Patient gamers will be able to find some fun in this game, especially when the higher difficulty levels open up, but for everyone else, Knights Contract makes for a good weekend rental.

While the gunplay is fun and the mechanics unhindered by brick-wall sticking points, there's nowhere near enough content delivered to justify the big green plastic case with its commensurately large price tag.

X-Men: The Official Game just isn't fun at all.

Yet another badly made isometric Gameboy Advance game; yet another below-average action game. Why developers don't put their hearts into what they create, I'll never know.

If it weren't for the M-rated content, X-Blades could have been easily recommended to kids for its accessible action and anime presentation, which is a shame because the adult crowd is going to be left disappointed with this game, despite its sex appeal.

As gamers, we have a duty to go out in the world and protect normal people from buying this garbage.

The only reason to consider Devil May Cry 2 for the Switch is if you're either a completionist or a die-hard fan of the series. The game has the trappings of a decent action game, but with the Devil May Cry name attached, the expectations are higher. Nothing can justify it being a sequel to one of Capcom's more exciting PS2 games. Unless you need to experience every Dante adventure, skip this one and wait for the inevitable port of the third entry instead.

If you're going to do a bit of genre mixing, reward the player's investment of time and patience by remembering to include the good parts.

Everything else about the game — the story, characters and setting — is fabulous, but the gameplay doesn't live up to this promise and is among some of the drabbest that I've encountered in an RPG recently.

A playable, if uninspired game, and one that you should definitely pick up if you're in desperate need of a decent RPG for your DS.

The actual game parts are pretty uninspired, boring, and nothing that's going to retain the attention of anyone, regardless of age, for very long. If you really need to pick up a licensed title or two for the children in your life, there are quite a few out there that are actually decent. Unfortunately, Bratz: Super Babyz isn't one of them.

The single-player segment is definitely fun while it lasts, but it's far too short and easy to be anything memorable. The lack of gameplay-altering unlockables and a fully featured multiplayer mode makes the experience feel a little too bare-bones to warrant a purchase.

Left Brain Right Brain offers no interesting features, a minimal amount of variety, and a premise that develops very minimally.

I'd suggest avoiding this one, regardless of how low the price point may be, and you'd be better off spending your time on something else.

For a franchise that started out by redefining the RTS genre, Empire Earth III has sadly taken a serious turn for the worse, and in this incarnation, you'll find very little of what made the original Empire Earth great.

A lackluster MMO that only does average in most cases, and poorly in most others.

Flawed level design, hasty production values, glitchy gameplay, and an overall lack of effort drag down this game beyond the point where it's worth your time.

The game doesn’t seem to have gone through enough balance testing and QA testing.

As a stand-alone piece of DLC, Chaos Rising isn't worth the bother.

CellFactor is best thought of as an intriguing tech demo. It is interesting to watch your screen become cluttered with dozens of boxes, pipes, and miscellaneous junk, and know that your PhysX card is making the spectacle possible, but is it fun to play? Let's just say that you will love it … if your video game collection consists solely of free games.

If you're looking for a sub-par RPG with a sub-par storyline, sub-par gameplay, sub-par sounds, and very sub-par multiplayer, then sure, pick up Two Worlds.

Everything about Twin Strike: Operation Thunder screams "budget." This game strives to reach levels of mediocrity, and the art direction, audio, gameplay, graphics, options and writing all fail to reach those levels of mediocrity. There are a few scattered moments of excitement, but it's not enough to overpower the fact that the rest of the game is one you'll forget within a day or two of playing it.

The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft is a boring, poorly executed and mostly thoughtless game, and our whole industry is worse off for being made to suffer through it.

It is difficult to recommend MX vs ATV Legends under any circumstances. The opening moments are punishingly slow to get through, and the whole process of going through the events lacks any polish. The races all suffer from a myriad of issues — including bad track design, wonky physics, constant stuttering, and a fiddly handling system against braindead AI. With the ability to power up all three of your vehicles after only three races, the drive to progress is barely there. This is a case where there are plenty of other motocross racing games that are worth your time, unless you're willing to wait a year or two to see if the team can throw enough patches to make this somewhat decent.

This is a game solely for those who want to waggle controllers for an hour and giggle; all other self-respecting gamers should just stay away.

While I wouldn't recommend it to anyone except kids (or their parents), in part because of the rather subpar control scheme, at least the older brother who has to watch or play along isn't going to be completely annoyed at the game's quality level.

