Unfortunately, the game's uncomfortable controls keep it from being a winning experience and can make it downright unenjoyable at times. A more fully-realized control system and a better menu interface could have made this game far more playable.

As fertile a ground as the flight combat genre is for quality gameplay, this falls short of the target. Even more depressing is that this was a franchise that in the previous generation was considered an A-List series, but now is a strictly average game.

If players are looking for a few fun Crash-based mini-games and a standard platformer with everything one would expect from a platformer, then the title may be something worth picking up. However, if players are looking for an epic platformer with a plethora of surprises and story twists, players may want to keep looking.

Dissatisfying and a pale comparison to how good this game could have been if it were designed to play like a fantasy sports simulation. Granted, there is an oxymoron inherent to a fantasy simulation, but as it stands Quidditch World Cup merely feels like a semi-responsive movie. A slow, semi-responsive movie.

Don’t bother buying Altered Beast. It isn’t worth it unless your idea of fun is pressing two or three buttons through 20 levels of bland, uninspired environments and continually dying along the way.

Despite all its faults, and while its not a horrible game, it's just really not that fun to play.

Shadow Legacy has some potential, but it's unfulfilled by repetitive gameplay and objectives (i.e. fetching items for the people you've just rescued from another dimension).

A mediocre to below-average RPG, and doesn’t hold many great moments.

Wing Island is one game that truly misses a level of immersion better visuals could provide.

Overall, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun isn't bad for its basic details, and it's actually decent for a licensed game. Yet flaws shine so bright when a game is this simple.

WarioWare Snapped! is like buying a Lamborghini with a bad engine. The game looks super slick and proffers a highly amusing time when running, but more often than not, never gets started because of under-the-hood problems.

Ultimately, Mario Kart Tour is going to be divisive because people will invariably want it to be something it’s not. Tour is a mobile game for casual and mobile-centric gamers— period. Its monetization is aggressive but completely avoidable. While I’m outspoken against the way that developers have been turning to microtransactions and “games as a service,” I’m also of the opinion that the only reason these models exist is because consumers refuse to stop supporting them. So, if Mario Kart Tour isn’t the sort of game for you… don’t download it. Otherwise, this is a serviceable take on the series that is marred by finicky controls and convoluted player progression.

To see such a cheap effort made, and to see yet another game released that truly gives kids the short end of the stick makes me feel very disappointed.

Excave is a functional dungeon crawler, which should be fun, if you’re willing to work your way around weak item management, the lack of a map, constant backtracking, and its overall short length. If you can’t deal with these problems, then even the alluring $5 price tag won’t help you forget them.

It would certainly be easier to recommend Gnömz if it were even half its cost, but as it stands there is far too little content in the game to justify its $10 price tag, especially when there are more fully-featured titles like Bomberman Blast available on the service for the same amount of money.

All in all, Dora Saves the Snow Princess is a great idea that ultimately proves too shallow.

Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity is, at best, a rental for the true Lyoko devotee -- the game can easily be beaten in a short span -- and a polite pass for everyone else.

All things considered, I can kind of give High Strangeness a halfhearted recommendation; the soundtrack is outstanding and there are some clever story and gameplay concepts on display, just don’t be surprised if the second half leaves you feeling low.

If you’re a seasoned gamer looking for a short X-Men fix, this one works, but most other folks will want to take a pass.

Though I can’t freely tell everyone to go out and buy A-Train, I think that any player looking for a steep challenge and elaborate system of controls and menus to learn will have a blast with this game.

If you’re looking for a traditional Pikmin experience this is not the game for you. Hey! Pikmin is a very sedate, gentle walk through the diminutive shoes of Captain Olimar and his Pikmin pals. It’s comparable to the level of challenge found in a Kirby game, which is to say you have to go out of your way to have your skills tested. For what it is, Hey! Pikmin is a cute, whimsical platformer that gets a lot right and a lot wrong, resulting in a middling experience overall.

All of this writing might be for nothing as the odds of most people being able to play Cookstar seem low. The digital version is still vapor and physical copies are unavailable from the publisher and the majority of retailers. It’s unclear if Cookstar will warrant fans selling entire Switch consoles with the game downloaded as was the case with the Silent Hills Playable Teaser on PlayStation 4, but it nevertheless might take extraordinary measures for the average fan to play Cookstar. For those who do get the chance, especially if they’re a fan of Cooking Mama, they can do a lot worse. For everyone else, this is a mostly middling effort that might have risen above with greater polish and ambition from all involved.

