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.
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Nanostray review (DS)Reviewed on August 03, 2005Some games are fond of throwing oceans of bullets your way and calling it thrilling. There’s none of that here. You actually have room to move. Not only that, but one collision with a stray bullet isn’t your end. You still need to avoid shield-draining projectiles, but losing sight of them amidst the gorgeous backgrounds isn’t fatal. |
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Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! review (DS)Reviewed on July 31, 2005Nintendo's Ouendan is the feel good, surprise hit of the year. Coming straight out of left field, it's infectious good will and high spirits are guaranteed to make a believer of anyone dissatisfied with life. Like the way its hapless characters find themselves confronted and confounded by everyday troubles, players will no doubt identify with the situations they face. |
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Akane Maniax review (PC)Reviewed on July 30, 2005Despite being a sequel to the hentai classic Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, this is NOT a hentai game. There's no sex, no nudity, and only a few suggestive scenes. For the most part, it's an often comedic and sometimes touching sidestory that provides closure for one of the original game's most popular characters. Based on the title, you can probably guess which character. |
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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 review (GEN)Reviewed on July 30, 2005Sonic's flashy revolution concerns an issue far more important than pace. It's the one critical to every platformer, the one that separates the triple-hopping superstars from the clumsy goons tripping off the bottom of the screen: control. |
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Doom II: Hell on Earth review (PC)Reviewed on July 30, 2005Halo can match the scale of its battles, and Doom 3 can copy as many of the tricks as it wants, but no game since Doom II has struck a perfect balance and I doubt that any other game ever will. |
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Shadowrun review (SNES)Reviewed on July 30, 2005[Shadow]Pun Tagline Goes Here |
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Advance Wars: Dual Strike review (DS)Reviewed on July 27, 2005In a perfect world, Advance Wars: Dual Strike comes with a health warning: game likely to cause isolation, recommended dose no more than 2-3 hours / day. If gaming persists, find a friend... I wasn't given that luxury. |
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Sid Meier's Pirates! - Live the Life review (XBX)Reviewed on July 23, 2005When you talk to the barmaid one time, all is fine. A few visits later, you might find her being accosted by a surly captain of the guard. Time for a duel! When you head over to the mansion and talk to the governor’s daughter, she may invite you to the next royal ball. Time for a dance! You just never know, and you’re never bound to follow orders. |
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Polarium review (DS)Reviewed on July 21, 2005You’re in the middle of a long string that will clear all visible blocks at once. As you whip your stylus over the top row to put the final touches on your combo, suddenly you find that the on-screen detonator has not followed. Why? Because in a second, blocks will fill that space you passed through. You already knew that. It’s the reason you were in such a hurry. |
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Gibo: Stepmother's Sin review (PC)Reviewed on July 16, 2005Gibo's art is all drawn quite nicely and the dialogue is translated with a bare minimum of grammatical errors. This is important because it's hard to take a game seriously when the translation is fraught with spelling mistakes and incorrect word usage. |
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The Typing of the Dead review (DC)Reviewed on July 15, 2005Sometimes, the word will be simple, something like ‘Montana’ or even a simple phrase like ‘Adios’ or ‘Game Over.’ Other times, you’ll be asked to type something ridiculous. It’s funny that whoever put the game together thought to include words like ‘mullet’ and discussions about bed-wetting and sexuality. |
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Hydro Thunder review (DC)Reviewed on July 14, 2005Yes, Hydro Thunder employs what some have described as the rubber-band sort of mentality. Here, though, it’s worse than ever. It doesn’t matter if you have the best time anyone has ever managed when playing the game. There’s about a 70% chance you’ll rank fourth or worse. That’s just how the game works. Completion times are irrelevant. |
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Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity review (PS2)Reviewed on July 13, 2005Stella Deus offers some of the better — but less daring — small-scale strategy RPG gaming to be found on any system. Stella Deus purposely avoids Final Fantasy Tactics' insane level of character customization and Shining Force 3's flashy audiovisual sense, instead choosing to settle into its own comfortably safe niche. |
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Still Life review (XBX)Reviewed on July 12, 2005I use the term ‘playing’ rather loosely. Still Life doesn’t usually feel like a game. Instead, it’s like reading an interesting mystery novel but all of the pages are stuck together and you have to fight just to keep reading. Though you do control the protagonists directly, there’s not much to do with them but walk from place to place, talk to people and maybe solve some irritating puzzles along the way. |
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Genji: Dawn of the Samurai review (PS2)Reviewed on July 10, 2005Genji: Dawn of the Samurai is special for many reasons, the least of which is its gold foil packaging. Seen as Sony of Japan's response to the US developed God of War, eager gamers have declared it a visual masterpiece with all the sword swinging hallmarks of an instant classic. Personally however, I think it's spectacular. Plain and simple like, capital S if you're still not feeling it. |
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Battle Raper II: The Game review (PC)Reviewed on July 09, 2005Battle Raper 2 is about the far future of Earth, when a new breed of humans called ETERNALS have been created through genetic manipulation. There's some jibber jabber about paranormal phenomena and the symbol of God, which means Battle Raper 2 follows the standard "religion is deep" school of thought. It's a nice (but overdone) attempt by game creative staff Illusion to disguise how shallow the game really is. |
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Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti review (NES)Reviewed on July 09, 2005At first the explicit violence that Splatterhouse is best known for makes it seem like a pretty unlikely choice for an SD game, but it actually ends up being the best entry in the series. |
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Half-Life 2 review (PC)Reviewed on July 09, 2005Like Half-Life's Black Mesa, it's a place infused with an atmosphere and culture that you can only experience through microcosms. Even more so than VALVe's immortal debut FPS, Half-Life 2 is a single, seamless scripted journey that's not so much about where you're going as much as who you meet on the way. Sometimes, you get there in time to be a hero; others, you're too late, whether it's by seconds or years. |
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Star Ocean: The Second Story review (PSX)Reviewed on July 09, 2005Star Ocean: The Second Story manages to stand out because it still shines so bright. |
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Lagoon review (SNES)Reviewed on July 09, 2005It’s a shame that the soundtrack is so damn rare or I’d strongly recommend just forgetting the game entirely and enjoying the fantastic score instead. |
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