An overall miserable experience.

A mediocre experience at best. There's a lengthy single player mode that has a lot to offer, but doesn't do anything particularly well. The controls are tedious and the graphics are slow and blocky.

Vampire Moon: The Mystery of the Hidden Sun is a good hidden object game despite its faults.

Sub-par in almost every respect.

Legendary is by no means a legendary experience, but it's not a train wreck either. It's not worth the full $60 asking price, but it's a good rental for anyone who wants to punish some ancient myths or who's in need of a decent FPS to pass a few hours.

If you like the "Family Guy" TV show and you're willing to tolerate sub-par gameplay if the writing's good enough, go grab Xenosaga II, and go ahead and snag Family Guy while you're at the shop. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Jump Force: Deluxe Edition isn't a terrible title, but you have to be willing to forgive its numerous issues to enjoy it. The fighting is flashy, but it lacks depth since you can button-mash the attack button and win just about every match. The character roster is smaller compared to previous Jump games, and some of the dream interactions are hobbled by a less-than-stellar story and a lack of voices to make the interactions impactful. There are certainly better fighting games on the system, including a few licensed ones, and the only reason to give this one a look is if you really, really need to have some sort of crossover going.

It's difficult to not view the NCIS game as a blatant cash grab. It may be available at the lower price point of $40 ($30 for PC), but the four cases only take about four hours to complete and there is zero replay value.

There's not much that can save Dead Block from the depths of mediocrity.

Kung Fu Panda 2 should be commended for trying something new and mostly succeeding. The fighting, while in no way deep, is responsive and fun, and the minigames control pretty well. It could have looked a little better, but the sound was nice enough. The game length does hurt, and since a good chunk of that time is spent watching the game instead of interacting with it, it's difficult to recommend Kung Fu Panda 2 for purchase, especially at its current price point. If it gets cheaper, it's not a bad purchase for fans, but for now, it's best as a rental.

Sometimes, the flaws make the masterpiece, and sometimes, the flaws just make something flawed. More a case of the latter than the former, Cars is a game that is a rental at best, unless you have children who are really, really into the movie, or if you really liked Kirby Air Ride but didn't care much for all that replay value.

Adrenalin Misfits is certainly a much better offering than Sonic Free Riders when it comes to board-style racing.

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

X-Men: Destiny feels like a demo for a bigger game that never was. Little of the excitement that could have followed in the booted footsteps of X-Men Legends or Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is buried within its too-short campaign and thin smattering of gameplay. It's Dynasty Warriors for mutants; it can be fun at the outset, even with all the button-mashing, but the boxed-in world is not enough to distract from the hollow feeling of this particular destiny.

Is Th3 Plan worth playing? Even as a $15 budget title, it really isn't. From the inconsistent voice acting to the rudimentary visuals, the tedious gameplay, and the lack of replay value, you have better things with which to occupy your time.

The single-player game will last the average gamer no more than 10 hours, after which your only option will be to repeat it in order to improve your score, or find some friends who also have a copy of the game so you can compete in the multiplayer matches.

It's impossible to recommend Soldier of Fortune: Payback to new players or fans of the series, like me, who have been waiting for a sequel since Double Helix on the PC, especially when titles such as Call of Duty 4 are available for the same or similar price and deliver a far better experience in every way.

Ultimately, Voltron: Defender of the Universe is nothing but wasted potential.

Ultimately, Apartment Pets fails at just about everything it tries to do. It's not The Sims, it's not Nintendogs, and it's not fun for anyone.

The poor controls make the game far too frustrating to enjoy, and even if the controls weren't there, the lackluster gameplay and low-quality visuals make it seem as if the developers were just as bored with making the title as I was with playing it.

If Front Office Manager is going to become a serious series, it needs to sort out a lot of major problems in a hurry if it wants to be a gamer's radar as a potential purchase. As it stands, there's little to no reason to even rent this sub-par management title.

The truly unfortunate thing about Marvel Super Hero Squad is that it's halfway to being a really solid game for kids, but it never manages to make it over the hump.

One of the worst games I have ever played, yet it is also a wonderful piece of entertainment.

