If you're new to the series, then it's at least worth a rental, but there's no way I'd suggest picking up this one at full price. Wait for the inevitable price drop because there's not enough content here to be worth the current asking price. Also, if you're dying to find out how the Balance Board mechanic works, keep in mind that it's going to be more frustrating than fun.

I actually found myself enjoying the game. This may be due to the blood or the speed of the game, or it may even be the strategy that is behind the game. Fighter games can be fought with a lot of strategy, but I just mash the living daylights out of my controller buttons.

More importantly, let's hope the next-gen will bring about better graphics, which honestly shouldn't be in the state they are.

If you're looking for nice graphics in a realistic racing environment on a next-generation platform, then perhaps this is right for you, but if you're looking for an exciting career mode, crazy pileups, or the ability to manage a team, then an older NASCAR title is what the doctor ordered.

As a final verdict, I'd recommend Bolt for anyone old or young who liked the movie and enjoys platform-style adventure games with a healthy mix of fighting.

LEGO Battles: Ninjago is meant to be an introductory RTS for young gamers.

In the end, NHL 15 feels like the skeleton of a better hockey game.

It's still the lack of high-velocity thrills - and not necessarily the Axe body spray and iRiver billboards - that make for the biggest disappointment.

Ultimate Band is a game that has its heart in the right place but comes up short in execution.

Your feelings on the latest iteration of Painkiller will depend on several different factors. If you're looking for a title with a good story and characters or crave a true single-player experience, you'll hate it. If you're looking for something that doesn't require grinding to get the most out of the title, you'll also dislike the game. If you're looking for boomer shooter sensibilities in a co-op setting and really dig the different hellish vibes, you'll like Painkiller. Even then, unless you're a completionist, it'll take one run through all of the levels and perhaps a few attempts at the roguelike mode before you move on, making this a fleeting experience rather than something with staying power.

I love the depth of play, I feel challenged by the game's AI, and I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I complete a scenario. On the other hand, I think the game should represent the advances the gaming industry has made in the past five years.

In the end, Schrödinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark is a good platforming puzzle game.

A great addition to a classic series and should satisfy the twisted pervert inside all of us ... well, inside of me, anyway.

As an arcade flight combat game, Dogfight 1942 is decidedly average.

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage suffers from being too much and not enough like Dynasty Warriors.

The dynamic strategic campaign is also a welcome addition and works well. However, where the game’s strength should lie is in the tactical mode, yet this is disappointingly weak, particularly in single-player mode.

South Park: Snow Day! is a good South Park game, but it's just a fine one when viewed without the license. The action is good, as is the inclusion of roguelike elements, but the camera distance can make the gameplay feel cumbersome. The inclusion of multiplayer is great, but the lack of local play is disappointing. While the different card combinations and level elements add some replayability, the presence of only five stages make the game feel short; the disappointment is lessened by the lower-than-expected price tag. It's a fun game, but you'll want to temper your expectations.

To be fair, it hasn’t broken any new ground, didn’t dazzle me with its graphics, and included that same annoying pseudo-speak that all of these games seem to integrate.

Victorious Boxers Revolution should have been great. Hajime no Ippo is about the closest you can get to an animated version of Punchout, and the Wii is almost custom-made for boxing titles. Yet the poor Wii controls, short length and lack of extras make it hard to recommend this game for anything but the most die-hard fans of the Hajime no Ippo manga.

MX Vs. ATV: Untamed won't make you tear out your hair or stomp on your PSP, but it's pretty much in the middle of the pack when it comes to PSP releases.

The unfortunate thing about Guitar Hero: Van Halen is that it really had the potential to shine, but there just seemed to be too much working against it. The ongoing band feuds have eliminated not only a large section of the group's catalog, but a founding member as well, and laziness on the part of all parties involved means that there's nearly nothing added to the game to give it the extra content we saw in the Aerosmith and Metallica editions

There's potential in Clid the Snail. The postapocalyptic setting feels fresher thanks to the new perspective, and the characters are charming, even if they fit expected tropes from stories about a ragtag bunch being forced to come together. A fascinating setting cannot overcome gameplay that feels repetitive due to unexciting shooting mechanics and enemies that fail to become intelligent until you reach a boss fight. It can be fun if you temper your expectations significantly, but for most people, Clid the Snail won't do it for them.

Unfortunately, I never felt that Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam was much fun to play. The switch in style from city exploration to racer doesn't work that well, and it never seemed like I had the time to pull off impressive tricks or combos.

Those who don't want to bother with creating their own artwork in this rather particular form, however, may wish to skip the title. Those who aren't sure either way should probably give the online original a try and decide from that.

If you're looking for a relaxing way to spend a rainy afternoon, Murdered fits the bill, but that's about it.