The restrictions put on car selection, unlockable content, and course layout act as a leash on the player. This ultimately makes the game frustrating, as you struggle to escape the leash. Then it makes it boring, as you accept the fact that you can't change the game.

GBA users really get the short end of the stick here, since DS owners can get three games -- Uno, Skip-Bo and Uno Freefall -- all on one cartridge for roughly the same price as this game, plus wireless multiplayer to boot.

Wreck-It Ralph does some things right. The voice work is a lot of fun and the sound effects and 3D are impressive, especially for fans of the film. At the end of the day though, it just doesn't offer enough. It's a pretty basic side-scroller with little in terms of depth or length.

Overall, Regalia is a deep game with a lot to do, but it’s also a game that is hard, especially as players learn the ropes early on. It’s also a game with some design issues that lessen the experience, and between those and the long, frequent load times, it’s a game that can wear out its welcome. Those are things to keep in mind before foraging into this adventure.

If you like early 2000s 3D third person platformers, this is worth a look, but be aware that it isn’t as modern as the current promotional material might make it out to be.

There is a slight cuteness factor in Build-a-Bear Workshop, but it doesn't approach what kids would get out of a trip to the store.

Its graphics, art style, physics, and overall presentation values are great, and its gameplay is quite alluring. It also makes excellent use of the GamePad, though requiring Wii Remotes for multiplayer feels obtuse. If you have friends that live close-by and regularly game locally, then Chasing Aurora seems worth the price of admission. For those who like to fly solo, or have friends that do not live near enough to get together in-person, it'd be hard to recommend this purchase as there just won't be enough in it for you.

From my overall experience with Paleo Pines, I had the most fun when discovering and befriending dinosaurs, but the rest of the game can feel like a chore at times. The jankiness of the movement makes farming more difficult than it needs to be and although the open-world section is decently sized, it has invisible boundaries on small cliffs or ledges that can break the immersion of the game world. Despite my gripes with the gameplay, the art style of the game is charming and I’m a fan of how adorable the art team rendered the dinosaurs. The world and characters also blend well together and the only real issue I had with the visuals was that the corners of the skybox could sometimes be seen and the stiffness of the human animations. Also, while doing the townspeople’s tasks, which can be a bit fetch-questy, it becomes noticeable how empty certain sections of the game world are. However, the prospect of getting more dinos to live on your ranch is what warrants launching the game up at least a couple times.

Who would have thought that a game with parachuting dynamite monkeys and ninja penguins would be this bad?

The biggest issue is that the single player experience just isn't all that deep.

Space Lift Danger Panic! is a hard game to recommend to those looking for a unique, deep experience, but it’s a pretty decent game for those looking to kill some time in short bursts.

All in all, this is probably the worst Dragon Ball game available, and there is no reason as to why this game wasn’t given the attention it deserved.

The main problem though, whether Brave's being played solo or through co-op, is the game just isn't all that deep.

If you enjoy exploring vibrant, cartoony worlds, and have a friend around to join you on your quest (not to mention have a tolerance for some vague gameplay objectives), then you'll eke some fun out of Epic Mickey 2's flawed journey. If you found any of these elements cumbersome or frustrating in the past, then this sequel won't do anything to persuade you otherwise.

The Wii version of Neopets Puzzle Adventure is technically baffling, with broken framerates, aggravating hiccups, and other programming problems that really damage the experience. Neopets fanatics pining for a fix will do better to look to the superior (and cheaper) DS version rather than this rushed Wii project.

Despite the good looks and a solid mechanical foundation, RemiLore: Lost Girl in the Lands of Lore is a game hampered by repetitive gameplay, a story that isn’t all that compelling, and a save system that discourages mixing it up. Some of this could well be hammered out in subsequent installments, but as it stands now, this is an okay diversion but not a stellar title, especially at the starting price tag.

If you’re a fan of fart humor, there aren’t a lot of options on the eShop, outside of South Park: The Fractured But Whole. Sigi: A Fart For Melusina doesn’t quite fully commit to the joke, but that doesn’t make it a terrible game; it’s just a hard one to recommend when Switch has so many other terrific platformers to choose from that last quite a bit longer. Still, the controls are tight and the old-school visuals are mostly charming. Some might admire the fact that Sigi doesn’t linger, but with a difficulty level that stays low and doesn’t ramp up until the very last boss fight, there just won’t be enough here for most players to justify a purchase.

Has several shining moments, but overall it is plagued by poor level design and artificial challenges. The mediocre game is balanced out by the superb story, however. The acting is incredible.

