Despite the short length and lack of overall difficulty, Rango is a good game.

Despite the short length and lack of overall difficulty, Rango is a good game.

If the premise of taking photos of fish on rails sounds good to you, then you won't be disappointed — and if it doesn't, then move along because there's nothing to see here.

Evil Dead: The Game is clunky but loveable. It's a very good movie-to-video game adaptation, and it's likely as close as we're going to get to a proper and decent "Evil Dead" video game. I had a good deal of fun with it, both as a fan of the movies and as a gamer. It twists a familiar game concept just enough and bolsters it with additional mechanics so that it feels fresh again. Longevity is definitely a concern in terms of content, but at least console cross-play ensures that its player base will stay healthy for a little while.

The Rebirth mode is a welcome addition, and it offers a harder quest, more enemies and new puzzles, but touch screen support is minimal, and the knifing battles feel more like hastily created mini-games rather than well-integrated portions of the quest.

Far Cry 2 looks and sounds great (voice acting aside), but it has some gameplay mechanics that make progression through the game world a frustrating task.

More of the same, several new additions, and more comedy than before.

An admirable but stilted tilt on the age-old FPS genre. It attempts to do so many things and, perhaps purely through the power of statistics, actually nails a few.

The sound design in The Mis-Edventures throughout the entire game is spot on and, of course, shares the style of the show.

If you’re interested in interactive storytelling, you’re an adventure gamer in need of a fix, or you’re a big fan of The Longest Journey, pick this up; no one else should feel compelled to bother.

Rising Star has its share of flaws, with the dated graphics and decent, although limited, audio palette, but at the same time, the game is rather endearing and is entertaining for both a quick-play session and those marathon times when you keep playing for "just one more gig."

NBA 2K25 still carries a lot of the standards for how sports games should reflect and celebrate their sport of choice. I just wish it didn't have this odd economic quandary hanging over it. If it were to somehow address that problem and leave it on the cutting room floor, we'd really be onto something.

If you are a fan of Native American heritage or mythological events, or if you are looking for an excellent 3D platformer, this title certainly delivers. However, if you are looking for a long game with any replay value at all, or some modicum of difficulty, then Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer certainly isn't for you.

I enjoyed this game completely and appreciated all of its little nuances, but I believe that the lack of replay value is detrimental and turns it into "another shooter game."

It has a pleasing look and feel, and it’s simple but forces some cognizant thought to play it.

A collection of games that have been slightly altered to work with the Wii's innovative controls, but it's ultimately a simple title made for the enjoyment of the nostalgic masses.

For an SNK fighting enthusiast and genre fanatic, this game is a must-have. The characters, fighting system and old-school graphics and sound really bring a person back to the genre's roots. For casual gamers, the incredible difficulty will quickly turn them off. Gamers looking for a challenge in their fighting games need look no further.

H.A.W.X. is a nice, action-packed distraction with some promise, but if you're squeezed on cash and are still waiting on the next Crimson Skies or Ace Combat, you might want to sign on as a pilot-for-rent instead.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 brings a fairly deep, albeit slightly flawed, control scheme to the table. When combined with the large quantity of game modes and unlockables, the game's replay value remains high. The graphics are somewhat disappointing, there are a number of bugs, and the title lacks online play, but it still provides the best golf experience on the Wii thus far.

All in all, Lichtspeer is a fun indie title with limited story and gameplay elements that create an overall good but somewhat lacking experience. What's here is incredibly well made, but if you're not a fan of difficult arcade-style, high-score shooters, Lichtspeer might not be right for you.

Too difficult for newbies, but lacking too many cards for old-hat masters, the game finds and neatly settles into a perfect niche among newer yet established fans who like working with what they're given and/or don't necessarily have the money to buy the game's infamously costly booster packs.

One should go into the title with the knowledge that there isn't much of a story, and some of the gameplay can get pretty frustrating.

Afro Samurai has a ton of style with some nice combat, but once you require the camera to do anything other than sit calmly behind you, the game starts to fall apart.

If you're interested in interactive storytelling, you're an adventure gamer in need of a fix, or you're a big fan of The Longest Journey, pick this up; no one else should feel compelled to bother.

Mechwarrior 5: Clans does a lot of relatively new things for the series, and a whole lot more effort has gone into the polish and presentation of the game. The new changes aren't all for the better, and while I can respect that the game is meant to tell its own story, it comes at the expense of effectively removing all of the player's agency in influencing it. My idea of a perfect Mechwarrior game is some sort of middle ground between Mercs and Clans.

While Operation Surma has definitely "borrowed" more than a few ideas from Splinter Cell, I still think that the game does a good job of adding on to previous ideas and expanding them.

The sound design in The Mis-Edventures throughout the entire game is spot on and, of course, shares the style of the show.

