There’s a timer in races and you have to meet all the checkpoints in time so you don’t retire early. This gets quite frustrating whenever you don’t get there in time, and the whole timer aspect shouldn’t belong in motorcycle racing games period.

For fans of the popular anime show I'm sure that this title will undoubtedly be a big hit; however, for those who have absolutely no idea what One Piece: Burning Blood is about, they will most likely find it a shallow, confusing, and somewhat lackluster experience.

If you’re up for a challenge, Glam's Incredible Run: Escape from Dukha can offer a good few hours of platforming, and while the difficulty curve is all over the place like a seeing random speedbump placed on a highway out of nowhere, the gameplay itself is decent if you can get used to the controls. Priced fairly at $5 USD, Glam's Incredible Run: Escape from Dukha might not wow you, but it will scratch that 2D platforming itch if you enjoy challenging yourself.

If you're a fan of off road racing, pick this game up if it's under 600 MS points, but it makes about as much sense to pick up Jeremy McGrath's Offroad for 800 MS points, as it does trying to skydive without a parachute.

As much of an ode Taxi Chaos is to Crazy Taxi, the experience feels incredibly lightweight and unfulfilling thanks to understocked options as well as the quickly tiresome nature of it all. More vehicles and characters are needed to spruce up the gameplay, as well as new locations and passengers who don’t repeat the same few lines over, and over, and over again. All told Taxi Chaos has the ingredients to be a really cool Crazy-Taxi-aping jaunt, but unfortunately this one is worth little more than a squirt of ketchup and mustard in both eyes from one of New Yellow City’s hotdog vendors.

Feist is beautiful to look at, but all of this praise is overshadowed by the unfairness and frustration from its unbalanced challenge.

With KrissX being offered for 800 gaming points, the 'price point' does seem a bit high on the surface, but those who give it a chance will be surprised by the addictive nature.

Rugby 22 is a slight improvement from Rugby 20 and is clearly the best choice for a simulation of the sport that’s recent, but it won’t compare to the FIFA’s, NHL or NBA games in any way for realism, though I doubt developers Eko Software had anywhere near the same budget to be fair. With some friends to play against, Rugby 22 could have some shelf life, but for others, the serious lack of licensing makes it feel stuck in a ruck.

While Worms Ultimate Mayhem tries to deliver a fun and entertaining way of destroying invertebrates, there is just too much going against this title that could justify a purchase of any amount other than free. There is a bunch of content, however the camera system is just too broken to allow you to enjoy the game, and when combined with the AI and other aspects, Worms Ultimate Mayhem should be one that gets passed over.

One element I thought was pretty nifty was the fact that the screen displays each game exactly as it first appeared. What this means is you can look to the right side of the screen while playing Dig-Dug and see your score grow and post. I know it's a little thing, but really- it does help the game feel more like you're playing an actual arcade machine than a home television.

Fans of the sport will surely enjoy seeing their favorite teams and drivers, but there’s not much weight to that novelty here for the rest of us. I went into NASCAR Heat 2 with an open mind, hoping to be won over, and possibly even becoming a fan of the sport; neither of these really happened and I found that unfortunate. At the end of the day, NASCAR fans will find something to like here for sure, but for gamers as a whole, I'm not quite sure that this would fill their need for a racing game nor be an experience that would help them to understand, or even enjoy, what NASCAR may have to offer.

Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 is oddly addictive and satisfying, even for how specific and niche the setting is. While there’s no narrative at all, there’s something quite relaxing by causing destruction to these vessels. Many will see Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 as tedious and repetitious, but I kept telling myself “just one more ship”.

I absolutely love shmups, and while Defenders of Ekron: Definitive Edition is completely serviceable as one, it didn’t do much to excite me, even with some new interesting mechanics and a rarely found narrative focus in a schmup. I applaud the risk of trying something new, but the blending of different mechanics doesn’t always work as well as I would have hoped. While not terribly long, $12.99 is a little steep for what you get, but worth checking out on a sale if you’re in desperate need for a new twin stick shooter shmup.

Overall a great adventure game, would like to see a bit more "polish" to the game and an inventory system to work around the item backtracking.

