An eye-catching and compelling shoot-em-up with interesting characters and themes, Yager's hard to pass up at $20. [Oct 2004, p.97]

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

It's all so well written, acted, and directed that such seemingly unfunny lines as "Are those my Funyuns?" will make you laugh as hard as any comedy you've seen this year could. [Dec 2004, p.96]

The enemy A.I. goons perform as if they're all deaf, running directly into your line of fire (or the walls), and the character animation is on par with the old "Mr. Bill" claymation shorts. [Jan 2005, p.93]

A mangle of ugly graphics, repetitive combat, blah bosses, and just plain awkward moments, Robotech: Invasion fails to fire up protoculture-guffing fans of the late-'80s cult cartoon on which the game is based. [Nov 2004, p.100]

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.

Yes, it's similar to previous Hawk games at heart - certainly cause for concern for players burned out on the series - but what a monster game it is. [Dec 2004, p.87]

Besides its fine-tuned sense of the absurd, this is an undisciplined mess. [Dec 2004, p.86]

That bane of the 3D platformer, a bad camera, constantly hides fallen-away floors until you're standing where you thought there was solid ground. [Nov 2004, p.90]

The intuitive fighting control remains as solid as ever. [Dec 2004, p.86]

The game's biggest asset is its viscerally thrilling slam dunk contest...The arcadelike nature of dunking makes it an addictive element in an already solid title. [Nov 2004, p.98]

The graphics are a night-and-day improvement. [Dec 2004, p.92]

The first thing you're going to notice about this game is how unbelievably gorgeous it is. [Dec 2004, p.94]

You rarely get a sense of speed or weight while driving, and the controls are so awkward, the slightest steering overcorrection results in a spinout. [Dec 2004, p.83]

There's no sense of achievement in clearing one of the game's "elite" missions without the faintest effort. [Dec 2004, p.90]

It's definitely a better workout than most Xbox titles, and although its longevity is infinitely better than a human workout video, it's not as motivating or, more important, as sexy. [Dec 2004, p.82]

This is fan service - and competitive gaming - done right. [Dec 2004, p.84]

This is the 21st century. No game should ever make a player fetch a valve handle again. [Nov 2004, p.94]

The narrative style (present action woven with flashbacks) is interesting, and the mechanics are mostly solid, so it is definitely worth investigating - especially if one finds the Xbox's "action-hero-with-amnesia" library lacking. [Nov 2004, p.94]

Star Wars Battlefront is essentially action-figure theater on the television screen, and playing online is like inviting your friends over to take part.

Skates in a league of its own when it comes to the most basic function of hockey gaming: realistic physics. [Oct 2004, p.94]

If there's any reason to buy 2005, it's for the 10 new courses, which look beautiful (as always) and offer enough challenge to keep most players whacking around for weeks. [Nov 2004, p.99]

The A.I. of your teammates is simply horrendous. [Dec 2004, p.95]

Fable both soars and sinks. It's wondrous and wearisome, a great step forward in the development of heroes in RPGs and a tremendous stumble over its own two feet. And in the rising and falling, it finds itself. [Oct 2004, p.88]

And then there's Xbox Live play, which functions shockingly well under any circumstances. The game has singlehandedly shown the console world online fighting games need not be plageud with lag of the likes seen in "Capcom vs. SNK 2: EO." [Sept 2004, p.96]

Simply uninspired - and repetitious to boot. [Oct 2004, p.97]

Smith and Lawrence have nothing to do with Bad Boys: Miami Takedown. And neither should your hard-earned 20 bucks. [Dec 2004, p.90]

Once again, it's the series' fun two-to-four-player splitscreen mode that sets it apart from other fog-of-war games. [Nov 2004, p.92]