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
	Vectorman review (GEN) Reviewed on December 02, 2010 At the time of this game's release, a big fuss was made over it. Much drooling came about, and many Genesis gamers had to dab gingerly at their foreheads with cold towels. The reason was that BlueSky Software made a truly unique-looking game. Vectorman himself (he's the good guy) is made out of yellow-green spheres, and he animates brilliantly. His composition and movement might bring to mind the PC survival horror not-quite-classic, Ecstatica, had anyone actually played that game. But Vectorman's own good looks grandstand alongside shamefully bland foes, and within missions undeserving of his own undeniable charm.
	Excruciating Guitar Voyage review (PC) Reviewed on November 28, 2010 Excruciating Guitar Voyage is obviously trying to lampoon, [but] it's too far over that line to be funny anymore. Ultimately, it tries too hard and ends up becoming the kind of amateurish and unpolished game it sets out to make fun of.
	Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale review (PC) Reviewed on November 27, 2010 Recettear: An Item Shop Game is the surprise success of 2010, and deservedly so. It’s a homebrew game that, when published by what was little more than a fan base, quickly turned the part-time publishers hobby into a full time job. It doesn’t just exceed expectations: it rewrites them.
	Yoshi review (NES) Reviewed on November 26, 2010 Bloopers. Boos. Piranha plants and goombas. All four encapsulated foes will fall from the skies as an especially pudgy rendition of Mario attempts to sort the baddies’ landing spots upon four separate platters below, his outstretched arms holding any two adjacent columns and a tap of either action button switching the stacks. Match the free-falling type with the type it lands atop and both will disappear, leaving more breathing room beneath the top barrier as the next pair, or on higher levels trio, begins its descent.
	Zero Wing review (GEN) Reviewed on November 23, 2010 Zero Wing is a side-scrolling shooter, of the deliberate, R-Type variety, not the frenetic Thunder Force variety. That in and of itself may seem strange coming from Toaplan, the makers of the prototypically hectic Batsugun and its ilk. But that strangeness isn’t the draw of this mostly mediocre shooter. The draw is the story.
	Rad Mobile review (ARC) Reviewed on November 21, 2010 I remember drooling over magazine screenshots for Rad Mobile, known back in 1991 as "that 32-bit arcade game WHOA MOMMA". I remember actually playing Rad Mobile and being impressed by that first intersection where I had to pass through cross-traffic, as well as the police car barricade . . . in which cruisers actually passed me and spun horizontally to bring my runaway radmobile to a halt.
	Monopoly Streets review (PS3) Reviewed on November 18, 2010 You can play by the standard rule set (with a few minor tweaks from the game that I remember), or you can select a few preset game modes. Those modes have names, such as "Bull Market" (where the players begin with more money and every piece of property is auctioned off before anyone even starts moving around the board) and "Jack Pot" (where it's possible to upgrade spaces that you own with houses and hotels even if you don't have a proper monopoly). If you'd prefer changes that are less drastic, you can create and name various custom configurations for convenient use down the road.
	101-in-1 Sports Megamix review (DS) Reviewed on November 16, 2010 Tennis’ failure doesn’t detract from every game, and you could argue that when given such a large number of sports to partake in, there’s always going to be some duds, and you’re always going to be able to skip over some events and still have enough points locked away to attempt everything. The problem is that there are too many mini-games that play out like the failures than there are the successes.
	Eliminate Down review (GEN) Reviewed on November 16, 2010 For a shooter physique to be adequately robust, there are certain requirements. Its body composition must be as follows: rocking tunes, interesting places and foes, a hard ass level of difficulty, and that muscle which elicits memorable maneuvers from the player. ED's got 'em all in shameful abundance.
	Call of Duty: Black Ops review (X360) Reviewed on November 15, 2010 So there are a lot of explosions and people cuss a lot, sometimes a few times per line of dialogue, and then when the tone is properly established there's not really much profanity at all and the explosions don't really impress as much because when you've seen one Jeep go up in flames, you've seen 'em all. It's at that moment, when you've become desensitized to the napalm and the knife thrusts and the pistol blasts, that you realize something: Black Ops isn't a particularly competent single-player shooter.
	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves review (PS3) Reviewed on November 13, 2010 Drake is a kick-ass sort of super-cool guy who seems completely in control whether he's gunning down hostiles, impersonating Spider-Man while exploring vast caverns for treasure or delivering devastating zingers with impeccable timing. Working as his support cast are TWO potential love interests, an equally sarcastic friend-turned foe, a gruff and shady mentor and, of course, a megalomaniac looking to take over the world. The script writes itself.
	OutRun review (ARC) Reviewed on November 12, 2010 Accompanied by those all-important accessories of the '80s – a cool pair of shades and a hot beach bunny – you too can climb behind the wheel of a cherry-hued Ferrari Testarossa and experience the simple pleasures of tearing through picturesque countryside at nearly 200 miles per hour.
	Medal of Honor review (X360) Reviewed on November 10, 2010 I won’t pretend that I’ll not sink hours and hours of my time into online play, but it doesn’t stop the title from being only half of what it should be. I’m not about to ignore that.
	Rock Band 3 review (X360) Reviewed on November 08, 2010 One of the biggest complaints about simulated rock has been that jamming with plastic instruments just isn’t the same as playing a real instrument. For me, that’s missing the point; these sorts of games have always been more about having pure and utter fun. But Harmonix has spent the last two years addressing this, and while the basic premise of Rock Band 3 has a familiar feel to it--play a bunch of songs until you become a superstar--it's also the most innovative and complete rhythm game yet.
	Mafia II review (X360) Reviewed on November 08, 2010 Could have been saved if someone, just once, said "Nyaah, see?" and chomped a cigar.
	Super Sprint review (ARC) Reviewed on November 07, 2010 The top of an outdated genre isn't a bad place to be. Super Sprint will always have a place in any respectable classic arcade. Give it a shot to see what the cranky old-timers used to play; I bet you'll have trouble walking away.
	Knights in the Nightmare review (PSP) Reviewed on November 06, 2010 Once Knights starts, it’s a non-stop struggle that requires constant action in order to win. You don’t simply move your units into range before you can attack. For the most part, your soldiers remain stationary unless their attack leads them forward, while the enemies stalk the battlefield in a regimented pattern. The only freedom in movement you’re allowed is via the wisp, controlled by the analog stick. He can move anywhere on the field, to any corner of the screen, to execute your strategy.
	Eschalon Book II review (PC) Reviewed on November 04, 2010 Eschalon Book II picks up right where the first left off, explaining enough as you go along so that you don’t need to have any prior experience with the series to get your full enjoyment out of it. Furthermore, all the qualities that led to the first game’s fantastic reception are back. Open exploration and non-linear storytelling enable you to complete quests at your leisure. Customizable character creation enables you to assign attribute and skill points however you wish. And an innumerable list of strategies and methods of play lay at your fingertips.
	The 7th Saga review (SNES) Reviewed on November 03, 2010 Even on a system renowned for its expansive library of RPGs, successfully completing The 7th Saga is an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately this is solely due to its patently unfair difficulty, because the generic dungeons, incomprehensible abbreviations, and skeletal excuse for a plot would likely put everyone to sleep if all the random encounters weren't straight out of their darkest nightmares.
	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night review (PSX) Reviewed on October 31, 2010 Whether as a loving tribute to the series' glorious past or a striking declaration of its subsequent revival, Symphony of the Night will make any 2D enthusiast shed bloody tears of joy.

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