While I don’t think Matchpoint will dethrone Top Spin, it’s without a doubt the best Tennis game since with its unique control scheme that allows for some serious skill play. Smooth animations and ball physics feels great and authentic, though the lack of Doubles seems like a serious miss as does not having many of the top stars of the sport. Not quite an Ace, Matchpoint is far from giving Tennis Elbow as well and a great first showing from Torus Games.

I seem to never get tired of riding an outhouse down raging rapids, call me silly.

For all the eleven-year-olds whose lives revolve around the popular LEGO franchise, a game of good versus evil has been carefully crafted just for you. If you aren't eleven, and are daring enough to look past the clumsiness of this title, then you'll unearth a short, fast passed, relentless shooter with easy achievements.

Surf World Series sets out what it intends to, as it’s a surfing game meant for fans of the sport. Is it going to have broad appeal to the masses that don’t surf? Probably not, as its counter intuitive controls tend to hold it back, even though the overall theme has the perfect surfer vibe to it. After an hour or two of gameplay, you’ll have experienced everything Surf World Series has to offer. There’s only a handful of achievements to be had and the career progression is about as bland as it comes. It may be a decent title for those specifically looking for a surfing game, but that’s a very narrow and niche market. If you’re not in that very precise demographic of the targeted player then there’s not much here for you aside from a slight distraction for a few hours of awkward controls.

I loved the graphics of this game, the cars were flashy and the maps were enormous. Landmarks were right on and transitions from one area to the next were seamless.

For me the controls were the biggest disappointment I experienced.

My recommendations for this game would be to speed it up. The loading in between games and the GM’s desk is way to slow. It has to be faster.

If you’re a super fan, then it’s an obvious purchase as you’ll get to race as your heroes, but strictly speaking as an objective view to the game as a whole, it’s hard to look beyond the glaring issues, even more so if you don't follow the sport.

While the spirit of the series is here, the execution simply needs to be refined from the ground up; hopefully soon we will have another SAW game that is actually in Jigsaw’s caliber.

While Those Who Remain will only last a handful of hours, depending on how much searching you need to do for the items to progress constantly, the gameplay loop is quite dull and never really changes. I did enjoy the narrative once I started to figure out what’s going on and what Edward’s involvement was, but I eventually just wanted it to end. Sure there are multiple endings to encourage multiple playthroughs to make different moral choices, but I was good once I the credits rolled the first time.

I appreciate a game that attempts to hark back to the age of difficult games, especially when the source material is some of the most beloved games from the era, but in regards to GunWorld 2, it can be quite confusing and frustrating at times.

Nothing in the game was really all the memorable other than the final confrontation (which was a fun boss fight) and the standoff between the leaders. With very little to do in single player other than hunt for hidden Autobot and Decepticon symbols and the odd objective for specific achievements, it's hard to justify and full priced purchase right away, even if you're a Transformers nut like myself.

For all the frustration I had with Lost Sea, it is charming in such that it is simple and basic at its core.

Moto Racer 4 is a very arcadish two-wheeled racer. It has the benefit of having two different classes of motorcycles to race, and there is a career mode that allows for tailoring of the game’s event objectives to match one’s skill, something I haven’t seen too much in racing games. Unfortunately, the online lobbies were empty, the visuals are somewhat dated, track selection is limited, and the sound is nothing to write home about. For $40 I feel that some may feel the price of entry is too high.

Guts and Glory is glitchy, it's ugly, the sound is bad, and the gameplay is pretty awful, but it’s fun to play and that was enough for me. If you can snag this game on sale, or as part of Gamepass, I fully recommend giving this game a try one night when you’re in the mood to sip a tasty beverage and show off a silly game to your friends. At its current price of $15 though, I just don’t think there’s enough reason to purchase it, unless you are Pedro with a pickup truck full of nose candy and money to burn.

I can’t give a full recommendation if you plan on playing solo, but with a few friends Dark Alliance is a much richer and better experience, even with its current shortcomings. D&D fans should have enough here that will appease while casuals can still enjoy an entertaining dungeon crawler with some buddies, a perfect fit to try out with Game Pass as long as your group can agree which characters to play as beforehand.

