This year's ESPN Major League Baseball seems less polished than its brethren, its new features seem halfhearted at best, and its graphics don't pack the punch they used to.

You realize that Bilbo Baggins' dash maneuver (a sort of pole-vault jump) is faster than running, so you go through the whole game pole-vaulting like a ninny. [Mar 2004, p.98]

A good gimmick can only carry a game so far, and Vince simply doesn't have - to speak in the rough language of the streets - enought junk in the trunk to elevate it far beyond mediocrity. [Dec/Jan 2004, p.86]

A Scenario mode provides enough challenge to kill a whole weekend, and drivers can opt to play one of two distinct clans, each with its own furiously branching storyline. [Aug 2003, p.87]

Put simply, Drive is Xbox Live-enabled Tab when there's already Coke and Pepsi. [Mar 2004, p.80]

For all the back story given, the story should be a bit more compelling but isn't. [Apr 2003, p.91]

A stealth game that dramatically overstays its welcome. [July 2004, p.86]

A harmless diversion that any "Tetris" addict will be able to pick up and beat in an hour or two. [Winter 2002, p.102]

There's the sense that the grandiose has just gone average, the superhero equivalent of the Justice League of America battling a jaywalker. [Jan 2005, p.86]

Joins the ranks of rushed movie-to-game conversions, with drab visuals, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of style. [Feb/Mar 2003, p.85]

The game lacks the sense of speed that made "Mario Kart" such a thrill. [Winter 2002, p.109]

A passable motorcycle racer with decent track design, a solid framerate and a healthy sense of speed. But it's hard to recommend when it coexists with the superior-in-every-way "MotoGP 2." [Aug 2003, p.85]

Not a bad game - there's just not enough here, and players may find themselves wishing for a match in Britain against and extraterrestrial blancmange, just to add a little bit of variety to the mix. [Dec/Jan 2004, p.93]

Past the visuals rests a competent, if uninspired game that’s best savored with four players madly fighting for split-screen automotive supremacy. [Jan 2002, p.90]

Incredibly dark - a problem made worse when damaged vehicles ahead of you spew plumes of smoke in your direction. [Summer 2002, p.91]

Something that's competent, but nonetheless the racing-game equivalent of shaved, unflavored ice served in a wooden bowl. [Oct/Nov 2003, p.87]

The worst of these bonus modes is the "new and improved" Konquest mode intended to flesh out the Kombat universe through an RPG-like interface. What you get instead is a shambling mess of an adventure made up of ridiculous fetch quests and crap voice acting.

Charming and accessible. [Winter 2002, p.105]

If Chessmaster upped its production values, it might be worth a look to casual chess players who just want to get a game in here and there. [Jan 2005, p.90]

What ultimately lands Defender in the "utterly forgettable" pile are its bland graphics, twitchy controls, and various technical problems. [Winter 2002, p.104]

Combine this undistinguished feel with the game's pedestrian graphics and lack of Xbox Live or system-link support and you have one of the most disappointing big franchise games in recent memory. [Mar 2004, p.90]

Movement from left to right is way too slow, which screws up everything. It takes three full seconds to turn 180 degrees, so death is guaranteed in cramped quarters. [Aug 2003, p.85]

It's like the arcade game, except it's on your TV set and doesn't ask you for quarters. Or poultry. [Jan 2002, p.90]

Beneath Enclave's pixel-shaded graphics, we find only a trace of a game worth playing. [Fall 2002, p.117]

If "National Geographic" puts you to sleep, you might be in soporific danger here, too. [Aug 2004, p.87]

Competent but uninspired. [Jan 2002, p.94]

Wins the award for having the ugliest faces. [Winter 2002, p.99]

A general sense of hack-and-slash ennui making Arthur just as nonstirring as the film was to a post-"Rings" audience. [Dec 2004, p.93]