Douglings: Invasion definitely makes an effort to address some of these shortcomings through the addition of new mechanics and power-ups, but it fails to improve upon the biggest flaw- the sluggish feel of everything. And then the progression of the game just adds more emphasis to that issue. Perhaps this was entirely the intention of the developers, because the game most certainly feels in keeping with arcade traditions, but that doesn’t make the game more fun for most gamers- old school folks might just love it, though! Regardless of these issues, if I were given the option of playing the original Space Invaders or Doughlings: Invastion, I would absolutely prefer the newer title thanks to those new mechanics and its fun presentation.

Certainly a passable game of baseball, and it is not a bad investment for the baseball fan who only has a Wii, especially given the fact that there are simply no other options for genuine MLB play. The game has enough collective minor problems, though– among them the absence of online, mediocre graphics, and dated roster and stadium settings– that it cannot be recommended without certain qualifications.

Monsters vs. Aliens isn’t a bad game, especially for the younger target audience it is oriented toward. It also isn’t a great game, as it is pretty short and generally repetitive.

The platforming is polished, if simple, and the graphics are above par. Just as the game isn't awful, however, neither is it good, and it certainly doesn't have much staying power, even for young ones.

A game that looks and sounds good but whose premise only holds up for so long.

Control issues, repetitive modes, and the lack of features keep it from being a great game. It's not worth the price of admission either.

The game is perfectly playable and there will undoubtedly be more than a few moments of genuine platforming pleasure, but along the way you’re going to have to make your way through a lot of ho-hum running and jumping that’s occasionally punctuated by bouts of frustration due to stiff mechanics and needlessly cheap level design.

Disc Sports as a concept has great potential. Sadly, this attempt fails to tap that potential and comes off feeling half-baked. Golf is playable, but that's about it. What's sad is that with a critical eye and bit more polish, it could have been truly stellar.

Much of the gameplay is completely run of the mill and its few strengths, the graphics and voice acting, are cut down to mediocrity by a general lack of imagination and effort.

Players who enjoy bite-sized puzzlers (with a bit of challenge to boot) and the ability to create their own levels might find this worth trying out. If you’re looking for something deeper, though, be mindful that, in this case, you’re not going to get much more than you’re paying for.

Though the game is pleasing visually and acoustically, it just wasn’t that compelling. There wasn’t anything outstanding about TOHU one way or the other. It is a decent point and click game, but without a driving story, I didn’t feel motivated to keep playing.

Strike Force Foxx does a few things well. The controls are tight, the story is delightfully tongue-in-cheek, and the levels require some effort to complete. Unfortunately, the lack of variety really prevents it from going any farther.

Overall, Wulverblade is a pretty interesting game with classic action and a heavy helping of history, but it’s also a game that is primarily for hardcore brawler fans who enjoy the pain of control issues and merciless gameplay. If that’s not your cup of tea, you may want to look elsewhere.

From the moment you boot Butcher up, it’s clear that it is a thoroughly focused game, for better or for worse. As an action game, Butcher features solid mechanics, but its focus on difficulty could easily turn players off completely or limit them only to its less rewarding casual mode. The design aesthetic is similarly executed, presenting a violent and dark atmosphere that will entrance some, while repulsing others. The end result is a game that many gamers would likely be able to find some enjoyment in, but only a certain type of player will likely be able to look past it’s handful of faults, unapologetic difficulty, and esoteric aesthetic to fully enjoy it.

There’s no denying that Monster Hunter is leagues above the quality of Explorers, but for what it is, this inaugural Final Fantasy spin on the Capcom formula is a satisfying play.

RICO‘s biggest strength really is just that it’s a shooter that gives players lots of opportunities to shoot things. Running through levels and gunning down baddies works well enough but that’s really all there is to the game. Even just playing for one or two hours at a time reveals the unshakable sense of repetition in everything you are doing, seeing, and hearing. The game works best in short sessions as a way to blow off steam because, let’s be honest, shooting enemies in video games is pretty fun almost regardless of everything else; the only question is if there is anything else to keep you playing after you satiate your digital blood lust. Unfortunately, RICO likely won’t give that extra motivation for most gamers.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is a good example of a great premise wrecked by poor programming.

As it stands, anyone itching for speed and twitch gameplay could do a lot worse than Proun+– just don’t expect to be blown away.

While it’s tons of fun to see how high you can get your dolphin to reach in space, the tricks get boring to perform due to their simplicity and a lack of gameplay variety makes it hard to hold your interest over time. The online leader boards help extend the replayability of the game, but the novelty of Dolphin Up‘s absurd premise ultimately wears thin after multiple sessions.