While I wasn’t much of a fan of the backtracking and not knowing what upgrades I got or missed, or its clumsy combat, Recompile still gave me a unique gaming experience I’m glad to have had. Its visuals are gorgeous at times, even with its minimalistic style, and while the story isn’t told in a traditional way, I quite enjoyed its concept. Given that it’s also included on Xbox Game Pass, there’s no reason to not check it out and see if it’s a program you’d like to execute or not.

It would seem that Dreamworks and Activision have found themselves with a multimedia hit on their hands.

Not horrible at all, but also, nothing aside from the visuals is compelling enough to warrant a higher score

While fans of the original might be turned off from the drastic combat changes, what I will say is that it feels much more accessible, as my daughter was able to easily jump in and start doing cool moves without having to memorize a bunch of inputs. While this opens it up to a larger audience, it by no way feels even remotely balanced and usually degrades into who’s spammed special moves can outperform the others spammed move sets.

Sadly, Square isn't going to gain any new fans or followers of the series with this iteration of a very mediocre third person shooter which is sad as I'm sure good intentions were behind making Evolved.

The game gains points because of its visuals and sound but the lack of any new innovations will keep this title from gaining any momentum beyond the TRON fan base. I am scoring this game as a fan of the TRON universe, for individuals not yet a fan you can take off at least 5 points from the score.

Please shorten the loading times. Also maybe look into innovating the UI in ways found from other games such as Diablo? And please, in the name of everything that is Holy on this planet, please release a soundtrack and make the soundtrack more frequent.

Even though Ninja Gaiden 3 is still a relatively good game, with all the setbacks such as the high amount of QuickTime events, marginal design layout, and more, nothing pains me more than to say that Ninja Gaiden 3 is not the best game in the series. It's a shame too because like many of us, we have come to expect amazing work from the people of Tecmo and Team Ninja, but we can hope that this new team learns from this and grows the series back into greatness.

God of Rock is an interesting title that blends the odd pairing of fighting and rhythm games, and while it may not always stick the landing due to its odd design choices, there’s some entertaining moments here and there. Even with online play and a track creator, it’s clear extra effort was made to have God of Rock be something special, even if it misses a few notes.

Having devoted lots of hours into this game I can say that The Dwarves provides a lot of content, but not a lot of meaningful content. It is definitely a game that will drain hours upon hours of your life away, but I felt that the more I played it, the less I actually wanted to.

If I were going to suggest something it would be to add a bit more gameplay depth. Just driving around and constantly shooting your gun really doesn't cut it these days.

Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All! was fun for the first two chapters, then I realized I had to sit through another four of the same button spamming. Normally I’m all for length in games if it has a purpose and is entertaining, but Slap Them All definitely overstayed its welcome and I made myself finish it simply for review purposes. Asterix & Obelix fans will no doubt enjoy its authentic look and feel, but the steep price tag is unlikely to warrant a purchase from brawler fans.

If you have kids or a bunch of friends that get together for gaming nights, it's a decent party game that should entertain and embarrass. If you'll mostly be playing alone, it's not nearly as fun and gives little motivation to keep on playing after you've tried each game.

There are a lot of RPG elements built into this little indie game, but as I wasn't sure what to expect, and in the end I wound up actually enjoying this game quite a bit. I loved the roadside interactions and felt that the comical atmosphere made the game more enjoyable, and in the end that's one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, we play games in the first place, because we want to enjoy them. Sure, there are some faults with this game, it's a few years old, and the $10 price point may seem steep for the content you're getting. If you really enjoy retro styled pixelated games that cram RPG elements and humor into a mesmerizing mix that will result in you spending hours in trying to get everything just right, then this game is for you.

For around $5 you can experience an interesting Danmku game that is retro inspired but lacks replayability and features unless you want to constantly try and beat your own high score. With an online leaderboard I would have had more motivation to play long term, but you’ll even attain all the achievements in just a handful of runs.

If you’re a fan of the show, then you’ll most likely really appreciate OK K.O.! Let’s Play Heroes’ attention to detail, and will be able to overlook its faults. This is, first and foremost, a game for fans, while those of us who don’t have anything invested in the TV series it’s based on aren’t likely to get the same things out of it.

Another average racer. It has nothing major to offer to the racing world except pretty graphics, bad music, boring tracks, and lack of multiplayer options.

