Oddworld: Soulstorm is Oddworld at its best. It's creative, clever, funny, enjoyable to play, and shockingly good at getting you to empathize with Gollum's slightly uglier cousins. The gameplay is simple but enjoyable, and it makes you want to save as many of your fellow Mudokons as you can. Imagine that: a game-long escort mission that is fun! If you like puzzle platformers, I'd recommend starting with New n' Tasty, but Soulstorm is an excellent follow-up. It's worth playing, especially if you're a PS+ member and can get the game free on the PS5 during its launch month.

A game worth playing if you're a dracophile, if you like the character or like animated movies, and if you're not averse to starting over with a fresh slate.

WALL-E for the PS2 is not a great adaptation of the movie. There are some wonky control issues, the graphics aren't very good on the aging console, and the gameplay is very repetitive.

While the game has tons of personality with an interesting concept, a fun challenge in some areas, and even a New Game+ feature that adds new surprises, it's ultimately a Frankenstein's monster of other games cut together. If leaving players lost and confused in Hell is Infernium's goal, then it has succeeded.

Felix the Reaper is a fun puzzler that nails some of the most important aspects: difficulty, level design, and style. While the environments may not be as varied and the controls not as well executed, the title works well and should be on the radar of anyone who's fond of solving puzzles as a dancing Grim Reaper.

It's not a perfect sequel, but for those who remember the original Two Worlds, it's an adventure that is finally worth most of its weight in loot.

Battlelines appears to be much more polished than its predecessor, but the improvements are only skin deep. Many of the issues found in the original Full Auto have not been addressed, and the changes made to the single-player experience render it both ridiculous and frustrating.

The controls are exceptionally tight, the translations from the original arcade titles are splendidly recreated in a fashion that suggests to me that great care was taken to ensure that each game would be faithful to the original and the interface is both simple and useful.

The Little Acre is a charming and very playable adventure game. It's easily to smile from start to finish at the colorful graphics, solid voice acting, and sense of style. It's not a very long or very difficult game, but that's a minor blemish on the whole experience. This title will fit the bill for parents who are looking for a low-cost game to play with very young children. It won't blow your mind or redefine the genre, but the game will leave you smiling. With so many adventure games these days trending toward violence, it's nice to have something that is full of cheer and goodwill.

It may not completely capture all of the traits of earlier side-scrolling puzzle platformers, but it's worthy of a look from genre fans.

Fuel is a good game, reveling in its goodness and its genre, without trying to be the exclamation point for every racing title ever developed.

Subjecting your kids — or even yourself — to a bit of gaming history might just provide the incentive needed to appreciate how far video games have come. Add in some very real replayability and the ability to play Pac-Man Vs. with a friend, and the control issues and inclusion of a couple of questionable games becomes much more forgivable.

An excellent addition to any party game collection, and fans of the genre will find tons of stuff to do. They will also get a kick out of the variety of mini-games and the copious amounts of humor. Multiplayer mode is there but a little weak, and the lack of Xbox Live support for even an online scoreboard seems like an odd move.

People seeking a tennis game that's actually fun or intuitive should look elsewhere.

But on balance, when there are many excellent, enthralling adventure games for both children and adults lining shop shelves, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix doesn't quite meet muster.

Despite some flaws, it establishes itself positively as one of the Wii's early standout RPG experiences.

A very annoying and superficial piece of work.

It’s a fantastic appetizer or after-dinner mint, however - if you need a game for those five-minute playing sessions in the bathroom or if you’re looking to get a gift for someone who has less time in their life to play, Cooking Mama could just be the Chef’s Special.

If Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time had been released when the show was still popular or even alongside the 2017 release of the last season, perhaps it would be more understandable. Instead, it feels like a game without a purpose. It's stunningly average and plays exactly like the long-forgotten cheap tie-in titles that once dominated the market. It gives the simplest fan service and the least challenging take on the character, but it occasionally shows signs of greater ambition. If you're a fan looking for a chance to play a Samurai Jack game, this is probably your best choice, but for most people, it would make more sense to watch the final season of the show without adding in a playable clip show between the series' two most dramatic moments.

Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived is a politically driven and intelligently pieced-together game, and that kept the story moving in a positive direction despite my misgivings. I was genuinely engaged in where the tale would take me, who was involved, and what the outcome would be. Rather than flat-out telling you the story, the game invites you to participate, question your own beliefs and biases, consider the possibility that the usual suspects may be innocent, and that not all criminal or political activity is as clear-cut as it initially seems. Do the ends justify the means? Hey, you're the one asking the questions here. You decide.

