962 reviews · showing 821–840
Staff Genesis
Persevere and you’ll witness the standard ‘cave with intestines wiggling in the background’ level, a sky palace where knights flanking you from the rear try to drive lances up your butt, and even a zone where you have to shoot rolling…
Jason Venter · April 24, 2004
Staff Genesis
It begins to feel like you're sliding around the course, rather than taking advantage of the tight steering you enjoyed early on. Meanwhile, your opponents are doing the same all around you and just ahead. Missiles become extremely…
Jason Venter · April 24, 2004
Staff NES
Several times, Sammy has come face to face with the white devil, only to find himself choking and sputtering on salt as the deviant rushed past. While it's true that the chef has only a limited supply of salt, he can pick up more…
Jason Venter · April 18, 2004
Staff Xbox
The moves characters can learn are determined by class. Even within that limiting structure, though, the player is forced to make decisions. Each character will have an assortment of moves available, but you must choose the ones you feel…
Jason Venter · April 16, 2004
Staff Xbox
In one area, for example, the game warned me as I snuck through an alley that I should be careful not to be caught in a crossfire. Good advice, I figured, so I took things slowly and carefully. I made it through the alley just fine, so I…
Jason Venter · April 6, 2004
Staff PlayStation 2
Not one of the crew feels half as limber as he or she ought to. When your opponent is a few feet away, it's not uncommon to watch both characters limp toward one another on-screen for a second or two before either is within range of the…
Jason Venter · April 5, 2004
Staff GameCube
Even when the ninja falls down a pit, or collapses from exhaustion after a difficult fight where the enemies get in too many hits, it's difficult to turn off the game just because you know there's something cool waiting just around the…
Jason Venter · April 3, 2004
Staff GameCube
As the meter fills toward the left, you can press the 'B' button instead of the 'A' button. This is a subtle but very important difference. While pressing 'A' causes the game to hold you by the hand and automatically give you a good swing…
Jason Venter · April 1, 2004
Staff NES
Scattered throughout the various locations are magical digits. If Mickey brushes into them, they're added to his inventory. More frequently, you'll find them sealed in a box you must destroy. If for some reason you forget what a given…
Jason Venter · March 24, 2004
Staff NES
It turns out your marble is made out of china or something. Even a small drop will either set it to spinning (which delays your movement for a second or two) or cause it to crack (which delays you something like five seconds, in some…
Jason Venter · March 24, 2004
Staff NES
It turns out that most of the enjoyment you'll derive from this game comes from tossing such bubbles. There are all sorts of nooks and crannies spread all over the place, and they often hold hidden treasure such as forks and pipes that are…
Jason Venter · March 23, 2004
Staff Game Boy Advance
Though the levels themselves aren't much longer than areas encountered in Mega Man 4 and its like, the ease with which you traverse each environment has been radically altered for the worse. Bottomless pits fill almost every room, and…
Jason Venter · March 23, 2004
Staff GameCube
Since most enemies will take around ten hits to kill, battle quickly becomes a matter of exchanging blows, parrying, watching for an enemy opening, then repeating. Misjudge your opponent and you'll take quite a bit of damage. Not only…
Jason Venter · March 22, 2004
Staff GameCube
As a result, your relationship with a new level goes as follows: first you start playing and almost invariably lose by a large margin, then you start to memorize things and lose by only a hair (your boarder may even appear to have won…
Jason Venter · March 22, 2004
Staff NES
None of this matters, though, compared to a careful dissection of Vanna's role in the game. It's obvious Rare's developers thought a lot of her. Watch closely as she saunters casually across the screen, flipping letters and looking nothing…
Jason Venter · March 20, 2004
Staff PlayStation 2
The system works astonishingly well, because it grows quite difficult to leap from track to track. Making sudden changes can throw off your groove, so to speak. Sometimes, tracks are just too far out of range. This means that you need to…
Jason Venter · March 17, 2004
Staff NES
Even if you have a fairly simple stage, such as the forest, you'll soon find the developers have worked overtime to irritate you. Proceeding through the forest requires shooting almost every tree to reveal hidden doorways. As you progress…
Jason Venter · March 10, 2004
Staff NES
There appears to be no set limit, either; you just keep skating as things grow increasingly difficult, until you've messed up too much and the game ends. The real fun is to challenge yourself for score. It's possible to average around…
Jason Venter · March 10, 2004
Staff PlayStation 2
But it's worth all the agony, the memorization, and the sweaty palms, because there's little in the world of videogames that can compare to the feeling that you're 'in the zone' as you weave effortlessly through scores of enemy bullets and…
Jason Venter · March 6, 2004
Staff SNES
If you race long enough to build up a good supply of nitro, races can take on quite the frantic pace. You'll zip along the roads, weaving between plants, around four-wheelers, and through groups of other trucks. There are plenty of small…
Jason Venter · February 26, 2004
