Staff reviews, page 186

Beatmania review

To really enjoy the experience, you better have some serious dexterity, hardcore beat-matching skills, perseverance, and a love for every little sub-genre of electronic music out there.

Brian Rowe · April 29, 2006

Staff Genesis HG exclusive

Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety review

Separation Anxiety, however, does not have that style. Not a bit of it. It doesn’t progress the story with comic panels; it gives you a wall of text before each mission and lets you go. The storyline it came from was weak in the first…

Zack Little · April 28, 2006

Staff PlayStation

Medal of Honor review

In his briefing, Jimmy is given authorization papers to show guards. He’s told to AVOID combat, sneak around, do what he has to do and get out as quickly as possible. And when he does that, the one-star (maybe two) rating he’ll get upon…

Rob Hamilton · April 27, 2006

Staff PlayStation 2

Shadow of the Colossus review

In the end, the hardest thing to deal with is in knowing that the game will eventually come to an end. Shadow’s brilliance lies in its desire to be different from any other role-playing title out there.

Branden Barrett · April 24, 2006

Staff PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked review

Despite all the silliness surrounding it, the core gameplay is both intuitive and smooth. At its heart, Sidetracked is a single-player hack-and-slash, most similar to a fully-3D Golden Axe. Like the classic old-school brawlers, levels are…

Zigfried · April 23, 2006

Staff PSP HG exclusive

The Silent Hill Experience review

The Silent Hill Experience, while at heart no more than an expanded set of bonus features like you might find on an especially cool DVD release, is unnerving to an extreme. Instead of vibrant arrows and slick menus, you’ll sample the…

Jason Venter · April 23, 2006

Staff Xbox HG exclusive

Hummer Badlands review

It’s not difficult to rush to the front of the pack, but the first curve you round will drop you back into the rear as your opponents navigate each turn with a professional combination of steering and acceleration that will leave even the…

Jason Venter · April 22, 2006

Staff NES HG exclusive

Monster Party review

Most disturbing of all, the head of an Egyptian pharaoh greeted me with the gleeful exclamation, “OH BOY! MARK SOUP!” Trust me....when you knock on a stranger’s door, that is NOT what you want to hear.

Rob Hamilton · April 21, 2006

Staff GameCube HG exclusive

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody review

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody clearly is not for everyone. I already mentioned it, but I’ll say it again: the visuals here look like something out of Animal Crossing. I know some people who refuse to play that game primarily because it…

Jason Venter · April 19, 2006

Staff PSP HG exclusive

Street Supremacy review

Street Supremacy isn't just average, it's average without inspiration. You might wonder what it feels like to blast down a Tokyo expressway, grinding the slick, rain speckled concrete under tyre as a blind corner sends the back-end sliding…

Michael Scott · April 18, 2006

Staff PlayStation 2

BloodRayne 2 review

A sky filled in a murky red haze, as if the sky bleeds. Barren and twisted trees littering the landscape. Bodies, decapitated, eviscerated, mutilated, desecrated, and perforated, blood strewn all around. Screams in the distance, bellowing…

Zack Little · April 18, 2006

Staff DS

Nanostray review

Nanostray definitely sets out to accomplish a number of things. As you fly your particular aircraft over expansive jungles, towering space stations, and rocky canyons, you will begin to see that the game’s developer had hoped to cater to a…

Branden Barrett · April 17, 2006

Staff PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence review

As a guy who broke his teeth on the old-school games of past generations, I was ecstatic to learn that Konami included two Metal Gear games originally released for the eight-bit MSX computer gaming system. The first game (featuring Snake's…

Rob Hamilton · April 16, 2006

Staff Game Boy Advance HG exclusive

Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack review

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack is a bit more engaging than the cartoon. For one thing, it's definitely more fun to play than to watch (even if the real-world rules have been drastically over-simplified). For another, even though it uses the…

Zigfried · April 16, 2006

Staff PSP HG exclusive

From Russia with Love review

You hold the “L” button and watch as the auto-aim hairs pinpoint him. Once they do, you can hold the ‘square’ button, which lets you use the analogue stick to aim with more precision. You can use this cool trick to score head shots or to…

Jason Venter · April 15, 2006

Staff PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

Kingdom Hearts II review

Once in an extremely rare while, you’ve got exceptions. Mission Impossible II kicks the first’s ass. Aliens is arguably better than Alien. And Kingdom Hearts II is an improvement in every conceivable way.

Zack Little · April 11, 2006

Staff Dreamcast HG exclusive

Merge Marginal review

Marginal is unusual because the women are actually animal spirit maids. Sure, Tail Tale and Legend of Fairies featured animal spirit girls, but no developer has ever crossed that sacred line in the sand and mixed the "maid" and "animal…

Zigfried · April 10, 2006

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Rumble Roses XX review

Rumble Roses XX is not one of those games that uses visual flair to mask a complex game engine underneath. The graphics are an integral part of why the product works. Some people will hate that, but I honestly didn’t. It’s just one more…

Jason Venter · April 8, 2006

Staff PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

Suikoden III review

Minor battles are boring and tedious — winding up as nothing more than bland interludes between plot points. One minute, I’d be watching treaties get broken and villages get torched — the next, I’d be battling bunnies, spiders and beetles…

Rob Hamilton · April 6, 2006

Staff Xbox 360

Enchanted Arms review

Once known as the Japanese RPG with an odd name, From Software's latest is both an outstanding success, and a bitter disappointment. It's the type of game that screams for more development time, caught as it is in a vapid middle ground…

Michael Scott · April 5, 2006