Few people will accuse Monster 4x4 World Circuit of being a good game, but it's been dressed up enough that it at least crawls out of the sub-mediocre sewer.

AND 1's cool Create-a-Baller and Create-a-Move modes make the game worth playing, if you yearn for the exaggerated, arcade gameplay in the spirit of NBA Jam, albeit with a lot more street style.

In the end, Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N.'s gravest flaw is its beat-for-beat recreation of the original game's many problems. None of these issues are new, and they haven't been improved in any notable way since the first game.

Unacceptable graphics, a chillingly dull fishing system and a cast of characters who lack any combine to make this a horrible excuse for a journey.

The drearily straightforward structure, broken camera and mindless action make it one that even the most dedicated Marvel fan won’t find much value in.

The targeting system sucks, often sticking to the enemy you just knocked down (and therefore can't attack until he gets up again) while another is bashing you in the back. The final aggravation is the camera, which constantly gets stuck on things in the environment, so you can't always see your foe.

Even casual gamers will breeze through this game in about five hours. You can replay levels to find all the hidden dragon eggs, but with unlockables consisting of mini-documentaries on the making of the game, replay value is very low for this title.

The poor level-completion dynamic mixed with the small playing area, and what sounds like the score from a rejected Bollywood musical don’t offer enough to keep you playing in extended bursts. The game is fun for as long as it lasts, which sadly, isn’t very long at all.

Duke Nukem Forever's world-record development time has produced an ugly, buggy shooter that veers back and forth between enjoyably average and outright boring, with occasional surges of greatness along the way.

I Am Bread’s amusing premise quickly shows signs of mold. Early giggles hide a frustrating game with control issues, wonky physics, and a lack of meaningful content. It’s simply not fun to play.

Disciples will be disappointed by the fundamental lack of gameplay depth, even as they might like the surprisingly high level of difficulty, but more casual fans might appreciate being able to grab a quick space battle here and there in skirmish and multiplayer modes.

Destined to line bargain bin bottoms. It has its hacking and slashing moments, but like so many movie-licensed titles, it reeks of a truncated production schedule and a too-heavy reliance on a story intended for another medium.

What you get from this DS disaster instead, is a headache without even half the heart of the novel.

Eragon's redundancy and simplicity just offers too few reasons to keep playing.

You control every tile of the hospital floor, from the amount of vending machines to how much you pay your surgeons. It does get tiresome, especially after hearing the bossa-nova-flavored lounge music loop for the 70th time, but for a short while it can be as addictive as OxyContin.

Destined to line bargain bin bottoms. It has its hacking and slashing moments, but like so many movie-licensed titles, it reeks of a truncated production schedule and a too-heavy reliance on a story intended for another medium.

Daylight is a mess. Its procedurally generated design doesn’t succeed in creating unpredictable scares, and the enemies that populate the spooky locales prove to be more annoying than frightening. The randomized levels offer a slightly different experience if you take a second trip through, but you’ll have seen just about everything Daylight has to offer after only a couple hours of play--which, regrettably, isn't much.

The end result is a ramshackle affair that will please neither hardcore Spy Hunters nor Joe "GTA."

Brooktown has obvious charm and we do hope for a sequel, but it's going to need to hit the books hard before we'll give it a passing grade.

The combat, for the most part, is satisfying and visceral, and the story, at times, is genuinely compelling. A mostly entertaining experience, it's marred by some terrible flaws and a handful of moments of unadulterated rage; much, we'd expect, like actually selling one's soul.

Even in its most blatantly obvious moments, the game’s plot is still distinctly Indy - minus that whole fun aspect, of course.

But it's all so damn repetitive, you'll be too bored to see this through.

That X-Blades remains a decent title despite the lack of compelling missions and likable characters is something of an accomplishment in itself, though not one we'd recommend advertising from the rooftops.

It's acceptably action-packed, but if it hadn't been patterned after Quentin Tarantino's signature film, you'd probably have forgotten it exists by now.

This is a rather sluggish shooter that demands a real love of the old arcade cabinet to really get excited over. But it is a nice trip down memory lane, still extremely playable, features some nice multiplayer options, and the enhanced mode is actually nice to look at and fun to play.