I cannot currently recommend Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition on the PC, and a lot has to happen until I do. The truth is that I've had a decent amount of fun with this remaster; part of it is based on nostalgia, and part of it is based on some ridiculous, unavoidable bugs that weren't as frequent as I'd feared. Given all of these issues and the abysmal performance of the three games on the PC, I'd stay away from the trilogy until several major updates have been released. Even then, this remaster may not be for everyone.

If you're a truly hard-core "CSI" fan, I suppose you could take this for a spin or two, but with technical issues, a completely boring design, poor pacing, and really no replay value, you're better off picking up a DVD boxed set and playing along at home.

Patient gamers will be able to find some fun in this game, especially when the higher difficulty levels open up, but for everyone else, Knights Contract makes for a good weekend rental.

Ultimately, Saban's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle is lacking in so many ways. The basic combat system lacks polish, and boss fights look cool but are boring to actually play. The presentation also feels unfinished, with missing bouts of audio and a pause that occurs at inopportune times rather often. It gets the modes right, and the presence of local co-op is appreciated, but none of that matters when the basics aren't up to snuff. It might be fine for young kids, but fans who are looking for a throwback to their SNES/Genesis days would be better served by digging up those titles instead.

Repetitive, bland gameplay, boring yet decent graphics and controls, and abysmal audio make this a title that will have people lining up at the local game hawker to trade it in for something better.

Even fans will have a hard time enjoying Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Council 4 when compared to other Naruto franchise games or, for that matter, action-platforming titles in general.

I didn't have a great deal of fun with Digimon World Championship, but in part, I feel that it's because these games just aren't intended for me anymore.

As I mentioned earlier, Animal Paradise is geared toward younger kids, but this title will only keep them occupied for a couple of hours at most because even kids are going to see through the paper-thin amount of content in this game.

Even die-hard Digimon fans will find very little to relish in this western-only release. For everyone else, many other fighting games can provide a more satisfying experience.

People who are interested in technical accuracy will be turned away by the glaring inaccuracies in how nitro is used and the fact that it is nearly impossible to control your vehicle in any appreciable degree, and speed junkies will throw down their Wiimotes in disgust at how the game punishes you over and over again for actually using the edge you've been given.

You know it's a bad sign for a game when you enjoy the name generator and meditation mode more than any of the actual gameplay.

Pokemon Rumble U is a major setback for the spin-off series in many ways.

The game may not have what it takes to dethrone WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2011 as best wrestling title of the year, but there's enough to make people look forward to a new entry in the series. If you're a big wrestling fan, be sure to rent Lucha Libre AAA, but since the online landscape is so desolate, be prepared to have a few friends on standby.

The only major reason The Beginning of Destiny would ever be worth it for any fan of the series is those three exclusive cards, of which you would need three sets to use to any effect. Konami may eventually get these games to be as consistently solid as their Nintendo DS iterations. They just haven't done so yet.

As a whole, Just Dance doesn't work out too well. The graphics may be very spartan and the sound may be fine, but the controls and the gameplay just don't cut it.

Dragon Ball Z for Kinect falls flat, so fans of the anime would be better served with the HD releases of Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 & 3, which are coming in a few weeks.

It's certainly a disappointing experience all around, and I can't see any reason to buy it.

Brotherhood United is a game that you might want to play if you've run out of other run-and-gun shooters. The shooting may have been fine if the modern mechanics weren't thrown in, but the multitude of annoyances, from the bad pixel graphics to low customization and inability to easily convey vital stats to the player, combine to make for a terrible overall experience. Considering the vast library at your disposal, Brotherhood United is an easy pass.

If you can snag a copy as a free pre-order bonus for Red Faction: Armageddon, then go ahead and give it a spin, but if you're thinking of spending money on it, give this one a pass. At 800 MSP ($10) for the download, Red Faction: Battlegrounds simply isn't worth the cash.

The puzzles are simple in their execution, but their obtuseness can be infuriating at times. The story may begin mysteriously, but both of the endings are unsatisfying, even though the story is still muddled at that point. There are plenty of other titles on the PS4 that do a better job of telling a short and mysterious tale artfully, and your time is better spent with those and saving Vane for a video walkthrough unless you're hunting for Trophies.

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.

Light is a decent demonstration of stealth done on a smaller scale. The minimalist approach is novel, and the bare-bones stealth mechanic can be refreshing to those entering the genre for the first time.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is a good example of how not all Dynasty Warriors games are created equal. Despite having a much larger cast and very similar gameplay, DW: Gundam 2 is less fun than its predecessor in many crucial ways.