EA has some great ideas that are just poorly implemented, and it would've been nice to see them rework it for next year.

Gorgeous visuals and soothing ambiance make the game perfect for those wishing to kick back and relax with an incredibly chill explorer simulator. Being able to construct worlds with a variety of seeds gives players a reason to explore each area and come back for more. Multiple levels with their own flora and fauna give players new sights to explore. While walking can be slow at times and some visuals actually hinder progress, Shape of the World makes up for these shortcomings in a memorable sandbox experience that's perfect for casual play.

It's worth checking out, and it's certainly a unique take on the puzzle genre.

If you're after a challenging, graphically attractive, pure-action shooter that's a lot of fun in single-player, also blessed of long legs in the online multiplayer department, Turok is your sort of gig. A cinematic experience this is not; expect this sort of "ambitious" or "high art" game, and you'll be disappointed.

Giga Wrecker Alt. is still a solid Metroidvania game, even though we're getting more of them nowadays. Even though the collision and physics can sometimes be wonky, the puzzle platforming is inventive and matches well with the combat, which goes at a nice flow once you master the rhythm of the controls. Despite some blurry parts here and there, the graphical art style is good, and the soundtrack is absolutely perfect for the genre. The additions made at the sacrifice of the level builder are worth the exchange, so adventure fans will find Giga Wrecker Alt. to be well worth checking out.

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.

Pacific Storm is a remarkable offering for armchair commanders who enjoy micromanaging all aspects of war. The only real disappointment I had with the game was the mismatched background music.

The game looks and sounds great for a downloadable title, featuring details in lighting and sound effects that go above and beyond what we're used to, as well as a fresh gameplay mechanic that is truly a welcome change in an increasingly stagnant industry.

I thought the ideas and potential were great, but the execution was severely lacking. FoW will lure unsuspecting buyers with its attractive appearance, but it has little else to offer.

A highly addicting title with some major bugs to it, which makes for a horrible experience for a serious "Sim" fan and would rank up there in the "toss the DS against the wall" level of frustration.

If it weren't for the steep difficulty level, Jimmie Johnson's Anything with an Engine would have been a very competent kart racing title.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a game for the fans. They're the ones who will appreciate seeing the well-known story arcs through different perspectives and being able to play them out in unconventional ways.

Ultra Age gets the combat mostly right. While it isn't perfect, the combat system feels fluid enough that you can make a spectacle of dashing around mobs and tagging them with dazzling combos. Everything else about it feels half-baked, from the pacing to the story to the sound and pick-up system. Those who crave action may overlook these things because the combat is good enough, but those who are looking for something with better quality would be better served looking elsewhere first.

While it is honorable that it at least attempts to make an interesting piece of a game, with platforming and racing mixed together and a nifty clashing element thrown in, the core gameplay just isn't strong enough to really make this terribly memorable.

Though it did seem repetitive in several parts, I found it to be a fun way to pass the time. On the other hand however, I really don't think this game stayed true to the Fallout series, and I was definitely expecting more.

Double Dragon Neon is a game that fully understands the job it came to do and fulfills it admirably. It holds up to the classic games, even surpassing them in some respects, while being tons of fun to both play and watch. While it leaves you wanting more, it does so in a relatively good way. While Neon has a few obvious flaws that arguably should never have happened in the first place, the overall product still knocks it out of the park while bursting with pride in everything that it is.

Star Wars Battlefront II is a good game wrapped in an odd upgrade system and a very volatile economy. It has a breadth of modes that play very well and can provide many memorable moments. The gameplay is solid, and the title gives players a better chance at playing with more powerful characters. However, the progression system feels unnecessarily stunted, and the grinding nature of buying characters and loot crates can be frustrating. At least the use of real money to purchase crates has been removed for the time being. There's a good game in here that evokes the desire to play one more game, but players have to be fine with the progression and payment mechanics.

Each character is strikingly similar in appearance to the movie actors.

It's easy to enjoy playing WWE 2K18. Wrestling games inspire a special creativity that no other sports games can match. While 2K18 feels like it misses the mark and comes in below expectations, it still offers a MyPlayer experience, eight-man matches, online competitiveness, community creations, and more. The graphics and animations are starting to grow stagnant and there aren't too many incremental improvements that can be made until there's a drastic change to the game engine, so I'm hoping that there will be an announcement about that soon.

