It's the same game you've been playing since September but with a prettier graphics engine. But oh is it a joy to watch? [Jan 2006, p.80]

Why are some levels so awesome, and others feel like they were bought off a guy on a street corner? [Jan 2006, p.78]

This 2007 edition is the undeniable pinnacle of the genre, dropping a powerful payload of pugilistic power-tripping that you'd have to be nuts to pass up. [Holiday 2006, p.84]

It’s definitely a “more of the same” type of sequel and it has a few rough edges the original didn’t, but Ninja Gaiden II is still one of the best, most exhilarating action experiences on Xbox 360.

Hardcore MechWarrior fans who won't play online much may be disappointed with MechAssault 2. But for Live addicts/multiplayer buffs, expect big returns on your investment. [Feb 2005, p.82]

Infinitely playable, online and off. [Dec 2004, p.99]

Its giddy, family-friendly spirit makes Kinect Party a perfect game for adults and kids alike - though not necessarily in groups of five or six, where the game feels crowded and players may end up vying for screenspace and floorspace, even in a large, Kinect-ready room.

Proves enjoyable and instantly accessible. [Apr 2005, p.87]

What's here is already a fun reminder that gem-bashing is the best way to raid dungeons. [Sept 2010, p.86]

It’s immediately tangible, even from the title screen, that Prince of Persia is a labor of love, meant to bridge luxurious aesthetic and spitshine polish with emotional investment. And despite its overly repetitive structure, we found ourselves compelled to fight our way through to see how it all ends — donkey or not.

Weather effects are, believe it or not, even better now, highlighted by the blowing rain in the final single-player mission. [Sept 2003, p.79]

Not on quite the same quality echelon as "Madden" or "NBA Street Vol. 2," but it's the exact shot in the arm that the state of arcade football genre desperately needed. [Mar 2004, p.82]

A wide-ranging and entertaining beast of a simulation, but it's showing its age. Issues we've seen for years now — like garish sideline details, poor transitions, and incorrect stadium surroundings — remain untouched, with new ones added to the mix (like odd facial texture glitching).

The dogfighting, though, feels aimless unless you're playing with people who really know what they're doing: We predict it'll be the stomping ground of the uber-hardcore pilots. [Nov 2007, p.88]

Though its missteps won’t have you eagerly trading Lego Marvel Super Heroes around with your friends when you’re done, leafing through its open-world NYC still succeeds as a goofy, absorbing time sink.

This game isn’t one you stick with for its story. A bully’s quest to end bullying among cliques by relentlessly bullying everyone does not make a good yarn. But it does make an impressively wide-open world full of tons of gameplay types and nuggets of surprise. Your inner game explorer won’t be able to resist.

Ah yes, multiplayer. It is an incredible experience...While single-player is mostly solid, multiplayer is, like the original game, GR2's real star. [Holiday 2004, p.74]

Still, even with these issues, Tekken 6 punches through as an excellent addition to the fighter library on 360. [Jan 2010, p.73]

Terrific character-unlock system. [Oct 2009, p.82]

This has never been a game for just anyone. It takes a specific type of gamer to be able to wade through the seemingly mundane tasks and details. [Dec 2002, p.112]

It's a lifeless action game crossed with a shallow strategy game; a game that seems to take the safe route in all things... but one that I still can't stop playing. Arrrrgggh! [Aug 2005, p.80]

What's available here remains as ridiculously appealing as ever. It's still a thrill unique to the series to be perched six stories high, looking out across miles of meticulously rendered game world - even if that dazzling, danger-filled world has grown overly familiar, having traded what was once revolution for iterative evolution.

Madden 07 marks a turnaround for the franchise on the 360, and that's reason enough for football fans to rejoice. [Oct. 2006, p.77]

Feels a bit like an expansion pack. But it's a big expansion pack that you can completely vanish into and emerge a couple of weekends later feeling like you got your money's worth. [Dec 2009, p.74]

Serious golf fans will want to spring for this game, even though it’s a lightweight but quality upgrade on Tiger 09. But if you’re more casual and you only fire up Tiger every now and again, you’ll be fine waiting for next year’s game and what will hopefully be a beefier step toward golfing nirvana.