Of the game’s 100 levels, the majority are either totally uninspired or ridiculously difficult.

It doesn't help that the gameplay and story are unattractive twins, the runoff and trash of better RPGs.

That X-Blades remains a decent title despite the lack of compelling missions and likeable characters is something of an accomplishment in itself, though not one we'd recommend advertising from the rooftops.

1348 Ex Voto starts with a wealth of potential, and unfortunately manages to squander it at every turn, creating a hollow, rage-inducing, and disappointing experience, with its beautiful depiction of Italy and talented performers being its only saving graces.

The game’s levels lack any sort of checkpoint system, an annoying little flaw that becomes a real hassle as later levels take a massive difficulty spike and Hulk smash! becomes Hulk awkwardly dodge walls of randomly fired bullets and missiles.

Left Brain Right Brain might be an interesting concept, but it fails to be an interesting game. Sure, it’s only $20, but that money could be better spent on a far more interesting and enjoyable collection of minigames.

There's just nothing particularly great about it. The only incentive to sink any major amount of time into it is that most of the achievements on offer require the best cars in the game to attain. But it's highly unlikely most people will be able to stay interested for even that long.

If you love the idea of playing an interactive commercial for Ford Motors and own both an Xbox and a PS2, then go with the PS2 version. The graphics are about the same and the slightly longer load time on the PS2 will give you a much needed break from this monotonous racer.

In fact, for casual Warriors players, it may even be better to have not played the first game, as the main game probably will make you less likely to want to play the new, but not all that different, content.

It's killer as nostalgia, somewhat crap as a game, and the surprising $50 price will put it out of the minds of all but the most passionate collectors.

With such a drastic difference in features and entertainment value between Stewie and the rest of his kin, one wonders why he didn't just get his own game. As it stands, you'll have to play through some pretty irritating nonsense just to get to the good stuff, and it's just not worth the effort.

It takes a certain type of person to plunge into a deep and randomly generated dungeon, but if you’re that type, Baroque is a very satisfying plunge.

It's so dumbed down that it might actually be more appropriate for children if it weren't for the T rating on the package. Just play the 360 version. Actually, scratch that, just go play Spider-Man 2 instead. It's worlds better than this.

If you were hoping for a Kinect-friendly great snowboarding game, this isn't the one. It controls terribly and is just plain uninteresting. Don't bother unless you're desperate for some XTREEM action. And we mean XTREEM in the worst possible manner.

While the missions are well planned - important considering it’s called Th3 Plan - the cheesy dialogue and the 70’s synth-bass feels like they were all stolen from some bad movie that never wanted them in the first place.

As cliché shooters go, Payback is no "Black," but it's not bad either. If all you're looking for is a predictable, middle-of-the-road shooter - you know, like if you just beat "Mass Effect" and want to rent a couple hours of mindless mayhem - you could do better, but you could also do a lot worse.

It's acceptably action-packed, but if it hadn't been patterned after Quentin Tarantino's signature film, you'd probably have forgotten it exists by now.

This may sound like a lot of customization, but every gameplay element is embarrassingly shallow.

While annoying, the lock-ups don't really do much to dampen how outlandishly fun the game is. If you like the Hulk and you enjoying destroying things, you'll enjoy your time with The Incredible Hulk, even if you have to reset the system from time to time.

Sadly, it's just a pretty face, and there's not much below the surface. As a result, exploring doesn't yield much in the way of rewards, so odds are, you'll just stick to your daily routine of repetitive levequesting and crafting. And then you'll log out. And then, one day, you'll probably just decide to omit the part where you log back in.

A lethal combination of clunky menus, lack of guidance, and general tedium combine to make Front Office Manager a dud.

There's also a distinct lack of motion-controlled gimmickry going on; granted, many games just needlessly tack on motion chores, but considering the nature of evidence-gathering, it would have suited this game perfectly.

In the end, what Elements of War amounts to is wasted potential. There are good ideas here, but their execution is tarnished by mistakes that the bigger franchises have long since outgrown.

