If you play only one game set in Middle-earth this year, don't make it this one.

Though it features a few original ideas, its execution is lackluster and uninspired compated to its competition. [Oct 2004, p.112]

Wearing a no-holds-barred sense of literalism on its sleeve, this mostly mediocre affair fails to bring anything new to the genre or even match its many peers. [Feb 2005, p.104]

The real problem is that you'll feel like you've seen variations of all eight missions somewhere else, and without all the hand-holding to solve the puzzles. [Dec 2003, p.96]

If you do manage to get around the wacky premise and unintuitive controls, there is some longevity to the game, with a massive set of "challenges" to complete - but that's a bit "if." Otherwise, seer clear. [Dec 2003, p.96]

Actually manages to make use of the touch screen in an interesting, though not vital, manner. It's too bad that the rest of the game is awful. [Feb 2005, p.111]

An interesting attempt at innovation in the genre. Unfortunately, it's also a frustrating, throw-down-your-headset, curse-generating one.

As fun to run through once as any of them. [May 2004, p.95]

Physics don't play a big part in the proceedings; it's possible to ride a character full-speed into a wall, without any ill effects. [Feb 2003, p.72]

It's this constant barrage of humor, both cliched and well written, that saves Larry from flunking out. [Dec 2004, p.122]

A true love-it-or-hate-it game; try before you buy. [Aug 2003, p.77]

Does nothing extraordinarily special, nor is the DS hardware exploited beyond a map. [Feb 2005, p.110]

The bottom line is that if you're going to have an easy-to-play game that doesn't even attempt to push the genre in any meaningful manner, at least feature characters that 8-year-olds won't be too embarrassed to be caught playing as. [Dec 2004, p.126]

Gamers who are interested in a horror title without needing to scrounge for ammunition and health packs should give Echo Night: Beyond a go, but players who are used to fighting for their survival will find the game dull and repetitive. [Sept 2004, p.94]

The game hits the mark in terms of Samurai Jack authenticity. As he battles his archnemesis Aku, Jack acts and sounds like you'd expect Jack to act and sound. Only cel shading, rather than 3D RenderWare-ing, would have taken this over the top.

As far as action-platformers go, Samurai Jack isn't about to replace the likes of Jak, Ratchet & Clank, or Prince of Persia. It lacks depth, and it's way too easy (a weekend ought to do it).

Not funny enough to make you want to endure an uncooperative camera, a choppy framerate, ill-conceived jumping puzzles, terrible aim in the shooting levels, and poor collision detection. [Oct 2003, p.70]

This game is a big, fat whoopie cushion waiting to be sat on. [Apr 2003, p.73]

If you play only one game set in Middle-earth this year, don't make it this one.

The Versus mode, the generally solid beat-em-up action, and the nostalgia factor somewhat save these turtles from obscurity. [Dec 2003, p.92]

Arenas are constrained and cliched, and the gameplay is as button-mashy as ever. [Dec 2003, p.86]

The presentation is top notch, but maybe you need to be a 5-year-old to make stupid-ass Goofy complete a pass. [Feb 2003, p.71]

Basically an expanded version of the original game. It won't win over any of the game's skeptics, but fans of the original will definitely find something to like here. [Aug 2004, p.100]

While the monster creation is excellent, the minigames feel more rudimentary. [Sept 2004, p.93]

The biggest problem is pacing. Simply put, Headhunter: Redemption is monotonous and dull. [Nov 2004, p.124]

The controls are just dandy, and there's plenty of shooting to be done, but no single aspect of this Invasion makes the game particularly notable - it looks plain, sounds plain, and pretty much plays plain, too. [Nov 2004, p.112]

The jarring switch between graphical adventure and actual gameplay is so distinct, Everblue 2 ultimately feels like a half-baked minigame. [Mar 2003, p.67]

Achieves portable "Diablo"-ness like no one's business... The main problem with [it] is that it quickly gets repetitious and is best played with the three friends that the game supports. [Oct 2003, p.80]

Like its football counterpart, ShootOut simply doesn't compete against the might of "NBA Live" or "ESPN Basketball." [Jan 2004, p.82]

The pitcher/batter interface is shallower than Bank One Ballpark's swimming pool... Overall, Inside Pitch lacks just about any sense of baseball spirit. [June 2003, p.68]

