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.

Available Reviews
	Tales of Vesperia review (X360) Reviewed on October 07, 2011 Overall, I found the battle system in Tales of Vesperia to do about as good of a job in taking a lot of different components and making them simple and user-friendly as any game I've played. When you get more powerful, you'll be able to obtain a number of more powerful attacks which culminate in the godly Mystic Artes, which spell bad news for anything in their path. Or you, as bosses also start gaining them after you've gotten a ways into the game.
	The Magic of Scheherazade review (NES) Reviewed on September 30, 2011 I might not know everything about the gaming world, but I am pretty sure that an Arabian Nights tale concerning a time-traveling warrior collecting a wacky assortment of allies to save a bunch of princesses from evil sorcerers and misnamed demons (the Hindu Kali will never live down being mistaken for the Three Stooges' Curly) WHILE occasionally planting seeds to grow money trees in a world where solar eclipses happen every few minutes is RetroWeird.
	Deus Ex: Human Revolution review (X360) Reviewed on September 24, 2011 Deus Ex: Human Revolution so astutely recaptures the spirit of the 2000 original that I’m amazed an outside developer is responsible for it. Compare it to Invisible War, the slicked-up, dumbed-down sequel that still has fans reeling, and you could conclude that Eidos has a better understanding of what makes this series tick than the people who got it running in the first place.
	Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island review (SNES) Reviewed on September 23, 2011 And I do mean "tricky" — I found myself stumped for a good number of minutes in one boss level before figuring out I had to swallow a Koopa at the top left of one gigantic chamber, go to the bottom right of the room and spit it at a near-inaccessible power-up cloud in order to release a staircase leading to the door out of that place. Things can be a bit more cerebral than in past Mario games.
	Kirby: Mass Attack review (DS) Reviewed on September 17, 2011 The inability to consistently fling puffballs is the biggest problem that you’ll likely have with Kirby Mass Attack, because at times that particular activity can be vitally important. For example, in one stage you must repeatedly ram a block to slide it along a platform before a timer counts down and it explodes. There’s specific placement you’ll have in mind, but getting the explosive charge positioned in time can be difficult when every second or third swipe on the screen doesn’t register.
	Breath of Fire II review (SNES) Reviewed on September 16, 2011 Perhaps the poor NoA censors just couldn't comprehend what they were playing, shrugged their shoulders and let it all go through without chopping out minor details like how the villain is a demon using a Christianity-like religion as a front to absorb peoples' souls to increase its power. Or how, in spectacular fashion, the final boss utilizes the game's "anyone can die" mantra to such effect that I still look at the entirety of that confrontation as one of the most epic in J-RPG history.
	Star Fox 64 3D review (3DS) Reviewed on September 13, 2011 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 designed to actually utilize three dimensions in any meaningful way. This is essentially a cluttered rail shooter with vast expanses of empty space serving as the backdrop while in the foreground, floating debris from ruined space stations and asteroid fields serve as the points of interest.
	Call of Duty 3 review (PS2) Reviewed on September 09, 2011 Whether it be the Americans, Canadians, British or Polish, there will be arguments and in-fighting as the troops are faced with imminent death while pushing into occupied territory. Well, maybe not the Poles, as their main purpose seems to be to provide Treyarch an excuse to toss a touch of tank combat into the mix.
	Kyotokei review (WII) Reviewed on September 09, 2011 Kyotokei tries to be the horizontal Ikaruga and it does what it sets out to do in a perfunctory fashion, lacking distinction or panache. That being said, if you loved Ikaruga, you’ll like Kyotokei, because how many other colour based shoot-em-ups are there really?
	Driver: San Francisco review (X360) Reviewed on September 06, 2011 Driver: San Francisco surprised me by showing how much life the series still has left. If it weren’t for Ubisoft's infuriating obsession with curbing piracy and secondhand sales by way of the terrible uPlay platform, I'd have given the game an even higher score than it already has.
	Bonded Realities review (X360) Reviewed on September 02, 2011 You control a quartet of preschool kids who, while playing in a sandbox, get warped to a mystical world and placed in bodies more capable of monster battling than the average tyke. Kind of like Avatar without the ungodly budget. Or the contrived "nature and conservation are good" plot. Instead, the contrived plot here revolves around the typical world-dominating dictator. Or it does eventually.
	Disney Guilty Party review (WII) Reviewed on September 01, 2011 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 offers more resistance. You should still do quite well, but then you’ll earn yet another promotion and suddenly all of the mini-games leave so little room for error that (until you’ve played them a number of times) you’ll fail them as often as not.
	3D Pixel Racing review (WII) Reviewed on September 01, 2011 Unlike other gimmicky racing titles, there are no tricks, upgrades, weapons, or anything else to distinguish 3D Pixel Racing from your typical racing game apart from presentation. Even if you do master the controls, it's hardly worth the payoff.
	Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten review (PS3) Reviewed on August 30, 2011 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 ship so that you can raid the Item World. On trips to your own Item World, you’ll find parts that you can use to customize your ship, plus you’ll battle more pirates than ever before. You can even have your custom pirate crew head online and raid other folks’ worlds, or help them out if you prefer.
	Rock of Ages review (X360) Reviewed on August 27, 2011 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 structure on the map’s opposite edge. Between those two points, on the high ground, there are two mines. Your followers feverishly work to fashion a large stone boulder that you will then guide as it rolls down the slope and toward your enemy’s fortress. You try to avoid taking damage so that you retain as much of your mass as possible and can break through your foe’s gate when you arrive.
	Fire Mustang review (GEN) Reviewed on August 20, 2011 So, just this once, I’ll ignore the easy digs, like how the game starts in 1940, while America didn’t enter the war until 1941. Or how the P-51 Mustangs I assume the game is based around were not readily available until around 1943. Instead I’ll mention how I stumbled upon a game I enjoyed playing despite looking for one to bag on.
	Cthulhu Saves the World review (X360) Reviewed on August 17, 2011 You take control of Lovecraftian Elder God Cthulhu as he surfaces in order to take over (and destroy) the world. Not even tentacle-faced deities can have an easy time of things, though, as a mysterious wizard strips him of his powers. Fortunately, the game's narrator is willing to help, divulging that heroic actions will restore his magic. Therefore, it's off to reluctantly save the world (griping about doing good every step of the way)…in order to destroy it…
	The Smurfs Dance Party review (WII) Reviewed on August 16, 2011 The Smurfs Dance Party is a simple, relaxing title featuring silly fun for kids. Anyone over the age of nine might want to consider a title with more substance, but you might want to give the game a go if you’re just looking for a simple and charming family night diversion. I don't recommend paying more than $20, though.
	Bleach: Soul Resurreccion review (PS3) Reviewed on August 14, 2011 One of the most popular shōnen titles in the manga and anime industry right now is Bleach, a story about a boy who obtained soul reaper abilities to protect the ones he loves. You may have caught an episode or two on TV, or seen a volume of the manga in a bookstore, but let’s be honest; there isn’t a huge demand for anime-based video games in North America.
	L.A. Noire review (PS3) Reviewed on August 13, 2011 L.A. Noire is as ambitious as it is broken, presenting yet another game where you spend way too much time driving around a fantastically realised landscape while your passenger pleads with you to slow down, taking nothing but claustrophobic pre-planned routes that only showcases 10% of the game’s world with zero reason to stray outside the beaten path.

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