While the rest of the world pants about the nonsensical "Morrowmind," the pinnacle of action role-playing is right under their noses. Wake up and smell the mace. [Aug 2002, p.58]

Home Run King's secret lies in its easy to assimilate control mechanism and killer visuals. [April 2002, p.59]

It's all a little generic and heavily recycled, but the powerslide system from "CTR" pulls it together. [Dec 2003, p.85]

Apoplectic shooting action that doesn't let us catch our breath till the hard-fought score is tallied up at the end of the level. [Nov 2004, p.48]

This is a game for tinkerers, where what you purchase and equip is every bit as important as how well you play. [Mar 2007, p.62]

This is like an indie version of DQ--a sweet little aside between epics. [Mar 2008, p.50]

The seamless integration of online with the offline is a big selling point for GameDay. [Sept 2003, p.87]

This game is more fun with a bunch of friends, but so is going to the DMV or getting a root canal. [May 2006, p.78]

Graduating from story mode into Grand Battle, you can lost yourself in the game's meticulous art of fighting if you so desire, via a level of give-and-take that knows no bounds (this game could last you months.) [July 2004, p.73]

We're treated to slow-paced gameplay hindered by arbitrary rules - having to start every stage without your weapon, and being forced to sneak around the level to find it, is a huge contrivance. [Nov 2004, p.90]

The story is just as confounding as in the original, which makes me wonder if the translation is funky or Treasure simply wants to play with our heads... It's a great game. [Oct 2004, p.90]

Most disappointing, the drab use of color and flat architecture design show a basic lack of aesthetic awareness. [Aug 2003, p.77]

Even if just for eye-candy purposes, Cel Damage is plenty amusing. [Feb 2002, p.60]

Instead of the marketing-driven production you might expect, Pirates of the Caribbean is a deep and interesting role-playing experience. [Sept 2003, p.81]

Taking out the trash, I kid you not: 30 minutes of mundane pre-scripted yawn inducing tedium. They even mark where to go to on the map. [May 2007, p.65]

Budokai has style, but the substance is almost non-existent. [Nov 2003, p.92]

This is damn near as good a version of Dodgeball as I could ask for...if only overall character speed could be tweaked. [May 2008, p.66]

An exercise in strangeness and quirky appeal. If only the game were a bit longer and the graphics better. [Apr 2002, p.63]

It's easy to see the thinking behind Two Worlds. Elder Scrolls has been a massive hit and it'll be years before another hits home: When opportunity knocks... [Oct 2007, p.89]

The dicey AI and super cool pit-stop mini-games actually make driving in a circle fun, and on the 360 the venues look absolutely stunning. [Dec. 2006, p.72]

The decision to go stealth was a good one and even though scripted and prompted, the gameplay hits the broad mark.

Flat control, annoying fish-eye perspective, and a schizophrenic camera that never settles down. [Jan 2003, p.80]

As pretty and nice as the surface is, the gameplay beneath is surprisingly shallow. [Apr 2004, p.60]

Engaged me more heavily than any FPS I've played this year. [Dec 2003, p.54]

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]

Easy to manage hot keys, intuitive controls, a great map that doubles as an objective outline...everything here is spot on. [Apr 2008, p.55]

One of the most alluring hub-based adventures I've ever had the pleasure of playing. [Oct 2005, p.62]

A competent, faithful update to the granddaddy of classics. [Jan 2003, p.80]

This game's strength lies in its heavily nuanced gameplay, integrated story, and its gloomy heretical aura. [June 2003, p.64]

The ironic thing is that the game's flow and lack of superfluidity, which makes it so fun, may inevitably be its Achilles' heel. [Aug 2006, p.60]

There's an inconsistency to the overall design quality that really kept me at a distance while playing Kane & Lynch. [Dec 2007, p.75]

With MAT 3, the definition of treasure is stretched thin enough to cover the distance from, say, New York to Disappointmentvile. [Oct 2005, p.70]

The graphics, though slick, lack the sort of interest I expected and are actually quite bland. [Feb 2002, p.62]

This is easily the best WB-based game to come down the pike yet. [Sept 2002, p.69]

With the bump mapping, dynamic shadows and water reflections swtiched on, it's a step beyond console well worth investigating. [Nov 2003, p.94]

