A decidedly average hockey game in a field of above average hockey games.

You’ll blow through some levels with such ease you’ll get bored, then you’ll die numerous times trying to navigate a course, guessing what the controls will do.

About as flat, mediocre, and average as a game can be. Underachieves throughout.

An extremely average first person shooter.

Stick with a two-night rental here folks, because you won't be getting airsick from the intense reality and high speed action... but because the game is incomplete and yucky.

The game feels rushed and cheap. With the wide variety of games to choose from in the PS2 library, it would be strange to even give a recommendation to rent this game.

Sega, however, has seen fit to present the games in such an unflattering collection as to present players with a difficult choice: Do I support the half-assed porting of some of gaming's most treasured titles to current systems, thus ensuring that future retro releases for the company will be as dismal? Or do I withhold my money and wait for Sega to release an unfettered, improved version of the games -- a release that may not come due to supposedly lackluster performance and a dearth of interest?

Probably the worst game of the year, and definitely on my top 20 worst games ever. It was truly disappointing. The bottom line here is that the game was severely rushed.

There are glitches upon glitches in the online version of this game, infesting the very area of the game that would have made it the finest in its class. Sometimes you cannot access the online mode. Sometimes, upon accessing it, you find your transmission games (games via email) frozen forever. You can play around the glitches until your FC becomes unplayable.

Despite my many complaints, Diner Dash is not a lost cause. It is still a fun game, but the price is way too high to justify a purchase under any circumstances. I would recommend this game, but only as a rental or if you can buy it for under $20.

There is no attempt at a quality title at all, this is a rushed copycat job in every way shape and form.

Besides the creativity that was put in to add those 100 new cards, this is actually quite a lazy game.

For RPG purists, Evolution can barely break the mold of mediocre. Small frustrations end up being large problems. Issues like endless dungeons, no exploration and mind-numbing stories quickly become an anathema.

A game based on a boring game, eh? Well, it's no surprise that this one will end up boring as well.

The aural aspects are equally uninspiring. While there is nothing wrong with them, they are simply not very impressive at all.

A travesty. A mockery of the good name of Final Fantasy.

All in all, the easiest thing for me to say is that it's not worth your time or money.

It quickly becomes apparent, though, that there is actually very little depth.

I could see a couple of dedicated Guitar Hero fans picking this up purely for completeness’ sake. But beyond that, it should be avoided. It’s just too much for too little good stuff.

We've been playing games almost exactly like this (though not nearly as pretty) ever since the PlayStation/Nintendo 64 days. While the graphics and audio are just above average, compared to its contemporaries, Sphinx is a rather anachronistic play experience that falls short when seen next to some of the more brilliant and innovative platformers (e.g. "Jak II") around today.

They seem to have missed a creative mind behind this project, who would design a more enjoyable gameplay, keep the story more coherent and make the game three times as long as it turned of to be.

Everything about The Sacred Cards, with the possible exception of the RPG overworld, is a step (if not several) backward from the standard that "The Eternal Duelist Soul" and "Stairway to the Destined Duel" established.

Stick to Star Wars, Mr. Holland.

Supposing you can get passed the dull visuals, your guaranteed to run into boredom and confusion once everything is explored which is a hard pill to swallow trying to find what to do next.

A sub-average game, thanks to the awful graphics and interface limitations of the handheld console.

I enjoy certain parts of this game, however a big majority of the game is rather boring, and once you beat it, there's absolutely no reason to play it again.

I think we're getting to the point where we're going to have to start paying Sega NOT to make games on their own.

You have no idea how badly I wish this worked. For a game that offers so much promise and nostalgia for its huge fan base, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the Xbox Live Arcade turned out to be a travesty.

So, just like Keanu Reeves, you may be able to save the world from impeding enemies, but he will not be there to save you when you realize how much time you've wasted playing this lackluster licensed title.

I can't even recommend renting this one just for the amount of time you're going to have invest for so little payoff. This is a game that tried to do everything by the numbers, and it missed even being able to accomplish that.

This game had serious potential amongst fans of the genre, but Eidos and Paradox have totally sacrificed depth and mechanics and put out true garbage.

One half of Shadow of Rome is a solid, if mildly frustrating, bloodbath that will please anyone looking for a chance to let off some steam. The other half of Shadow of Rome is an annoying slog through a weak knock-off of Metal Gear Solid’s sneaky parts.

This is one of those games that you’ll put in your CD jacket after its initial play-through, and one that will remain there, flipped-over many times as you look for a good game to play in subsequent months and years.

It would appear that the transition from consoles to the GBA has sucked quite a bit of the fun out of the game; ironically, the GBA game seems dumbed-down when compared to its console counterparts.

Nice try, Atari...but the only thing you guys killed was your own credibility.

About the only thing that I didn’t absolutely hate in The Emperor’s Tomb (but it was still lacking) is that there are a few cool big boss fights.