Condemned 2 was designed to mess with your head, and boy, does it succeed. We’re glad we got the chance to return to Metro City, but the old town has changed — in some ways for the better, but a little for the worse.

Blood Dragon becomes too easy too soon, thanks in part to the steady stream of health-bar upgrades and damage-reduction bonuses you’ll unlock as you tear through 30 experience-based levels of personal progression. By the end you’re practically unstoppable, so you’ll almost certainly overcome all seven story missions, and complete every optional hunting excursion and hostage rescue, in under five hours.

Driver: San Francisco hasn't got much in the way of cutting-edge visual pizzazz or precision physics, but it gets enough online mileage out of the body-snatching gimmick to make up for some offline disappointments.

Modern mechanics give this chestnut new life. [Mar 2009, p.81]

Despite the off-tone retelling, though, Lego Lord of the Rings succeeds in being the most authentic and complete LOTR videogame to date.

From Dust's malleable world is intoxicating to wield power over, even if your control feels more like work than actual fun at times. Juggling resources and racing against the cycles of nature isn't for everyone. Though stages grow progressively harder, the game doesn't really have a climax to break up its even-keeled rhythm, making it less of a thundering ride and more of a blissfully Zen, workman-like process.

Highly honed, it beautifully perfects the elements that the first three games almost nailed without reaching for the next great thing the way a truly classic game does. [Mar 2007, p.76]

Greatness. The one-liners and parodies are still funny, the level design is outstanding. [Nov 2008, p.64]

This is a perfect example of how a compilation should be done. [June 2005, p.88]

Diverse online multiplayer battles are exciting and accessible. [Apr 2010, p.80]

The Darkness II's copious gore might upset sensitive stomachs, but it's vastly superior to its predecessor in every respect, spinning a frantic, fantastic neo-noir nightmare you won't want to end. Even those who ordinarily dismiss horror with a shake of the head should give it a shot.

What pushes the gameplay over the top is how at any time you can let go of the rope, pull off some wild tricks and call the rope back. [Aug 2003, p.76]

Punishing but fair, Trials Fusion is a fast-paced platformer with fantastic level design and a few new ideas. It’s just a shame that the new ideas aren’t implemented better.

While IL-2 doesn't quite manage to be the awesomest air combat game of all time, it comes temptingly close. [Oct 2009, p.68]

Still, Tiger 07 is a strong upgrade with lots of smart ways to have a great time playing a virtual game of golf. [Dec. 2006, p.75]

It's everything you'd expect from NHL 2003, except - isn't it time you expected more? [Dec 2002, p.133]

Great open world with tons to explore and thrash. [July 2010, p.82]

So Legend on the 360 remains an 8.0, just like the Xbox version--there's no other game that gives you quite the rush that Tomb Raider has in the past and does now with Legend. [Jun 2006, p.85]

Playing through Kong is one of the freshest gaming experiences we've had all year. [Holiday 2005, p.34]

Even with some less-than-thrilling scenarios and its failure to reward player choice, Sleeping Dogs ultimately delivers a very good open-world action experience. It hits enough high notes to warrant the trip to Hong Kong, even if the route there feels a little too familiar. [Oct 2012, p.64]

For 2006, soccer fans will get the most complete representation of the top leagues, best players, and fanciest skills, but will still be waiting for the total killer app package. This one is a good step in that direction. [Nov 2005, p.118]

And however you play each story, Telltale’s seemingly simple presentation reveals its writers’ skill in surfacing humanity in even the most inhumane acts. (After all, in the zombie apocalypse, does “doing what’s right” even matter anymore?) Action segments come slightly faster and more furious in some of these stories than they did in most of Season One, with rudimentary gunplay and weapon-handling conveying a more grisly side of survival, but decision-making remains the game’s biggest challenge — and draw.