Diehard fans of the "Ghost in the Shell" series will likely want to play through it at least once in order to dissect more of the series' story. Otherwise, I would say this game is only for people who really like shooters, and even then, it's a moderately short game.

There are some promising features here, but most of them are either implemented poorly or tacked on as an afterthought, and the camera angles and difficult passing game don't help things. Madden NFL 06 is really for fanatics only.

At most, some people could consider Potata: Fairy Flower to be fine. The platforming is good enough, and the game's multiple endings provide a reason for a few replays of the short journey. Even the combat is serviceable once you recognize the game's faint tells about landing hits or being hit. However, from the boring puzzles to the bad translation and the performance and graphical issues, there's enough here to drain one's enthusiasm for the title. There are worse platformers out there, but there are also loads of other better platformers to enjoy before spending time with this one.

It's difficult to recommend Gundam Battle Operation: Code Fairy - Vol. 1 on its own merits. It's effectively one-third of a storyline that is a tutorial and stand-alone story for GBO2's gameplay without its "gotcha" elements, but at this moment, the game is effectively incomplete. Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 will be released within the next month. When it has the full storyline and set of units, it'll be a lot easier to make a determination about the entire package, but until that happens, you're better off waiting unless you're a huge Gundam fan who has to play this right away.

Phantom Breaker: Omnia isn't a bad fighting game. The fighting seems deep at first but quickly turns chaotic with plenty of moves that don't look like they connect and a roster that looks more generic than impressive. The presentation is OK with decent music and graphics that look a touch underwhelming. The modes are numerous, but those who will want to play online will be disappointed at the lack of rollback netcode. The Switch is already blessed with a bevy of solid fighting games, so the only reason to grab this one is if you really want all of the fighting games that the system has to offer.

Unlike many games, Transformers is actually less than the sum of its parts. It may look and sound kind of nice, and give you all sorts of things to do, but who cares when it's just not any fun and you want it to transform into another game after 30 minutes of play time?

It's blatant fan service, and it doesn't try to be anything more; while the battle system is a lot of fun and the skits are entertaining, there simply isn't enough here to keep a casual gamer interested, especially once things devolve into the endless grind of fetch questing.

Supersonic Warriors 2 is one of those games that, at first glance, seem not worth bothering with; however, once you learn how it works and put it through its paces, it's extremely satisfying.

Nine Parchments isn't necessarily a bad game. It's a very basic experience that lacks many different qualities, and from what I've witnessed, the title has to work out some major technical issues. However, many people will find a very enjoyable experience here, with a lot of unlockable characters and stuff to find. If you're into co-op experiences, you can't go wrong with Nine Parchments on Nintendo Switch. If you rely on online play, you may want to hold off until a patch is released to fix the connection and save file issues.

If I were to say one thing to sum up this game, I think it would be “short.” I was able to clear through Crisis Zone in a couple of hours, and I was even taking breaks to write things down.

Standard fare, neither horrible nor amazing.

Despite its look, Resurrection is so clearly a PSOne game at heart that it is difficult to stomach as a modern release, and despite the extremely slick production values, it is not the sequel fans were hoping for, nor the proper modernization that the series deserves.

In the end, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is fine. The lack of combat combined with a lack of guidance creates a challenging and refreshing experience for most — and frustrating for some. The overall presentation is fine, despite the game's use of an engine intended to deliver stunning visuals. The game will appeal to those who are fascinated with the Cthulhu universe more than those looking for thrills and scares. Players won't feel compelled to stick with this title for long sessions at a time.

In the end, being "kind of amusing" isn't enough to make a game good.

There are better RPGs on the system, but for fans and those looking for something a little different, Black Rock Shooter will hit the spot for a while.

Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots is fine overall. The core gameplay experience remains unchanged, the performance is solid, and the modes are plentiful enough to keep you occupied for a very long time, even if that means that unlocking the roster can feel like a grind. However, the courses you play are merely fine, some of the mechanics feel dated, and the presentation lacks polish. Longtime fans may pick up this title anyway, considering how long it has been between entries. More casual fans will have a good time, but don't go in expecting the high standards of the previous titles in the franchise.

A prime example of potential wasted. Even getting past the terrible use of the Shadowrun license, the game itself just feels half-finished. The lack of variety and polish that shows in every stage and every character model just accentuates this every time you put the disc into your 360.

While it is honorable that it at least attempts to make an interesting piece of a game, with platforming and racing mixed together and a nifty clashing element thrown in, the core gameplay just isn't strong enough to really make this terribly memorable.

