirky puzzling.

The ability to play the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game against other Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiasts over the Internet is the only thing that separates this game from the seemingly hundreds of thousands of Yu-Gi-Oh! card-battling games released before. For established Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, whom this game was tailored almost exclusively for, it will be enough.

While it sometimes feels as rough as a Grant City alley, Dead to Rights: Retribution's vigorous combat system and brutal energy make it an entertaining tale of corruption and vengeance.

It isn't as comprehensive or glamorous as any of Nintendo's Pokémon games, but fans of the show will still probably enjoy it a great deal, since it will let them gather and build their own set of fighting spirits while also experiencing firsthand many of the stories told in the show.

A rental is definitely advised for those who are not already familiar with the series.

A light and enjoyable sim for those who don't want to have to invest hundreds of hours learning a much more detailed, complex simulation.

It's just not very distinctive.

Ultimately it doesn't matter which way you decide to play; you're having to compromise somehow, which is the story of Payday 2 on the Switch.

It's hard to invest in lore that's so inextricably tied to the grind of missions or side-quests, hard to suspend your awareness of that grind when you're awash in constant pitches for boosters and special unlocks.

Terrible level design, unresponsive controls, and a poor camera are just the beginning of the problems in this awful adventure.

Storm: Frontline Nation is loaded with strategic and tactical depth.

Therein lies the main flaw of Star Wars: The New Droid Army--it is so very boring.

It might be good enough for fans of the film looking to walk in Constantine's shoes, but if you're simply looking for a good action game, you can do better.

Debilitating design flaws overshadow much of the ingenuity in All Zombies Must Die.

Beijing 2008 proves beyond a doubt that rapidly pushing buttons is not fun.

ProStroke Golf - World Tour 2007 is a passable effort, but one that fails to bring anything new to the world of golf games.

Problematic platforming and awkward action add up to crummy adventures for Zack Zero.

Even if you forgive the flimsy story, cliché characters, and derivative gameplay, it's impossible to look past the myriad game-stopping bugs, frustrating glitches, and glaring technical problems that plague this game.

The technical limitations of the PlayStation 2 rob the original of most of its visual style and slow the pace considerably, resulting in a mediocre mission-based driving game with poor handling.

Delivers on the throwback headstrong-ninja motif, but its graphics are lacking, the level of challenge isn’t up to snuff, and the whole experience is over way too quickly.

Konductra’s fussy design and minimal production values make playing it feel more like a job than a game.

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

This trigger-happy safari may be too exuberant for its own good, but there's still some fun to be had in these hunts.

Just a so-so fighting game. Even those who watch the series religiously will be hard-pressed to remain interested.

A good choice for people who don't already own Namco's two earlier collections.

While certainly fun, it's so short you should probably just rent it.

Calling BMX XXX a mature game is probably the biggest joke of them all. Sure, it has a lot of cursing, strippers, and other "adult" stuff, but the game feels like it was written by and for a collection of eighth graders.

Leedmees offers a fun twist on the Lemmings formula but bites off more than it can chew.

Swiss Bank-building fun is provided for the truly dedicated, but there isn't anything here with lasting value or appeal.

Slender Man and his several proxies are cold and uncaring. They have no clear motive other than your defilement, and they are omnipotent.

By the end of it you'll realize that there's not much more to Desert Child than what you got in those opening minutes.

Randomness is key to battle royale games, but Hyper Scape leans a little too much into it. The game has solid weapons and hero-like Hack abilities, but you're at the mercy of being lucky enough to get what you need to have a higher chance of winning. The battleground doesn't help in this regard, since it's difficult to know where you're going and make a plan about where to loot next without stopping to open the map. At least the individual moments in Hyper Scape are fun. A match could be ruined by the randomness working against you, but that doesn't stop moments like turning into a ball and trying to out bounce three enemy balls any less fun in how ridiculously silly it is.

The lightsaber dueling is ultimately too repetitive and easily exploited to be very fun for long, and each of the 16 missions (and subsequent bonus missions) don't take more than 10 to 20 minutes apiece to complete.

The gameplay isn't so much better that it offsets what has been lost. The only way that EA could further annoy hockey fans with this game would be if the company had Gary Bettman personally deliver every copy.

World Poker Tour is the best of the console poker bunch--though that isn't necessarily saying an awful lot.

Rio is inconsistent and short on personality, but there's some enjoyment to be had in this multiplayer party game.

Spyro continues his quest for mediocrity in yet another frustrating, unoriginal adventure.

This simplistic minigame collection is great for young kids, and no one else.

It's a trite and aggressively boring version of what a million other third-person action games have done. And even for its budget price, it's a pretty lousy value.

If you're willing to forgive its brain-dead gameplay and occasionally frustrating design, Magna Cum Laude is a hysterically entertaining romp through the world of wacky sexual hijinks.

Madden NFL Arcade straddles the line between over-the-top arcade sports games and buttoned-down sims but doesn't wind up pleasing anybody.

It certainly delivers on letting you blow things up and jump around the city. However, a dozen years after the first Crackdown offered that same experience but failed to provide you with enough interesting content surrounding that, it's truly disappointing to see this latest iteration suffer from the very same problems.

Touch Detective is packed with goofy characters and funny dialogue, but its overly opaque adventure game puzzle designs prevent it from being much fun.

The gameplay isn't terribly deep, and the story mode isn't very long, but the game is still mildly enjoyable. What Starsky & Hutch does best is pay homage to the wonderful clichés of 1970s cop shows.

One of the better billiards outings released for consoles in quite a long time.

If you're a pinball fan, Fantastic Journey is a pretty amazing feat, and the price is definitely right.

While the game does a good job of telling the story of the film through the still photographs and text dialogue that appear between certain levels, it doesn't deliver much in the way of hands-on thrills except for a few instances where you can leap across rooftops and jump back and forth between walls.

On its own, there really isn't enough to Spyro Orange to keep players interested for very long.

An over-priced arcade port with some neat ideas that don't translate into satisfying gameplay.

Brawlout is clearly trying its best to create a unique identity from the game that inspired it. However, the ways in which it's trying to do this--by removing key mechanics and putting an emphasis on grindy unlocks--don't work in its favor. Combine this with an online mode that just doesn't seem to function correctly most of the time and you've got a game that's disappointing in its current form.

In terms of value alone, it's difficult to recommend Quake Wars. You'll love the giant sandbox filled with such distinct classes, high-tech weaponry, and attack vehicles. But when limited to only 16 players on just 12 maps, the gameplay is one-dimensional.

Saving the human race shouldn't be so tedious.

Online Chess Kingdoms is predictably unsuccessful in its attempts to change or enhance the timeless classic, but thankfully it does let you play classic chess online or off.

7 Wonders is a competent clone of a competent Bejeweled clone that does little to set itself apart.

At one point, the Art of Fighting series featured some of the most innovative fighting games around. But they haven't aged well, and this collection merely showcases that fact.

Some flashy action, a playful sense of humor, and a clean visual style bring this otherwise straightforward beat-'em-up to life.

Even fond memories of the 1989 original can't disguise the fact that Populous isn't relevant or fun almost 20 years later.

White Knight Chronicles II's solo play will try your patience, but online adventuring and town building offer more than your usual role-playing game.