It's really too bad that everything didn't come together for Honda ATV Fever. It was rather impressive for a budget title in that it looked fine and had a decent amount of tracks and events. It's too bad that the controls were insufferable and the difficulty level was high enough to cause people to quit. If you have an infinite amount of patience, give it a shot as a rental. Otherwise, hold off on playing it unless you really want a session in frustration.

It doesn't come close to living up to the concept. Unexpectedly glitchy, terribly repetitive and incredibly easy, Just Cause might be fun for a rental, but even the most die-hard fans of sandbox games will want to look elsewhere for their fill.

The Darkest Tales is a game that you want to like but can't due to some significant issues. The concept isn't exactly new, but it is interesting to see known fairy tales embrace a much darker side. The 2D perspective makes it feel fresh, since other similar titles tend to go with 3D. The characters are fine, but their intrigue comes from the dark turns taken in service of the game. The platforming and combat feel off, and even though there's some depth in the skill tree, those aforementioned factors will make it difficult for players to press through to the end. If you have the patience or don't mind playing on the easy difficulty level to get through this title, then snap it up if it goes on sale. Otherwise, with the platform already flooded with excellent 2D adventure games, it feels safe to skip this one.

Starpoint Gemini has some great ideas and concepts, but it lacks the budget and vision to really drive home those ideas.

While Bleed 2 is a romp that makes it feel good to shoot the bad guys, the experience fades quickly, and the player may not want to replay the game at all, losing the worth of the depth of abilities, characters, modes, and weapons. Can nostalgia be balanced with originality to create something fresh enough? Absolutely. However, Bleed 2 stretches itself too thin in both of these respects and ends up feeling less like a love letter and more like fan fiction.

The addition of a few extra areas does not make up for the massive amount of flaws, both gameplay and graphical, that turns a fun game into a chore.

Home Run Stars is meant for brief moments of gaming and nothing more. The hitting is quite fun, though the aiming takes some time to get used to, and the addition of targets gives provides some variety. Multiplayer is fun enough, but it really takes off if you have a Smartglass-capable phone, especially since the online community for this is pretty much nonexistent.

Payday: The Heist is an ambitious game that doesn't quite manage to nail down the little things. Of course, as any good career criminal will tell you, the devil is in the details, and Payday's failure here is the difference in making off with the cash and getting gunned down in the street. The pieces were all in place, but this just fails to deliver in any meaningful way.

Super Neptunia RPG negates the positives that it brings about. The fresh perspective that comes from being a classic 2D RPG with a simple battle system clashes with the unintuitive and unresponsive platforming. The presentation is beautiful, but the performance is hampered when compared to its predecessors. The ability to explore also seems nice until you realize that the streamlined side-quest system has been replaced with the more time-consuming method of visiting each quest-giver individually. Fans of the series may still enjoy it.

Legend of Kay: Anniversary is a below-average adventure platforming game. The platforming and combat have flaws but are otherwise fine, while the camera makes bad situations seem worse.

All in all, Farming Simulator Nintendo Switch Edition kind of achieves what it promises: a smaller Farming Simulator that borders on machinery porn. It's not overly exciting, but it doesn't have to be. It has good moments, and the portable nature of the Switch makes it easy to drop in and out at any given time. Technically, it's underwhelming, and the world is cold, empty and feels too disconnected to engage the player. When repetitiveness sets in, only hardcore fans and enthusiasts can look past it and still enjoy the game. The core experience is fun enough that I'm reasonably surprised. If developer Giants Software can expand on the idea, I'm certain the Farming Simulator series will gain even more traction in the coming years.

Monster Energy Supercross 25: The Official Video Game is specifically for the hardcore motocross fanatic. Those fans will love things like the ability to play a current season of the sport and the presence of tangible track deformation. For everyone else, this is a difficult game to recommend. From the high difficulty level and steep learning curve to the bare-bones campaign, there's not enough to entice interested players to give this a try. At this rate, your best bet is to wait and see if this game or older entries in the series will reach Game Pass, so you can see if you can gel with this title.

