Review Archives (Staff Reviews)

You are currently looking through staff reviews for games that are available on every platform the site currently covers. Below, you will find reviews written by all eligible authors and sorted according to date of submission, with the newest content displaying first. As many as 20 results will display per page. If you would like to try a search with different parameters, specify them below and submit a new search.

	Bust-A-Move Universe review (3DS) Reviewed by Jason Venter on April 24, 2011 - # What Arika doesn’t appear to have realized is that players will want some substance, even if they’re ready to forgive the lack of a three-dimensional twist. Past Bust-A-Move games have provided all sorts of bells and whistles that kept people playing for a long while, but here there’s very little reason to keep playing beyond the first few hours.
	Crystal Defenders review (X360) Reviewed by Jason Venter on April 23, 2011 - # Even if you have the proper characters on the map, sometimes that’s not enough. You might have placed a bunch of archers but if none of them are leveled up, later foes can shrug off their attacks and rush through an entire gauntlet of archers or wizards. Since every level a character gains costs you more gold than the previous one did, Crystal Defenders becomes one of the most exhilarating games about effective resource management that you’ll find on Xbox Live. A single mistake can be enough to throw off your whole approach.
	Crime Lab: Body of Evidence review (DS) Reviewed by Julian Williams on April 23, 2011 - # Crime Scene tries to present an interesting run through puzzles and crime scene investigation, but it's underwhelming in all respects.
	Beyond Good & Evil HD review (X360) Reviewed by Gary Hartley on April 23, 2011 - # The Live Arcade download is a perfect way for any of the too many people who missed out upon release to catch up. It has shiny new HD enhancements, and Christophe Héral’s fantastically atypical score is all the sharper. More to the point, it’s an easy way to snag a great game without going outside. I hear there’s wolves out there.
	Super Monkey Ball 3D review (3DS) Reviewed by Jason Venter on April 21, 2011 - # In appearance, it’s the polished follow-up to Super Monkey Ball, with moderately large environments full of bumpers, slopes, sharp curves and rail-free edges that allow you to drop frequently to your doom. Purists will probably object, however, to the fact that many of the 80 included courses are much simpler than those that were featured in earlier titles. I promise that’s not just a complaint resulting from me becoming a pro at the series after all of these years. I still suck.
	NASCAR 2011: The Game review (X360) Reviewed by Julian Williams on April 19, 2011 - # There's plenty of good in here for the true fan; a lot of love went into trivia, racers, cars and feel. If you're into NASCAR this is a good buy, but a leftover copy of Forza 3 or Gran Turismo 5 would be a better purchase for the casual fan of realistic racers.
	Okamiden review (DS) Reviewed by Jason Venter on April 18, 2011 - # The game’s structure most closely resembles something that you’d expect to find in The Legend of Zelda. There’s a general overworld, with fields and mountain pathways, forests and beaches. That world connects a number of small towns, shrines and dungeons. You start with only a handful of locations that you can visit, but later in the game you’ll be able to wander the map freely as you search every nook and cranny for the numerous collectibles secreted throughout the land. The overworld is a delight to explore, neither too large nor too simple for its own good, but the real attraction is the game’s assortment of dungeons.
	Hydrophobia review (X360) Reviewed by Gary Hartley on April 14, 2011 - # There’s now enough going right to subtract from the things that go wrong in Hydrophobia’s increasingly damp world. Survivalists may want to get in on the action early while the genre-curious might want to hang on and see what the completed product can offer.
	Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition review (3DS) Reviewed by Jason Venter on April 11, 2011 - # The game’s third significant change is more difficult to pin down as either a flaw or an improvement. Since the 3DS only has so many standard buttons available, extra moves are now mapped to the touch screen (which is quartered). By default, the touch screen allows you to execute up to four special moves with a single tap of your stylus or finger. If you find such coddling insulting, you can instead set your configuration so that those touch screen functions allow you to use more standard moves and throws.
	Donkey Kong Junior review (ARC) Reviewed by Winston Wolf on April 02, 2011 - # With all respects to Ms. Pac-Man, you've heard of Donkey Kong Junior because it is perhaps the first great sequel to advance the original concept, cleverly reworking the formula while at the same time feeling immediately familiar to dedicated Donkey Kong players.