Symmetry isn't much fun after a few hours and I honestly feel this is a game that those who play will lose interest in due to the flaws of the gameplay, the lack of sound and lack of character development. But on a more positive note, there are worse games out there, that is for sure.

Despite the easy to use finishing moves and the create-a-legend feature, this is still a really bad game.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Black Legend after watching its trailer, but came away with an addictive combat and class system that made me want to fight every battle I came across in the streets of Grant to create even more unique class combinations. With an interesting narrative I wanted to find out what caused the deadly fog that had engulfed the city and enjoyed doing so, even if there were bumps in the bloodied road along the way as I became lost after every turn without a map.

It's almost disappointing that the whole fantasy trapping that the puzzle game has been wrapped around got some short shrift - but the puzzle game at the core is quite simply good enough that the game delivers what it is supposed to - a puzzle game that serves up some story, some setting, and some consequences to the aftermath of each round that you play.

As an MMO, Bless Unleashed it perfectly serviceable, but those that want to make rapid progression are going to be sorely disappointed and frustrated with many of its draconic design choices. MMO’s are hard to review, as they are constantly evolving, being updated and changing with what the community and developers want. As of this point in time, I can certainly recommend giving Bless Unleashed a shot since I still find myself logging on every day, and given that it’s completely free to play, there’s no real reason not to. Be warned, as you’re in for a long and arduous grind if you stick with it, and it’s incredibly challenging when it comes to combat in the later dungeons, but I only expect Bless to improve in many facets in the future.

I would suggest that anything you decide to work on in the future have online play. This type of game is made for online play, its just sad that that wasn't an option this time around.

For those that truly enjoy Souls games, even budget titles, Dolmen should give you a good twenty or so hours of content to get through, but at its current high price I can only suggest waiting for a massive sale for the rest of everyone else curious. While I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as say Hellpoint, I have to commend their bravery releasing this so shortly after Elden Ring. There’s some good ideas here, and with some more polish and refining I probably would have enjoyed my time with Dolmen much more than I did, but as it stands now I simply wanted it to end.

Rugby 20 is certainly a passable experience for the sport, one of the better ones in previous years, but it doesn’t do much more that’s exciting. The lack of licensed teams was its biggest letdown, but those wanting an authentic Rugby experience really has no better option out there right now, even if it’s a moderate try at best.

If abstract platforming is your thing, you’ll enjoy ‘n Verlore Verstand, but beware that the mechanics are not fun or entertaining with the first person view, and with a lack of any ‘reason’ to play, you probably won’t feel very connected to the symbolism it represents. ‘n Verlore Vertstand is an interesting concept, but as a game it’s not very entertaining. I fell somewhere in between trying to understand my motives and the visuals for what they mean, but also trying to enjoy a game at the same time. I’m not sure if I ended up accomplishing either.

Everything feels like quite a step down from Shattered Dimensions which was only a year ago. Beenox dropped the ball with Edge of Time; let's hope next year's Amazing Spider-Man game can make up for it and hope this was just a rush job, since we're aware of the quality they're able to create.

Once you’ve learned what you can about the ‘twist’ after a few playthroughs, and the 'aha' realization wears off, there’s little reason to continue playing unless you’re working towards specific achievements or you really want to see every ending possible.

Trophy knows what it’s trying to be, nothing more, nothing less, and it succeeds in every way. Is it going to be for everyone? No, but for those that enjoy classic 8-bit gaming and enjoy that retro gameplay or wants some nostalgia, Trophy fits the bill. While it may be a Mega Man clone at its core, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.

If you got this as a freebie ,good for you, if you find it in the (heavily) discounted bin then try it out (it should be there by Friday).

If I were to recommend Gigantosaurus to anyone, it would be best suited for kids aged 7-10 years old, and fans of the show of course. I feel like the story is basic enough to understand that kids will hopefully feel engaged. I will not recommend Gigantosaurus to anyone over the age of 10 years old though. I find that a certain people will enjoy this, but I feel like the negatives are outweighing the small positives Gigantosaurus has to offer. As for my view, Gigantosaurus should have developed a little more before coming out of its shell. Gigantosaurus: the Game is simply a gigantic basic kids game and nothing more.