What it lacks more than anything is enjoyable gameplay. There’s no thrill attached to the empty "hide and sneak" gameplay, and the uneven motion controls derail the potentially blissful "Wild Ride" missions.

Not only did this title have mediocre gameplay, but it also stomped upon my fond memories of a beloved childhood show.

Perhaps the biggest problem with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is that it doesn't stray much from the previous game's formula, and when it does, it actively detracts from the game.

In the end, Lights, Camera, Party! has a few good ideas wrapped up in bad execution.

Calling has all of the technical chops to become a decent horror game. The sounds and graphics are fine, while the controls aren't all that cumbersome. Unfortunately, the story just isn't scary so the game feels like it drags on. If you can't stand to miss any horror game release, then your best bet would be to rent this title.

At four hours of poor presentation, subpar visuals, and uninspired gameplay, I wouldn't recommend Iron Man 2 for the PSP to even the most avid Iron Man fan.

Feel free to stick with the good action games, and leave Ghost Rider to his burning fate.

I'd avoid this one even if you're a die-hard fan of the series.

As I sit here, I wonder what on earth made EA decide to abandon the Street franchise, which was just reaching its prime, for what's found in NFL Tour.

Whirlwind over Vietnam offers a gameplay experience that is neither innovative nor executed well.

Decent mini-games can only go so far to fix a broken main game, terrible art design, and voice acting that even a patient fan of low-quality acting can't handle.

The game is stable and generally fun if lawn games are your thing, and you overlook variety in the game types not yielding much diversity in their style of play.

Aliens are here, kidnapping and impregnating women, and it's Duke's job to blow them away. The more intriguing aspect of Duke Nukem Forever is how the character's apparent mythos appears to be the engine of the entire experience. He's worshipped as a living god in the game, with his own burger joint, strip club, museum and stadium. His mission is about rescuing babes and kicking ass, which is well within his strike zone, but did it need to leak into every capillary of the experience? It's as if Gearbox was relying a little too much on the "Dukeness" to cover up any weaknesses. Who care if the game looks dated? It's Duke! Let's have him mess with Halo because he's Duke!

The idea itself is solid, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

In the end, Dollar Dash is amusing but only in small bursts.

With its lower price point, Bust-A-Move Universe was supposed to be a no-brainer for puzzle fans to pick up alongside their new 3DS consoles. The core of the game is still brilliant in its design and just as addictive as it ever was. However, the lack of modes and the reduction in difficulty has created a title that feels like a huge step backward for the franchise. If you don't mind the lack of multiplayer and are perfectly content with what's available here, try renting Universe. Otherwise, it's best to wait around and see if a new version will rectify the mistakes in this one.

The last AvP game was released years ago and put forward a much stronger effort than this. The presentation is good, and at times, it had the makings of an honestly frightening game, but the difficulty level is scaled back so much that it ceases to be fun.

Even with a reduced price, Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games isn't worth picking up out of the bucket.

It's really difficult to recommend this game to anyone since Sid Meier's Pirates! has everything that Tortuga does, and even manages to do it better.

Carnival Games for the NDS is a bust of a carnival. You're better off saving your cash and riding the teacups at the state fair with a friend. As lame as the teacups are, at least they bring people together and get you outside. That's much more than you can say for this DS title.

Bolt for the Nintendo DS hardly does enough to keep itself interesting, even through the short amount of time it'll take to see everything that the game has to offer.

The game had the potential to be something great, since it was a unique combination of space combat, first-person shooting, and strategy, but in trying to incorporate all of these components, the quality of each was neglected.

Broken down to choosing an RPG for PSP, Astonishia Story is the best available next to the import-only "Tales of Eternia," which you should get instead if you have access to it.

Once you finish the game in about four hours, that's all there is to it. It's a budget experience at full price, and one that I can't suggest anyone pick up.

Unfortunately, the title spends so much time bogging itself down in useless side-stories and suffering from awful translation that the tale never gets off the ground. Even worse, what little gameplay actually exists loses its appeal before the game even gets going.

Even if you can accept the simplicity, some of the basic mechanics don't work properly, bringing down the whole thing several notches. If you're looking for a game that is devoid of a technical learning curve, grab the demo and see if this fits the bill. Combat and pro wrestling aficionados would be better served with any other wrestling title that's offered on the system.