Sim or no sim, it's a kick-in-the-pants ride. [Aug 2006, p.81]

If you're new to the series, this collection is a terrific way to get into it all in one huge, time-sucking package. [oliday 2007, p.82]

More than just singing to words on a screen. It's an actual game that rates your performance with a vocal analyzer that scores how well you stayed on key. [Holiday 2004, p.80]

The floaty physics is surely intended to make the game more "mass market," but it's just silly to watch vehicles drift through the air like gravity was a myth. [May 2005, p.81]

Fable III is most memorable not because it makes you laugh, but because it also makes you care. If a spouse gets carved up in your absence, you'll feel pangs of guilt. When your dog saves your bacon during a fight, you'll feel pride.

There's a gentle magic in Giants' cunning formula, but it's a spell that collectible-minded gamers of all ages will find incredibly hard to resist.

It's a decent surf sim, but by no means definitive. [Nov 2002, p.120]

Doesn't feel as complete as it should. But the sheer intensity and scale of the battles, as well as the expertly crafted environments and diversity of characters, make it work better than you'd expect. [Nov 2004, p.86]

A complex puzzler. [Feb 2010, p.88]

Virtua Tennis 3 delivers big where it matters most--irresistible, thumb-cramping multiplayer--and boots "Top Spin 2" to the sidelines to rightfully claim the title of best Xbox 360 tennis game. [may 2007, p.82]

Thoroughly unserious and full of laughs, this tasty 3D sidescroller offers some entertaining twists on the typical platform game. [Sept 2006, p.81]

Not every activity enthralls, and it's a brief overall affair with little incentive for repeated solo-play once you complete a couple of cycles. But Happy Action Theater is an absolute powder keg of a party experience, instilling childlike delight in nearly anyone that crosses its path while proving imaginative minds can still make inspired use of Kinect.

A near-total package, but when compared head-to-head with "March Madness 2004," it doesn't feel as exciting or addictive. [Dec 2003, p.94]

It packs enough pure dazzle power to keep you trudging through the lows in pursuit of the sweet, sweet highs - and that's the stuff that great golf is made of. [Oct 2007, p.68]

It’s a consistently enjoyable romp that takes one of the most potentially depressing settings imaginable and makes it vibrant, fun, and fascinating. Metro: Last Light is an excellent follow-up to an underrated game, and if you’re looking for a good, meaty first-person adventure, its subterranean world is worth delving into.

The game's real genius is in its presentation - mega options and a clean interface are backed up by mostly cool and occasionally superb, graphics. [Dec 2003, p.146]

[A] few soft spots are what keep Kingdoms of Amalur from being truly dazzling. It's a great RPG - one that gives you an almost Bethesda level of freedom - and it has so much content that you could be playing the game for a couple of months. [Mar 2012, p.72]

A House Divided makes a strong case for being the best episode of Telltale’s Walking Dead series to date, but it’s more amazing to think on what's being set up for the rest of the season.

Smart Bomb doesn't try to bite off more than it can chew. [July 2010, p.77]

The puzzle-like challenges are a great way for seasoned players to test their mettle. So is multiplayer, especially the new four-player Planechase mode, in which the rules of the game change at random through a specialized deck of cards.

A splendid, imaginative romp. [Jan 2002]

A surprisingly fun arcade romp with a bit of story thrown in. [June 2003, p.85]

UEFA Euro 2008 narrows the FIFA ranks to just 52 teams in competition for the confederation's crown, but it still delivers realistic control, convincing independent ball physics, and smooth online play-making. [June 2008, p.81]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

Innovative levels with plenty of optional challenges. [May 2010, p.73]

PES 2014 shows its strengths in the most important places, but ultimately could be more appealing to a wider audience with some polish in the right places. Even so, it's a strong entry in the series that proves there's definitely room for two on the pitch.

Though players no longer look like stunningly detailed mannequins, they do sometimes warp toward the basket or other players because an animation key tells them to. More important, Live still plays just too fast for our liking. But Live 10 shows the series is at least heading in the right direction.