What you will find is plenty of labyrinth-style gaming, bone-chilling sound effects, gore galore, finely tuned first-person shooting, amazing CG, stunning creature design and crazy detail. [June 2003, p.63]

A solid, 20-level romp that should be treated as a quasi-sequel to "Doom." [April 2002, p.67]

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

Looks fantastic and has excellent level design but is ridiculously hard for the wrong reasons. [Aug 2003, p.77]

There's no better fodder for the boneheaded premise of old-school RE... than the high school slasher flick, and ObsCure serves it up right. [May 2005, p.50]

There's nothing wrong with simple two-button combat in the spirit of the classic hack 'n' slash, but there is something wrong with making it so mechanical and lifelessly staged. [Dec 2003, p.85]

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]

I'd still kill for a lock-on or strafe but one out of two isn't bad--especially given the quality of the acting and story arcs Untold has on tap. [Apr 2006, p.73]

A lack of variety hurts in the end, and while the visual style is enjoyably simple and nicely handled within its constraints, you start to want more meat on the bones. [May 2004, p.56]

There's nothing wrong with simple two-button combat in the spirit of the classic hack 'n' slash, but there is something wrong with making it so mechanical and lifelessly staged. [Dec 2003, p.85]

It simply wallows in its competence, but doesn't do much - okay, anything - to try and exceed it. [Mar 2007, p.71]

Would the game have succeeded on a much higher level had the focus been placed completely on either a one-player campaign or just the multiplayer? In the end, I feel like the experience was diluted for unnecessary reasons, with the game appearing to walk the fence, trying to offer a compelling foundation spread across two different modes of play. [May 2004, p.51]

The game is not forgiving to the weak player who wants to jump in and execute a flurry of moves instantly, rewarding the patient fighter who is willing to extensively tune-in to the fighting mechanics. [Apr 2003, p.58]

MS Saga: A New Dawn, while graphically sound isn't on par with the likes of Grandia 3, Dragon Quest VIII, or the forthcoming Final Fantasy XII. [Mar 2006, p.43]

One of the most alluring hub-based adventures I've ever had the pleasure of playing. [Oct 2005, p.62]

It's a little difficult at first, as using the analog buttons properly takes some doing, but it soon feels natural. [Apr 2002, p.63]

If the first minute of the opening cinema doesn't move you in some way, you bought the wrong gme, but if it does, well, you can join our club. [Sept 2002, p.65]

Though far from bad, A Sound of Thunder just seems to be going through the motions to deliver an isometric adventure game filled with fetch quests amidst bland levels and typical looking puzzles. [Apr 2004, p.71]

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]

A wondrous adventure filled with great gameplay. [Jan 2005, p.68]

You'll be capping scumbags left and right in a fireworks display of flesh and blood, going after the town prostitute's heisted jewelry or collecting giant scorpion tails for some much-needed extra cash, and things of this nature. [Feb 2004, p.42]

I normally don't mind a very specific, linear gameplay structure, I even invite it, but the ideas in the game don't work within this rigidity. [Jan 2004, p.66]

I don't mean to be Captain Bringdown, but even the thought of slaughtering hundreds of people using the same attack over and over again is losing its luster. [May 2006, p.59]

Though the doggie animation is realistic, the graphics are sub-first-gen quality, the first-person "Smellovision" view is misguided and the platforming always stays pretty basic. [Oct 2004, p.76]

This isn't just a clone of Koei's slash-'em-ups, but a game that actually improves upon them in several ways. [Oct 2005, p.68]

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]

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

An excellent classics compilation, due mostly to "Sonic CD," finally revived after so much begging. [Sept 2005, p.57]

The action is intense and the combat remains fun, but the game just doesn't feel as crisp as what I'd expect from KOF. [Nov 2004, p.71]

An extended session with Misters Been There Done That. [Dec 2005, p.66]

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]

Shining Force offers small rewards every few minutes, and statisfies through a sort of goal-oriented mediation. [Mar 2007, p.54]

Problem is, there's not enough strategic thought put into where the threat is coming from, forcing you into a path of endless running and gunning without a high-tier engagement of well-placed safe points and clever object interaction. [Nov 2003, p.83]

While prep time is nothing new to RTS fans, the amount of time needed for WKB seems excessive, and the tutorials along with the early missions do a very poor job of training new players. [Dec 2003, p.92]

