Midway has taken an already proven formula for hard-hitting action and added cool new gameplay elements that give this Hitz incredible replay value. [Nov 2002, p.88]

Inspired by AD&D, this marvelously detailed, richly atmospheric action-RPG is a ceaselessly entertaining example of how valuable highly focused, simplistic adventuring can really be. [Jan 2003, p.78]

This one doesn't take you by the hand and lead you from plot point to plot point. Instead, GS: TLA is filled with an exhilarating sense of freedom. [Apr 2003, p.65]

This game is made for seasoned gamers, and those kids with exceptional skills. [Aug 2002, p.76]

It's Gauntlet through and through, packed with switches to be thrown, puzzles to solve and medievil overtures that compel you to gnaw on large turkey legs...only polished to a glistening sheen. [Jan 2006, p.47]

At the default resolution, the game captures nicely the crispness of the original CRTs, and especially with Galaga, I was transported instantly back in time. It was awesom! [Oct 2005, p.74]

Driver: Parallel Lines is a slice of the '70's done right. [Apr 2006, p.63]

The big surprise comes from the strength of the narrative, which crackles with snappy dialogue and characters that show real emotion. [Jan 2006, p.47]

Why is Nicktoons Racing the best Mode 7 racer on the GBA? Can anybody tell me that...anybody? [Aug 2002, p.76]

The big surprise comes from the strength of the narrative, which crackles with snappy dialogue and characters that show real emotion. [Jan 2006, p.47]

The R-Type shooters have always been tough-as-nails, and as it turns out, the strategy game is no different - a rarity and a blessing in Japanese games of late. [Jan 2008, p.69]

Play "Final Fantasy I" as a blast from the past, but play "Final Fantasy II" simply because it's a fantastic old-school RPG. [May 2003, p.67]

Captures the feeling of driving a car like no other game on the planet. The physics model is so highly developed and tuned that it actually makes this bare-bones game very engaging. [Oct 2002, p.83]

A game of precision. It's all about early braking and apex kissing, which is great, but not for those looking for obvious thrills. [Feb 2002, p.54]

It's still far from reality, in that the ball is changing hands (or is that feet) literally every second...But it is fun. [June 2002, p.63]

Big on fun, big on energy, and big on speed. For this style of racing, Shox has no equal. [Nov 2002, p.83]

The facial damage system is spectacular. You can actually see the damage you're inflicting on your opponent. Yo Adrianne! This game rocks! [Jan 2003, p.85]

Solid fun. [Oct 2005, p.68]

Velvet Assassin’s strengths are in its quiet, richly framed version of a World War II inside the head. The stealth mechanic is very specific and rigidly pattern based, but it presents its scenarios incredibly well.

Alive with animation and color, TP is easily the best isometric game on the GBA. [Nov 2002, p.103]

Tricky derives as much replay power from its personality as it does its graphics and gameplay. [Feb 2002, p.62]

The biggest improvement is the overall visual quality of the game. [Apr 2003, p.71]

Midway has taken an already proven formula for hard-hitting action and added cool new gameplay elements that give this Hitz incredible replay value. [Nov 2002, p.88]

A racing experience that’d blow Kojak’s hair back. [Feb 2002, p.58]

You may have been expecting yet another "Crash" afterthought scheming to fleece you of another fiddy, but this is a rebirth well worth the investment. [Nov 2007, p.68]

Enjoy the missions, the options, the achievements and the story, but you'll always return for the flight, and the size of the world. For once, bigger means better. [June 2007, p.71]

The grinding is good, the tricks are easy enough for a shlub to pull off, and Electronic Arts does a fine job of fleshing everything out with a series of animated pencil line drawings that jackhammer home the game's exceedingly cool style. [Nov p.93]

Gameplay is exactly like "Live" (with EA's exclusive Freestyle Control), so players can expect fast, adrenaline-pumping gameplay. [Jan 2003, p.84]

You'd be hard pressed to find better cartoon fodder. [Oct 2005, p.68]

Once you go online, the adrenaline rush is unsurpassed. [June 2003, p.57]

It's big, deep and dripping with rhymes. A few framerate hits aside, it looks good, too, if not a bit excessively neon. [Oct 2004, p.75]

Nosgoth is a captivating place to exist in, decadent and elegant, shadowy and mysterious. [Jan 2004, p.56]

The value here ultimately comes down to the creativity of the Pariah community. Decent package overall. [June 2005, p.51]

Not a title that you'd likely want to spend much time with alone, but can be a good deal of fun in a party environment or for younger players. [Jan 2004, p.67]