Even as a fan of RPGs in general, I don't think that anything about Bleach: The Third Phantom will appeal to most people. Unless you're really dying for some new-related items, I'd avoid this title completely.

The graphics are visually pleasing, and the gameplay is varied enough to keep you coming back for more.

It's a fun shooter with a well-done bullet-time feature and a decent storyline. What more could you ask for from a $20 dollar game? Oh, Hubbardium-crazed humans? It's got that too!

The entire control scheme and physics engine need to go back to the drawing board before next year's release in order to remove that constant feeling of dread that lingers during a typical game.

Activision's chance to capitalize on the Spider-Man license should not fall on deaf ears, though, because the simple mechanics and easy gameplay in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe are the perfect fit for any young Spider-Man fan or casual gamer looking for an action title for the Wii.

Golem is nothing to scoff at. It looks and sounds beautiful, it has an open world that can be explored freely, and the sword combat feels satisfying. On the other hand, cumbersome and awkward controls, a decent amount of motion sickness, and a few frustrating game mechanics prevent the title from reaching its potential. If you have a strong stomach and think you can make do with the controls, Golem will provide some joy, even though it is far from a VR masterpiece.

A very average title. Good-looking graphics are plagued with frame rate problems and questionable camera angles.

An absolute sham of a game, full of broken mechanics and proof that when you carry a gimmick too far, you end up with something that no one wants to play.

The storyline is a little jerky at times, but does get the point across and has some "advanced" plot concepts, such as foreshadowing.

This should have been a victory lap for the PC iteration of The Last of Us: Part I. From the gameplay to the characters to the story, this is one of the highlights of the past few gaming generations. The appearance on the PC should've given the game even more room to show off things like higher-quality textures and reflections along with Sony's now-standard ultrawide support. Yet the game's ability to only work with reduced risk after waiting for an abnormally long time for shader caching mars the release. The game crashes, frequent pauses in gameplay and other nonsensical bugs put into question the decision to release this despite the obvious issues. There's a chance that this will recover via patches and the game can bounce back. For now, it is sad to see that one of Sony's best games has received one of the worst PC ports thus far.

A very fun game, thanks to the use of the balance board in conjunction with the Nunchuk and Wiimote.

On the one hand, getting Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol on a modern platform is great, especially on the Switch, where docked and portable play has always served as the system's strength. The former is still a classic title that holds up well even if the difficulty can scare people away, while the latter is good but not as ambitious or polished as its predecessor. On the other hand, the inability to disable bezels is a shame, but the unclear save system and the unnecessary control changes ruin things for new and old players alike. This isn't the ideal way to play any of these games, but it works when no other options are available.

As it stands now, the game involves a lot of repetition, and what little plot exists unfolds at a snail's pace, is poorly explained, and lacks the necessary context to make sense of it. It's capable of being a very fun shooter, especially when friends comprise the rest of your squad. It's just that the rest of the game feels far from the polished content for which Bioware is known.

King Arthur’s problems begin with its controls. I am fully aware that this is an action game, but it is not one with much depth to it by any means. So why are not one, not two, but five attack buttons needed? The answer: They aren’t.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon may be the better of the three games based on the movie series, but that isn't saying too much. It's a tighter, more action-packed experience compared to the previous games, but it sacrifices length and choice to get there.

If you can ignore the nonsensical story and execution, Shooting Stars is a decent arcade shooter.

There's a decent base to Witch's Rhythm Puzzle. The idea of a puzzle game dictated by rhythm has merit, and it would work fine if you can dial in the timing to play the game beyond Easy mode. However, with so little content, it's a short-lived, one-and-done game. It is an inexpensive title, but don't expect a hidden gem.

The gorgeous visuals and often-fun puzzles of 80 Days drown underneath the crushing weight of bad design; the poor controls, questionable physics, and repetitive (ad nauseum) elements all hinder what could have been a great gaming experience.

And sound, the final frontier for every Worth Playing review: adequate. MIDI songs, completely unmemorable. Clearly digitized sounds, somewhat unsatisfying, but videogame-y enough. Your ears will hear, but your brain will not be stimulated.

It becomes readily apparent that those who will enjoy Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time the most will be existing fans of the series. The storyline and new animations are worth checking out, especially since the second season is still a ways out. Even then, they may be hard-pressed to deal with both the tedious exploration and the unreliable combat. For them, the game may be worth getting for cheap. For everyone else, this should be a pass.

The poor controls of Razing Storm's story mode completely negate the chance of getting any enjoyment from it, and they make the rest of the game feel incomplete since the story doesn't get a recap in arcade mode.

It is perhaps the very definition of mediocre. Combat is repetitive and boring, but not particularly flawed in any way, except perhaps for the weak AI.

