When you get past the poor AI, the messy controls and the poor recreation of the sport, you have the foundation for a very decent hockey game.

Neopets tries to be the cute alternative to your basic dungeon hack, but thanks to some questionable development choices, a sluggish combat system and some truly boring level designs, it's a hard game to recommend to anybody.

Wii Play is about the best reason to pick up an extra Wii remote, unless you have four already.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 seems to have everything going for it, but thanks to a questionable control set-up, boring stories and annoying voice acting, it’s hard to recommend this newest fighting game.

Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile will likely intrigue fans of mystery adventure games, but others will likely find the game's somewhat obtuse puzzle structure frustrating. The 70s setting is fun, and the characters are well done, but overall the game feels a bit too mechanically dated to draw in new fans. If you know you like this sort of thing, check it out. But the merely curious might want to keep on sailing.

Maximum Football is a disappointment in its 1.0 version, with stale, robotic gameplay and some troublesome bugs in key places. Still, it does show real potential, and with a base version available for free, there's no excuse not to try it if you're into football simulations.

Brunswick Pro Bowling had the potential to be one of the best bowling games of all time; it has a deep single-player career mode, good graphics and enough locations to keep you from getting bored. Unfortunately this game is marred by the poor control and unforgiving difficulty level.

High on visual appeal, good for first-time city-builders; low on challenge, long-term playability.

Sadly, R&A does not deliver the experience I have been dreaming about for so many years. What is here is a very promising technical demo of parkour in video game form, which is great in terms of the technical accomplishment, but it lacks the game experience. Instead, it becomes a test of your dedication and patience to walk away feeling anything but frustration.

As a spin-off series Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has a lot of potential, too bad most of it is wasted on this ultimately forgettable PlayStation 2 game.

The game does prove that a 3D fighting game can be done with the Wii's limited buttons...but only if the game is very simple with only one or two attack buttons.

Long on style and short on substance.

Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is a real mixed bag; on one hand the game's sound and structure is sound, but it's hard to get over the poor play mechanics and the disappointing graphics.

As far as racing games with only one track goes, Indianapolis 500 Legends isn't half bad. Unfortunately its limited scope makes it difficult to recommend over some of the better racing games on the console.

Instead of making controlling your snowboarder easier, the Wii's new motion-sensing controls have made SSX much harder than it needs to be. What once was one of the best extreme sports franchises has been reduced to one of the most disappointing games of the year.

Spiderman Friend or Foe is obviously an attempt to cash in on the holiday rush. It doesn’t have the variety necessary to keep anyone playing for long, and the presentation is average at best.

A game that is a little more fun to play than it sounds simply due to the easy and fun game play. Unfortunately the graphics and story are weak. Also the same easy game play that makes it fun also makes this title quickly find its way to the bottom of your entertainment center drawer.

The Star and the Crescent aims to be a detailed simulation of the Arab-Israeli wars down to the individual vehicle level. It succeeds, but at the cost of being so complex very few gamers will want to invest the time to learn it.

It has been some time since I’ve come into contact with a game that seems loved by the masses that I don’t understand, but that’s Phasmophobia. I don’t understand why it’s ok that you have to have a team of four people in order to find mild success. I don’t understand why I need to spend time looking up a cheat sheet to help understand why a haunt is fun. I hate that I need to do so much outside the game, or to play round after round, just to have a better understanding of what is going on. I’m not opposed to playing Phasmophobia again, but it would take some convincing from at least three friends who are in need of a fourth played to have a full party. I also think each session is very dependent on having a good group of people around you in order to enjoy Phasmophobia, or at least a funny group of people to laugh at the misery of playing.

Be warned: There isn’t any sort of ”game” to the Summerhouse experience. This is a simple, doodling-sandbox meant to allow users to craft serene landscapes without needing any drawing skills. It does exactly what it sets out to do but could easily be SO much more.

Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator proves that not every occupation can become a worthwhile video game simulation. It’s infested with bugs and soulless gameplay, making it more of a mundane taxi than a crazy one.

If you’ve played any of the previous Tenchu outings you have already seen most of what is in this game.

It has been some time since I’ve come into contact with a game that seems loved by the masses that I don’t understand, but that’s Phasmophobia. I don’t understand why it’s ok that you have to have a team of four people in order to find mild success. I don’t understand why I need to spend time looking up a cheat sheet to help understand why a haunt is fun. I hate that I need to do so much outside the game, or to play round after round, just to have a better understanding of what is going on. I’m not opposed to playing Phasmophobia again, but it would take some convincing from at least three friends who are in need of a fourth played to have a full party. I also think each session is very dependent on having a good group of people around you in order to enjoy Phasmophobia, or at least a funny group of people to laugh at the misery of playing.

Spy vs. Spy continues Vicious Cycles' tradition of graphically strong games that lack solid game play.

Best in small doses, Dawn of Mana continues the downward trend in what really should be a flagship series after the strong start it received back in the SNES era.

A watered down port of an already weak console fighter clone, Shrek Superslam on the DS offers nothing new and a number of frustrations and disappointments to boot.

I think there’s a decent game hiding somewhere in the unfinished code that is Dungeon Lords, but I just can’t be certain. Unfortunately, I must review a game “as is”, and “as is” right now just isn’t very good.

Although Genesis Rising has some interesting ideas, poor design decisions bury this title quickly. There’s promise here, but that soon turns to disappointment.