Swaying your arms and sliding down an ice tube is lightly amusing, but it doesn't add up to much - you can clear all of Crashed Ice's events in an hour, leaving you with little to do but chase leaderboard rivals.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

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.

The premise is full of universe-expanding potential, but ultimately, it's undermined by mind-numbing gameplay.

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]

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

There's just not enough here to warrant even a $15 price. The game includes only eight fighters in two divisions, and no real career mode to encourage long-term play. With more fighters and more easily unlocked bonus video content, the game would've offered a better introduction to this relatively new fighting league.

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

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

Played out against a great backbeat with tracks from San Quinn, Turf Talk, and Rhymefest, And 1 reminds us that basketball isn't just a game; it's a way of life. [Aug 2006, p.78]

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]

An all-killing, all-leaping game in which you can neither kill nor leap...that truly does spell the end of honor for this Ninja. [Apr 2005, p.87]

Zoids Assault's gameplay is certainly challenging, but regrettably, it's for all the wrong reasons. [Nov 2008, p.78]

It grows repetitive far too fast, and a few uninspired multiplayer modes do little to extend the fun. [Holiday 2008, p.74]

A much more enjoyable, involving game than its predecessor. [Feb 2003, p.80]

A game stuck between hardcore and casual, without appealing to either one. [Feb 2010, p.84]

A soul-crushing farce that even dedicated strategy junkies should avoid.

It certainly says something about a game's quality when the most impressive feature is the lighting. [Jan 2003, p.84]

Even the hardest bosses are just plain dull, and even fully upgraded weapons lack modernized visual punch. [Aug 2010, p.77]

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.

Sadly, we can't even write this mess off as a movie tie-in rush job. It's just unforgivable. [June 2005, p.78]

Perhaps it's most critical element is deceptive: Samurai Shodown: Sen is so unfamiliar that even the franchise's most dedicated fans won't recognize it. [Jun 2010, p.83]

No quantity of vamires, werewolves, and undead zombies can salvage its dreadfully tedious gameplay. [July 2008, p.70]

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]

Traditional baseball-sim junkies will recoil at the ease and simplicity, but kids and casual fans might enjoy stepping up to this plate.

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.

Unless you're a Yu-Gi-Oh! master, stay far, far away. [March 2011, p.81]

Lame animation and boring level design. [July 2010, p.81]

A virtual mess of epic proportions. [Dec 2005, p.115]

RPM Tuning isn't even worth a dumb racing joke about flat tires and blown engines. Please, Kemco: Stop. [May 2005, p.86]

As the game reaches its midpoint, repetitive missions and aggravating boss encounters begin to sap the seat-of-your-pants fun.

You’ll certainly enjoy the explosive chaos of these Unreal Tournament–style battles; but with only four game modes and limited match options, even blowing your opponents to smithereens can get boring.

Sixteen-player online matches might offer some relief from the solo tedium…if you can locate someone to play with on Xbox Live. We tried several times with the retail game, to absolutely no avail.

But the only words this adaptation brings to mind are "suck my b*lls." [Dec 2011, p.68]

Enemy A.I. is ludicrously accurate and all-seeing. [Sept 2010, p.85]

Unless ghostbusting is in your very marrow, Sanctum isn't worth the headaches. [June 2011, p.88]

Some games baffle us by merely existing, and yes, Interpol, you are one of those games.

A clunky interface is your gateway to placeholder text, graphical glitches, and other telltale signs of simply not giving a crap.[March 2005, p.84]

We expect a few things from a modern arcade-style brawler: reasonably placed checkpoints, more than one playable character, varied enemies, and multiplayer. Golden Axe: Beast Rider, Sega’s reinvention of the arcade classic, delivers none of them. Perhaps the worst oversight of the bunch is the lack of multiplayer options.

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.

The separate online co-op stages can be fun--both Maze and Survival help level up your characters--but the strange blandness of the overall proceedings keeps N3 II from appealing to anyone not mesmerized by constant slaughter. [Oct 2010, p.83]

Multiplayer is where the real action is...Here, stripped of its stealthy pretensions, 007 Legends is finally free to focus on the mindless but consistently enjoyable twitch action it does best.

Feels totally manufactured and formulaic. [Sept 2007, p.76]

Even with the Quest Mode’s extra goals, the game felt too simple for its own good. Extra value should’ve come from the online modes, but horrific lag rendered them unplayable, and there’s no offline multiplayer.

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]

If I were William Ford, I'd be looking for a new ad agency. [Nov. 2006, p.81]

Gun-crazed gamers just looking for another run-and-shoot romp will find the plodding pace and home-spun presentation distasteful, but Darkest of Days offers everyone else enough fresh and rewarding gameplay to offset its worst problems.

With Kinect Sports hosting way better bowling, you should avoid this at all costs. [Feb 2011, p.75]

The gameplay, however, suffers from severe redundancy. [Jan 2003, p.83]

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

Unless you're a six-year-old yearning to take every concievable model of Hummer for a spin in a simplistic, arcadey race, this game isn't worth your time. [July 2006, p.82]

Ultimately, despite its few hours of gory entertainment, Ryder White's an underwhelming add-on that we'd recommend only to fervent Dead Island fans.

The game still falls far short of modern shooters, and the boss battles often fail to add new gameplay tactics to the mix. But when the game rises to the occasion - like during the battle against giants, and in a sniping section set on a bridge - it's a fine conclusion to the franchise.

