A bizarrely conceived, thinly veiled pseudo point-and-click adventure with some very simplistic fighting sequences. [Jan 2003, p.80]

If you've ever played a platformer, you've seen it all before, and Memorick doesn't push any envelopes. [Sept 2004, p.84]

Playing DRIV3R is as much of a chore as watching some crappy old cop movie at 3:00 A.M. All we want to do is close our eyes and make it all go away. [Sept 2004, p.80]

This genre still has potential, but Spikeout just doesn't tap it. [June 2005, p.80]

The problems start with control. The response isn't razor sharp, the special moves aren't spectacular, and the Netbuster specials are too easy to pull off. [Jan 2004, p.73]

It takes more than a pretty cape to impress us these days. [Feb 2002, p.70]

At least the game thoughfully provides a Yee Haw button for sharing its thrills...not that it'll get much use. [Holiday 2004, p.87]

While it's cool to watch John get wacked in one of the nice CG cutscenes, the actual six hours of gameplay leaves much, much, much to be desired. [Feb 2004, p.82]

Sadly, this flashback is best left in the tar pits of old-school. [Jun 2006, p.61]

Team Rainbow's colors have never looked so bad. [Jun 2006, p.85]

With a great story and production values, that might've been enough, But everything about the game is less-than-heroic, including Thor himself. [Aug 2011, p.77]

Gearheads might keep coming back for the toys and outfits, but everyone else will run like hell. [Aug 2011, p.77]

The fact that every cheap death forces you to start a mission over from scratch is just the final nail in Xotic's suffocating coffin. [July 2011, p.81]

NASCAR fan or no, you'll want to steer clear of Unleashed.

Whether you’re swinging a pipe or a scalpel, the controls never feel responsive, and rotten collision detection will drive you mad before Jigsaw’s twisted games even have the chance.

Ultra die-hard series addicts will find some reward in a handful of lively but short cutscenes, but overall this licensed title lacks the joy and entertainment of its source material.

Unless you're gung-ho to get 600-plus gamerscore in six hours, you're better off just revisiting the TV show. [Jun 2010, p.82]

SeaBlade does have a few solid moments. Sadly, they are few and far between. [Dec 2002, p.102]

Charming visuals aside, Leedmees does little to distinguish itself, and less to justify its $10 price.

Over in just two to three hours. [Nov 2009, p.78]

Survey responses tend to be puzzlingly inconsistent. [Feb 2012, p.74]

Remember racing RC cars around when you were a kid? Yeah...stick with the memories. [Feb 2009, p.85]

Hope for a fresh star when Cars 2 hit theaters in 2011. [Holiday 2009, p.82]

As you grit your teeth through 30 missions, you'll run into frustration aplenty. [Feb 2012, p.76]

Regrettably, Puddle's enticing possibilities are mired in a swamp of irritating issues. Increasingly lethal obstacles take the place of actual puzzles, and overcoming them requires painful trial and error. Meanwhile, the camera frequently focuses on runaway specks even as most of your goop starts to dissolve once it's off-screen.

When Multiverse is at its best, you'll enjoy its clever quips and competent shooting. Unfortunately, these highlights are all too rare.

You can stay busy in the pretty lengthy career mode, where you're competing in tournaments, unlocking various disciplines, and following a well-meaning but rough storyline. And there's local split-screen and online multiplayer supporting up to four players, but good luck convincing anyone else to join you in this seasonal depression.

Despite the brevity and repetition, plenty of bugs plague these turtles. From low-level quirks like characters getting caught on objects in the environment, to high-level issues like A.I. partners abandoning us or a hacking minigame causing freezes, the amount of glitches in Out of the Shadows is pretty alarming.

It’s a generic zombie story to a Z, and not helped by horrible visuals that awkwardly recycle character models and stages. Together, these elements make the game feel like a reanimated corpse.

The only reason to bother with it is its low-hanging Achievements! [July 2009, p.84]

After several stages, it becomes painfully repetitive. [Oct 2008, p.85]

Some of the bigger bosses are fun to take down, and the grim backgrounds are often quite pretty, but robotically pounding or charging the X button for hours on end will wear down the will-power of even the most stalwart gamers. [May 2011, p.71]

Emulating and amplifying the bloodier side of fighting was, conceptually, a great way to separate Supremacy from other MMA titles. But because of its crippling issues, it stands alone as the one clumsy, bad brawler of its kind on Xbox 360.

Even if the controls weren't the work of a lunatic, chaining maneuvers is unnecessarily frustrating. Fail to leave a pregnant pause between tricks, and X-Fighters ignores your input altogether.

Pine and Quinto deliver the goods; if only this rollercoaster ride sped up instead of slamming the brakes every time we started to enjoy ourselves.