Despite feeling -- and looking -- somewhat limited in scope and ambition on the Nintendo DS, The Sims 2 offers a reasonable measure of fun if you’re willing to forego the pleasures of simulation for a more narrative-oriented experience.

Is Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus on the Nintendo Switch for you? There are several questions you'll have to answer. Is it the best version of the game? Not by a mile. Is it enjoyable? Yes, and that may be all you need to know. It is a playable, albeit technically flawed, version that runs on a tablet. If you can play it elsewhere, you should. If you can't, the Switch iteration does a serviceable job of sharing B.J. Blazkowicz's action-packed journey.

If you spend most of your time doing RvR, there are no significant upgrades to the RvR system here and it's still unknown how much of an advantage the higher Master Levels bring to RvR.

The sound design in The Mis-Edventures throughout the entire game is spot on and, of course, shares the style of the show.

The game is far less polished than Shogun 2, and a few more patches will help, but Rome II is still a flawed game that is underwhelming when compared to previous titles in the franchise.

It might not be as grandiose a job other things that sim fans may have had experience with, but it's a unique change of pace that they may want to try out.

Fans of survival horror and the Silent Hill series will enjoy Silent Hill: Origins, while others will be turned off by its morbid nature. If you don't have a PSP and didn't get the chance to check out the title a year ago, now's your chance.

Looking at RAD as a whole, it's a solid roguelike that shines in creative ideas, setting, and visuals. At the same time, it falls for the usual tropes, so if you're not a fan of roguelikes, you have been warned. Difficulty and repetition are exaggerated here, but it's due to repetition in powers and level design, which makes grinding for progression even more tedious than it has to be. For a $20 purchase, this is certainly a good new roguelike for fans of Double Fine and the genre.

Not the significant evolution I was expecting from the next generation of DDR. Though it sports fantastic visuals, the surprise-free soundtrack and half-baked Quest mode fail to improve the formula.

Kingdom Hearts fans will find something to enjoy here, but anyone else would be better off picking up the cheaper, and more enjoyable, PS2 games before diving in to this game.

If you happen to be a real cheerleader or someone who dances a lot, then We Cheer is a great buy. (However, it also means you likely already do this for free.) It's also a great buy if you like rhythm games and you have lots of stamina.

From Russia with Love is pretty basic and there isn’t a whole lot to do in it, but the overall production is so strong it will likely entertain for the duration of its short single players campaign.

With its pick-up-and-play controls, intense combat sequences and surprisingly nice visuals, Attack on Pearl Harbor achieves its goal of providing relatively simplistic and fun gameplay.

A solid expansion, although I really wouldn't call it a must-have because it's a little light on content for its price tag.

NASCAR 09 adds some notable additions such as Rep points and the Sprint Driver Challenge mode, but the core gameplay has not changed much at all.

I feared that the sensation of firing a weapon would be completely lost on the handheld, but Point Blank DS does as good of a job as possible with only a stylus in hand.

Aegis Defenders is a beautiful game with an intriguing concept and fun gameplay, but it can be rough around the edges, the platforming isn't necessarily something to write home about. Playing alone can feel quite stressful and unfair. Aegis Defenders is best when it pins you in an arena with a buddy at your side and waves of enemies to tackle. In those instances, it provides more than enough gameplay and fun to justify its $20 price tag.

Overall, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a solid port on the Switch with a great presentation and familiar gameplay mechanics. The gameplay is solid, and the environment has changed up just enough to warrant another look for fans of classic JRPGs. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to play Nightwar elsewhere, you'll be pleased to know that it looks just as good on the Switch, with little compromises in visual presentation.

Ultimately, Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii is a typical party game; luck, luck, pushing luck, and pondering the nature of luck.

While it's true that Eragon is not a game that will change your life or keep you hooked to your TV for 60 hours, it is a really damned fun co-op title where you and a buddy can wreak havoc on big orc-like critters with sick-looking neck-snapping and gut-stabbing moves.

Feels more like a tacked-on "fix" for some issues than a true expansion.

I was surprised by Shrek Superslam. I went in expecting the type of licensed schlock that publishers crank out for a quick buck, and what I got instead was a perfectly adequate multiplayer fighter.

It's a cute, quirky little game that is solid in every respect but doesn't particularly wow you in any sense.

Despite the negative aspects pointed out in this review, 0D Beat Drop really is a solid puzzle game. The mechanics and the gimmick make it a good alternative for puzzle fanatics who are looking for something different from their routine. It's just too bad that the implementation of some of those mechanics wasn't as polished as one would have hoped.

NASCAR 09 adds some notable additions such as Rep points and the Sprint Driver Challenge mode, but the core gameplay has not changed much at all.