The combat, for the most part, is satisfying and visceral, and the story, at times, is genuinely compelling. A mostly entertaining experience, it's marred by some terrible flaws and a handful of moments of unadulterated rage; much, we'd expect, like actually selling one's soul.

If you’re a wannabe pilot who doesn’t mind navigating through a storm of mediocrity, you could do a lot worse. But you could also do a lot better. That, friends, is blandness in a nutshell.

The game also suffers from a lack of content.

A potentially good rental title for those that fall squarely into the target MTV demographic, Yoostar delivers what it advertises but won't be a game that you'll regret passing on.

There are only six minigames included on the disc. Six. Granted, Wii Sports and Wii Play don't cram 'em in either, and everybody loves those, but $40 for six minigames still feels like a rip.

But perhaps the worst part of it all is that the transplant to a home console has removed a good chunk of Tag Force’s initial appeal: the ability to play on-the-go card battles with friends who also have a PSP and the game.

Even the multiplayer over Xbox Live can't save this title from a near-complete flare-out, and while there's nothing actually broken about Over G's gameplay, it still comes off as stale and tedious.

Dragon Ball Z for Kinect is more a curiosity than a game, and even then one specifically aimed at DBZ fans. The one-two punch of nostalgia and novelty is appealing for a while, but thanks in large part to shoddy motion controls, later rounds will leave you waiting for a haymaker that just never comes.

The never-ending explosions shake the screen and before long chaos and confusion take over. Battlegrounds is hectic given the small maps and spawning becomes silly as you come back from death straight into another death. It's annoying, yet not as annoying as waiting for an online match to start thanks to a nonexistent community.

We can't help but feel Namco's overestimating our affection for Pac's smiling yellow puss if they thought that'd be enough to get gamers to enjoy this pathetic pile of remixed drivel.

The Legend of Jack Sparrow is bogged down by a host of flaws, but in the end, it's still a passably entertaining sword-brawler.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes in a next-gen wrapper, but feels like a last-gen experience. There’s plenty of fun to be had thanks to some fun battles, an entertaining story, and scads of collectibles. Just be prepared for an experience that looks and feels extremely familiar.

Everything about Madden 3DS is curious, from its timing (released well after the end of the NFL season) to its design (no multiplayer, no franchise) to its price ($40 when it should be half that). Our cynical side thinks it's an attempt to cash in on the excitement of a new handheld device, while our naïve side prefers to think of it as an honest attempt at meeting a deadline and having to prioritize.

Ultimately, if your kids are in the 7-10 year old range, Toy Story Mania is in their wheelhouse. Savvier gamers will cringe, and the younger set will have too much difficulty with the controls and the objectives. It’s too bad, because with a few adjustments, it could’ve been something much better – and more appealing to everyone in the family.

There's not nearly enough meat on its bones to warrant a stand-alone game, even mercifully priced $20 less than most new next-gen releases. Frankly, it belongs as a mini-game in Madden.

Trust us. Cheaper, deeper stuff than this can be bought on Xbox Live Arcade. Unless you're truly desperate for an old-school party game experience, or you plan to be so drunk that anything will amuse you, we suggest you save your money for something else.

An ugly, buggy shooter that veers back and forth between enjoyably average and outright boring, with occasional surges of greatness along the way.

Unless you routinely wear your Federation uniform in public, you're probably not rabid enough to get your money's worth from this one.

Basically, you're getting a half-baked version of The Sims with an even less-baked version of Nintendogs grafted onto it.

Even as a diversion for the younger set, this game just doesn't have any staying power.

As for the 3D, it's completely unnecessary and we turned it off quickly. Bust-A-Move is a 2D game through and through, and not only does 3D not add anything to the experience whatsoever, but it didn't look that great either.

The simplified controls, which work with a very minimal interface, won't stymie anyone without RPG experience. But the absence of story and strategy will. This is a game best played on autopilot, if you have to play it at all.

Hard Evidence is so fast there’s something satisfying in flying through a game in one sitting, especially considering you’ll probably unlock all 1,000 Achievement points along the way just for staying on task.

Don’t bother with this title unless you love the idea of playing an interactive commercial for Ford Motors.