Charging 10 bucks for such a stellar board game in such shoddy wrapping should be illegal. [Apr 2009, p.79]

Deadliest Warrior's violent contests are mainly good only for amusement, as the shallow play mechanics and repetitive battles offer more laughs than longevity.

You might well opt to buy stat upgrades or temporary performance-boosting items instead, for the sake of simple one-on-one multiplayer confrontations. But because stat upgrades make little difference in the field, and you can carry only a single boost item at a time, you're probably better off just playing something else altogether.

Perhaps the developers should have put a bit less effort into securing voice actors(Mark Hamill, Wayne Brady, and Elijah Wood have roles)and a bit more into fine-tuning the mechanics. [Holiday 2008, p.67]

Even at $40, it's hard to recommend to anyone besides serious thrashmasters. [Nov 2010, p.76]

Everywhere else, though, this game falters significantly. [Nov 2010, p.83]

On top of frequent loads, lots of quest-to-quest driving, and graphics akin to Sneak King's, it's clear that no one really tried to make the game work. [Jan 2010, p.77]

Horrendous camera and targeting system. [Apr 2009, p.79]

SNK superfans will covet its three-on-three smackfests, but unless Neowave completes your KOF collection, save your $20. [Jun 2006, p.85]

Not only is this not very challenging, it's just plain boring after two or three levels. [Feb 2003, p.70]

Endlessly bashing dim-witted hordes becomes mind-numbing almost to the point of hypnosis. Unless you’ve got some oddly strong hankering for scatological silliness, it’s probably best to simply flush twice and not look back.

Only hardcore retro addicts should drop the five bucks. [Nov 2007, p.94]

The game does have a few bright spots. Its cel-shaded art style is fun to look at, and the level designs — which include a museum with a huge medieval-castle exhibit, plus an artificial forest inside a skyscraper — are unique and memorable. But that’s not enough to recommend what’s otherwise a stiff, banal mess of wasted potential.

Shred is a hodgepodge of good-on-paper ideas intended for younger and casual gamers, but the poor execution ends up alienating all. [Jan 2011, p.65]

Relies on its demanding difficulty to disguise its creative bankruptcy. [Mar 2010, p.83]

The two-player co-op game makes for mild (offline) fun, but the too-short music loops will drive you crazy and your teeth will hurt from the sugar content. The game’s biggest sin? These Bunnies are boring.

Online multiplayer rekindles fond memories of linked arcade machines, and 30 brief challenges break up the solo routine. But clunky handling and crayon visuals are a harsh reminder of why we rarely visit with the ghosts of videogame racing's past. Daytona USA was once a pace-setting leader; now it's a museum-ready relic.

What could have given other wrestling games a run for their money ends up winded before the ring bell even sounds. [Jan 2011, p.66]

While both adults and children might enjoy the silliness, the simple hop-and-bop mechanics grow old immediately, and the camera's a mess. [Mar 2008, p.92]

The fast-paced simplicity of such a goofy goal made BurgerTime a hit in 1982's arcades, but World Tour tosses in fresh ingredients with little consideration for the damage they do to gameplay. [Oct 2011, p.81]

If you like twitchy old-style gameplay, Konami's Time Pilot port is a much better use of your 400 Microsoft Points($5). [Dec. 2006, p.76]

Don't avoid buying Manhunt because it's sick; avoid Manhunt because it has virtually no redeemable gameplay quality, period. [July 2004, p.87]

You never truly get the sense of being a pro podracer, a vicious monster, or a mighty Jedi, leaving you all-too-aware that you're just playing a videogame…and a mediocre one at that.

When stages start stretching past 10 to 15 minutes apiece thanks to minimal checkpoints and dozens of cheap deaths, though, the game known as a breezy pick-up-and-play classic on phones instead feels like a bitter grind on 360.

Here, you’ll find little beyond groaners, pedestrian prattle, and underdeveloped monotony. Find another path to walk.

Sonic is still the fastest mascot on the block, and his audience desperately wants to root for him. But his latest namesake game is big on rushed disappointment and much too light on fleetfooted pleasure. [Jan. 2007, p.79]

Even at $20, scratch this one. [Aug 2006, p.82]

This mediocre trudge is definitely one you'll regret. [Apr 2008, p.79]

At a full $60, there's absolutely no reason to touch this with a ten-foot-pole, especially with so many other, better shooters on the market in this record-settingly awesome holiday season. [Jan 2008, p.62]

It's simply too tedious to work as either a game or as propaganda. [Holiday 2007, p.78]

It all works fine, it's just pretty cheesy and not in the least compelling. [Holiday 2005, p.70]

If this is what like as a drug kinpin is like, we'll stick to our day jobs. [Nov. 2006, p.74]

Throw in groan-inducing power-ups and uninspired graphics, and you'll be bored before the weekend's up. [Feb 2006, p.79]

A survival mode and a handful of inventive multiplayer scenarios add some replayability, but considering that they suffer from the same issues that plague the core game, you're probably best leaving raider in the bomb. [Jan 2014, p.76]

It's sad to see an under-the-radar favorite tank so spectacularly in an attempt to revitalize the brand, but Cartel is one call you can clearly push to voicemail.