	Homefront review (X360) Reviewed by Marc Golding on April 02, 2011 - # That Homefront permits us to wage warfare in our neighbour’s backyard is an instant coup; the gritty, literally grassroots shootouts elevate the experience from me-too shooter; a role which most other FPS games have seemed content to fill, constantly improving graphics and increasingly outlandish plots notwithstanding.
	Super Meat Boy review (X360) Reviewed by Calvin Kemph on April 02, 2011 - # With its retro aesthetic and punishing difficulty, Super Meat Boy is the type of release that shakes things up and gets people’s attention.
	Epic Dungeon review (X360) Reviewed by Gary Hartley on March 31, 2011 - # Epic Dungeon does itself credit by showcasing the best elements from years of Rogue-liking, but then manages to stand out of the crowd by daring to be different. Successful runs can last a matter of hours, premature ones a matter of seconds, but there’s always reason to come back and try again.
	Pilotwings Resort review (3DS) Reviewed by Jason Venter on March 31, 2011 - # There are more than 40 missions, the game’s packaging cheerfully notes, but those missions typically can be completed within 2 or 3 minutes each. A higher score and a better star rating are your only reason to return to a mission once you satisfy its conditions, and once you unlock the next tier of missions, you might not wish to revisit the early challenges at all.
	Dreamcast Collection review (X360) Reviewed by Marc Golding on March 28, 2011 - # Sega had a legacy here to uphold. You know how hardcore gamers love to laud accolades on lesser known, dead systems and celebrate their obscure appeal? Well Dreamcast was one of those systems. Hell, Dreamcast might have been the system – only the near-mythical Turbo Duo vies with it for that title.
	Myst review (PC) Reviewed by Lewis Denby on March 25, 2011 - # If you bought a computer between about 1993 and 1996, you'll have got a free computer game with it. Perhaps your mum will have played it, sitting in front of the PC for hours on end, trying to figure out solutions to the game's many puzzles as she wandered around the pretty environments. Myst quickly became one of the most popular games in the world, mainly because you couldn't bloody avoid the thing.
	Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle review (PSP) Reviewed by Brittany Vincent on March 24, 2011 - # If you’re a newcomer and you need an entry point to Phantom Brave, I would suggest beginning with the great Wii port and then gravitating to the PSP for handheld strategizing should you still ache for more. For everyone else who has already exhausted the PlayStation 2 original and Wii re-release, this really isn’t something I would recommend adding to your collection unless the potential to take Marona with you on the go is a serious selling point. This is an interesting try at making the game a portable smash, but in the end it falls a little short of the mark. Get a Wii, and try it there.
	Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! review (PSP) Reviewed by Brittany Vincent on March 24, 2011 - # Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! is a side-scrolling throwback that classic gamers should definitely enjoy. From its distinctly Disgaea-flavored personality to its endless inside jokes, the game is a fun ride from start to finish...that is, if you can keep up the pace. The added "Baby Mode" will be a boon for players who couldn't hack it in the first game, without ever dumbing the game down enough to make it a pushover. As for the overall game, it features the perfect amount of charm and personality to win you over. And if its first overture doesn't work? It's got 999 other ways to make you smile...
	Lufia: The Legend Returns review (GBC) Reviewed by Rob Hamilton on March 24, 2011 - # Anyhow, not only is the Ancient Cave back in this game, but with twice the number of floors (because, you know, measly 100-floor dungeons are for wimps) AND every single dungeon in the game takes its cue from this place. Yes, they all are multi-floor extravaganzas where everything seems randomly created. This makes things boring. You have no puzzles (unless you consider "striking things on walls to see if that opens up a corridor" to be one) or anything to detract from the tedium. All you do is walk through each floor, avoiding traps, killing monsters and collecting treasures...and then do the same on the next floor and the next until you've completed the dungeon. Then you go to the next town, find out about the next dungeon and do the same there.
	Dragon Age 2 review (X360) Reviewed by Mike Suskie on March 24, 2011 - # I guess people liked the origin stories in the first game so much that BioWare went ahead and made the sequel one giant origin story that cuts short just before it actually goes anywhere. It’s as if someone made a Batman movie that ended with Bruce Wayne putting on his costume for the first time.

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