In the end, I was left with the feeling that Johnny Kung Fu was sold short of its true potential. The basic premise is good, the gameplay (well, half of the gameplay…) is spot on, but sadly, the game is hindered by an unnecessarily brutal spike in difficulty and a repetitive, unrewarding design that makes a game that was once unique and challenging, turn into to a bore of a reaction-time test.

After only eight levels plus the easiest final boss ever, even the most dedicated fans will get a day’s enjoyment out of this game and then never look at it again.

In the end, Ragnarok DS is a forgettable title, for which only die hard fans of the franchise or RPGs need apply. All others would be better off ignoring the title, and picking up one of DS's other-- and much better-- RPG offerings instead.

Despite all of these issues, though, 2 Fast 4 Gnomz has a weird, hypnotic charm.

Frankly, I liked this game better the first time around. FD2 doesn’t have the style that the first crack at this franchise had.

NBA Live 08 is a disappointment in no small part because EA impressed early with the sports potential of Madden 07.

You're better off playing the online Line Rider, which gives you the same experience at no cost whatsoever.

Sonic 4, on the other hand, should have had a different title, like Sonic the Hedgehog: Re 1&2, because that is what the game feels like. The game may make gamers question if Sonic Team can make a proper, new Sonic title, instead of throwing together elements from over ten years ago and expecting us to be satisfied.

A strictly average game. There's really nothing here to distinguish it from all the other licensed games that get shoveled onto the Game Boy Advance every year, and even less to distinguish it as a Thunderbirds product.

Yet the quality of execution on nearly every other front is lacking, and every involved party, from Hardy Boys authors to developer to publisher to gamer, really deserves better.

With a little extra time and resources, I imagine Poi could be made into a tighter, and all around better experience. That being said, it still does suffer from a general lack of creativity. Despite having its own aesthetic and musical sensibilities, Poi’s structure and mechanics are simply so close to those of Mario 64 that it’s impossible to avoid making comparisons. Also, it feels somewhat unfair to Poi that if was released in such close proximity to Mario Odyssey. However, putting it all into perspective, we are left with a perfectly decent game. Poi does nothing to move its genre forward and even though its wanting for polish in many areas, its faults are small enough that they will likely prove little more than minor annoyances for those looking to kill some time after they complete Mario’s latest.

Let’s be honest, presenting a point-and-click adventure in the form of a point-and-click operating system is kind of genius, even if the idea doesn’t fully translate to a console like the Switch. Of course, there is a certain benefit to the fact that this isn’t a game driven by twitch reflexes; the cumbersome nature of the touch and controller inputs serve only to slow the gameplay, rather than outright ruin it. Still, the frustration presented by these control issues alongside the failure to realize the potential of the concept and story are still very real and are likely to impact the overall enjoyment of any gamer longing to live their fantasies of being a white hat hacker. By no means is the overall experience beyond redemption, but one can’t help but feel the PC is the better fit.

Alphadia isn’t in the same league as a game like Chrono Trigger, but it gets the job done and will scratch the old-school RPG itch in a way that some players will enjoy. For anyone else, it’s likely that Alphadia will feel too archaic and rough to maintain their interest for the duration of the game.

More importantly though, the mere fact that Activision and Vicarious Visions have allowed these major problems to go unfixed for three titles needs addressing; Guitar Hero is one of the biggest franchises in gaming right now so this continued level of near broken gameplay is inexcusable.

AquaMoto Racing 3D certainly fills a hole in the water racing genre, but ultimately it’s a shallow reflection of other jet ski greats and lacks the variety and imagination of its water-borne brethren.

I’ve Got to Run: Complete Edition! offers more modes and options than a lot of other games in the endless runner genre. Unfortunately, most players will probably find themselves over this one pretty quickly.

Clunky controls, claustrophobic environments, mundane combat, and a brief story mode all conspire to make this a forgettable experience.

As I said above, Frontier also doesn’t really offer much challenge until later in the game. A lack of difficulty isn’t always the biggest problem if the gameplay is irresistibly fun regardless, but Frontier‘s battling tends to become too formulaic with no significant strategy or planning needed to barrel through opponents.

MySims Kingdom for DS ultimately fails because it never really lends itself to any one solid gameplay philosophy.

Unfortunately, good artistic design just can't fully make up for a few glaring flaws. If you can see past those flaws, though, you'll find an enjoyable game that will help you waste a few hours. If not, this might be one to leave off your Christmas list.

