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

Despite having tons of unlockable content, the game will hold little thrills for annyone above age 12, and even kids will finish the thing before the weekend is up. [Aug 2006, p.78]

Yes, people, it finally happened - a phone game's been ported to Xbox Live Arcade! [June 2009, p.79]

Track-building may be entertaining, but overall, JAM's an iffy proposition made worse by its agonizing Arcade mode.

A tiresome, soon-to-be-forgotten exercise in tedium. [Oct 2003, p.84]

Fatal's look hasn't exactly aged well, and SNK has done little to update the graphics. [Dec 2007, p.78]

Your $5 will be better spent elsewhere. [Dec 2009, p.78]

Grueling career mode will make you want to cut off your right hand. [Jan 2006, p.75]

Between lag, lockups, and a general lack of players, Bloody Good Time guarantees that you'll have anything but. [Feb 2011, p.79]

Though the compilation's $30 price is alluring, gamers' found memories would probably serve them just as well. [May 2011, p.79]

Most disappointing is that unlike previous Rabbids games, most of the mini-games just aren't fun without multiple players. And even with them, bland activities aren't always enjoyable. With no basic story to hold everything together, anyone besides Rabbids fans will have no motivation to keep going.

Unless your taste in classics runs on the obscure side (hello, "Super Qix"), Taito Legends might be best left in the vault. [Jan 2006, p.71]

If you crave a Rayman game that mixes a retro vibe with contemporary gameplay and gorgeous graphics, do yourself a favor and opt for last year's stellar Rayman Origins. Rayman 3 HD's dated platformer appeal is a playground strictly for old-school nostalgics seeking a tangible example of how far the genre has evolved.

The tracks are nicely designed as well, but again, the effort seems fairly wasted due to the extremely dated graphics engine. [June 2005, p.86]

As a result, tackling the solo tournaments seems pointless unless you've mastered these rigged shots, and ranked matches often become lopsided contests that favor folks who've memorized the most. [Feb 2011, p.83]

Dark Sector assumes you’ve played a metric ton of games. And even if you have, you’re still likely to get confused and frustrated. Some kind of hint when you’re clearly not grasping it would’ve gone a long way toward easing the pain.

GripShift includes a ton of new tracks and a brand-new deathmatch mode--which lets you face off against your pals on Xbox Live--but this game isn't worth the points. [Jan 2008, p.65]

Sonic Adventure may have been a 3D revolution for Sega's storied franchise when it debuted in 1999, but in these HD-ified days, it just feel dated. [Nov 2010, p.69]

SkyHeroes isn't bad, and we aren't getting a new Crimson Skies anytime soon, but don't rush out to buy this kid-skewed substitute. [Nov 2010, p.71]

If more attention was paid to the actual mutant -fueled action, it could have been a heck of a lot of scary fun. Instead, it hardly elicits a goose bump. [June 2005, p.81]

Though the 10-player online matches may sound attractive, they're not worth the hassle of the core gameplay. [Nov 2010, p.73]

After 13 years, Duke Forever is ultimately and thoroughly mediocre, with heavy bouts of boredom and frustration mixed in. And yet, for anyone with an appreciation for videogame history, we absolutely recommend giving it a playthrough.

As an extension of Dead Space 3’s story, it’s ultimately a bit pointless — especially with its cliffhanger ending, which effectively deprives you of the closure the main game (minus its end-credits tease) delivered. Unless you’re a hardcore fan or franchise completist, we’d suggest saving your $10 and replaying Dead Space 3 instead.

But still, the unexceptional, shooter-by-numbers gameplay isn't compelling enough to demand your attention--either solo or in tandem. [Apr 2008, p.76]

These repeated cheap deaths make the sparse checkpoints and the lack of a mid-mission save feature all the more obvious. At least there are no load times between deaths. [Aug 2005, p.85]

Reinventing an old coin-op is fine with us, but unfortunately, this redux fails to meet modern standards. [April 2011, p.79]

So-so gameplay can be confusing. [Sept 2010, p.81]

All you're really left with is accumulating points...but since the game has no multiplayer to spice up that trivial pursuit, why even bother. [Aug 2007, p.81]