Deep Black: Reloaded shows potential that may never be reached. The proprietary engine shows some promise, and the underwater action isn't that bad compared to what other games try to do. However, the land-based gameplay is quite poor with pretty bad AI, and the hit system lacks consistency. Your hero lumbers around way too much to make the player feel powerful, the weapon variety isn't imaginative or useful, and the water mechanic isn't used for anything interesting. With nothing of value to bring to the table, there's little reason for anyone to pick up this game over other, better executed titles.

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is a confused game. The license seems wasted, since the game fails to use its source material in a meaningful way. Ignore the license, and what you get is a top-down shooter that favors precision over bullet spray but adds a badly implemented time-rewind mechanic that squanders any potential it may have had. A few people can get some enjoyment out Bloody Days, but many will only need a quick glance to realize that this just isn't going to work out.

As stated before, there doesn't seem to be much justification for the price hike in Heavy Fire: Afghanistan. The game may let you have four players playing together, but it does so with a package that looks and sounds merely serviceable.

Legend of Heroes III starts slowly, doesn't build to anything worth writing about, and doesn't even have challenging combat or an interesting plot. Keep well away, as Legend of Heroes III wasn't even a good game in 1999.

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.

If R.B.I. Baseball 20 were the only baseball title on the Switch, then it would be considered serviceable yet underwhelming. The new pitching and batting systems will divide players, but the fact that you can mix and match both styles makes for a good compromise. The AI remains questionable, and the scant number of modes and the bare-bones presentation don't help matters. As it stands, fans of arcade baseball outings who don't mind whether their players and teams are based on real-world ones will be better served with any of the Super Mega Baseball titles. If sim fans don't feel like settling with this game, they'll have to tough it out and wait until MLB The Show 21.

The beautifully hilarious Ratchet & Clank series did well when it was ported to the PSP, but devs got lazy porting it back; the best features of the portable version are gone, and nothing has been added. What works perfectly on the PSP works very badly on the PlayStation 2, and Size Matters is proof.

In the end, Konductra just isn't worth the time. With lackluster gameplay and difficult controls, it's not fun for hardcore gamers or those looking for a quick way to waste time, especially at the far-from-bargain price of $30.

With its banal art style, nebulous lore, and generic take on dungeon-crawling, Unexplored lacks the necessary panache to make a dent. The unfulfilling combat further weakens the game. The positives of giving players access to many different game modes, including a hefty amount of content, and providing really cool music makes Unexplored an overall average title. It's still fun to explore, but the game's lack of flair inhibits the desire to try another round, and the gameplay alone isn't enough to sell it.

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.

Epic Mickey was supposed to prove that in the right hands, even an established character and dull-as-dishwater brand could be exciting and different. Instead, what we get is a really amazing concept and cool story wrapped around a stinker of a game.

At many times I found myself very frusterated by the extremely fast motion of the scrolling feature. Sometimes it seems as if it's impossible to find your men.

If you're looking at this as a music game, stick with either Rock Band or Guitar Hero. They might not feature real guitars that you can plug into an amp, but at least you'll get a better gaming experience and more players with whom to share the experience.

Ultimately, Warriors Orochi 2 takes an already tarnished franchise and further beats it into the ground.

Iron Man 2 is another example of how a movie tie-in game can go horribly wrong. It isn't a very technically sound game, as issues with the controls and graphics make it apparent that the title lacks some polish.

The racing has been so simplified that it may find a much larger audience than the original did. It's not for me, though. I like technique and speed in my racing games, unless we're talking something like Outrun 2, and even that has a drifting mechanism that makes a modicum of sense.

If you're looking at this as a music game, stick with either Rock Band or Guitar Hero. They might not feature real guitars that you can plug into an amp, but at least you'll get a better gaming experience and more players with whom to share the experience.

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.

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.

Your enjoyment of Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is going to be heavily based on whether you can accept its strategy game conceit. If you're good with the idea of only being able to control one unit at a time per turn, then you might be fine so long as you're also willing to accept the inherent lack of strategy that goes along with the very limited objective set. If you want your strategy games to be a little more traditional, where every unit can do something on a turn, then you'll hate this game to the point that even the counteract mechanic can't make things interesting. In short, Narcos is a hard sell for fans of the series, let alone strategy game fans, unless you can find it for a very deep discount.