Under normal circumstances, this would be just tedious, but combined with endless deadite enemies and little in the way of ammunition and health packs, it's a sermon on frustration. [July 2003, p.79]

You'll be on the edge after the first instances of enemy ambushes, but near the end of the game, that effect will wear off, and the initial tension will eventually turn into boredom and frustration with each new encounter. [Oct 2004, p.116]

On its own, it's a good, solid action game with a compelling story, nonstop action, and a deep, dark jungle atmosphere that's easy to get lost in. [Nov 2004, p.121]

It's one of those games that nobody really asked for, so that leaves only one group of people who will be buying Starsky and Hutch: suckers. [Nov 2003, p.88]

Factor in the lack of two-player action and all that's left is a tepid experience. [Feb 2004, p.91]

Mega Man's bread and butter has always been the run-n-gun, and X7 continues that tradition admirably. [Nov 2003, p.84]

Physics don't play a big part in the proceedings; it's possible to ride a character full-speed into a wall, without any ill effects. [Feb 2003, p.72]

Playing it is slightly more fun than swallowing a lawn mower. [July 2003, p.72]

It isn't exactly groundbreaking, but Whiteout plays well and offers a good-looking experience. [Feb 2003, p.73]

Kuon has considerably limited replay value, and the game is neither ambitious nor unique enough to warrant an especially enthusiastic recommendation. [Dec 2004, p.122]

The graphics seal the deal. This just doesn't look like an Xbox game. The slowdown notwithstanding, the lighting is bad, the car models look wrong, and the trackside objects are sparse and ugly. [Oct 2003, p.77]

Hiding an otherwise mediocre game behind story and setting doesn't work twice.

The game's charm doesn't save it from supershort (though plentiful) levels and opponent A.I. that'll keep you playing the early levels over and over and over again. [Apr 2003, p.71]

Armageddon, real or video style, should not be this uninspired. [Jan 2004, p.91]

Adding to the pain are the annoying escort and defense missions, the meaningless story line, and throwaway two-player modes. This is the rare sequel that gets it all wrong.

The specialized tag-style modes are fun for a while, particularly because they involve explosions, but even these modes quickly wear thin. [June 2004, p.83]

Adding to the pain are the annoying escort and defense missions, the meaningless story line, and throwaway two-player modes. This is the rare sequel that gets it all wrong.

Without the cel-shaded aesthetic to bolster what's an otherwise mediocre shooter, even those seeking simply to relive their glory days of after-school anime and protoculture will find this sorely disappointing.

A game designed solely and specifically to appeal to nostalgia-addled fans, released in a country where that nostalgia doesn't exist. [Dec 2004, p.102]

Unlike "GTA's" open-ended gameplay, DRIV3R is both linear and confined. [Sept 2004, p.83]

While this may at first seem like a great way to pit all of Capcom's best fighters against each other, in reality it makes for an unbalanced mess. [Jan 2005, p.102]

So the pretty cool quests and diplomacy are sacked by sad combat that makes you frustrated and impatient. [Nov 2003, p.80]

The game alone is worth the price of admission, but this version features an all-new Mission mode that, while fluff, is nonetheless fun, plus 12 entirely cool Sonic games taken wars and all from the Sega Game Gear. [June 2003, p.72]

It's one of those games that nobody really asked for, so that leaves only one group of people who will be buying Starsky & Hutch: suckers.

The nice thing about Fullmetal Alchemist that you don't always get in a licensed game... is that the gameplay actually seems inspired by and drawn from the source material, rather than simply being generic with some recognizable characters plugged in. [Feb 2005, p.106]

Bomb-collection out the wazoo, a grim but bland story line, and everything old packaged as if it were new. [June 2003, p.75]

It's competently done, but fairly dull.

The inferior prequel to the outstanding "No One Lives Forever" series, having none of the charm, humor, or creative gameplay of the other games under the NOLF umbrella.

Isn't a remake of the PS1 game of the same name, but rather a conceptually similar reimagining. [Jan 2004, p.68]

A good concept with fun trappings, but it doesn't quite have enough going on under teh surface. [Nov 2004, p.108]

A kick for a while, but it quickly becomes unmanageable. [May 2003, p.72]

Parents will probably have to play this one along with their toddlers. When they do, they'll find a fun but flawed kid's program.