Poker on the Wii can wait until a game with more features is released.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sheer boredom and frustration that is Simpsons Skateboarding. Being the rabid Simpsons fan that I am, I feel cheated by Electronic Arts for putting out this slapped-together load of garbage.

Despite the fact that I'd bet that my Game Boy Advance (let alone my Gamecube or my DS) is much faster and technologically sound than my Super Nintendo, this game's slowdown and terrible enemy clock speed make this way too easy.

Not only vastly overpriced, it is unnecessary as a boxed title at all. A patch download from the official site would be more than sufficient to offer the majority of improvements Play the World offers.

An audio and visual mess, bottom line.

You could plunk your money down for worse titles from Nanco, but that honestly isn't saying much this year. When someone figures out how to put together an actual game with depth, challenge, and uses the touch screen as more than a gimmick, get back to me.

With the right mix of people, this might be a decent multiplayer game, but playing against the computer in random battles gets old quickly, and the campaign doesn’t provide enough depth or challenge to make Wrath Unleashed appropriate for more than a rental.

The only gaming use I can find for this would be to in a museum display for the worst use of video game licenses, or as a cautionary tale about the woes of rushing a product to market.

The true tell-tale sign of a great RPG compared to a good RPG is how you feel after completion. With other great RPG's over the years, I had a true connection with the characters and was always a bit saddened once my adventure came to a halt. In this case I felt nothing.

Resurrection of Evil even failed to match the atmosphere of the previous title and is little more than eye-candy without any flavor. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one.

There are plenty of ideas in this game that can be fostered into something that is not only cool and innovative, but contains great gameplay. As for now, there won't be many people who'll have the patience to deal with this game.

If you're a fan of Final Fantasy VII, do yourself a favor, pretend that this doesn't exist and hope that if a remake ever does happen, that it gets done under the care of someone else.

Nothing more than a sick attempt to purge the wallets of old school goodness.

The game never truly matches the intensity of the show itself though, mostly because it's placed between seasons of the show which have already aired, so you know from the beginning that certain characters are going to be ok, even when their lives are supposedly threatened.

There are fun moments to be had - I’ll give the game that much - but you’ll have to wade through a sea of mediocrity if you want to find them. And in the end, it just isn’t worth the effort.

Aside from hearing what decently cast voice acting sounds like and hearing Michael Madsen give an excellent performance in 6-10 hours of bad gameplay, there's absolutely no reason to touch this game, even at $20.

A guy can only sample for minerals, craft Mighty Rods of Fishing + 1, and shoot the same crap for so long before they realize that it's just freaking boring.

It reeks of desperation and greed, as if Capcom just threw this together to make as much money as possible. They include the most obscenely difficult and unworkable version of Street Fighter 2 for one part of the package, throw in the forgotten spawn of the series for another, and top it off by including a lousy licensed anime movie instead of any other Street Fighter game.

Ultimately, Ridge Racer 6 is a lame duck racer. It comes off as far too simplistic and far too easy to ever be of any fun.

Making a game intended for children does not make poor game design OK. While children may indeed enjoy parts of Finding Nemo, it is likely it will greatly frustrate them in the long run, and frustration for frustration’s sake is simply no fun.

Surprisingly solid in every technical aspect, which makes it all the more shame that it's falls so short in all the enjoyability aspects.

They claim actual dance moves (or at least dance footwork) can be learned from the game, and that the game is much more accessible from a dancing background. Here's the huge problem with this claim - Pump It Up does absolutely nothing innovative with its step patterns at all.

When the game manages to find its groove, it's absolutely hilarious and incredibly fun. But between those moments of inspired lunacy and brilliance are vast half-hours of monotony.

I really wish it had been made more accessible - cute without being cloying, tricky without being frustrating, and so forth. While a decent intro to the dating sim in the United States, it will require a lot of work before this can ever catch on.

Pokémon Battle Revolution is definitely a step (or more) backwards for this popular franchise.

The load times in Boomstick are really bad, taking almost up to 3 minutes to load the game up when I first started playing. It got a little bit faster after that, but not by much and still was about a 1 1/2 - 2 minute load time before getting to play.

It's just an hour or so of hitting the trigger button. It's tiring, while being mildly entertaining...but mostly just tiring. It's the type of game that is very, very easy to put down and walk away from, because you just don't want to hold the gun any longer.

Sadly, this Sim game doesn't have much lasting value.

Perhaps if Sega spent more time refining the control scheme rather than coming up with a title screen design where AiAi encourages you to fondle his heart-shaped butt, they would have produced another classic in this quirky and otherwise fun series.

While filled with numerous, excellent ideas, the mish-mash handling of the development destroyed the potential.

I found myself pretty disappointed with this purchase. The lack of offline multiplayer and minute fun factor really steered this game from any characteristic of a satisfying purchase.

While the graphics are insanely impressive, the gameplay rolls in on the other end of the spectrum. It stinks.

