There's a respectable fighting engine at the game's core, but nothing was done to really make it worth your while. [July 2004, p.96]

The story is so fragmented, the missions so pointless, and the action so sparse that there's no drive to progress. [June 2004, p.90]

An excellent refinement of the previous Hitman game. For newbies, a spectacular assassination sim with few flaws, but for veterans, perhaps a little underwhelming. [June 2004, p.85]

Like "EyeToy: Play," you might wonder how often you'd play this alone, but it's fun enough (and has enough multiplayer modes) that it's absolutely worth owning. [May 2004, p.97]

To put it succinctly, World Tour Soccer 2005 doesn't match the quality of a certain other soccer game named "Winning Eleven." Yet on its own, it's actually a solid game with no serious problems - but it's also nothing spectacular. [May 2004, p.102]

The grandaddy of all PS2 baseball sims needs a big face-lift. [May 2004, p.99]

While the show features remarkably choreographed fight scenes (certainly by television standards, much less so in general), the game's fights are stilted and spastic.

It's really good. Midway conjured up some surprisingly deep gameplay mechanics that take the idea of 1-on-1 basketball to another level. [May 2004, p.101]

If you can deal with the slight learning curve for the controls, Fight Night won't disappoint any boxing fan. [May 2004, p.97]

A racing game packed with features that you've mostly seen before, hiding behind a veneer of graphical mediocrity. [May 2004, p.96]

Beyond the online component, Outbreak essentially plays like any other Resident Evil, only with a lesser story, better (though still imperfect) controls, and improved voice acting.

An eminently playable actionfest in which you play what seems to be a descendant of Dante—a thousand or so years in the future.

Incredibly shallow and boring. [Apr 2004, p.102]

Though flawed, Rainbow Six 3 is simply the finest simulation of Close-Quarters-Battle (CQB) on PS2. [May 2004, p.94]

Unhinged's ultimate downfall, however, is that there is no digital opponent when you play alone - apparently, it was decided that offering online play was enough. Since half the fun of games like these is actually beating someone, the lack of A.I. is disappointing. [June 2004, p.88]

When you have something that's this cool to start with, even a fairly average gameplay experience is enough to hold the torch.

In all my years of playing MMORPGs, none has grabbed me as strongly as FFXI. None has made me more proud of my in-game accomplishments or more excited to see what's around the next corner. I'm addicted. [Mar 2004, p.97]

The puzzle aspects of Cy Girls is about as fun as watching the cheese-creation process. [Apr 2004, p.99]

The control flat-out sucks. I had a rough time moving my fielders, and I can't imagine a chid who has yet to add a second digit to his age faring any better. [June 2004, p.95]

Unfortunately, the gameplay mechanics don't match the class of the story.

It's not perfect, and if you don't have the ability to play online, it's a little brief, but all in all, it's a very competent game. [Mar 2004, p.99]

The graphics need work, but no other game lets you really play as <I>you</I>. [May 2004, p.99]

As far as gameplay is concerned, absolutely nothing has changed since last year's addition (and, quite possibly, the one before that...and the one before that). [June 2004, p.95]

There's something fundamentally wrong with a game that lets you finish a few stages without even looking at the screen. [May 2004, p.101]

No matter how much you might be enjoying yourself, you realize that Worms 3D lacks the polish it needs to truly evolve the series. For one thing, the camera just plain sucks. [Apr 2004, p.102]

It doesn't hurt that the controls are spot on, the sound is good, and the graphics move at a fair old lick, either. Saturday won't win any awards for presentation, but it's all competently put together. [June 2004, p.96]

It doesn't help that you seem to be shooting the same handful of monsters no matter where you are&#151;or that the vast majority of these look like offspring of Soul Calibur's Voldo. The shoddy framerate, slippery controls, and blocky character models provide an even more low-rent feel.

It's not a gamer's game, it's a Corvette fan club member's game. [June 2004, p.96]

Aside from getting to tote around the world's longest hose for hours, this game is just not very fun. [Apr 2004, p.98]

The obvious choice for baseball enthusiasts for this new season. [May 2004, p.99]

It's dull to look at, and, due to a lapse back into the more tactical, strategic gameplay that categorizes all of Koei's other war games, it's also fairly dull to play. [Apr 2004, p.100]

Playing MTX a month after playing "MX Unleashed" is sort of like driving a Taurus after a month of driving a Viper. [May 2004, p.100]

The main problem is that Rio recognizes more than 5,000 words, but you don't know what those words are...The innovative concept is fun for a few minutes, but an entire game is tedious.