Funk of Titans is a game that sounds fine on paper but falls apart in the execution.

These gestures toward usability cannot overcome the fact that Everlight simply isn't very much fun to play. The dialogue is stilted, unfunny, drab and poorly acted, and some of the gameplay mechanics are obtuse.

If you are truly desperate for a Saint Seiya title, then this may work, but you're better off waiting for a better, more polished game to come along.

As a whole, Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Budokai is just kind of there. If you can get past a few presentation issues, it looks fine, and the simple fighting system is fun enough for those who aren't seeking an advanced game.

13AM had a really cool idea that mostly works but unfortunately gets lost within a slew of issues. Runbow could be a great game for the dedicated speedster, but for most others, it comes off as pretty, but lackluster.

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.

Dark Void is a rare game with a great idea, but isn't going to please anyone. It's one of the biggest disappointments of the year, which is impressive when you consider that it's only January.

But when all the parts are added up, this is just another on a long list of licensed games that fail to actually get past the low standards set for the genre.

The Sexy Brutale is an intriguing game with good ideas and an incredible atmosphere. It is well worth your time, as long as you don't play it on the Nintendo Switch. Without the technical issues, the game would've garnered a much higher score, but this port struggles at every turn and is best left alone.

I genuinely feel rather bad going on and on about the game's flaws, but the most exceptional thing about Clive 'N' Wrench is the effort that went into bringing it into existence. I'd love to say that it's a great, or even a good, game, but it's pretty unexceptional even by the standards of low-budget indie 3D platformers. There just isn't anything to recommend this game on its own merits, and it is buggy enough that it's hard to even recommend it as a curiosity.

While the idea and story remain intact, the actual gameplay manages to suck all of the charm out of the characters and plot, and while there are some slight variations and mini-games that attempt to keep things fresh, everything else about this title is stale.

If you're a major fan of the TV show, then Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat might be appealing as a novelty, but don't expect much in the way of serious action.

In spite of all the things going against it, Jewel Master: Cradle of Athena can be a somewhat addictive game, and for those who haven't played a game in the franchise before, it could be a nice distraction for a couple of days.

Altogether, Wonderworld: Amusement Park could have been a pretty solid collection of mini-games if a little more thought had been put into the stylus control scheme.

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.

Metal Slug Anthology was supposed to be one of the portable system's A-list titles. Instead, due to reasons that probably couldn't have been helped, it ends up being one of the system's biggest jokes.

The only real worthwhile audience for this game is Wii owners who can't or won't get online and would like the chance to play their old favorites again. Anyone else would be better off avoiding this game, as the extras certainly don't make up for the high price tag.

When it comes right down to it, everything in Crackdown 3 is by-the-numbers game design, and the end result is not more than the sum of its parts. There are hints of good ideas in Crackdown 3, but the end product isn't worth the $60 purchase. Unless you're getting it free with your Game Pass subscription, you're better off downloading the original game (currently free for all) and playing that instead.

With more time and polish, Nowhere to Run could have shown that Spy Hunter can move beyond the car, but for now, The Interceptor is still the more interesting main character.

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

Instead of playing the role of Jaws, you're playing as Jaws in a generic action-RPG. Combine that with sub-standard gameplay and controls, and a lack of "terror-of-the-deep" moments, and you've got a game that you can freely pass over without any worries.

There's a cool concept in Super Blackjack Battle II Turbo Edition: The Card Battlers. The idea of making a game by integrating blackjack into a fighting game model seems silly, but the quick nature of the game and the finite amount of time needed to amass a healthy purse add some excitement to the experience. Unfortunately, there's no longevity to the game. The AI battles can be played way too safely to guarantee wins, and there's no online community to scratch the versus itch due to lack of local multiplayer. Super Blackjack Battle is a curiosity, but it's not a title that needs to be in your library unless it's available for cheap or you have a taste for bizarre game concepts.

This particular offering utterly fails to capture the magic of its predecessor or even to meet the standards set by contemporary offerings.

Zumba Fitness 2's improvements are greatly overshadowed by its lack of instruction as well as poor controls.

The “At-Once-Turn-System” adds a welcome strategic element to dungeon-crawling, but monotony and repetition destroy any redeeming value the system might have.

It's a shame since there's a lot of potential here, but Koi doesn't manage to realize it.

