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
	Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure review (WII) Reviewed on January 18, 2009 Most of the time you play, you'll probably be thinking that you must have missed something. Sometimes the hero will muse about a possible solution and point you in the right direction, but typically that only happens once you've finally figured it out for yourself. Even then, he doesn't always have anything worthwhile to say. Suggesting that a safe looks like cipher puzzles from the Civil War is all well and good, but what if you have no idea what that even means? The game simply demands too much of the casual gamer that it is likely to attract.
	Hokuto no Ken review (PS2) Reviewed on January 18, 2009 What Hokuto no Ken lacks in balance, it attempts to compensate for in flash. Huge Engrish proclamations such as "THE BATTLE OF DESTINY" and "THANX FOR YOUR PLAYING!" adorn the screen, blows connect with explosive impact, and animations are elaborate and unusual; one character pulls oil drums from the background, sets them on the ground, and ignites them with shotgun blasts.
	Kidz Sports: Crazy Golf review (WII) Reviewed on January 18, 2009 Compared the rest of its Wii budget label brethren, Crazy Mini Golf is by far the favoured game, but it’s a little like saying testicular is your favourite form of cancer.
	Castlevania: Judgment review (WII) Reviewed on January 14, 2009 Why would someone bother mastering the art of knocking someone into the air, canceling out of a ground-based combo to follow-up with an air attack and then come down with a crushing to finish things off when just waving the Wii Remote around in circles while holding the 'B' button proves equally effective? This game was made for old-fashioned button mashers.
	EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey review (PC) Reviewed on January 14, 2009 EverQuest II has fought hard to redeem itself from the hollow shell it once was, and it’s made this possible by dumping uncountable options right into the lap of the player. Returning players will find an extension of worth and new players have found a great tie to jump in.
	Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi review (DS) Reviewed on January 14, 2009 That, unfortunately, is where Rise of the Fungi’s problems begin. Most significantly, the level designs just don’t work. One could argue that they feature the same amount of platforms and climbable objects as any other game in the genre, but what stands out here is their inability to make things clear. There’s a map displayed on the top screen – or the bottom screen, it loves to flip-flop – but that doesn’t help when a gap is hard to view, when a platform is unusually hard to reach, or when the required task feels impossible to complete due to a technical flaw that only luck can overcome.
	Kung Fu Panda review (X360) Reviewed on January 14, 2009 As one of those older gamers, the main thing I enjoyed about this game was its level design. While the stages were all fairly short and very linear, there was a lot of variety. In one level, I was scaling a mountain while not only fighting off constant attacks by a gang of gorillas, but also dodging a non-stop barrage of rocks being flung towards me by their commander. A little bit later, I found myself having to prevent hordes of wolves from destroying all the relics in the abode of the Furious Five.
	Final Fantasy IV review (DS) Reviewed on January 13, 2009 Final Fantasy IV DS is not a new game, nor does it pretend to be original. As with many of Square Enix's re-releases of older titles, it is aimed primarily at the nostalgia factor for those of us who were old enough to play it the first time around (and, were it human, Final Fantasy IV will be old enough to vote next year.) However, even if you didn't play it as a wee small thing back when it was on the Super Nintendo and it was called Final Fantasy II, there's still plenty here for you if you like challenging gameplay and well-executed stories.
	Big Bang Mini review (DS) Reviewed on January 13, 2009 I’ve learnt to destroy heat-seeking cod skeletons with fireworks. Now excuse me while I save the world.
	Lumines Supernova review (PS3) Reviewed on January 09, 2009 Each stage is played in a series of “skins.” These skins make up a background and a musical track. Every time you do anything, whether it be moving a block or erasing a stack, the music reacts. the background pulses and shifts. As you stay alive, the skin changes, so that playing the game becomes less an attempt to get lots of points and more an attempt to stay alive to see as many interesting skins as possible.
	Valkyria Chronicles review (PS3) Reviewed on January 08, 2009 Valkyria Chronicles looks like a water color painting in motion. Whoever made this artistic decision is a genius, because watercolors make anything look amazing, whether it be a stream or a pile of rocks, and here you’re seeing whole countrysides and full out warfare. The baleful music and the beautiful art blend together to create a nostalgic feel that leaves you coming back for the same broken mechanics and repetitious dialogue.
	Meteos Wars review (X360) Reviewed on January 08, 2009 When I first started playing this game, I felt like I was being dropped into the fastest level of Tetris with no warning. While I now feel I've gotten the hang of things, it still moves fast enough to demand all my concentration in order to top my computer opponent. While each contest only lasts three minutes, that time seems an eternity as I frantically try to keep from being overwhelmed by the blocks quickly filling my side of the screen, while attempting to craft large enough combos to put the computer in a world of hurt.
	Final Fight Guy review (SNES) Reviewed on January 07, 2009 What the player actually gets is the exact same game as the original SNES version with one difference — Cody is gone and replaced with Guy. Yep, that’s it. The fourth level doesn't find its way back into the game and there still is no two-player mode. But, uh, you do get to play with Guy and that has to amount to something, right?
	TrackMania DS review (DS) Reviewed on January 05, 2009 The sulky shot soon turned into a toast. I have no idea how the Scots at Firebrand have managed it, but Trackmania DS is a triumph. I can’t help feel this may have been to spite me.
	The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga review (PS2) Reviewed on January 04, 2009 You could, in fact, buy the entire compilation for ‘98 alone, and not a single person would blame you. But included is five years of iconic team battling all held together by an over-branching plot that would do numerous RPGs proud, the trip back in time is indeed appreciated.
	Perfect Dark Zero review (X360) Reviewed on January 04, 2009 Co-op modes commonly up the enemy count with the inclusion of a second player, and as well they should. Taking a friend in tow demands more targets to aim at, and Zero obligates. It obliges in the form of crippling overkill.
	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl review (PC) Reviewed on December 31, 2008 Stalker is so far removed from the relentless fright-a-minute conventions of the genre that it somehow works on a much higher level than any of its competitors. A staggering majority of Stalker takes place in wide, open and relatively calm outdoor expanses. But the atmosphere never lets up; it only shifts from mood to mood. It's unsettling for different reasons, and on the occasions where it throws the real chills at you, the effect is mind-blowing.
	Thunder Force VI review (PS2) Reviewed on December 31, 2008 It's obvious that Sega and the former Technosoft employees who worked on this project still love the same scenes that I loved ten, fifteen, seventeen years ago. That reassures me; my fascination with such details was clearly no accident. For children who have grown up, for people who stopped embellishing in their minds and only accept what's "real"... Thunder Force 6 makes those moments real — no imagination required!
	Rogue Galaxy review (PS2) Reviewed on December 30, 2008 It also doesn't help that the two companions you can have at your side at any time are idiots. I didn't notice those guys going for charge attacks when necessary, leaving me to do that myself while they ineffectively flailed at the monsters. They also didn't seem all that keen on blocking attacks or any sort of evasive action. Instead, they'd occasionally request to use a healing item or ability when they felt that'd be a good change of pace from blindly running at monsters and attacking with all the grace and style of a drunken berserker.
	LittleBigPlanet review (PS3) Reviewed on December 30, 2008 Suddenly I felt hope. Hope for myself. Hope for humanity. Sony might’ve intended HOME to be their global glue for PS3 players, but the true community is right here, in Little Big Planet.

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