A plodding pace serves to slow down the showdown - something as simple as escaping from a steel cage is an extended, boring affair. [Sept 2004, p.81]

Factor in the lack of two-player action and all that's left is a tepid experience.

Unresponsive controls, repetitive scenario design, and inconsistent A.I. [Oct 2003, p.74]

The game feels oddly piecemeal: From its bland anime hero on a quest to collect "data chips" to its "downloadable" special abilities, Virtua Quest seems more like a Mega Man Battle Network game than a VF title.

Despite the evolution of the UFC itself, the series has gone absolutely nowhere. [July 2004, p.92]

Physics don't play a big part in the proceedings; it's possible to ride a character full-speed into a wall, without any ill effects. [Feb 2003, p.72]

What little real challenge there is exists solely because of the horrendous camera controls. [Oct 2004, p.98]

An affront to Mega Man fans, card-battle enthusiasts, and gamers everywhere. [June 2004, p.83]

Controls are decent in concept but poor in execution. [Sept 2004, p.92]

Nothing more than a crappy checkpoint racer. [Sept 2003, p.69]

Everybody runs. In the case of the lackluster 3D-adventure-cum-beat-em-up Minority Report, rest assured, they're not running to the videogame store. [Feb 2003, p.71]

Fugly when it came out on Dreamcast, and it's even fuglier now. Everything about this game is low-rent, and nothing has improved in this Xbox port. [Sept 2003, p.67]

This game gets almost every design decision wrong and looks like hell on top of that. [Jan 2004, p.91]

Spartan in its design and curiously devoid of such necessities as customizable bikes or the option to change the controller configurations, Superstar can barely keep pace with the middle of the pack. [Sept 2003, p.67]

Playing through Cy Girls is straight-up torturous at times. It's as if the level designers threw dice to figure out the flow of certain stages. [Apr 2004, p.84]

Everybody runs. In the case of the lackluster 3D-adventure-cum-beat-em-up Minority Report, rest assured, they're not running to the videogame store. [Feb 2003, p.71]

This game is so bad that it's insulting to both the talent behind it and the poor bastards who'll end up playing it. [May 2004, p.87]

Controlling Lara is like a dream - that one where you simply can't get to where you want to go fast enough, no matter what you try. [Sept 2003, p.74]

With so much to see and kill in the game, it's heartbreaking that the camera is so totally useless. [Nov 2003, p.89]

Seriously, don't be tempted to suffer through this painful experience. [Jan 2004, p.56]

Including a coin-op arcade game called "Fag Hunter" in the game world is not only not funny, it's disgusting and hateful. [July 2003, p.73]

Everybody runs. In the case of the lackluster 3D-adventure-cum-beat-em-up Minority Report, rest assured, they're not running to the videogame store. [Feb 2003, p.71]

Ash does a wonderful job of establishing an eerie, dystopian world where Dorothy's evil still slingers. [Mar 2003, p.71]

It isn't exactly groundbreaking, but Whiteout plays well and offers a good-looking experience. [Feb 2003, p.73]

The upside is that various movie stills and comic art are unlockable secrets. Big whoop. [Mar 2003, p.72]

A highly mediocre experience.

A "Metroid Prime" wannabe that fails on almost every level. [Sept 2003, p.76]

Even if players know a song front to back, the pace is awkward and destroys a sense of rhythm. [Dec 2004, p.104]

The principal function of moving around is a chore and, combined with the overly fancy (and illegible) heads-up display, makes completing even the simplest missions more irritating than gratifying. [Apr 2003, p.68]

A surprisingly deep and satisfying ride, made all the more appealing by its $19.99 price tag. [Nov 2004, p.136]

Between the hostile camera system (which routinely obscures enemies), the dull pacing of the levels, and the repetitive combat, it loses something big. [Dec 2003, p.86]

A decent racing game if you're into monster trucks and stadium races that are just over a minute long... Barely worth the effort. [Dec 2003, p.82]

It's missing the original game's great controls and sense of speed, rendering all that other good stuff a wasted effort. [Sept 2003, p.80]

As a trivia contest, The Guy Game is merely average. As social commentary, we weep for the future.

It's far too contrived and boring to titillate. [Feb 2005, p.112]

A highly mediocre experience.