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
	Bleach: Heat the Soul 2 review (PSP) Reviewed on September 20, 2005 Still, as disappointing as all that may seem, I've found myself oddly enjoying Sony's none too delicate rim-job. The controls for instance are next to flawless, the full analogue support provides players with a total 360 degree field of movement within each arena. You can dash in for an attack, side step its counter, then finish the move with multiple sword strikes and a manly throw.
	Brian Lara International Cricket 2005 review (XBX) Reviewed on September 13, 2005 Time your strike too early and risk catching an edge that will be easily collected by the awaiting slips. Too late, and you could miss the ball all together, giving it the chance to whip your bails out of the ground. Either way, poorly timed shots may lead to you tucking your bat under your arm and taking the long walk to the pavilion. Something that Lara's Cricket captures to perfection.
	InuYasha: Feudal Combat review (PS2) Reviewed on September 08, 2005 Characters also benefit from the same visual strength. They move with surprising fluidity, just as they would in the hand-drawn cartoon. Sesshomaru leaping into the air, ethereal sword-whip winding about him before lashing forward in a graceful arc is truly a thing of beauty. Each character moves as he or she should, from the peppy movements of the fox demon Shippo to the methodical strikes Naraku manages (usually from a safe distance). The graphics aren’t there just to look pretty, though.
	Nanostray review (DS) Reviewed on September 05, 2005 Nanostray's portable, shoot'em up action is remarkable in so much as it plugs a hole I never knew I had. Like a virgin on prom night coming to the realization that there's more to the world than football and smoking after school, my eyes have been opened and I'm hungry for more. Pushing that analogy one step further, Nanostray's shortened challenge proves frustrating, its digital, pre-mature ejaculation unfortunately grinds the action to a halt just as things begin to heat up.
	Advanced V.G. review (TGCD) Reviewed on September 05, 2005 Advanced V.G. actually tries to be a "wacky" game with "crazy" characters. I spent most of my time stone-faced, wondering who decided that parading a bunch of stereotypes across the screen qualifies as comedy. It certainly doesn't qualify as ingenuity: there's the strong girl, the bunny girl, the rave dancer girl, the glasses girl, the ninja girl, the waitress girl, the other waitress girl, the other other waitress girl, and the other other other waitress girl.
	Mid-Garts review (X68K) Reviewed on September 04, 2005 Lightning flashed across the screen, volcanoes erupted in the background, laser beams blocked my way, fiery chimerae hurtled through the air, orcs tossed hammers from below, and gigantic rocks tried to squish poor me (and my dragon). The boring game from the first level had suddenly developed an imagination — I now had a reason to keep playing.
	Shienryu review (SAT) Reviewed on September 03, 2005 Even thinking about the genre-defining Thunder Force IV was more exciting than playing this, the most forgettably average vertical shooter ever created.
	KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child review (DC) Reviewed on August 31, 2005 Now take a second to reflect; someone out there thought it would be a good idea to take an aging rock band and throw them into a video game. Consider with horror the fate we would suffer if this trend would have caught on. Ziggy Stardust's Pro Skateboarding would be a hit, equalled only by QueenFighter II.
	Riviera: The Promised Land review (GBA) Reviewed on August 28, 2005 Riviera: The Promised Land was one of the most kick-ass games ever released on the underachieving WonderSwan Crystal. Its GBA incarnation features loads of new voices (that's good) and majorly cutified character designs (that's bad), but otherwise it's a byte-by-byte port of the original. In other words, Riviera's still (almost) as awesome as it ever was.
	Pac 'n Roll review (DS) Reviewed on August 26, 2005 When you swipe the stylus across the screen, his counterpart in the top screen will move a bit. If you repeatedly make quick but short strokes, he’ll sort of wander about as desired. Swift and longer brushes, particularly those executed in a gattling-gun sort of sense, will send him flying along the various ledges and hills and whatever else is in sight. That’s almost all there is to controlling Pac-Man. Almost.
	Bio-Hazard Battle review (GEN) Reviewed on August 25, 2005 Inverting Expectations
	Sigma Star Saga review (GBA) Reviewed on August 22, 2005 As you wander about, beams of light sometimes begin to rise around your body and you won’t be able to move. In terms of plot, this means one of the ships is asking the armor you wear for assistance. In terms of gameplay, it means you’ve just been invited to a mandatory random battle. Before you can resume whatever you were doing, you must pilot your craft through a side-scrolling shooter stage.
	Twinkle Star Sprites: La Petite Princesse review (PS2) Reviewed on August 21, 2005 It's a strange old world we live in when someone can look down on you for playing a game like Twinkle Star Sprites: La Petite Princesse. Explaining that it's the latest in Playmore's line-up of rejuvenated, Neo Geo classics does nothing for your cause, such mega street cred soon lost on a dozen incredulous looks and a patronizing pat on the back.
	Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome review (PS2) Reviewed on August 18, 2005 Any character can learn the skills associated with any of the numerous classes available in the game. This means that you can start a character out as a witch, learn a few powerful spells, then switch her over to the archer class to boost her strength and speed. Any reincarnated party member retains the stat-boosting skills he or she may have gained in the previous life. The minute you grasp this concept, its enormity hits you like a Mac truck.
	Taiko no Tatsujin Portable review (PSP) Reviewed on August 13, 2005 Under ideal circumstances, I doubt I would have given Taiko no Tatsujin Portable the time of day. Stripped of its hulking arcade cabinet and matching drum kits, it's easy to believe the resulting experience might be found lacking. The concept is so ludicrous in fact, one could also imagine a lone, Japanese coder committing seppu-ku after suggesting it over a ball rice and a bottle of sake.
	Jump Superstars review (DS) Reviewed on August 11, 2005 Reviewing Jump Superstars is like putting your manhood on the table and asking a jilted ex-lover to hold the knife: you can only close your eyes and hope for the best. Should the game be total and utter rubbish, my opinion stands to not only upset DS owners, but virtually every half-crazed-anime-fan on the face of this planet... and as far as horrifying prospects go, you'd best pass the knife.
	Mami Inoue: Kono Hoshi ni Tatta Hitori no Kimi review (TGCD) Reviewed on August 10, 2005 As you play this Super CD that uses chip music (except for one excruciatingly long and badly-photoshopped karaoke sequence), you get to do such exciting things as LOOK, TALK, and THINK. On one of the scripted adventure paths, you get to listen to your class's entire roll call from top to bottom. Then you enjoy the excitement of looking at the clock over and over to advance the "story", because staring at the clock is the ONLY way to make time pass.
	We Love Katamari review (PS2) Reviewed on August 08, 2005 Initially, some may see Namco's decision to dub their release, "We Love Katamari", as an obvious attempt to fool thoughtless, Walmart shoppers. Part egocentric admission of self-confessed love, part marketing ploy from hell, the title's underhanded strategy is suspicious at best. It's lucky for us however, the revised moniker is anything but nefarious, and its carefully chosen wording has given players a glimpse of what is to come.
	Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo review (TGCD) Reviewed on August 06, 2005 Dracula X strikes a masterful balance between old-school Castlevania action and all that newfangled exploration that dominates the series today as surely as our hero strikes an oaken stake into some luckless bloodsucker’s heart.
	The Legend of Dragoon review (PSX) Reviewed on August 06, 2005 It's a game that has a story to tell. And hidden within the plot's ever-present twists and turns, it tries to give you something new. It craves to wow you, and it tries so hard to impress because it so wants to put itself on the map.

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