Reviews by Jason Venter
947 reviews · showing 381–400
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Staff 3DS HG exclusive
Star Fox 64 3D review
Unfortunately, Starfox 64 3D doesn’t benefit as much from that finally-genuine third dimension as you might suppose. Depth effects look terrific in the cutscenes that bookend the various stages, certainly, but the levels were never…
Jason Venter · September 13, 2011
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Staff Wii HG exclusive
Disney Guilty Party review
There are three settings. As a rookie, you won’t have any trouble at all. Just mashing buttons or waving the Wii Remote around is enough to pass half of the challenges with flying colors. Before long, you’ll earn a promotion and the game…
Jason Venter · September 1, 2011
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Staff PlayStation 3 Review of the Week HG exclusive
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten review
While the story is new and its high-quality presentation is a delight that long-time fans by now take for granted, you’ll likely be surprised by some of the other improvements. For instance, it’s now possible to assemble your own pirate…
Jason Venter · August 30, 2011
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Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive
Rock of Ages review
The persistent silliness is supplemented nicely by a unique mix of action and strategy elements. A given round begins with the human hero locked in a fortress on one side of the map while his antagonist is sequestered in a similar…
Jason Venter · August 27, 2011
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Staff Wii HG exclusive
Jeopardy! review
Fortunately, you can avoid the issues with the various difficulty presets by choosing the hidden “Custom” difficulty option and tweaking each setting as you see fit. In that manner, it’s possible to introduce near-perfect balance to a game…
Jason Venter · August 6, 2011
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Staff PlayStation 3 HG exclusive
Catherine review
In the evenings, after spending entirely too much time drinking with his buddies at a bar called the Stray Sheep and talking about nightmares that leave his mind when he awakens in the morning, Vincent goes home and goes to bed and dreams…
Jason Venter · July 31, 2011
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Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive
Bastion review
As you run around each gorgeous environment, admiring the dense foliage or the imposing brambles or the stone walls or whatever else, the path ahead of you fills in abruptly. Tiles fly up from beneath the screen, as if drawn to you like…
Jason Venter · July 26, 2011
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Staff PC HG exclusive
Dungeon Siege III review
Weapon selection isn’t all there is to the combat, though. Each character can master specialized skills that you can then use profusely. A skill requires a bit of focus from your meter, but you can swiftly refill that meter simply by…
Jason Venter · July 25, 2011
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Staff PC Review of the Week HG exclusive
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings review
The Witcher 2 doesn’t stop with waterfalls and ferns, though, or even with prostitutes and foul-mouthed dwarves and snide noblemen. It paints this fantastic world full of complicated people and it lets you interact with all of that in such…
Jason Venter · July 7, 2011
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Staff 3DS HG exclusive
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D review
When I started playing the actual game, though, my perspective changed almost immediately. Link’s prophetic nightmare, the shivering elven boy on the straw mattress, the dying monarch of the forest summoning a fairy and the awkward bump…
Jason Venter · June 19, 2011
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Staff PlayStation 3 HG exclusive
Thor: God of Thunder review
You won’t have to play Thor much at all to see that the title is inspired by the highly successful God of War series. Kratos, the bald-headed warrior from that other series, has simply been replaced here by the blond-haired and impetuous…
Jason Venter · June 1, 2011
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Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive
Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale review
Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale has a lot of glitches, very little plot, almost no enemy variety and a sloppy interface that sometimes makes playing the game a chore. The first few hours almost immediately feel tedious, but the game…
Jason Venter · May 26, 2011
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Staff 3DS
Dead or Alive: Dimensions review
Environments are expectedly gorgeous and expansive, with cascading waterfalls and rope bridges that span wide chasms. There also are the underground laboratory and ancient rooftop venues, and you can still knock your opponent from high…
Jason Venter · May 25, 2011
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Staff NES HG exclusive
Wall Street Kid review
The polished interface makes it easy to keep your attention where it should be: on deadlines. Those deadlines do a remarkably good job of building tension because you know that if you make too many mistakes, you’ll lose everything. Stocks…
Jason Venter · May 9, 2011
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Staff DS Review of the Week HG exclusive
Pokémon Black Version review
When you are wandering the wilds between towns, there often are places where the road simply stops. Then you must traverse tall grass or dark sand or whatever. That has always been true, but now every third or fourth step from the beaten…
Jason Venter · May 2, 2011
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Staff 3DS HG exclusive
Bust-A-Move Universe review
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…
Jason Venter · April 24, 2011
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Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive
Crystal Defenders review
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…
Jason Venter · April 23, 2011
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Staff 3DS HG exclusive
Super Monkey Ball 3D review
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…
Jason Venter · April 21, 2011
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Staff DS HG exclusive
Okamiden review
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…
Jason Venter · April 18, 2011
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Staff 3DS Review of the Week HG exclusive
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition review
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…
Jason Venter · April 10, 2011
