A collection like this should be extremely quick, easy fun, and Museum's quirks detract too much from that. [Holiday 2008, p.74]

Old-schoolers will appreciate the effort put into Origins, even if it reinforces the progress fighters have made since that late-'90s Silver Age.

With too much backtracking between locations..., short play time, and a frustratingly inconclusive ending (closure be damned), Still Life limits its appeal to the already converted. [June 2005, p.81]

None of these issues ruin the tried-and-true fun of four-way deathmatch, but after so many years, we expected more refinement.

Technical things like weak AI that lets you take down enemies around corners without them reacting, and below-average animation that makes what should be a terrifying boss battle laughable. [Mar 2004, p.80]

You’ll also have no one to remind you to leave your brain at the door and enjoy this game as it was meant to be taken - as a fairly well-built, over-the-top testosterone fantasy without all the fancy polish or (dare we say it?) smarts of, say, Gears of War, but still an incredibly satisfying shot in the arm for co-op addicts like us.

Strip away the campaign's half-baked tower-defense elements, and you're finally free to focus entirely on the heady business of hauling ass and getting air. [Dec 2011, p.71]

Sonic Unleashed is a game that feels schizophrenic in its execution. Unfortunately, you deal with the fun, easy-going personality for less than half the time.

Even local co-op doesn't add much fun, and Rearmed 2 costs 50% more than its predecessor to boot. [April 2011, p.81]

Runs on pretty graphics and an implausibly irresistable storyline alone. It's a shame that the gameplay hasn't evolved as well. [Nov 2003, p.118]

Nicktoons MLB is fun but frivolous, which should work just fine for kids and families. [Dec 2011, p.75]

Sometimes it ends up feeling like a chore. [Oct 2009, p.77]

Though these simple action relics aren't for everyone, we applaud the respectful approach taken for this reasonably priced release. [Jun 2010, p.83]

The confusing narrative, poor voice acting, and lackluster puzzles make the game hard to love, but if “weird” is your niche, this trip offers some solid entertainment.

It's all beautifully violent yet terminally one-dimensional once the story wraps. [May 2006, p.73]

Like the hordes of Deadites through which you chainsaw a bloody swath, Regeneration's animated, but it's got no soul. [Nov 2005, p.131]

While Double Dragon Neon is definitely entertaining (and priced perfectly), it's unfortunate that a few design quirks weaken it. The promised online play should make it more beatable, but the poorly balanced soloplay does dim Neon's shine.

So if you pick up Coast 2 Coast, don't expect any sort of significant evolution of the arcade experience. [Jun 2006, p.87]

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]

It's still a fun series that can come right back like a determined wrestler, but this year's iteration lacks the polish and wow factor of previous versions. [Holiday 2010, p.78]

Like the "Armored Core" games, Chromehounds feels like an amalgam of smart and goofy, and while it will appeal to fans of the former series, finicky casual types will probably be bored, frustrated, or both. [Sept 2006, p.82]

A few standard scare tactics (dramatic music, flickering lights) and gory battles may satisfy hardened fans of horror, but loot-hunting and taxi missions will likely haunt your dreams more than the given monstrosities of death.

A very bare-bones expression of the genre. [July 2010, p.80]

A decent upgrade or introduction to the series. [Feb 2010, p.88]

It's an intriguing new piece of the puzzle, to be sure. But the two-hour Lost Archive quest doesn't go quite far enough in pushing forward the overall series storyline, making it less essential for those who care more about Assassin's' open-world adventuring than the lore behind it.

It's reasonably fun, but "Jewel Quest" is better, deeper, and more addictive. [Jun 2006, p.62]

It's all very violent, weird, kinda fun, and frequently cheesy. [Oct 2005, p.108]

But the real stars of the show are the battle sequences in which you lead an army of literally hundreds of NPCs into full-on raging wars. It’s just a shame that there’s so much filler between the fights.