It's not possible to really say it's good, since low expectations are almost required to enjoy Ty 3, but it is distinctly not bad.

In my opinion, it's not enough change to warrant a purchase if you already own We Ski, but if you've played that game to death, I'd at least give this a rental and see if any of the small additions grab you.

It may not strive to reinvent the genre, or do anything especially new, but it makes good use of the Wiimote and is a pleasant experience overall.

All things considered, Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck is a solid title that has quite a bit to see.

For the most part, however, Outlaw Tennis manages to pull off something I didn't think it could do: it blends goofball antics and serious tennis kind of nicely.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is a decent horror experience. The story is fine if you're a fan of the situation instead of the characters that don't give you much material to sympathize with them. The gameplay is authentic to the movies, but it can also feel ridiculous with the amount of debris that you need to be aware of. The game nails the tension necessary for a horror game, but it is also laid on so thick that it can feel tiring if you're playing in long sessions. In the end, while it could've been a tighter experience, it is still a game worth checking out if you're a fan of horror games where you can forgive some questionable game design decisions.

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

The biggest problem with Evil Dead: Regeneration isn't that it's not simple fun, but that it never rises above that in any way that Evil Dead fans might hope, or that comedy-horror genre fans might expect.

If you can deal with the constant grind that comes from the raids and randomness of each playthrough, Toy Odyssey: The Lost and Found can be good. Despite a number of flaws, the overall gameplay is entertaining, and the story is interesting once you get enough pieces together. It isn't flawless in its many technical areas, but the job it ultimately does is more than adequate. That grind still hurts, and those looking for more structure and a better sense of progression in their titles would be better served elsewhere.

In a few months, Necronator: Dead Wrong could be a solid addition to the Slay the Spire-inspired card builder roguelike genre. As it stands now, it doesn't have the polish or content to stand out. The visuals are nice, the humor is amusing, and there's a lot of potential here, but the game is still obviously in production. Considering the glut of similar games on the market, Necronator isn't worth picking up until it has all of its playable characters. I'd like to be more positive about it, but I can only judge the game as it is, not as it will be. In a few months, I hope that most of my complaints will be addressed, but until then, I'd recommend finding a more complete game to play.

By no means is it a life-changing experience, but you could do much worse than exploring the dreary world of Æon’s future. Yet another semi-decent movie game? No one’s more surprised than me.

Shredders is an enjoyable game if you temper your expectations. The campaign is quite good and comes in at just the right length while also providing some incentive to return and complete all of the challenges for each mission. Free roam mode is fine if you can forgive some of the performance hitches and inability to do much with others in a structured setting. The controls are good, but you'll lament the game momentarily forgetting about its momentum system. The relaxed feeling of snowboarding without restrictions makes things enjoyable. It makes for a perfect game for Xbox Game Pass and a decent purchase for those starved for a purely snowboarding-focused game.

As a sum of its parts, Crysis on the Switch is another "miracle" port that turned out less magical than others of its kind. It's a less extreme example of the dissonance between being able to run a game and whether it should have been ported in the first place. It's not as pared back as The Outer Worlds was, but it also doesn't offer a lot of content, and its shortcomings in different areas are enough to hamper the experience. If you cannot play Crysis on any other platform, this may be as good as it's going to get, but if you don't care about portable play, the Switch version isn't as good of a proposition as it should have been.

I enjoy both FEAR games in brief spurts.

As a turn-based experience, this might have been something, but even the earliest Panzer General game left me with fonder memories than Theatre of War has.

Oh, yeah, and the ladies? They look good. Not only do they look good, their dresses, poses and mannerisms run the range of surprisingly ingenious and tasteful to downright scandalous. Got a fetish? Rumble Roses has it covered.

The only audience Commando 3 is likely to pull in are those who remember the originals fondly and wish to take a moment to go back to the games of their childhood. Quickly, these same people will remember that games of their childhood were awful by today's standards, and vow to never be suckered in again — at least until the next Contra remake comes out.

If you can live with the crashes or if the developers have patched it by the time you read this, then Biomutant is a rather excellent title. The open-world setting feels unique amongst other postapocalyptic titles, especially with humans being replaced by cute yet realistic-looking fuzzy animals. The world looks gorgeous but offers a ton of stuff to do with a wide variety to boot. The fighting is fluid and excellent, no matter if you're using special powers or normal weapons, and the flexibility of many of the game's elements gives it a ton of freedom compared to its contemporaries. Even in a month crowded with some legitimate heavy hitters, Biomutant is well worth playing for those looking for a good RPG.