Fans of SNES-era RPGs will definitely appreciate the presentation and return of the ATB/Dual-Tech system found in Chrono Trigger. The frequency of random battles, however, really decreases one's enjoyment of the game and changes it into an endurance run of random battles.

Nonetheless, Mega Man Star Force 3 is going to be popular among its fan base, and the upgrades will help them get the most out of the game. Non-fans probably won't find a lot here, though, and by repeatedly exploring the same elements of Geo's life, Capcom seems to be falling into a comfortable rut here.

It may be a good title to tide over rhythm gaming fanatics until Rock Band comes out for the Wii or Guitar Hero IV hits later this year.

If you're a big fan of minigame collections, it's a decent title to pick up after the price drops.

For a game that's almost 20 years old, Munch's Oddysee on the Switch holds up incredibly well. It's a fun and creative platformer in an odd world that is still super fun to play and figure out from start to finish. Don't expect any technical leaps forward or special additions to this Switch version. If you already own Munch's Oddysee on another platform, there is not much reason to buy the Switch port, unless you must have a portable version of it at all times.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 is easily the best outing the Warriors series has seen in a long time, and it's exactly what it says on the box. If you enjoy feeling like a total badass as you wipe out hundreds of enemies with flash, speed and technique, then this game's worth full price even with its few flaws - possibly more so if you're already a Gundam geek. If you're not, though, beware: This game may turn you into one before you know it.

It's certainly more of the same when it comes to the stealth action and FPS genres that it follows, and doesn't really rise above or try anything particularly new in order to provide that little bit of an edge that it needs to make it out of the realm of mediocrity.

Despite doing a number of things right, 1954: Alcatraz doesn't feel special.

Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is the kind of game that is full of potential but needed a lot more development time.

With controls that don't work, incomprehensible RPG-styled gameplay between matches, and limited character creation utilities, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 for the NDS has come from its "has potential" status from last year all the way down to "scrap it."

This title has a very strong appeal to anyone who is a seasoned player of Dungeons & Dragons and is interested in playing a tactical combat simulator that is faithful to the system with which it shares its name.

The tedious button-mashing might be fun when watching your friends make amusing faces while pounding their way to the finish line, but any extended time would be better invested in watching the actual games themselves. See you in four years, Summer Olympics.

If you can get some friends together for local multiplayer, you'll probably have some fun with this title, but if you're picking it up and hope to get into the online side, I'd definitely suggest avoiding this one.

When all is said and done, it is difficult to recommend TRON: Evolution as a game. Though it expands on some of the background leading up to the new film and gives us a bit more insight into Quorra's character, suffering through the tedious gameplay segments just isn't worth it, even for a hardcore fan.

Its ship combat is weak, and for all intents and purposes the on-foot gameplay is nonexistent. What little story the game has is threadbare at best, and it gives the player no good reason to slog through the grind. It is saddening, as the game could've been something great, especially since there aren't a ton of pirate games out there. However, there isn't much about Skull and Bones that I will remember a year from now.

As it stands, Front Mission Evolved is a decent entry in the series.

A good start for a new wrestling franchise. The fighting animations are fluid, and it's refreshing to see a wrestling game go back to the fundamentals as opposed to gimmicky matches and auxiliary items.

Warts and all, APB has enough going for it that gamers who are looking for this type of gameplay on a larger scale will have a lot to enjoy.

As it stands, A Stroke of Fate is a flawed adventure tightly wrapping itself around WWII's history. At the same time, it sorely lacks the same ambitious spirit behind its gorgeous visuals to make the most of its promising premise.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time is hardly flawless and really could have used more development time to turn a decent game (with an excellent design base) into a great one. It goes back to what 3-D Spider-Man games were like before Spider-Man 2 mandated atmosphere over interactivity, and it comes out a better game than it has any right to be given its abysmal production values. Instead of once again showing you what it feels like to have Spider-Man's responsibilities, Edge of Time goes back to inviting you to feel what it's like to be as powerful as him.

I like the "Jackass" show. I really do, and I don't like coming down on the video game interpretation of it, but without a true director mode, it lacks depth, and once you get your laughs out of the minigames once or twice, you'll be ready to move on.

Front Mission Evolved has some interesting ideas, but none of them are polished.

These levels weren't meant to be played from a fixed perspective, and the addition of several brutal bugs makes for a painful portable experience.

It's not change that I'm against. It's change for the worse that disappoints me so much about this game.

When all is said and done, it is difficult to recommend TRON: Evolution as a game. Though it expands on some of the background leading up to the new film and gives us a bit more insight into Quorra's character, suffering through the tedious gameplay segments just isn't worth it, even for a hardcore fan.

I can't recommend it at its current price point. The car combat is fun for a couple of hours, but everything else is riddled with so many problems.