The controls are not as tight as you want when your virtual life is on the line. [Jan 2006, p.64]

Simply having the game online is a significant enough step forward. [Feb 2003, p.77]

Solid, entertaining, and graphically attractive, without ever leaping into risky territory. Unfortunately, that's exactly what's keeping the series from being truly great. [Dec 2003, p.150]

The defensive side of EA Sports' game is like the St. John's men's team: weak and vulnerable. [Holiday 2004, p.82]

Telltale has a lot to deal with out of the gate for All That Remains, and is successful managing most of it. It still doles out plenty of handwringing, emotional moments (in both brutal and overarching flavors), but we’re waiting for Telltale to tie this package together in a truly satisfying manner.

The feature that's sadly missing is the PS2 version's EyeToy-enabled face-mapping mode where your superstar can look like you. [Holiday 2005, p.89]

Everything that you need to get your flabby butt in shape is included in Yourself!Fitness, except for the equipment, which isn't a requirement. [Jan 2005, p.74]

The Broken Bond provides a similarly potent blend of action, adventure, fighting, and puzzling--all supported by light RPG addictiveness--while also cranking up the nine-tailed-demon-fox fun with some strong additions. [Jan 2009, p.79]

Destruction is simply more fun than obsessive tuning, assuming you've got a few screws loose to start with. [Nov 2007, p.84]

The look of the game is quite stylized, and it works very well, while learning the controls takes little time. [Oct 2002, p.108]

Otogi's uncanny amount of spooky artistry, otaku-level challenge, and blissful action make this game a rare treasure and a treat to play. [Oct 2003, p.68]

So while a handful of dings and scrapes will unquestionably set some teeth on edge, Forza Motorsport 5 remains a fantastic opening salvo in the battle of the Xbox One racers.

Absolution has the pacing and exotic set-piece locations of a James Bond film, which seems appropriate given that 47 is essentially Bond stripped of his smirk, gadgets, and vices.

Its flaws are overshadowed by crisp controls and the same unbridled fun that has made this the best wrestling series for years. [Dec 2008, p.86]

If you consider yourself a platformer aficionado, you won't find anything here that's particularly genre-shattering, but Kameo's presentation is flawlessly executed. [Jan 2006, p.56]

Our only complaint is that with such a large roster, many of the characters tend to play too similarly to one another. Facing a team with both Vice and Mature may prove confusing, for instance, as they're both suit-wearing female assassins. Compared to all the goodness on hand here, though, that's a small complaint.

One of the most fun, frenetic, addictive multiplayer action shoot-'em-ups on Xbox, and, most likely, any system. [July 2002, p.73]

Unless you're a Sesame Street super-fan, playing alone or with another adult will rob those sequences of their full impact. As with the TV show, kids are clearly the center of Monster's universe. But for parents seeking a videogame to share with their children, this game offers hours of joy.

There's a big difference: instead of hopping and bopping on one foot, you spend most of your time in tricked-out vehicles you make yourself. [Holiday 2008, p.72]

But the compelling big-play action, an addicting career mode, and an amusing Home Run Pinball mini-game make The Bigs worth plenty more than the Cracker Jack-toy letdown you might have expected. [Aug 2007, p.78]

EA Sports MMA's universal accessibility - especially its fast-paced career progression and one-button-based grappling - is an impressive improvement over UFC Undisputed's dense amount of complexity. Both games are great, but EA Sports MMA is, indisputably, the best brawler of its kind.

Visually, the game looks pretty darn snazzy--it's better than "NHL 2K7" by a country mile--and it plays much better, too, though it's nowhere near as deep in the features department. [Nov. 2006, p.82]

This episode dazzled us. Everything from its brisk pace to its gorgeous, comic-booky visuals to Lee and Clementine's sweet friendship just feels right. Unlike so many zombie games, its story is human instead of hokey, and it helps make The Walking Dead, Episode 1 slam-bang entertainment.

It's straight out of 1989, and that makes it either archaic or retro-cool comfortable. With Capcom's steady attention to polish and presentation, Lost Planet falls into the latter category more often than not. And even if it's familiar, it's definitely not repetitive. [Jan 2007, p.48]