Operation Galuga might be flawed, but the heart and devotion that WayForward is known for shines through. What I hope is that this serves as the foundation for more entries in the series to come and that WayForward is given another shot at getting things 100 percent right in a sequel. Until then, Operation Galuga will do.

It’s hard to recommend Working Dawgs: A-Maze-ing Pipes to anyone but a tiny subset of the most ardent of pipe-laying fans—those who own only a DSi or 3DS.

Ultimately, Kolumno is an interesting concept and will likely be appealing to some players. There is gratification to be had when completing the levels and watching them play out perfectly feels like viewing a satisfaction compilation video on YouTube. However, the frustration in repeated failure on the same level or the controls that are awkward enough to break the relaxing feeling of the game overshadowed the positive moments.

I play a good amount of indie games yet this game, I believe, is the first game I have played by a Peruvian game developer. My first playthrough left me scratching my head at the cryptic story. It was only after reading an article on Peruvian funeral traditions did I begin to see the story and its metaphors with more clarity. It is experiences like this that make me happy as both a gamer and an anthropologist. As barriers for video game development become less and less of an obstacle, gamers are more and more likely to come across games made from cultures they have never been in contact with. I am thankful for the opportunity to both play this game and learn just a little bit more about Peruvian culture.

The game has nearly all the elements of a sleeper hit: interesting premise, compelling art design, eclectic sound, an interesting weapon creation system, and some unique gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, all of that is drowned out by a few critical design mistakes, chief among them being a broken platforming system that leads to far too many senseless deaths.

It should have only been developed for the PC, and that fact is made glaringly evident while attempting to maneuver around the awkward control setup.

In short, if you’re a Switch owner who has played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to death and you’re looking for a cheap change of pace- or if you’re a fan of supporting indie titles- you might consider Meow Motors. On the other hand, if you’re just out for a kart racer, you might be better shelling out the extra money for Nintendo’s game.

It’s fun in spurts, but overall a disappointment that hopefully doesn’t consign this series to years in limbo.

Kidz Bop Dance Party: The Video Game is not a bad game. In small doses it's actually pretty fun, but the more you play, the shallower it feels. It's one of those games that will be great for the target demographic, but everyone else should just leave it alone.

Ultimately, Warriors of Rock isn't bad, it just doesn't live up to the legacy and quality set by previous titles.

Sonic Frontiers deserves credit for being a true departure from previous series installments. The open-zone structure is a great concept that frees the developers up to experiment with Sonic’s speed and abilities in new ways. Where the game comes up short is in its stale rehashing of classic stages, a control setup that could stand to be simplified, and performance woes that suck players out of the gameplay experience. With plenty of DLC and patches on the way, hopefully Frontiers can become a better version of what came out at launch. In the interim, it’s a buggy affair that entertains and frustrates in equal measures.

X-Men attempts to bring something new to the table with an interesting control scheme, but doesn't follow through with any sort of unique gameplay.

By the time the credits roll on Zau, players will have fought through swaths of foes and explored many interesting locales. As much as Zau manages to get right, it’s ultimately failed by a lack of innovation that results in an experience that feels like something is missing that would have pushed the game to the next level. Whether it might have been more creative uses of Zau’s powers, or more inventive world exploration, it’s hard to say exactly. I would nonetheless still love to see Salim and Surgent Studios team on another project and take what they learned with Zau and expand upon it. I give Zau a light recommendation for those who have been wanting a new Metroidvania to play, but anyone looking for something truly new is likely to be disappointed.

While it may not live up to, say, EA Sports, with its NASCAR Thunder 2003– a game released in 2002 for PSX, PS2, GCN and Xbox that included an actual career mode and customization options– Eutechnyx doesn't do so poorly on Wii. It could, however, have done much better.

Pure Chess is in a tough place. When it’s based on a game as ubiquitous as chess, it can’t avoid comparisons to the countless other iterations of the classic game out there. You can find superior, cheaper virtual chess games everywhere.

Is it the best puzzle game out there, though? By no means. But if you're itching for a brain cruncher then I would definitely recommend you pick this one up, if you can find it used or for cheap.

If you've never played a version of Tetris and are wondering what the fuss is about, you probably wouldn't understand it from this version. Old time fans will also be unimpressed.

A mediocre-at-best platformer that only clocks in at around 5 hours of playtime. It fails to recreate the humor and fun of the cartoon series, and doesn’t give you much reason to pick it back up once you beat it.

Shadow Fight 2 is a solid game at its core and some might be able to dig through, or even appreciate, the flaws around it to really enjoy everything it does well. Unfortunately, I don’t think the majority will have the necessary patience.