There's an inconsistency to the overall design quality that really kept me at a distance while playing Kane & Lynch. [Dec 2007, p.75]

This is by far the prettiest free-roaming shooter ever created. [Aug 2007, p.60]

The models up close are unsightly, the cinemas grainy and the music has all the luster of a Tide commercial, but the game on the whole is entertaining by game standards. [Aug 2005, p.50]

Together with a narrator that truly enhances the experience (making this the polar opposite of 90 percent of games with narrators), Freaky Fliers is like a comedy album, cartoon and racing-shooter, all wrapped into one tasty toon tortilla. [Aug 2003, p.70]

A gorgeous game, painstakingly detailed and lit, and the deeper you go, the better it gets. [May 2004, p.52]

Granted, the game can be horribly frustrating and it's still constrained by the fairly simple nature of pinball, but Flipnic sets a new standard nonetheless. [July 2005, p.78]

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

Delivers with easy to grasp flight controls, compelling mission ops, and most importantly, the proper balance between available weapons and tactics for the not so friendly skies and road ahead. [Aug 2002, p.70]

Instead of the marketing-driven production you might expect, Pirates of the Caribbean is a deep and interesting role-playing experience. [Sept 2003, p.81]

Unreal II's biggest fault is the lifeless visual design: the use of color is ugly at times, the enemies aren't appealing and movie clunkily, exhibiting spotty AI to add to the flaws. [Apr 2004, p.64]

The tag-team approach works like a charm, the visuals are uncannily spot-on and the dialogue sheer perfection. [Dec 2003, p.83]

This is a game crafted and polished to a surprising degree, from the beautiful graphics and music to the distinct selection of character classes available to you. [May 2008, p.65]

At 30fps on PS2, it's not as great, but still good. [Mar 2004, p.59]

The game, however, also gleefully stomps over its source material when it allows these same tiny hobbits to impede the path of a huge and insanely powerful Balrog. [Jan 2006, p.53]

With impeccable world and character design, quirky cool real-time cinemas that pay homage to an era of gaming gone by, an outstanding opening movie and score, and compelling action-role playing for the duration, Musashi: Samurai Legend is a beacon of hope for a homoginized world. [March 2005, p.56]

All the basics are in place, competently attended to, and the visual presence is extremely strong – little details, like an amazing waterfall and dense environment effects, continually impress. [June 2002, p.55]

This is a repetitious, laborious adventure, riddled with poor character models (what they've done to Kate Beckinsale is a crime...that hair!), shoddy collision and sub-par animation. [July 2004, p.73]

This isn't an awful game, just so average, rough and predictable at everything it does that you find yourself quickly ready to call it quits. [Sept 2003, p.81]

Incredible creation mode, first-rate visual presentation, and nicely balanced. [July 2002, p.82]

The game looks decent too; just prepare to struggle a bit with the perspective. [Aug 2006, p.64]

With any luck Krome's overhaul will prove lucrative enough to warrant them continuing the brand, flying Spyro into next-gen skies and who knows, perhaps a veritable rebirth. [Oct. 2006, p.54]

The decision to go stealth was a good one and even though scripted and prompted, the gameplay hits the broad mark.

Carve's saving grace is its online, multiplayer, handset-compatible, team-based play. [May 2004, p.56]

Creating a gamer's game through and through, Traveller's Tales has delivered a 60 fps cartoon epic without sacrificing expanse, dwarfing boss encounters or vivid effects by skillfully balancing model and environment integrity with performance. [Oct 2004, p.69]

Can be summed up rather easily: great in the air, bad on the ground. [Nov 2002, p.94]

If you're so inclined to prowl the mean streets for pinks, Juiced certainly deserves your registration. [July 2005, p.78]

Fans of bigger-name RPGs are likely to be put off by Suikoden IV's lack of visual punch, and even role-playing die-hards may be let down by the storytelling. [Jan 2005, p.59]

The fighting manages to feel nimble while still providing a sense of awesome scale, which had to be an extremely hard balance to strike. [Nov 2004, p.60]

I'm totally open to a game like this working off a solid simplicity, but ultimately Fifa Street 3 isn't strong enough at its core to keep the reward of play on a fever pitch. [Apr 2008, p.61]