I was shaking my head and laughing during every cutscene, and some of the modes that get introduced are just abhorrently beautiful. They're so bad, they're actually good. Whether it’s flying through the air raining laser bullets down on battleships, or playing a Street Fighter reskin (complete with the same combos for I.R.I.S. as for Ryu), you'll never be bored while playing this tragically beautiful road trip.

Nearly everything the game does well is sandwiched between horrific load times, tedious fetch quests, and a misogynistic mini-game. Sure, you can create a party of truly awesome characters--but it's hardly worth the grind.

The presentation of Project Poseidon also leaves much to be desired, with awkward and simplistic texturing, not to mention some downright asinine vocals.

More than anything, Astro Boy is a great surprise for what many would assume is simply some child’s Christmas present. The Astro Boy coating is there so kids ask mommy and daddy to spend their holiday bonuses on it, but High Voltage Software felt nice enough to sneak in a fun game too. It’s like the whiskey Grandpa adds to the eggnog.

Like a trip to a natural history museum. It's empty and nostalgic, meticulous and dated. More importantly, it's hands-off. Like a museum, Colonial Marines is at its best when you're admiring the view. The moment you attempt to reach out to interact you're met with a barrier, reminding you that you're there to look, not to touch.

As it is, it's the core of a good game that pops in and out of the consciousness without leaving a lasting impression.

The purchase of a Wii does not waive our right to expect a game that looks like it was designed in this millenium. What you have here is a slightly enhanced, magnified, PSP port.

8-Bit Land fails to capture any of the greatness that is Regular Show. The concept has merit, but the execution makes this game entirely skippable.

Download the tunes and skip everything else.

Eragon's redundancy and simplicity just offers too few reasons to keep playing.

For around 20 bucks you get a perfectly reasonable shooter, with a streamlined command system that actually works well. Although we’d still recommend getting a cheap copy of one of the various Conflict games instead.

The Fight: Lights Out has very few redeeming qualities, none of which involve playing it, and it should be avoided at all costs. Don't play this game.

We advise you to save your sanity and leave Atlantis at the bottom of the ocean.

Card Fighters DS is a sequel that does not, for one moment, understand why anyone liked its predecessor.

It’s sad to watch a once-proud franchise struggle...It is, literally, the same exact game as MLB 2K12 with updated rosters, schedules, and uniforms.

We hate ripping on something that's such an earnest effort, but the stark reality is that Rock of the Dead was released in the wrong way at the wrong price with nowhere near enough complexity to justify its length.

It's dull, with rare moments of huge reward, and the only game it's competing with in the graphics department came out about 10 years ago, but it is not poorly designed.

Of course, if eye candy, implied promiscuity, and becoming a rock star do happen to be your cup of tea, you'll certainly find Miami Nights much more engaging than the typical social sim.

The Cartel has some interesting ideas behind it. However, too many of them are dependent on co-op, and even with them, long stretches of the game feel like boring, soulless slogs. More damagingly, the charm and sense of fun from the earlier games is largely gone, replaced with what appears to be a desire to ape the low-fi look and grittiness of Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days.

You've got one track, a small assortment of vehicles, stupid opponents, an antique setting, and little variety. Unless you're a historian of racing, better leave this one in the garage.

We know that plenty of people will look past the monotonous gameplay, poor voice acting, unimaginative level design, lack of online play, etc., but our advice is to hold out for the next movie.

You know the drill: games based on movies tend to bite.

The graphics are fair, but like the fighting, they grow redundant too quickly, and the story couldn't get the game noticed even if it were drunk, topless, and the only woman in a bar full of sailors.

A lethal combination of clunky menus, lack of guidance, and general tedium combine to make Front Office Manager a dud.

The cases aren't terribly creative and the dialogue is often flat and poorly translated from the original Japanese. You'll also likely love or hate the atmosphere - Jake is the stereotypical gritty, film noir-type private eye, with all the trenchcoats, dames, and languidly rising smoke that entails. Cliché, or classic? You decide.

It's impossible to recommend Venetica to anyone when there are so many other better action-RPGs out there. You might be tempted to pick it up because it's only forty dollars, but don't do it... unless you've already played every other RPG on the market.