A good time, although the gameplay mechanics drag down what could otherwise have been a great title. The puzzles are varied and challenging, the graphics are (mostly) of a good quality, the inventory and journal interfaces are well-organized and intuitive, and the voice actors are believable.

Guilty Gear 2: Overture has a lot of good ideas and offers some entertaining gameplay moments, just not enough to warrant a purchase for most consumers.

Neither fantastic nor terrible, instead landing somewhere in between. Final Fantasy fans might find the addition of an action game to their favorite series to be odd, while shooter aficionados will wonder why it's so easy.

This is definitely a good-looking $15 game, but there's just not enough meat here to sustain it for a long period of time.

Another issue is with control. It's not as bad as the camera; but the trouble is, it often works in tandem with the camera. This can make for some very strange play. Outside of that, it's quite loose, and takes some getting used to.

Fans of the franchise will need no more encouragement and will enjoy the title immediately upon purchase. For those who are craving some fun gaming in quick bites, this title will suit you nicely.

It's certainly a great half of a game; the somewhat limited gameplay aspects, pretty lights and revving engine sounds are good enough to make the title entertaining and fun, but they're not enough to comprise a convincing whole game.

In addition to solid racing, there's just enough extras in this game from the hilarious agent, to the off-track drama and persona building that make this worth investing some time in.

There’s a lot of waiting and wandering and enjoying the view, followed by a moment of excitement that I’d found a big beast and then panic that I would lose him. Later on in the game, as I got better and could edge closer, I found out that you can add terror to that list too.

There's a great deal fun to be had, but the control difficulties and the fact that these games get pretty old pretty fast (even with the added extras and mission modes) almost dilute whatever fun is there.

The locations look decent, if not a bit overwhelming at times, and the gameplay is solid, with the exception of a few hiccups. Newcomers can have fun, but the frustration factor is high, only rising as you progress.

A well-made game, but one that lacks any kind of excitement for the casual gamer or non-enthusiast. As much as I love racing games, I had trouble mustering up any kind of genuine enthusiasm for this title.

If you've played Brain Training and Big Brain Academy to death and need something else of their ilk to get you through the day, Brain Assist will do the job. If you haven't played the aforementioned titles, though, or if you simply just don't care about the genre that much, then you can safely skip this one, and no one will blame you.

The biggest bummer about the game, though, is the absence of last year's entirely enjoyable story mode. The new Dragon World mode is simply not fun enough to warrant the lack of a fleshed out story mode.

Speed Racer's entertainingly off-the-wall fun already puts it ahead of other titles that bank on a movie license to draw in fans.

It just doesn't come together as well as it could. It feels like the development team has branched out to try new things, but none of the good ideas and changes were followed through, making them feel like shallow attempts to change things. This would likely not have been a criticism if we were talking about a runtime of fewer than 30 hours. With a runtime of 50+ hours, though, these sorts of things eventually come crashing down as player fatigue sets in. I still enjoy Valhalla for what it does, but it hurts to know that this could've been a tighter, greater game that delivered on its ambitions rather than merely hinting at them.

This is a package that contains a large number of fun, classic games that play well enough to pass for whatever qualifies as "accurate" in our aging minds.

We know that Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition won't be the definitive edition of the game, since more DLC is scheduled. This is the most complete and most beautiful edition of the game thus far, but it's asking you to buy into a very good but still flawed experience that is slowly but surely catching up. If you truly can't wait until the real complete edition surfaces, you'll have a decent experience at the very least. Otherwise, pass on this title and wait another year. The mammoth project that is FFXV will eventually come to a satisfying conclusion.

If you're into challenging action platformer games, Blasphemous is as good as the next. It isn't perfect or revolutionary, but it doesn't have to be. Its lore and visual direction are disturbingly beautiful and craft an interesting and distinct world. Great boss fights and an enjoyable and challenging combat system ensures that fans of the genre will have enough to sink their teeth into and enjoy.

A capable fighter, but a great Dragon Ball Z game.

With its cheeky sense of humor and immense visual appeal, Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle can be a good time for adventure gamers with a taste for the wacky, enough so that it could renew interest in the original title. Unfortunately, the more esoteric puzzles will leave you scratching your head, and the linearity of the gameplay will sometimes require that you take missteps before the correct solution will be accepted.

Armored Core for Answer fixes a lot of the problems that existed in Armored Core 4. Significantly more fun missions, graphical improvements, a fantastic sense of scale, and an enormous amount of customization really help the title. However, the impossible-to-understand story detracts value from the single-player experience, so the only reason for you to return is to build your mech, which is something that's going to overwhelm most players.

A surprisingly challenging experience.

Despite these problems, Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun is still a solid title that adventure fans will love.