If you're a fan of the MLB and are strictly an Xbox 360 owner, then you'll probably find something to like in MLB 2K9; after all, you pretty much have to. Unfortunately, you'll also have to put up with some of the shoddiest fielding AI I've seen in a while, and enough bugs that will cause semi-frequent frustrations with the entire game, including one that I'd consider to be pretty much a game-breaker at this point.

Myst can't survive in a modern market where everyone wants to satisfy their itchy trigger finger and drool over their high-definition Blu-rays, but it can still be a relaxing jaunt into another world.

Even at a budget price, I'm not sure that I'd recommend Blades of Time. It can be pretty to look at, and there are some decent concepts behind its combat system. It's also a better game than the middling experience provided by X-Blades, but not by much. As a whole, it feels like it could have used far more development time and play testing than it likely received. It's probably worth a rental if you're really curious, but I wouldn't suggest a purchase.

Bust-a-Move Bash! seems to have been carelessly thrown together with little understanding of what made the previous versions so much fun.

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

Clunky controls and nonexistent difficulty, however, reduce the game into bargain bin status.

Ultimately, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II is Sonic in name only. Rather than being a revival of classic gameplay, it feels more like a fan project that didn't quite get everything right. Rip away the Sonic sprites, and you're left with nothing more than an average platformer. If you have a hankering for old-school Sonic, snag Sonic Generations instead.

There's nothing wrong with not being wholly original — few titles are — but Fuse doesn't even put forth minimal effort in distinguishing itself from other established franchises. It's the equivalent of store brand food, but without the budget price that should've gone along with it.

The Secrets of Atlantis: The Sacred Legacy is a wonderful glimpse at what could have been. You have a great premise and a great setting, but ultimately, the game falls flat with an uninspired story and frustrating, sometimes nonsensical, puzzles.

If not for the weak animation, I would say that Constantine looks surprisingly good. Instead, its static appearance cheapens the overall look of the game.

Like the character itself, Gollum is an ugly, depressing, pitiable mess that's destined for a bad end and with little to recommend it. With a stronger design behind it, this title could've perhaps been redeemed, but the version we got isn't that. It's not good, it's not entertainingly bad, and it's not even interestingly broken. It's just a lackluster, licensed game that doesn't seem to have a point, and it focuses on a character that even die-hard fans don't want to play as.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a good idea stuck with a mediocre execution. The various mechanics — from the platforming to the combat to the defensive inconsistencies — make what should be a simple game more laborious. While the addition of more characters should be great for fans of Episode I in particular, the fact that none of them play well makes the expanded roster even less appealing to unlock. If you're a very forgiving person, you may have some fun with this, but everyone else is better off playing either another beat-'em-up or another Star Wars game.

I don't believe that there's anything inherently wrong with Sega trying to do something different with the series, but by taking away a feature that many fans wanted and offering nothing compelling in exchange, Beast Rider will have a hard time appealing to both series fans and those who are just looking for a decent action game.

Tenchu Z just feels dated. The original Tenchu came out almost 10 years ago, and although there are some minor changes here and there, the core gameplay is exactly the same.

Heavy Fire: Afghanistan certainly isn't the best lightgun shooter on the PS3. This seems to do neither very well, and when saddled with decent graphics but mediocre sound, it becomes a less appealing game overall.

This is worlds beyond the bar set by The Guy Game, but not far enough to garner any respect. Stick with the fighting games, if you know what’s good for you.

When it comes to re-releases of classic games, the most important aspect is ensuring that the original experience is preserved. While Dragon's Lair gets it mostly right, the sloppy Kinect controls and odd issues with the UI make it feel rushed. At 800 MSP ($10 USD), it's not the most expensive purchase, but it's also not a definitive version of the game. There are better ports out there

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.

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

You can play Empires, which features great graphics and incredibly dull gameplay, or the original version, which features fantastic gameplay and inexcusably bad graphics. This is a situation that's frustrating to say the least.

If it had something, anything new I feel like I could recommend, I'd fully endorse it, but I can't do that here.

I will probably fire up Anthem more than a few times again, if only to experience the joyous nature of plopping down a Colossus in the middle of a firefight and unfurling fiery, shelled death upon the landscape. It's a wonderful distraction. But unfortunately, Anthem doesn't look like anything more than that. I can't recommend it.

