A cartoony visual style and color palette dilutes the hard-hitting realism of the game. [Oct/Nov 2003, p.95]

Hopping is very big on Zack island, a magical place where sense has yet to arrive. [Apr 2003, p.78]

Sadly, however, not even the best Indy console game necessarily makes for a great Xbox title. [Apr 2003, p.80]

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]

Dreams is just a by-the-numbers platformer, albeit a genuinely funny oe. [Dec 2004, p.89]

Just another decent, 10-hour-long hop-n-bop to add to the pile. [May 2004, p.91]

Looks spectacular, with dazzling day-glo colors, ultrasmooth movement, and trippy effects. Every stage explodes with breakneck speed, insane loops, absurd corkscrews, and other gravity-defying razmatazz. [Mar 2004, p.82]

Uneven graphics, hollow gameplay contrivances, and a wholesale lack of compelling drama mar the enormous effort which was clearly put into the game. [Fall 2002, p.104]

Treads no new ground, but neither does it degrade into a sanguine mess. [Oct/Nov 2003, p.93]

But even when the game's action gets all John J. Rambo, the A.I. remains more like Gomer Pyle. [Dec 2004, p.95]

Valkyrie's controls are so klunky...it feels worse than just awkward, it literally hurts to play Valkyrie for more than a couple hours at a time. [Spring 2002, p.82]

The shoddy A.I. and other flaws are rare or negligible enough so as not to detract from the overall enjoyment of an otherwise great game. [Jan 2005, p.89]

The animation transitions are sloppy, and the A.I. is lacking on both sides of the ball. The controls are simply too slow to respond to your input, as well. [Winter 2002, p.99]

A horrid single-player quest mode offers frustrating, ill-designed scenarios. [Mar 2004, p.91]

The same damn thing with slightly better graphics and a new create-a-player mode that would've been very exciting in 1992. [Fall 2002, p.121]

The problem is, driving crappy cars around dirt tracks as low speeds isn't very much fun at all. [Nov 2004, p.97]

Even with all the problems, Sudeki is still worth your time. It's not the best RPG it could have been - Climax needs better writers, that's for sure (especially concerning dialogue and character motivation) - but it gives you a big, pretty, and at times smartly designed world to explore. [Sept 2004, p.92]

In what appears to be a rush job, the game is riddled with inexcusable bugs such as persistent crashing and invisible walls that prohibit movement. [Oct/Nov 2003, p.91]

Astoundingly close to toppling EA's mighty "Madden" and Sega's "NFL 2K" franchises... It offers near flawless online play. [Fall 2002, p.110]

Developer WOW takes advantage of Xbox Live's potential to deliver truly compelling multiplayer races. [Dec/Jan 2004, p.98]

Outlaw Golf can be played and thoroughly enjoyed on the couch. [Fall 2002, p.121]

Everything here blows up real well, and it's oddly beautiful to witness the rich pageant of the undead splattered in a magnificent hail of hot video lead. [Winter 2002, p.91]

It isn't polished, it's only marginally engaging, and most of the time, it feels more like some kind of unnatural amalgamation of "Gauntlet" and "Diablo" than anything else. [Dec/Jan 2004, p.87]

Like its predecessor, Redeemer shines brightest when played with friends. Lonely players, on the other hand, draw the short straw yet again, and are left with little more than a shallow button masher, though the allure of the license may help ease any gameplay pangs.

If one member of the team can handle the game's hot spots, Shrek 2 could definitely gratify little children. [July 2004, p.89]

The game is just realistic enough to annoy the bejesus out of you. [Aug 2004, p.86]

Easily beaten, Mission to Earth provides no real sense of accomplishment or finality. [Winter 2002, p.94]

This is so far from fun it might be made of an entirely new substance: antifun. [Apr/May 2003, p.92]