If you and/or your kid love the show enough to tolerate all that…you should still stick with the infinitely superior XBLA game Wits & Wagers.

Terrific music and some fun moments can't save Spy Hunter from feeling bargain-bin. [Dec. 2006, p.76]

But it’s not the mythology that brings Via Domus down — it’s the boring and uninspired gameplay, which consists of a bevy of puzzles using fuse panels, a few rudimentary action sequences, and some weak games of hide-and-seek.

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]

Its novel setup could've made Amy an exciting, emotionally charged adventure. Instead, it's a grueling death-march through a gauntlet of poor design choices and feckless player punishment.

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

Though it's fun to earn enough credit points to pimp your licensed Mazda, Toyota, or Nissan into a serious ride via performance upgrades, ITC's featureless concrete racing environments, detached driving physics, MIA damage modeling, and dated graphics bleed too much air from the tires. [Holiday 2006, p. 80]

Realistically, Eragon's appeal won't expand beyond its Potter-like fan base. [Feb. 2007, p.78]

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.

You're better off just buying a puzzle magazine at the airport.

Could the Xbox 360 use a fun and frantic throwback partier? Sure. But this mess isn't it. [Mar 2007, p.82]

Forty bucks for mostly junk is way too much. [Feb 2011, p.80]

In the rare instances that frantic limb-flailing does land your lasso around a calf's neck, the rewards are minimal and unsatisfying: success in the barely-there campaign only unlocks variations on the same boring events in new venues.

It's largely the same game with the bonus elements of online play, voice-commandable teammates, and a map editor. Nothing more, nothing less. [Mar 2006, p.78]

Put your $10 toward a newspaper subscription instead. [Oct 2008, p.85]

It does almost nothing to capitalize on the power of the Xbox. Sadly, the gameplay is no better than the graphics. [Apr 2002, p.80]

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.

It's not even half tubular, much less totally. [Holiday 2005, p.84]

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]

We never thought the day would come where we'd so dislike a Bomberman game, but by being needlessly lacking in the most crucial areas, Act Zero is impossible to love. [Sept 2006, p.78]

Despite its baffling looks, booming resonance, and asymmetrical layout, Rock Revolution’s controller is not actually the game’s biggest problem; it’s Rock Revolution’s note charts and the onscreen icons that make the game so joyless.

Online deathmatches are an abandoned ship. [Sept 2010, p.81]

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

Obliterating futuristic forces and corporate landmarks with upgradable lightning, earthquake, and tornado attacks could've made for some stunning natural fury. But you'd never know it from Elements' main campaign, which spans 90 tepid minutes.

Three deal-breakers emerge in this weak pool game. [Jun 2006, p.62]

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.

Even if hunting is about communing with nature, Trophy Hunter reduces it to boredom. [Feb. 2007, p.80]

Adults will blow through Space Chimps in under three hours. [Oct 2008, p.85]