Despite its lousy gameplay, Drakengard's story is what makes me absolutely hate, hate, hate it...Just <I>try</I> to like any of the characters. Impossible. [Mar 2004, p.98]

A fun, well-executed game for kids and fans of the series. I just won't blow anyone away. [June 2004, p.88]

While Romance IX is a more newbie-friendly game, it still has a bit of a learning curve, and the absense of tactical control prevents it from being a breakout strategy title. [Apr 2004, p.100]

The jumping puzzles combined with the overt racism combined with the semiwonky controls combined wtih the unctuousness of the protagonist add up to a game that is decidedly unfun. [May 2004, p.101]

Besides making a fantastically epic and over-the-top ultra-Bond flick, EA snuck in a little something called "a fantastic game" into the mix as well. [Apr 2004, p.97]

The physics make the game so entertaining that you really won't mind having to replay a race over and over again. [Apr 2004, p.99]

Despite the decent controls, you still end up seeing the same four-hit combos repeatedly, and when digital Jet holds a stick or a bat in his hand, it becomes mysteriously harder to hit people with it. [Mar 2004, p.101]

An example of WE7's overhauled physics engine for the ball itself. It no longer glides over the pitch, but randomly bobbles off the imperfections in the turf. This leads to a slew of new control options for dealing with bouncing balls. [Mar 2004, p.101]

A surprisingly rewarding and polished adaptation of the show. [Mar 2004, p.98]

Too simple for strategy fans and too complex for fighting fans. The occasionally interesting creature design and accompanying animation can't save this one from its cliched premise, uninteresting gameplay, and interminable load times. [Mar 2004, p.103]

Though not the never-ending chain of quests found in a "real" EverQuest game, Champions certainly stands as the longest, deepest title in the "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance' vein yet seen on a console. [Mar 2004, p.102]

If you liked "Shinobi" but hated the controller-throwing difficulty of it, then you'll flip over Sega's latest ninja adventure. [Apr 2004, p.100]

Its combination of great level design and gameplay mechanics challenges your reflexes as well as your mind.

The missions themselves are plenty fun, but they're nothing that "Ace Combat" hasn't done better and more often. It's a similar story for the reasonably tight controls and physics: good, but nothing exceptional. [Mar 2004, p.98]

It's somewhat frustrating that what was a pretty great PC game is now a great game buried underneath vast technological annoyances. [Apr 2004, p.98]

A giant mess on the whole. For starters, you encounter plenty of nice little glitches throughout the game, including random spots where characters just fall through solid objects because of some lame collision detection. [Feb 2004, p.98]

If incessant hack-n-slash doesn't bore you, Dark Alliance II has enough solid gameplay to entertain you until "Champion (of Norrath)." But you're better off waiting. [Feb 2004, p.105]

Of all of Zin's improvements the most marked is the fun factor. A big part of this has to do with the toned-down difficulty - instead of being next to impossible, Zin is merely <I>really freaking tough</I>. [Feb 2004, p.100]

Merely a decent game dragged to mediocrity by general tedium and a horridly paced beginning. [Mar 2004, p.98]

Despite .hack's inarguable flaws (it's repetitive, kinda ugly, and...er, <I>really</I> repetitive), the game remains one of the freshest concepts of this console generation. [Jan 2004, p.132]

In short, Shattered Universe just doesn't deliver. The onscreen action never heats up enough to be considered exciting, and even if it did, the shoddy control scheme would keep it from being any fun anyway. [Dec 2003, p.176]

Surpasses "NFL Blitz" in just about every conceivable manner, thanks largely to gameplay that places greater emphasis on individual player capabilities as opposed to overall team performance. [Mar 2004, p.100]

Whether embracing one's inner interior designer or one's inner "Porky's," players of all types have something to enjoy in Bustin' Out. [Jan 2004, p.126]

One thing I can guarantee: If you like to be scared, you owe it to yourself to play this game. [Feb 2004, p.102]

The notion of a story-driven racing game is definitely something I'm getting used to, and after an initial feeling of resistance, I have to say the game got to be quite fun...It's not the greatest racer ever made, but it is pretty darn good.

The bigger problem is that 2000 and 2001 aren't the best games in the series. [Jan 2004, p.123]

But most unbelievable is the fact that there's almost nothing here I would classify as fun. [Jan 2004, p.118]

Although not as bad as "Tomb Raider," MI is marred by an appallingly complex control system that (if you're anything like me) you'll never get used to. [Feb 2004, p.103]

Surely, I thought, the challenge level has a setting other than "stupid easy" or "mind-bogglingly confusing because the mutant aiming system bites." I thought wrong. Encounters in Space is just that bad. [Dec 2003, p.164]

Do you like "Monopoly" but wish it featured more fantasy trappings and colorful cards? Well, has NEC got a deal for you with Culdcept. [Dec 2003, p.156]

Matches basically boil down to ridiculous standoffs that are won by whoever can bust out kamehamehas the fastest. Not exactly the best way to channel your competitive spirit.

A blast to play - it's just that you're likely to spend as much time watching cinemas, storyboards, and loading screens as actually <I>playing</I> the game. For a six-to-eight-hour game, that's just not right. [Feb 2004, p.104]

Looking for a serious challenge? Then don't bother with Masters of Metal! The competition drives like a raccoon drunk on moonshine! Drunk raccoons! [Feb 2004, p.104]

A big, fat disappointment...SpyHunter 2 simply lacks any soul.