Despite a ho-hum presentation and some odd design decisions, Unsolved Crimes is definitely one of the more solid adventure titles on the DS.

Since the presentation matches the source material quite well, One Piece fans will be pleased enough with this game as they continue with one of the longest manga stories ever told.

The Last Remnant is absolutely full of potential. There's a fantastic world accompanied by an incredible soundtrack, a great battle system in place and a ton of content to keep you going. However, the game is technically sub-par, and the story takes far too long to get anywhere remotely interesting.

If you're a fan, rejoice and get this game, flaws and all.

The port itself just seems to be incomplete, with the Xbox 360-centric prompts, reward tokens (previously used for 360 achievements) that now have no purpose whatsoever, and sluggish performance.

Pretty darn easy to get into, but it doesn't have a ton of depth or historical significance beyond that.

In the end, Kinect Sports: Season Two doesn't feel as exciting as the original game.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered is a double-edged sword. It does a lot of things right with the story and atmosphere, but the gameplay is mediocre to good, with many flaws around the companion AI, which often ruins the experience. Since the fun multiplayer component of the original release isn't included yet, this game is only for serious fans of the movie or the original game.

At 1200 Microsoft points, though, Backbreaker Vengeance feels a little pricey for what's offered. Give the free demo a shot, but don't be surprised if you end up purchasing it later.

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.

It doesn't try to trump "MechWarrior" as the king of the mecha-piloting genre; it just tries to be fast, furious, and fun while offering the player plenty of customizability in order to fine-tune his mech to perfection and give it that special personal flair. In that, SLAI succeeds with flying colors.

After the initially painful learning curve, the game suddenly snapped into place, and things got fun; collecting the cards and participating in tournaments had great appeal.

WRC 6 isn't all that bad. It's up to you to learn how to drive the rally way, as the game fails to help you out in that regard, but everything feels fine once you master it. The career mode is lengthy, and the number of available tracks and the various multiplayer options give you plenty of ways to extend the experience long after the career is finished. However, the bad co-driver system makes things unintentionally harder, and the presentation lacks some real polish. It certainly isn't the best rally racer out there, but it does well in a pinch, especially if you've already worn out Dirt Rally and are trying to satisfy your craving until Dirt 4 hits.

PoPoLoCrois could probably have used more time in development to smooth over the loading issues and other minor bugs, but if you're in the market for a PSP RPG, it's pretty hard to do better right now.

It's a celebration of all you hold dear, you crazed fanboy/fangirl, you.

In all, The Bigs is a decent baseball game for the Wii, but it really plays more like a game of real baseball than one is led to believe.

There's also a nasty glitch I should warn you about, be sure to keep your hands off the controller during cutscenes, or you stand a good chance of coming out of them having just walked off into an enemy or bottomless pit.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - The Crystal Bearer is basically the opposite of traditional Final Fantasy games. Combat is relegated to a puzzle-like minigame, the plot is lighthearted and silly, RPG elements are minimal, and you're never really placed in a challenging situation.

Frogger: Helmet Chaos is not a bad game by any stretch, nor is it particularly good. It seems like yet another licensed re-hash that attempts to re-imagine a gaming classic.

Alone in the Dark is a perfectly fun survival-horror game that doesn't manage to stick the landing. Fun puzzle-solving struggles with awkward combat, and a lack of tension keeps the horror feeling limited. It's an interesting reboot of the franchise, and I could easily see it becoming something better in sequels, but the first outing feels unexceptional.

There's no argument that the gameplay in Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is timeless. It strikes the right balance between technical flash and grounded mechanics to provide an experience that captivates all types of fans, whether they're jumping into fighting games for the first time, stopped playing from Street Fighter III onward, or never stopped playing fighting games. The various extras, however, feel half-heartedly done. From the Buddy Battle mode to the abysmal Way of the Hado, few things feel fully fleshed out, while parts of the presentation fare worse than the work Backbone Entertainment did almost 10 years ago. At least the online works fine this time around, which may be enough to entice some players. With a price tag of $40, the game represents a very steep cash grab, so unless you're adamant about getting Street Fighter II on the Switch, it's best to wait for a sale or a price drop.

It's nice to see that this level of complexity is seeping downward through the genres and markets because it only means that games will be that much deeper and complex as these savvy generations grow older and demand more from their games.

But Monsters vs. Aliens does fulfill its modest promise: provide enjoyable entertainment that's suitable for children and best played with friends or family.