For a rather simplistic platformer, Alien Spidy’s ultimately just too challenging, in all the wrong ways. Even after many play sessions, we didn’t feel like we were learning what we needed to eventually master it, and that’s a big turnoff.

The slow-to-respond point-and-click gameplay is more pixel-hunting than actual deductive case-solving. [Dec 2009, p.82]

This year's PES is a step backward, and letting players fake injury to draw fouls is the least of the offenses. [June 2008, p.81]

FN's only rewarding attributes are the high quality character models and the perfect license. Everything else needs work. [Nov 2003, p.130]

Stylish visuals and a skintight catsuit can't save Catwoman from baffling controls (jump is the right shoulder button?), repetitive combat sequences, and predictable AI. [Oct 2004, p.74]

Lots of blood, but not enough meat. [Jan 2005, p.84]

Poorly designed levels with lackluster textures and little to no environmental interaction only compound the game's senseless enemy AI. [May 2004, p.84]

Ultimately, it never feels like you have much real effect on what's going on out on the court. [June 2002, p.80]

Admirably, it doesn't just resort to predictable, cliched platformer gameplay - it resorts to that and a respectably varied selection of other gameplay interludes. [Sept 2005, p.80]

Combat is sluggish and mediocre...Merely a shell of the quartet's former glory. [Holiday 2004, p.68]

Sadly, with some polish, this could have been a really good game. [Nov 2002, p.145]

It totally lacks imagination or polish. Toss this one back. [Nov 2003, p.102]

Throw in some bland graphics, awful voice acting, and AI unable to react to events in teh environment - like a grenade landing at its feet - and not even a two-player co-op mode can save this one. [Aug 2004, p.79]

What is tedious about BMT2 is the glut of relentless jokes at the expense of gays and hillbillies. They're awfully cheap. [Dec 2005, p.112]

The occasional turn-based tactical shootout could’ve injected some much-needed verve, but the arbitrarily frugal placement of cover points too often forces your thugs to stand out in the open, and questionable line-of-sight will make you curse the inability to save in the middle of an engagement.

Twister Mania would be a suitable XBLA download at a discount price, but at $50? For this piece of retail fluff? We'll stick with the plastic mat, thanks.

Kudos to Tecmo for the neat ability to swap between the classic 16-bit look and 3D makeover on the fly (offline only), a la Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. But sadly, the rest of Throwback feels as flat as those ancient visuals. [Jun 2010, p.82]

With its occult themes and flying ammo, Bullet Witch aspires to be a gritty action epic in the "Devil May Cry" vein, but it lacks the design chops to pull off the job. [Apr 2007, p.89]

Do yourself a favor and download the far superior Torchlight instead. It's not D&D, but it's a heck of a lot more fun to play. [Aug 2011, p.82]

Hard Lock relies on these barely interactive sequences to the point of absurdity.

Shoot Many Robots seemed like a sure thing, and its extensive and amusingly described weapon and gear options - which directly affect stats - are a standout feature; really, they're the only one that feels fully developed here. Nearly everything else around it is as unremarkable as a pile of bolts.

Ultra-repetitive, with very little sense of danger. [Apr 2009, p.78]

Poor value is the real deal-breaker, though. Because Battleship weighs in at just seven single-player missions and zero multiplayer (seriously???), it's only a few hours of mindless fun, and you can easily beat it in a long afternoon. For $60, we deserve a game that sinks battleships, not wallets.

For all its simminess, hooking one of the 20 varieties of fish is a largely random affair. [June 2007, p.71]

We believe Duke still has at least one good game left in him, but regrettably, this DLC isn't it.

A few tough boss battles drag on way too long, and at least one suffers from a game-breaking glitch that might force you to restart the entire level. That sort of crap is nobody’s idea of a good time. Truly dedicated soldiers might power through, but most will leave this contested rock to drift through space.

As clever as its core concept is, the Yoostar series still struggles to be more than a half-baked party trick - and it's one that's losing appeal with each lackluster performance.

Stick with "Smash Tv" for similiar action with more thrills and better co-op play. [Jun 2006, p.64]