As a supposed evolutionary member of the franchise, considering it's pretty much based on a single level from a seven year old game, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam feels like complete regression.

A flimsy, hollow and ill-timed release that only some children would take pleasure from as their expectations on occasion are not that high.

If you don't already own Super Smash Bros Melee, and all Blockbuster's copies are already rented, Shrek Super Slam just might fit tbe bill.

And that¹s what this rapidly descends into, a series of unappealing tasks.

Aside from being full of useless exposition about Rune Cannons and the various empires in these Island Nations, the story doesn't even make much sense.

The game is a rapidly wearisome, dull dungeon crawling adventure with repetitive maps, dialogue and gameplay.

The worst part is, you can basically hit a button to get more and more health, as opposed to adding quarters in the arcades back in the day.

A nice-looking but otherwise average first-person shooter on the PC is now a blah-looking and forgettable first-person shooter on the Xbox.

One of the big reasons why Amaze might have lobotomized the A.I. is the notoriously awkward PSP controls when it comes to first person shooters.

There are some redeeming qualities to this game, however, like that unfinished steak; it urgently needs some more time on the grill. Lots of time and some more seasoning wouldn't hurt either.

The DS adaption wears out its welcome really quickly with its repetitive gameplay.

If you can ignore the bad voice work, repetitive gameplay and sub par controls (we're asking a lot, we know), then you should consider this.

The game is a rapidly wearisome, dull dungeon crawling adventure with repetitive maps, dialogue and gameplay.

The cover art looks great, but the actual substance is often a poor imitation of something else.

The game does fill up the day, even if the experience isn't very satisfying. And at least you're not watching the show.

This lack of dynamism renders Fantastic Four feeling rather impotent. And unfortunately all that's left is a decidedly average button basher wrapped up in a blockbuster license.

Your best bet here is to wait until the Monster House movie is released on DVD. With extras, it'll probably be about as long as the game and you and your kids won't have to put up with design problems or frustrating controls.

The biggest problem with this game comes down to Ubisoft really not taking full advantage of the Wii functionality like they could have. Most attack moves come down to wildly swinging the controller, and ninja-like moves such as double-jumping and wall-running are all done using boring ol’ button and analog stick combinations. Yawn.

Without the free roaming play, the game is a limited and once you have accomplished all of your goals, there’s nothing to keep you amused. Why settle for the edited-for-television version when you can have the director's cut? Stick with the console version, capeesh?

Sony's handheld buries the DS alive with better graphics and overall gameplay. The DS version plays and looks more like a Game Boy Advance side-scroller with text to read instead of voice acting to listen to, lifeless graphics and simplistic levels.

The scum-ridden, germ-infested sponge under my bathroom sink has more character and wit than this SpongeBob, unfortunately.

Not worth a glance while searching the racks at your local video game store. Easily one of the wor[st] Nintendo DS games yet.

Sadly, Touch the Dead is like a zombie crashing a dinner party. It's ugly, it's annoying and after a while you feel like your brain is being chewed on.

The pithy cut-scenes are about as easy to follow as a quantum physics lecture and are as elaborately detailed as a newspaper comic strip.

Obviously, there's nothing really new here. Although you have arms which you can use to punch out other robots and slam their heads' into the track as you drive, it's not very interesting as a fighting title. It also can't compare to the carnage in other violent racing games, such as one of the Burnout titles.

What most definitely works for mini-game compendiums like Wario Ware or Mario Party certainly doesn't work for Cars, because of its complete lack of variety and quantity of individual levels, not to mention the wild variation in difficulty.

Combine the terrible gameplay with overly dark and grainy visuals, a horrible story and voice acting and bad audio editing – cut scenes are far quieter than the in-game sound – and you get one awful package.

Once this one slides off the road into the ditch, you might just want to leave it there.