Blind Fate is a game with great ideas but doesn't live up to them. The combat system is a lot of fun, but the title does everything it can to not let it shine. Outside of the combat, you're left with a predictable story, dull levels, and a boatload of QTEs. I can see a sequel that polishes up some of the mechanics that feel half-baked, but at the end of the day, Blind Fate doesn't really do anything that stands out.

Having come from the imagination of a few of LucasArts alums, A Vampyre Story had the potential to spin a gothic comedy steeped in that tradition, which my score reflects. But I won't recommend half a game to players.

In many ways, Indianapolis 500 Legends is more an interactive history lesson than a proper game. By limiting you to certain drivers and certain years, players gain a deep historical knowledge of certain races at the expense of all the others.

This title could've had any name, and you'd never have known that it was related to Quake in any way. With franchises such as Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, and, of course Halo, Enemy Territories: Quake Wars falls way behind of the pack.

As intriguing as the concept is, the climax is not as nearly as exciting, and the weak ending makes the problem-plagued trip hardly worth the effort.

The net result is a step back for the franchise, as it sadly stands as one of the least fun WWE games to play in recent years.

The odd control changes, some pretty bad graphics and presentation, and problems in half of the 24/7 mode, make the PSP iteration the bottom feeder of every available version. Avoid this, and wait to see how SvR '09 turns out.

It's got little to offer for SoulCalibur fans, little to offer for hack-and-slash fans, and little to offer in the realm of gameplay substance.

At its core, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast remains a good title. Get past the shooting, and you're rewarded with a ton of Force powers and lightsaber combat that remains at the top of its field to this day. However, the port job isn't up to snuff, as it lacks some slight auto-aim and lock-on to make the experience more user-friendly for console players, so the opening levels are a real chore to get through even if you can handle the outdated textures and adherence to the old way of doing puzzles. Not only is it recommended to go with the PC release for this title, but it also gives one pause about how the eventual port job of Jedi Academy will turn out.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey aims to tackle the evolution of mankind from our animal forebears, a hefty task for any one piece of media. While the goal is incredibly admirable, Panache Digital Games puts too much on its plate. It attempts to break down the process of human development in a fascinating way, but the concept ends up being tremendously difficult to translate into typical controls and gameplay. The information conveyance and gameplay implementation are ultimately disappointing, given how much curiosity the game fosters and inspires. The game still offers interesting content, especially in the audio and visual departments. While the effort put into the game is certainly laudable, the result of Ancestors is ultimately middling.

Trailblazers isn't a bad racing title. Despite some floaty controls, the actual racing is fine, and the painting and team mechanics are interesting. The modes are also good, but the lack of a community means that local multiplayer is your only other option once you consume all of the single-player stuff. You'll wish the developers did something more interesting with the concept, as it feels untapped. For that, Trailblazers is only recommended for those who have already checked out other racing titles first.

Altogether, All Star Cheer Squad feels like mishmash of decent ideas muddled with bad design.

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.

In the end, Dance Magic lacks the sort of magic that makes rhythm games so mesmerizing.

Your appreciation of Gods Remastered is going to come down to whether you're familiar with the original. By today's standards, the general movement and combat is clunky, and the enemy appearances can be considered cheap. However, changing any of this would run the risk of destroying the memories that old players have of the title. If you've played the game before, this will be a nice nostalgia kick. Otherwise, new players might be better served elsewhere unless they are really into retro titles, warts and all.

It isn't so much consolitis that consigned the sequel to the pit of disappointment for me, nor is it crying over PC-flavored milk because it doesn't try to harness what the platform is capable of doing. Instead, the wholesale changes reflect a deeper problem in assuming that your audience isn't as smart as it was to enjoy the first game. It makes the only answer that of dumbing down the sharp edges in an effort to appeal to a wider audience.