Old arcade pros will miss the coin-op's grippy spinner knob, but the right analog stick approximates it well; finesse players can still win games with superior targeting skill. [July 2007, p.79]

Just a visually ugly game, through and through. [Jan 2006, p.68]

Koei fanatics might be satisfied, but everyone else will be as disappointed as ever. [Nov 2008, p.76]

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

From its mind-bending control scheme to its smorgasbord of play types, Street Trace's learning curve hews closer to "Catan" than "Hexic". [Aug 2007, p.81]

If you're not gnashing your teeth trying to make Totem Ball work, then you're gritting them in pain because your arms are killing you. [Holiday 2006, p.80]

Diehard fans might forgive, but everyone else should just forget. [Aug 2008, p.75]

Essentially, the only thing that kept us playing the campaign mode was to escape the horrible rap metal in the menu screens. [Mar 2009, p.83]

It's the same as "Gauntlet: Dark Legacy." And by "the same," we mean "virtually identical." [Jan 2003, p.92]

As a gigantic fan of cycling, I'm absolutely crushed to report that this game is atrocious. [Oct 2009, p.80]

Cheap games don't have to be devoid of imagination, and Combat has no excuse for stapling together a bunch of tired cliches and calling it a bargain. [June 2005, p.82]

If you've got a few friends, it can actually be pretty fun. [Apr 2008, p.76]

Its fundamentals are solid enough, but too bland and redundant. [Jan 2003, p.78]

Against similarly matched opponents, it's a tense, fast-paced contest, and it delivers an experience that's fairly unique to the digital format. For this mode, we'd pay the $10. [Nov 2007, p.94]

Blood Knights is too easy to ever become actively irritating, but its deficit of danger makes it too darn dull to hold even a devoted horror nut’s attention for long. Perhaps it’s a blessing, then, that the whole ho-hum campaign clocks in at just four hours.

Really, the biggest problem with Monster Jam is its price--for $20, we'd be all over it, but $50? Get over your bad self. [Mar 2008, p.92]

As with other Namco Live Arcade games, the coin-op's alternating-turns two-player mode is gone(update the emulator already, Namco!), so you New Rally-X replay value depends entirely on how much nostalgia you've got in the tank. [Mar 2007, p.81]

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.

Still, for anyone with a youngling who loves the Lego Star Wars games, the bang-on look and feel of Clone Wars will be a solid co-op romp. [Holiday 2009, p.80]

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

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

While you'll miss the novelty of a glowing blue joystick and an analog spinner, setting the controls to "Absolute Aim" (preset C or D) gives you enough precision to do battle on the Game Grid. [July 2007, p.79]

And while the game is generally fun, it's strictly for casual, arcade racing-style fans. [Jan 2008, p.69]

Not even cel-shaded reptiles can save a game cursed with tissue-thin design, weak AI, and repetitive gameplay. [June 2005, p.78]

As a free Flash game, Bliss Island would be mildly entertaining, but in light of Live Arcade's more engaging offerings, it just doesn't cut it here. [June 2008, p.81]

Continental Drift has the markings of a great family game, but we couldn't help but feel like it overestimates what the human body + Kinect can currently control. Only the most devoted players will enjoy mastering this game for the sake of doing so.

Fluffy ultraviolence. [Sept 2010, 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]

The idea of mind hackers who can wear other people's flesh as disposable armor in stop-and-pop firefights has potential, but Mindjack feels lobotomized. [April 2011, p.75]

This new Cabela's entry is more like "Most Boringest Wanders," thanks to a shoddy objective marker that either randomnly disappears or leads you in circles. [Holiday 2008, p.74]

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.

There's a decent--heck, maybe even somewhat fun--fighting engine burried somewhere beneath the GTA-clone templated debris, but it never has the chance, or find the energy, to rise above the ashes. [May 2006, p.74]

Definitely inspired by old co-op coin-ups like Ikari Warriors, minus any ambition. [Oct 2009, p.75]

The recurring annoyances that result don't bleed all the joy from clobbering, but they do keep this third-person action game from devel¬oping a more natural flow and better exploiting its gruesome graphic-novel aesthetics. Luckily, such issues are diminished when you try to chop down massive bosses inspired by Celtic mythology.

Fans of the flick or of heroic tales will find a fair bit to like here, but uncovering it all can be a serious chore. [Oct 2010, p.83]

It looks like a last-gen Disney reject, but Brave does a great job of showing children the basics of different genres. [Oct 2009, p.74]

If you don't mind solo workouts, Zumba Fitness delivers in spades. [Jan 2011, p.79]

But ultimately, the choppy multiplayer options and ultra-disbelief-suspending campaign deliver an uneven "What If" history lesson. [Apr 2008, p.74]

The ride is short and bittersweet. [June 2002, p.77]

What other puzzle game lets you play as a headphones-wearing monkey? [Mar 2003, p.80]

Honestly, no one will want to play this for more than 10 minutes. [July 2009, p.81]

A poor-quality marketing tie-in. [July 2010, p.81]

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

Sadly, Cyberball 2072 doesn't live up to our feelings of nostalgia, and a couple of design choices by the dev team leave this port on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage. [Dec 2007, p.78]

At least there's an online-enabled multiplayer mode, but it sure isn't worth suffering through the dismal single-player campaign for. [Mar 2006, p.82]