Goes from merely mediocre to appallingly bad.

I know this all sounds ridiculous, and it is. And yet, there's a certain goofy, tacky charm to the game that's oddly appealing. [Feb 2004, p.103]

Just because most of the 60-plus games in this collection are nearly unplayable by today's standards..., that doesn't mean they all blow. In fact, some remain downright fun. [Feb 2004, p.103]

Almost nothing about this game has any redeeming value. The levels are dull and repetitive. The control is whack. The gameplay is busted. It's boring. It's dopey. [Jan 2004, p.123]

Despite some gorgeous visuals and intriguing gameplay elements, Kya simply isn't any fun. And just like the wind, that really blows. [Jan 2004, p.123]

There's a surreal sweetness to Spanx and Redmond that makes everything in this game very enjoyable. [Jan 2004, p.113]

With this much style oozing from the game, it saddens me to find it wrapped around something so average... Strip away the gorgeous visage and you have a typical shooter with some good tweaks. [Dec 2003, p.174]

Besides the shocking, desensitizing violence that borders on being pornographic (there's no actual sex, but there is plenty of penetration and spraying of bodily fluids, all viewed from lurid camera angles), Manhunt turns out to be a pretty solid game.

The unbelievable brutality of the enemy A.I., even in Normal mode, means the game can vacillate from challenging to downright frustrating. Yet, for all the times I was pissed off, I still felt compelled to move on... [Dec 2003, p.164]

If only Fugitive Hunter, the game, wasn't saddled with broken missions, pathetic animations, a sorry fighting system and a sorrier button-mashing mode. [Jan 2004, p.118]

The most fun I've had playing a Final Fantasy... In terms of pure fun? This one rocks. [Dec 2003, p.149]

Protection missions, like escort missions, are the bane of space-sim players, and BSG has quite a few of them. [Jan 2004, p.112]

Does what it does very well, offering a decent challenge, a few hearty chuckles, and plenty of personality. Unfortunately, I-Ninja doesn't do a heckuva lot of, well...anything. You can easily beat this game in a few short sessions, and you'll quickly forget about it afterward. [Dec 2003, p.162]

While [Part II] plays almost exactly like the original, it addresses almost all the problems. Gone is the lag, the graphics are much nicer (though still not up to today's standards), and the game is a bit longer. [Dec 2003, p.172]

Special note must go to the presentation: The graphics are great throughout - but it's the music that's a real wowzer. [Dec 2003, p.176]

All the features added to Genki's long running game of after-dark street racing are cursory at best and cosmetic at worst. [Jan 2004, p.130]

It's quite ironic that a game based on a license that is the progenitor of sci-fi gaming ends up feeling like a kludgy, mediocre hodge-podge of better sci-fi shooters. [Nov 2003, p.147]

Unless you have friends already playing or a high tolerance for monotony, you might want to give Frontiers a pass, especially with "Final Fantasy XI" around the corner. [Feb 2004, p.101]

It's gorgeous. Without a shadow of a doubt, it's the best-looking game on the system&#151;it's a case study in how to portray the speed and ferocity of racing.

Unlike any arcade compilation released on PS1, these games are <I>exactly</I> like their standup counterparts. [Jan 2004, p.125]

Captures the chaotic nature of college basketball. And it punishes you for being careless&#151;as often as possible, defenders will stick their hands out to knock the ball down.

Although it boasts a host of innovations that are supposed to set it a breed apart from its predecessor, Monster Rancher 4 never captured me in the way MR3 did.

But it all starts to falter with the gameplay, which generically mimics the sport and ultimately falls short of feeling like an actual college basketball game.

The actual gameplay is so appallingly unimaginative, so awfully monotonous that by the end of it, I was wondering why they even bothered making a game out of it. [Jan 2004, p.124]

Despite the whimsical nature of the varied critters that inhabit Hyllis, everyone (and everything) feels so real that you might just forget you're playing a game. [Dec 2003, p.180]

By no means perfect, but it does do a fine job of realizing Bilbo Baggins' Middle-earth adventure. [Jan 2004, p.120]

Its arenas are cramped, flat, and bland, and its gameplay structure is dated, boring, and laughable. [Dec 2003, p.152]

It is, thankfully, a roughly four-hour affair, but that time is probably better spent actually watching the two excellent (and one decent) Terminator movies. [Feb 2004, p.104]

It's not a bad game, but then again, it's not the be-all and end-all Pacific-theater FPS we expected. The primary emphasis on gloss and glamour over gameplay and challenge suggests that Rising Sun is geared more toward the tyro rather than the savant.

The biggest improvement - the RPG-style character growth - really and truly changes everything. I kid you not. Replaying a section isnow a reward unto itself, since you gain experience for every enemy you kill... Man, I <I>really</I> love this game. [Dec 2003, p.154]

An all-right RTS, but why settle for it when you can get a much better one on a PC? [Jan 2004, p.120]