With the first year of updates already planned and shown, there’s sure to be some cool additions for Solar Crown... eventually, but with the iconic Casino not even arriving until Summer 2025, you’ll need to embrace the grind to tide you over between Seasons. An arcade racer with a heavy social focus is what made Test Drive Unlimited popular in the first place, but in the years since its absence with Forza Horizon releases, the bar has been raised, one that Solar Crown isn’t quite at just yet. Solar Crown has the DNA of what made Test Drive Unlimited so revered, but it doesn’t quite have the same heart yet.

It's an interesting take on the Twin-stick shooter genre and while the story really isn't anything special or engrossing, at least it has one unlike the majority of others.

Great in short bursts, Xenon Valkyrie+ scratches an itch but is lacking long term appeal due to its randomized difficulty.

Overall the game is a great in depth simulation and the gameplay outweighs many of its bugs.

MySims: Sky Heroes followed a formula that worked very well on a more kid friendly console. The title could have been ported well, but at a $50 price tag the game comes off as poorly developed and begs for a child audience.

Diabolical Pitch feels like a minigame that belongs in a larger collection of minigames, but sadly it's not, and this is all you get for 800 Microsoft Points for two hours of gameplay. It's a shallow experience that even if it did work properly at all times it still wouldn't be that much more exciting or fun.

When it all boils down to it, the lack of multiplayer for this game is a huge disappointment and will probably be the main reason the game is not embraced by most folks.

I think back to all of my all-nighters and sleep-overs of a time long past, where my friends would come-a-knocking with their Dr.Pepper and their Doritos, and we’d stay up until the birds came out playing all of the best multiplayer games you can think of. This is a role which I just can’t see Marooners filling for today’s kids.

Perhaps you have a friend or family member that isn't into gaming but is really into drones and you want to crossover the hobbies to spend a little extra time together without the overall cost of the drone equipment and/or potential damages. If so, then go ahead and give Liftoff: Drone Racing a try, but otherwise, maybe see if you know anyone who does play with drones in real life and see if they have one you can learn on; it might be more fun.

If you like a good fighter with some depth and complexity, it's not the game for you. And if you're just a casual player who likes the show and is excited to try a fight game that explores the same concept, you likely won't last an hour through the lackluster production values.

A lack of meaningful customization, slippery and borderline broken controls based on which vehicle you want to race, and PowerPoint slide deck animations was a constant disappointment and frustration. Yes there are three full Career Modes to sink time into and track designs were quite good with varying elevations and layouts, but the myriad of issues makes MX vs ATV Legends a low point for the series, even at its normally reasonable $40 CAD asking price. I normally wouldn’t recommend getting an older game in a series, but when MX vs ATV Reflex from 2009 is still the best in the series, that speaks volumes.

So to the folks at Sonic Team I say this, give me the Sonic that I fell in love with way back in the day, hell, even the Sonic from Sonic Heroes is much closer to what I want from my blazing blue buddy, but don't sell him short.

Sadly, Redfall had unbelievable potential and a dynamic studio behind this that is known for quality gaming, but under delivered at quite literally almost every facet of the game. Redfall, unfortunately, should be avoided, and in fact, I hope that the industry starts taking a look at these games and starts evaluating its processes, because if you're only as good as your last game, then Arkane isn't looking good at all.

I'm also a bit unclear how the A.I. got as bad as it did with Wrestlemania XXI. I'm not sure if THQ was under the impression that Xbox players needed that much help with wrestling games, but that is the only explanation I can come up with.

The backloaded achievements, uninspired gameplay, graphical simplicity, and overall disappointing showing make this a rainy Sunday game even for fans of the Gundam universe.

Once you have the majority of the skills have been earned and have a handful of cabbies working for you, there’s really not much else to work towards. That said, there’s still some enjoyment to be had to picking up a few customers and bringing them to their destination within a gorgeous city. Clearly rough around the edges, Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator frustrates in certain ways, yet is relaxing in others.

Fans of the series will know exactly what to expect; tons of guns, aliens and terrible one-liners. Like a cult movie with a dedicated following, fans will simply get it while everyone else won’t understand; Serious Sam 4 will most likely fall under this type as well, appealing to longtime fans but new players wondering what the hell is going on. Serious Sam 4 is absolutely outdated in its design and mechanics but can be fun in very short bursts for those times you want to turn off your brain and blast away some aliens.

