Even without the bells and whistles that other recent rhythm-based games have offered, PaRappa the Rapper 2 is a lot of fun.

The music alone will draw you back for a few repeat plays, just don’t expect it to last much longer than a single rental period.

It just can’t match up to the PC and Xbox versions due to the difference in graphics quality and the lack of an important gameplay element.

While it may get 10 out of 10 for style, this title is plagued by clunky controls and a rather short shelf life. [Import]

The shoddy AI compensates for the game’s substandard targeting system.

Although Capcom vs. SNK 2 doesn’t break any new ground, there is enough depth here to keep any 2D fighting game fan happy.

Instead of going back and fine-tuning the game's fundamentals, the developers let the broken stuff stay broken and added in some cheap new bells and whistles.

While containing a wealth of songs to master and many bonus games to unlock, the relatively difficult control mechanics may hamper its appeal.

While not perfect, Haven: Call of the King works on many levels—as a platformer, as vehicular racing title, as a centerpiece for fine soundtrack work.

Although Sub Rebellion isn't the best-looking game on the block, it is still a lot of fun to play. Huge bosses have numerous targets to destroy and the action can get intense.

Although the Japanese influenced gameplay is engaging at first, countless deathmatch battles and only three arenas hurt the overall appeal.

People with ADD will drop out first, followed by those looking for instant graphic gratification, then the casual gamers, and lastly the diehards.

A unique title with controls too complex for an arcade title and action too ridiculous for a simulation.

Because it demands a lot of precision during play, sometimes the fun gets lost in the shuffle.

A unique title with controls too complex for an arcade title and action too ridiculous for a simulation.

Too short and on the easy side.

In this game a good offense is your best defense-attacking indiscriminately is simply more effective than trying to use the clumsy block button. There is a target button similar to Zelda and Soul Reaver, but the difficulty in selectively targeting a particular enemy is troubling.

It's a great diversion, and it really is fun for a while, but Nightcaster's overly defensive gameplay will likely turn people away.

Robotech will likely give all players a buzz with the incredible visuals, but ultimately the repetitive play and unrewarding control scheme will leave them wanting more.

The gameplay just can’t measure up to the excellent graphics. Each of the huge levels become tedious due to no-brainer puzzles and a poor combat system.

Put simply, BRPF thrives on button mashing. For those unfamiliar with the term, this means that even the most skilled player can fall victim to a first-timer's frenzied and haphazard button presses.

Blitz is still a fun game, but it's in danger of joining NBA Jam and its cadre of rehashes ("NBA Hoops", "NBA Showtime") in the realm of the utterly irrelevant.

An appropriately nasty, brutish and short-lived game.

The game falls short of putting you in the cockpit. The whole idea of a dogfight is non-existent. The enemy crafts move too quickly, abandoning any thought of pursuit.

The story is only average for a RPG (make that above average if you love the air pirates setting), the combat system is mildly interesting but lacks much in the way of depth and the presentation is a bit dated.

The forbidding graphics and refreshingly mature storyline are a plus, but the somewhat wonky controls and melodramatic dialogue tend to become tiresome quickly.

Little more than "NBA 2K1" with Michael Jordan, the Memphis Grizzlies, glitchy zone defense and an afterthought of a street ball mode.

A surprising good dancing game, featuring excellent graphics and motion-capture work.

JC2 shows promise initially, but a quirky sense of humor and an endearing fairy sidekick aren't enough to save it from becoming repetitive.

The sound of skates on ice is particularly grating here, sounding more like nails on a blackboard than thin knives of steel dragging across a slab of frozen water.

The animation and voice acting are really spot-on, bringing the characters to life better than many motion pictures. Unfortunately, the combination of a disorienting camera and consistently sloppy framerate go a long way towards negating Herdy Gerdy’s fun factor.

Racer Revenge's staying power is virtually nonexistent.

The action is solid, the presentation is average with flashes of brilliance, and the story surrounding it is alternately fascinating and flat.

If you really go for the flavor of early-90’s style graphics and gameplay, and if you have the patience of a rock, then by all means enter and be saved. As for us skeptics, it will take a lot more than nostalgia to win our faith.

It’s fun in small doses, but frustrating whenever you try to get into it.

Full of unrealized potential and will likely be quickly forgotten as new games succeed where this game failed.

It’s like Tetris, only with... No, wait. It’s just Tetris.

The gameplay is alternately fun and frustrating, the graphics are both striking and stilted, and the sound... No, the sound’s laughably bad all the way through.