With its weird mishmash of genres, art styles and difficulty levels, Chocobo and the Magical Picturebook is sort of a mess. But it's the good kind of mess, born of a passionate development team that was determined to pack a ton of ideas into a DS cartridge. [JPN Import; Feb 2007, p.79]

The great thing about the PSP version of the Arc of Napishtim was that it was to mirror the Japanese PC game which.....picked up a bad case of American localization, conceding its hand-drawn sprites for renders, and anime scenes for bulky CG. [Mar 2006, p.48]

Excellent progression and flow are at hand; detonations, interactive environments, timing platforms, memory and action puzzles, pattern-based obstacles, killer bosses, gut-busting 3D movies, excellent level design, spot-on visuals, a vivid soundtrack. [Sept 2003, p.69]

The whole game seems like an exercise in monotony; a battle-tech demo with refreshing character design. [Sept 2006, p.62]

What Full Metal Alchemist lacks in visual punch, visa vie simplistic geometry and slightly stiff animation, it more than makes up for in level design, story, and especially technique. [Jan 2005, p.69]

So close, yet still so far from the ideal wrestling experience I was hoping for. [Oct 2004, p.87]

I narrowly recommend it for series die-hard, unless it keeps you from buying "Rush", in which case you should opt for your DS all the way. [Dec 2005, p.58]

It looks good but not great, feels good but not great, has some very cool moments before running into duller moments right around the corner. [Nov 2007, p.60]

Give Return to Arms credit for maintaining a good level of strategy and balance to the action. [March 2005, p.54]

Strikes just the right chords for creepy gameplay, plus the inclusion of Dante is definitely cool. [Oct 2004, p.75]

As always, it's a fairly simple affair but fun and addictive all the same to tear through scores and scores of enemies using basic combos. [Apr 2005, p.70]

Most of the shots you'll take in XIII require a sniper's touch - expect to become dreadfully familiar with your crossbow. [Dec 2003, p.70]

This is how you do the basics. Solid, familiar JRPG that is better-than-good. And you get to fly around the earth in an awesome airship!

Look past some simplistic visual designs and enjoy the bright, unique style the artists have worked into Whiplash and you'll find a solid game that entertains after you've had your fill with the holiday A-lists. [Jan 2004, p.66]

Use of certain weapons and locomotion across the map can be cumbersome, and the game just doesn't have that same pendulum energy of before in the fights. [Apr 2004, p.64]

The game is also fashioned entirely from clay and contains strange synthesizer music--wait I'm getting a news flash..."techno" they say, and it is reportedly "simplistic and fun," whatever that means. [Feb 2007, p.44]

AH is a manic, rock-hard, 2D assault on your motor skills that may lack the polish of the best of this mighty genre, but gets a pass for being the coolest homegrown game ever. [Nov 2004, p.75]

The lack of online play for Black is notable, but not necessarily crippling. Black works well as a single-player adventure, despite its uneven patches, and certainly does its part to advance the genre of the console shooter. [Apr 2006, p.61]

Straightforward, addictive, surprisingly complex. Don’t approach if you’re unwilling to part with many, many hours of your life, probably without your consent.

With the incorporation of XSN, new passing controls and improved tackling, NFL Fever 2004 gives Xbox owners a reason to rejoice. [Sept 2003, p.87]

The interface has been vastly improved over the original "Treasures", but unfortunately the bonus interviews suffer from unintelligible audio. [Nov 2004, p.75]

RTS fans would do well to investigate Universe at War. [Dec 2007, p.96]

Gameplay falls right where it should be - not too fast, not too slow - just like hockey should be. [Dec 2003, p.98]

Touch Detective 2 1/2 really feels like the game that the original should have been, providing for an experience that I'm sure more people will enjoy this time around. [Nov 2007, p.78]

The gameplay is a real throwback to those THQ SNES action-platformers of old, right down to the floaty control. [Nov 2007, p.75]

There's a ton of mission variety, but whatever your pleasure, you're going to be doing a lot of driving to specified points on the map and entering a lot of red circles to initiate a lot of scripted events. [Aug 2005, p.48]

It's rather disappointing how little this game has changed compared to its handheld cousin - all the minigames are identical to the GBA version, right down to the graphics and sound. [May 2004, p.55]

As much as DD die-hards will dig it, the non-initiated should take note: the visuals are a bit antiquated, and the slightly floaty action lacks the bone-crunching, impactful feel of superior brawlers like "Final Fight." [Jan 2004, p.75]

Although EA's game lacks the spark and depth that Sega's "College Hoops 2K5" provides, it's still a great game that deserves props for some pretty cool and innovative gameplay additions. [Jan 2005, p.81]