Over The Hedge is not for everyone, and some players will find it too sugary-sweet and uninspired for prolonged consumption, but many players will find it an enjoyable diversion, and fans of the movie and comic strip will find it both an accessible and an enjoyable translation from the source material to game form.

In short bursts, the micromanagement isn't so bad and watching your park slowly flourish can be rewarding, but over time you may find that the whole thing just feels a little bland.

If it sounds stupid, it's probably appropriate.

With sluggish movement and imprecise aiming, the game does not meet shooter standards, and to make things worse, the terrain is limited and may give you a tough time in finding the way around blocked objects.

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.

Altogether, Aliens in the Attic was surprisingly better than I anticipated, even if I was pretty down on it in this review.

In the end, only certain elements of Defenders of Ardania work well.

The Council: Episode 4 - Burning Bridges is the penultimate episode of the game, and it does a good job of making things interesting again, but it does so with quite a number of flaws intact. The unrealistic reactions to big events are the episode's biggest flaw, as all of those shocking things lose their impact when everyone else fails to make a big deal out of it. At the same time, those new revelations open up things just enough to make the final episode more intriguing. Here's hoping that the finale makes the journey worthwhile.

Discounting versions that were developed for dedicated handheld systems, the 2023 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III represents the series at a low. The campaign is painfully short, and while the open combat missions are a neat idea, they needed more time to feel substantial. Zombies are still fun enough, and the same can be said for multiplayer, but the absence of new maps feels wrong for a brand-new game. If the original plan to make this a DLC package were still in play and the price were reasonable, then one could see it being a recommendation for dedicated series fans. As a $70 full price game, however, what's available is pitiful to the point that gamers should stay away from this title and stick with the older stuff instead.

I thought it was fun to look forward to the next action you unlock, however, I felt it took way to long to actually unlock most of the stuff. This might not have been so bad if the game had more to keep me occupied with besides just watching my characters talk in warp speed for hours.

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.

The production values are slick and well done, but the game itself could've used a bit more tweaking to make it more enjoyable than it wound up being.

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble isn't going to be fun for experienced platform players, but there are also several design decisions that prevent it from being a good choice for younger players who want to get into the genre. From an unremarkable character and story to a lack of urgency in most parts, the excitement of a platformer just isn't present here. Combine that with some flaky minecart segments, a too-sticky vertical camera, and overly long boss fights, and you have a title that conjures up more frustration than fun. Despite the nice overall presentation in Stitchy, you can easily skip this one in favor of other platformers that do a better job of catering to both kids and adults.

Overall, Bleach: Soul Resurreccion isn't very good. It's not an awful game, but the Mission mode is the only thing that salvages an otherwise lackluster action title.

This is a video game that tries — and admirably succeeds — at being, well, "Jackass," low entertainment at its lowest.

Lost Planet 3 fails to have its own identity. It is technically competent, and there are moments of fun to be had by shooting enemies.

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."

The touch-screen and scrolling controls are sloppy, the sound is almost nonexistent, and the graphics are decent but boring.

If you want to play The Sims on the road, get the spin-off "The Urbz," which does absolutely everything The Sims 2 does, only better.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires breaks Omega Force's streak in releasing games that can change the minds of series critics. By reverting back to basics with so few modes, the title returns to something of a monotonous grind if you aren't playing as the kingdom leader.

Arto isn't ready yet. There's a good premise, the mechanics play out well enough, and the hook of painting the environment with different art styles is certainly appealing. However, there are simply too many issues in every category that cannot be ignored no matter how hard you try. Should this extensive list get fixed, players will encounter a decent game that we could recommend checking out if you're curious. As it stands now, you should avoid Arto.

There's a good idea behind God of Rock. The concept of a rhythm game with the trappings of a fighting game has worked in the past, so we know this combination can work. The execution is flawed enough for both genres that the idea can't shine through. Some more polish and perhaps a rethinking of readability would help this become more desirable, but it's currently difficult to recommend.

It's difficult to muster up any excitement for Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs. The formula is decent, but the lackadaisical AI doesn't encourage you to play with the parts of the game that make it distinct. The lack of other modes makes this package feel expensive, while the lack of any human players this early on robs the game of any reason to keep playing. It's a dead game that makes you wish that Bandai Namco would resurrect Pac-Man 99 instead.

It's repetitive and technically deficient, but the fact that they managed to squeeze this concept onto a console woefully inadequate for it and still come out with a fun game at all is surprising, and provides hope for the future.

There are worse games, but there are also far better, and there is nothing that this game does to distinguish itself from any other. With Ninja Gaiden III, the series - and likely Team Ninja - has lost its way, and the result is an overdose of style with far too little substance to accompany it.