All in all, Obscure: The Aftermath is a hodgepodge of poorly implemented design ideas and sub-par horror elements.

Unfortunately, you'll also have to put up with some of the shoddiest fielding AI I've seen in a while, and enough bugs that will cause semi-frequent frustrations with the entire game, including one that I'd consider to be pretty much a game-breaker at this point.

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.

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.

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 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.

While the concept is good, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD fails on execution. The game just can't hold a candle to its predecessors. Playing the remake is like listening to a classic band on a reunion tour. The song lyrics haven't changed, but the magic just isn't there.

In the end, Oops! Prank Party feels lackadaisical and uninspired.

With more time and polish, Nowhere to Run could have shown that Spy Hunter can move beyond the car, but for now, The Interceptor is still the more interesting main character.

Your experience with Dynacat is heavily dependent on whether you liked Sonic 3D Blast and the other titles that inspired it. The unwavering camera viewpoint takes some getting used to, but the addition of a tether makes combat more palatable. The rough gameplay mechanics and slippery controls don't make for an enjoyable experience unless you've mastered the physics or set the game to the Easy difficulty level. Unless you're the patient type, you can skip this title until it is deeply discounted.

The Bluecoats: North vs. South has not aged well. The strategy feels too basic while the minigames aren't exactly enjoyable. The overall presentation is fine, but it feels like a lazy port of the iOS game - more so because of the lack of multiplayer.

Essentially the same game that was put out for Dreamcast. The graphics might be better, the sound certainly isn't, but the gameplay is in tact and sprinkling of a lame story about street racing leaves much to be desired.

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.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is about as much of a step backward as a direct sequel can be.

If you can't get into the simple gameplay, no matter how cute, then Trioncube is not for you, although one cannot reasonably expect this title to last for much more than a few days of serious play.

Sadly, The Punisher: No Mercy is a complete waste of a license for a comic book antihero that does have out there amongst gamers a loyal following.

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.

Homie Rollerz for the DS isn't a game that I could recommend to anyone, not even fans of the toy line or kart racers in general.

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.

While a few will find some genuine fun here, most may wait for a price drop and seek out other titles to satisfy their craving for a twin-stick shooter.

This title is slow with a capital "ssssss," taking nearly a full minute to load tracks or save your game.

The dragon customization is a nice feature, but every other aspect is so bad that How to Train Your Dragon doesn't come close to justifying its $50 price tag

Overall, I'm not sure that I'd suggest Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – Autobots to anyone other than die-hard Transformer fans, even though it really doesn't do the franchise any justice.

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

I don't believe that there's anything inherently wrong with Sega trying to do something different with the series, but by taking away a feature that many fans wanted and offering nothing compelling in exchange, Beast Rider will have a hard time appealing to both series fans and those who are just looking for a decent action game.

Indeed worth $20 for fans of classic top-down shooters. It's certainly frustrating and is a bit on the short side, but it does provide some fun moments and some shining points that make it worth noticing.

While not quite an unmitigated disaster, Dynasty Warriors 9 is pretty bad. Even if you can live with the subpar presentation, the game quickly gets boring due to a lack of important or interesting things that can be done in the world. The combat is fine, but with fewer opportunities to use it, the button-mashing joy inherent in the series is nowhere to be found.

While the concept behind Real Heroes: Firefighter is solid, time has not been kind to the game. The levels seem more drawn out now; the lulls where you're simply fighting the flames can feel tedious, and issues like the bad AI are more pronounced than ever. Worse is the fact that the port has a poorer presentation than the original, something that's unheard of for a remaster, even if the title doesn't suggest that to be the case. It isn't a terrible game by any means, but be prepared to temper your expectations if you're coming into this after seeing some old reviews for the Wii version.

If the developers had focused on making this title more of a 2D shooter on rails instead of trying to recreate the Ace Combat experience on the GBA screen, it could have been more enjoyable.

There's little you can get from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II that you couldn't get from other titles that likewise do it better. The narrative is winding and confusing, the characters are off-putting, and the visuals are a sore sight for the eyes. While the music and gameplay show some glimmers of promise, they ultimately end up feeling lifeless and overcomplicated, respectively. At the end of the day, Trails of Cold Steel II ends up feeling like a middle-of-the-road shonen anime that's a little too scatter-brained, and you have to slog through the off-screen battles.