Even with our expectations lowered, Yaiba still managed to disappoint. It’s even more sexist than we presumed, uglier than some 360 launch titles, and feels budget-y without the accompanying charm. Hayabusa deserves better.

Nothing bout the experience stands out, and in eschewing modern enhancements and conveniences, the developer hasn't crafted a purer or more-to-the-point shooter--just a much less interesting and impactful one. [April 2014, p.72]

At 30 bucks, Farming Simulator 2013 mainly reminds us why the expression “bought the farm” has such negative connotations.

In every respect, Fighter Within feels hacked together and devoid of interesting ideas or precise execution. The result is a game that would’ve been lousy at the launch of the original Kinect, but on Xbox One it’s just embarrassing.

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.

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]

Appalling.

Enduring the samey mission types 20 or more times apiece makes the mundane quest feel like a dull grind, and the challenging boss showdowns and resource-gathering minigames don’t stand out enough to offset the tedium.

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.

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.

For a game that plays up its characters’ sex appeal, Girl Fight is stupefyingly unattractive. The character models look like last-gen remnants, and their complete lack of personality and combat pizazz makes them utterly forgettable.

Dedicated fans of punishing classics like Mega Man might’ve relished the sense of accomplishment, but even they’ll grow tired of the drudgery, despite some tense boss battles against huge machines.

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.

Even when functional, however, Narco Terror lacks intrigue or interest, and feels like a lazy take on a well-worn blueprint.

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.

Do yourself a favor: leave R.I.P.D. in its grave.

Dynasty Warriors 8 should be the pristine, refined culmination of a long-running franchise, but instead it’s a reminder of how much a series can deteriorate when it coasts on its success.

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.

Predictably, you’ll have a much better time blasting away in by-the-numbers deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture-the-flag engagements — well, if you can find any other players in the ghost town that passes for Scourge’s multiplayer lobby. Given the game’s crippling problems, it’s hard to blame folks for staying away in droves.

A now-linear mess of awful mechanics, broken A.I., and constant glitches that wouldn’t have been remotely acceptable even in the console’s early days.

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.

But the biggest bug of all came when Fireburst simply stopped working, and hard-froze our console any time we tried loading an event. Deleting and downloading the game anew didn’t help; we had to start over using another gamertag. Were we not reviewing this horrendous, bug-ridden racer, we would’ve taken that as a welcome sign to burn it from our memories and never look back.

Showdown may have slick cars, death-defying moments, and corny dialogue like the films, but it lacks the punch and precision that’s made the top Fast & Furious films so darn fun.

Though you’ll hunt pigs, turkey, elk, and many other animals across the 30 core missions, Hunter’s Trophy 2 is absolutely exhausting in its monotony. Neither the pursuit nor the kill proves remotely interesting, and it makes for a terribly tedious time.

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.

Snoop has been involved in some lame non-musical ventures over the years, but Way of the Dogg may be a new low.

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.

XBLA’s Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons pulls the beating heart out of Technōs’ 1988 coin-op Double Dragon II: The Revenge and stomps on it until it barely resembles the sequel we once loved.