If you see this game on the shelf, avoid it like the plague. I don’t care how big a fan you are of wrestling or how much you crave nostalgia, because there’s no lust great enough that should convince you to buy or rent this title.

Between the silly design flaws, lack of challenge, and short length, Black Monday would be better off being called an expansion pack for a Grand Theft Auto game - and even that would be over-praising the game. While the story flow is incredibly clever, the lousy characters are a deterrent to it.

There just wasn’t anything very impressive at all here. Weak visuals, gameplay that runs through its total variety in the scope of an hour or so, and sounds that just don’t seem to be there at all combine to spoil the experience.

For being something we celebrated so much, it's really just a mediocre game with one of the best tunes of all time, and that's not truly enough to be nostalgic about.

I’m sure that if you play with the right people, multiplayer can bring some entertainment, but if you are looking for a title with staying power, a plethora of unlockables and an actual challenge factor, look some place else.

This game is boring.

I don't see why Crave decided to just stick with twelve variants of poker and not include other variations which could have added weeks of replay value to the game.

My only real complaint is that this entire game is dull. Even with the option to play this with 3 other people, I hardly see any area of this game that multiplayer would make more enjoyable.

It’s obvious that the game is garbage, but what makes it worse is the blatant descent from the developers. Everything from the “sweet still shots” to the marketing of how great the “low level combat” was is all a complete lie and Digital Impressions should be ashamed for using cheap tactics merely to sell a few copies of their game.

This game misses the point and misses it badly. At first glance, the barely above average graphics, the hip-hop version of NFL uniforms, and the bone cracking sound during gameplay certainly seem like the game will have potential. But for the reasons stated in this review, no serious football gamer will play this longer than a week.

To make matters worse, there are long loading times in the game. Mega Man X7 is one of those games where the player will be afraid to press the wrong button on the menu screens, because doing so will lead to much waiting and thumb-fiddling.

Bad controls, bad story, and bad code add up to make this is a bad game.

The music...oh please, don't get me started on that. It's like someone is playing a muted tape deck in the background.

Aside from a weak combat system and poorly designed jumping puzzles, the game is just a tedious scavenger hunt that usually feels more like work than entertainment.

The pathetic attributes of this failed experiment are disgusting. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is a poor excuse for an RPG. It is an attempt at innovation, perhaps. But it can also be the lazy solution for a group of developers who didn't want to put in the time to make a quality RPG.

Sonic Heroes takes a simple concept and makes it complex seemingly for the sake of complexity, and the result is an overly frustrating game that feels more like work than fun.

The game falls short of expectations, and will not appeal to anybody but the most hardcore adventure gamer.

Games based on the Olympics have changed very little since the days of Epyx Summer games and Konami’s Track & Field series, and this is not a good thing.

Sure Street Fighter II is here, but if you’re a hardcore gamer, you probably already own at least one version of that. That means the number of actual, playable classics on this disc is reduced to just Final Fight, Forgotten Worlds, and Mercs. Do you really want to buy this disc just for those three?

I really wanted to like you, Brooktown. I mean, like like. But the problem of shallow, unrealistic gameplay and an unreasonable time limit scheme just is too overbearing.

Honestly, there are good ways to do a rail shooter on the Wii; this is a poor start, but at least it, like Umbrella itself, will serve as a shining example of what not to do.

A good idea ruined by a design team that tried to get too cute. This game would have been a classic if they worked the upgrade system on your craft's gunnery into your planetside firearm, and gave you, the character stats and upgradeables as well.

Easy, pointless missions, with a bad AI, and staff who can't write? Simpsons Comic Guy would say it best: Worst...Strategy RPG...EVER.

This game had its day in the sun, in the mid-80s. It's one of those games that should have been left there. Gyruss' tube control and display mechanics do not translate over well to an analog stick and a distant TV display.

The races are simply formulaic and far too easy- if your horse matches up at all with the other horses, you are going to win as long as you can press the A button.

It is games like Death by Degrees that make the public shun games and dismiss them as the trifles of a child. Overt sexual overtones, but no actual nudity, and gameplay that consists of an insipid story combined with shallow, random acts of nigh-impossible, pseudo-heroic violence. Sounds like something aiming straight for the 12-15 year old demographic to me.

Nice eye candy, but without any substance. The features that made the PC version so addictive and well balanced are all gone, and what remains is only a shell of the original game, which is little more than an unresponsive electronic sandbox.

This game easily lacks more depth than any game that I have played in the past year, if not longer.

Yeah, the art direction is incredible. While the story isn't particularly mind-blowing, it is serviceable and entertaining. But the control scheme is so awful and frustrating, clearing the game is more a matter of patience with poor layout than any skill or talent.

The graphics are dull and lifeless, the sound is awful, and the gameplay has been completely ruined, and if that's not enough to deter you from purchasing the game, EA's blatant disrespect for the great sport of boxing and its colorful history should do the trick.