It saddens me when I see a game is very good graphically have so many glitches and issues with the gameplay. I feel like if more time was spent focusing on the puzzle experience, The Bradwell Conspiracy would be a fantastic experience for those who are veterans and newcomers to a narrative first person game. Right now, as it stands, I cannot score Bradwell Conspiracy any higher than where it is right now due to the problems that blocked my completion. I can see the idea and concept Bossa Games was going for and unfortunately this won't be a conspiracy I'll be recommending you delve into.

It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t enthralling, and the only feeling that it ever gave me was that I wasted 4 bucks to rent it.

At the end of the day, Bright Memory is a bit of a tough one to score. I went in not knowing much of anything about it, and would be lying if I said that I didn’t end up having some fun with it despite its faults. Still, regardless of how impressed I am by the fact that only one man developed this thing, there’s not a lot to it that stands out. It’s dated, it’s buggy and it’s beyond short. Still, it can be pretty fun if you temper your expectations and understand that you’re not going to get a lot for your money.

Bullet Witch is very entertaining, but the overall pacing of the game and the frustrating controls bring it down.

Dummied down graphics that are reminiscent of late Playstation 1 and early Playstation 2 almost kill the mood right from the get go. Stupidity within computer AI takes a major toll on the intensity level of GunGriffon as well.

It's kind of sad really, but with dated graphics and sound effects, controls that seem better focused for PC or mobile devices, and some combat balance issues, Warhammer Quest is more of a bust than a boon.

As a creative outlet this game has potential, but unless they give gamers more to do with their robots during the end game, then there is little reason for players to play long term, let alone justify the costs involved with getting more parts for their robots. It’s a shame that with all of the customization options that they gave us, Robocraft Infinity couldn’t build itself up into something more.

The old Fable games were filled with promises of amazing adventures, and sadly most of them never came to fruition. I guess that's where the final nail in the coffin rests because instead of trying to achieve lofty goals and falling short, Fable Heroes doesn't even try.

The Great Escape game had a hard time recreating what made the movie so great. Although my guess is not many gamers are going to be familiar with the movie, it should have been a better representation. Which I think would have made the game more enjoyable.

Overall, the game does not really stand out as a fabulous must own title, but if you like puzzle solving quest based games then this one should be right up your alley.

The bottom line is that I could only recommend this collection to the diehard fan that is already familiar with most of these games.

I have to say that the music is the best part of this entire game, though that isn't saying much. With so many sources of inspiration that would have set this game up for tremendous success, you can't help but feel that this was an opportunity that sadly missed the mark.

The Way I See It: Horrible controls, busted gameplay and a frustrating experience.

I fully expected Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn to be a complete disaster, and while it has faults, it’s competent, but yet mediocre at best. Even though it’s not completely terrible like its predecessor, Shaq needs to be remembered for his ball skills, not voice acting and games. Icy-Hot won’t save you from this one.

The visual aesthetic of Away: Journey to the Unexpected sold me right away, as it’s absolutely gorgeous with its blend of 2D and 3D and bright colorful environments and characters. Below the surface though, the rest of the experience is as bland and uninspired as you can imagine a boy fighting with a stick would be. It’s tough to recommend when it’s only redeeming quality is how pretty it looks, like a gorgeous date you picked up that happens to have a terrible personality and annoys you.

The game design is pretty cool for a next-gen console, but the meat and potatoes of a real exciting street racer got checked at the door.

Rise of Nightmares suffers from the syndrome of great ideas but poor execution.

Overall, the game is a brilliant idea that was executed terribly.

Revenant Dogma feels like it was put together with RPG maker software by somebody with a genuine interest in the genre, but has no talent for detail or nuance. I appreciate anyone who has the kind of passion for games that I do, and even greater respect for those that put themselves out there and bringing a product of their passion to the market because they love the medium. Unfortunately passion and talent don’t always line up, and this is one of those cases.

More than anything, the camera issues are the biggest drawback, along with the gameplay devolving into finding 'the safe spot’ to survive more than using reflex skill.