Thanks to a ludicrous save scheme, once you start, you had better not stop until you reach the end.

In the form of fine visuals and interesting gameplay, it has some redeeming qualities. It doesn't have the depth or character designs to make it a memorable fighting title.

An interesting concept marred by a poor save system, lackluster visuals, a frustrating time system, and slow-as-molasses gameplay.

Essentially the game takes the original premise, adds a few minor twists, and slaps some mediocre next-generation 3D graphics onto the product.

Gamers willing to stick it out will be rewarded with a lengthy quest and plenty of challenge, but King's Field: The Ancient City is unlikely to create many new converts.

To be honest, if the graphics were anything less, gamers would put this game down in a heartbeat.

The only facet of the game that even comes close to satisfying is the abundance of match types.

Uninspired level design, zero challenge, and lackluster graphics will keep many gamers from giving this one much thought.

Weak graphics and shallow gameplay aren’t much incentive to continue playing.

An interesting conundrum of challenging gameplay and flat out irritation.

It sounds great, as all Star Wars games do, but the graphics are bland at best and nauseating at worst, and the action is a redundant mess of blaster fire and jumping puzzles.

A flimsy plot and disorienting soundtrack frame an otherwise nondescript action RPG.

All bloodthirsty primal tendencies aside, the game remains shallow. The storyline is weak and incoherent.

The action is solid enough and there's plenty of challenge to keep you busy for a while, but key features of the game were scrapped entirely, and what's present at all is still buggy and unfinished.

A variety of cool weapons and powerups combined with intense aerial battles go a long way to compensate for the graphics.

It's replete with an array of entertaining modes, it suffers from average graphics and sorely unbalanced gameplay.

The balance, polish, and attention to detail found in quality football titles such as "NFL 2K2" and "Madden 2002" is wholly missing from GameDay 2002.

Another mediocre 989 Sports title that just doesn't measure up to its stiff competition.

Small Brawl would be a perfectly recommendable weekend rental for Twisted Metal fans if it weren't for its questionable and unfaithful gameplay.

It’s as though Wow Entertainment couldn’t decide whether it wanted the game to be a sim or an arcade-style title. It ends up borrowing elements from both sub-genres, and as a result is decidedly average.

Skill may be virtually impossible to develop in TP2002. The batting interface is so basic it’s nearly laughable.

With gameplay as shallow as this, you’d expect it all to work smoothly. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

The repetitive action, repetitive action, bland graphics and most of all the repetitive action will numb you as you play.

Questionable gameplay and graphics undermine the witty and unique style of this quirky ‘60s spy FPS.

Pretty soon you realize that the reason you're so impatient to get out of the levels is because you're just not having fun. And that's when you're done playing for good.

There's a nice added tweak in the Head Coach mode...but other than that there are zero improvements on the already deeply flawed GameDay 2003.

This is just the kind of flatly tepid, uninspired, marketing department driven pablum I was afraid Microsoft would make upon entering the console wars.

With a dismal defensive effort, an occasionally confused bump-mapping system, and unrealistic gameplay physics, Street Hoops puts up a hard brick.

At best an incomplete, clunky game with derivative appearance and gameplay.

This marriage of baseball and extreme attitude should be annulled.

After only a few seconds gamers will realize that the vilest foes in Perathia are amateurish graphics and formulaic gameplay.

The gameplay is easy to learn, the graphics are adequate, and the team management system rivals those available in better soccer titles. It's too bad that it's bogged down by dull and restrictive controls on the field.

The lackluster gameplay combined with mediocre graphics and poor sound make it a title worth staying far away from.

While the graphics are the best ever seen in a basketball title, they’re not enough to keep a title weighed down by horrible gameplay and sound afloat.

The game's shining glory, the custom team builder, falls flat because there is no mode to play a regular college season.

There are much better things to spend one’s money on. Like root canals.

Unresponsive controls and a laughable frame rate ruin an otherwise bland but conceptually sound game.

The once fresh and inviting Megaman franchise has grown putrid.

It's got graphics befitting of the N64, bizarre music that’s a mish-mash of different styles and horribly shallow, agonizingly repetitive gameplay that makes playing the game for five minutes seem like five hours.

The only way to be entertained by this game is to throw it in the microwave and watch it spark.

The fact of the matter is that I'd be exaggerating if I said I’d found even the stalest morsel of enjoyment out of playing All-Star Slammin' D-Ball.