Untimately, though, The Simpsons lives and dies on the strength of its gameplay and here it doesn't particularly shine. [Nov 2007, p.64]

A solid 10-level package rife with impressive demonic hordes. [Jan 2005, p.77]

Similarly appealing are the game's various challenges, like trying to impress your date by drifting; you know you're doing well because all these hearts are flying out of your car. [Nov 2004, p.75]

Not since the original "Silent Hill" have I been this chilled by a game. [Sept 2004, p.69]

Jack in and enjoy this one. [Nov p.100]

The best original Mega Man game since the days of Sega Saturn. [Jan 2005, p.56]

If you’re cool with just the DLR years and you can hang with the weird faces Dance the Night Away, but if you’re looking for a comprehensive VH compilation and accurate portrayals you might as well Jump, back into GH5.

The interface has been vastly improved over the original "Treasures", but unfortunately the bonus interviews suffer from unintelligible audio. [Nov 2004, p.75]

A drop-dead gorgous game. If eye candy had calories, this game would make you fat...And then I beat it in four hours. Cue the crickets. [May 2004, p.44]

This is one very long, very impressive game. [Jan 2005, p.84]

They've gone the realism route, and the end result is a mixed bag. [Oct 2003, p.83]

It's big, deep and dripping with rhymes. A few framerate hits aside, it looks good, too, if not a bit excessively neon. [Oct 2004, p.75]

A dose of high-quality gaming fast food that tastes fine but leaves you wanting something that sticks. [Oct 2004, p.77]

As a lighthearted, beautifully drawn RPG, Atelier Iris delivers exactly as promised, a deep, non-violent, involving, at times engaging fantastical quest, which is surely more than suitable for its niche. [June 2005, p.52]

The action is tight, the feel gritty and the soundtrack definitely metal. [Mar 2007, p.]

The value here ultimately comes down to the creativity of the Pariah community. Decent package overall. [June 2005, p.51]

"The old cart racing mold has (finally) been broken...make that shattered" [Nov p.87]

I beg for a complete shakeup for this series, but for now, a fine polish will have to do. [Aug 2003, p.77]

Exceptionally well produced - almost seamless segueing in and out of spoken dialogue and story breaks - and has a strong script brought to life by seasoned anime and voice-over professionals. [Apr 2004, p.64]

Impeccably made, and full of Nintendo-land cheer. [Jan 2005, p.70]

This shooter is absolutey brilliant, literally offering a layer of depth rarely seen in this genre. [Aug 2004, p.61]

There are some great scenes staged in Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions, and if you haven't been introduced to this well-crafted world on Xbox 360, the 40 dollar price point this time out is worth the cash for gamers who especially appreciate the Japanese aesthetic. [Mar 2008, p.60]

It's a shame that Battlefront 2's core action does not live up to its ambition, and yet it's certainly a game worth playing. [Dec 2005, p.80]

The stealth in Rogue Ops is serious business, residing somewhere between "Metal Gear" and "Splinter Cell" in terms of mechanics, i.e., not at all passive. [Nov 2003, p.79]

The animation is sweet, depth of faces and places deep like Def Poetry, the play mechanics are superb and the controls are nicely laid. [July 2003, p.79]

My only complaint is how your progress goes backwards when you fail at a given task; replaying is one thing, but the negative penalization is just kinda mean. [Jan 2005, p.84]

There's nothing that boldly stands out about the progression, presentation or general set up in Full Auto; it's just a kick to get in the car and plow to the finish line for the next event. [Mar 2006, p.42]

The stealth in Rogue Ops is serious business, residing somewhere between "Metal Gear" and "Splinter Cell" in terms of mechanics, i.e., not at all passive. [Nov 2003, p.79]

While World Tour Soccer 2005 may not play better than "Winning Eleven 7," it's certainly a nice alternative to EA's "FIFA." [June 2004, p.71]

An adventurous, high-spirited air-combat game that mixes campy fun with seriously intense action... There really is nothing else out there like Crimson Skies. [Nov 2003, p.74]

Goofiness serves as the game's great lubricant, helping to keep the ride relatively sputter-free. [Mar 2007, p.65]

Sadly, you can't create textures or models, but those who are able to tame this monster will still find an abundance to love. [Nov 2003, p.92]

A fine, if not predictable, bit of movie gaming. [Jan 2006, p.49]

The graphics look great and feel slick, giving you the ability to flesh out some of the film's more memorable sequences. [Jan 2005, p.70]

One thing I didn't expect from such a mainstream game was intense boss battles, but they're in here too. The first few are easy enough, but they're in here too. The first few are easy enough, but the last couple are a real bitch. [July 2003, p.70]