Bits such as the fighting engine can be fun even though it is probably the most flawed aspect of the entire game, though when fighting the tougher enemies in the game those flaws are quickly frustrating, to the point of some people returning the game.

Had it run better, Rime would've been an easy recommendation. Its story offers a tantalizing look into a beautifully realized and poetically orchestrated world of magic, love and loss. Its gameplay, while simple, offers satisfying puzzles that guide the action in meaningful ways. However, severe frame rate drops and unbearable resolution compromises hold back the final product from the greatness it deserves. While there is enough good here to overshadow the optimization problems on display, avoid the Switch port of Rime unless you have no better option.

The perfect place for a beginner to the series to start. Almost everything in the game has withstood the test of time and has been streamlined and smoothed to make it as accessible as possible to all players. However, this means that long-time veterans of the Tiger Woods series won't find much changed from last year's offering, either.

Good game, good story, flat presentation.

As a sum of its parts, Steamworld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt still holds up reasonably well. If you haven't jumped in yet, start your journey here before tackling the sequel. The gameplay may feel limited if you've already completed the sequel, but A Fistful of Dirt is still an incredibly fun platformer.

It has major shortcomings in plot, graphics and linearity, but the good points help to overcome the flaws. That said, it's not a strategy RPG for someone new to the genre; while it's a fair bit easier than even Disgaea, Soul Nomad has very little tutorial on how to use its varied systems, and even when using the manual as a guide, if you aren't solid on how this type of game works, it's very easy to get lost.

A casual game for casual gamers, meant to be fun, fast and simple. Its flaws are significant and could limit it for some, but the design, quality and variety of questions, and carefully toned pace make it fun for most players and worth getting if you often have parties with non-gamers, casual gamers or film fiends.

The campaign mode is outstanding and provides quite a few hours of fun and mayhem. Who can resist fun and mayhem? The lack of multiplayer severely hurts this title for me, but the cost helps ease some of the pain.

The title is funny, but I can't honestly say if it's particularly fun, as the brand of fun it offers is restricted to an extremely narrow audience. To all those who enjoy their punishment with a side of laughs, by all means check this one out.

If these grand strategy titles were your cup of tea, I would recommend this game. The complexity of the game makes it a poor choice for twitch gamers.

With a disappointing campaign and a lack of online players to challenge, R.U.S.E. is a tough sell.

Overall, I was solidly entertained by Bleach: Shattered Blade. Even though I had to look up some stuff to get a general idea of who everyone was, I found myself sucked into some of the cool combat features, such as the "clash" mini-game.

Despite some little glitches, the outdated graphics and the obvious catering toward a younger and more inexperienced audience, SimCity Creator is a step in the right direction for the ancient, lumbering SimCity games.

While it must have faced enormous pressure during the production and subsequent release of the title, the developers must feel proud knowing they leaped the movie to game barrier and actually created a worthwhile game.

The one biggest failing of the Marvel Trading Card Game is one that no programming magic could fix — namely, that the game will be overlooked simply because the Vs System is less known than its competition, and tragically, that makes finding other people to play against that much more difficult.

Overall, this review of Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town may sound a touch negative, and it is in some parts. I like how it deals with progression while keeping most of its addicting farming foundations intact. Most of what it adds feels nicked from other games and has often been implemented less convincingly. Combined with performance issues and a few other missed opportunities, Pioneers of Olive Town is a solid entry in the series, but it isn't the must-have experience that many had hoped for the series' 25th anniversary.

In general, Avatar: The Last Airbender The Burning Earth offers a fairly rewarding and entertaining gameplay experience, successfully bringing much of the spirit of the show to the console without sacrificing too much in terms of quality fun.

Outside of its polished action formula, sharpened AI, and crafting system, the only thing that dungeon crawlers might discover is how finite the experience can unexpectedly feel in so many other ways.

The plot is overly long and a bit too predictable, and although the gameplay is fun, it just doesn't bring anything particularly exciting to the world either, and the new systems are basically useless.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed can often be a frustrating mess. There are tons of polish issues and questionable design choices. Even with a 2.5GB install onto the PS3, there is still far too much loading. However, when everything works, there's just something innately satisfying about being able to kill dozens of Stormtroopers with the flick of your wrist.

All in all, L.A. Noire is still an enjoyable story-driven adventure game with an incredible atmosphere. The issues that it had in 2011 are still present, but they're more noticeable today, so it's not as enjoyable as it was back then. It may make more sense for people who skipped it in 2011 to enjoy it in small doses while they're on the go. It is unfortunate that the Switch version is priced higher than the other versions. Players who have access to another platform and aren't interested in a portable gaming experience may be better served by the PC, PS4 or Xbox One version.

It succeeds at being an enjoyable, trigger-happy adrenaline fest, but it certainly doesn't push any envelopes or blaze any new trails.